I've posted a companion oneshot tonight, about Reina's...well, just read it and see! Check it out from my profile!
A battle had been won. They had fought proudly to every last dwarf, and to every last elven ally. Reina had always dreamed of uniting her people, she just never imagined it would come about so spectacularly. Looking around, she noted with pride that she had lost none of the squad she had been leading into battle. The only injuries were small scrapes and bruises that were more characteristic to wrestling dwarflings than a victorious army after a hard battle.
Reina took note of her own condition, only finding scratches and scrapes; there was nothing too serious, meaning she wouldn't have to see a healer.
Looking around again, she saw most of the company that had followed her Da, as well as some that cousin Dain had brought, brushing themselves off and putting away their weapons.
But there were three faces she did not see, three dwarves Reina began searching earnestly for among the living around her.
She tried not to panic as her mind found an endless loop in her memory of seeing her father and cousins helpless, and her father's gold-crazed words before the battle: "I will have war!" Those words scared her more than anything.
She asked anyone she knew, from the company, the men, elves or Dain's dwarrows if they had seen her family. All of them said they had seen Thorin and the boys fighting during the battle, but nobody really knew where they had gone. Not even Dwalin, who was making his way slowly to the healer's tent, leaning heavily on a dwarf from the Iron Hills.
Worry began to fester in her heart as she searched farther into the battlefield, making her way closer to the gates of Erebor; the heaviest fighting had been there, orcs hoping to take the mountain. She brushed it aside, focusing solely on finding her family. Time went by in a blur, as if it had sped up, or it wasn't even happening. Reina's voice grew hoarse calling out for them before she tripped.
Standing back up, Reina saw Kili's bow sticking out from a pile of dead orcs – the vile creatures had never left her alone since the day she discovered her magic, useless in true battle though it was – and she began digging through the bodies, more frantically with each passing minute as both hope and dread battled for dominance in her heart and mind.
What she found at the bottom of the pile stopped her heart cold.
Two bodies wrapped chaotically around a third; one blond, one messy-haired brunette, and one silver-black. All of them familiar.
A silent scream choked her as she fell to her knees on the churned ground.
To have won the battle only to lose the war…
Familiar faces stared up at her, without the usual life in them. Their eyes had lost the fire they had held, though they had gained something in return.
The eyes of her cousins – and her Da – were golden.
A scream that made one's blood run cold came up from the battlefield, causing survivors to look up and stop all they were doing to grip their weapons in readiness. But the scream is not from fear, or from a physically inflicted pain. The scream they heard was the embodiment of the grief and pain of a broken heart.
As sobs and fresh screams tore through her body, Reina didn't feel strong arms wrap around her, or hear the comforting words whispered into her ears as she was gently rocked back and forth in comfort.
When her voice and breath gave out, Reina gave in to gasping sobs as she more fully woke up to find Thorin's arms holding her as tightly as he could. Fili and Kili were on either side of them. Kili stroking through and gently parting her hair to braid it again, as it had come loose in her tossing in the night.
Fili held her hand tightly, worry lacing his (thankfully gold-free) eyes.
Thorin continued to murmur comfort into her hair as she calmed down and woke up completely.
"I'm OK. Just a dream, it was all just a dream." Reina murmured, sounding like she was trying to convince herself more than her family around her.
"Hush, Reina. You're all right. It's ok, you're safe. We're all safe." Thorin whispered to her, gently rubbing circles in her back and shoulders with his thumb. Reina's shallow breathing and warm temperature – even for a dwarf, Reina was fairly warm - worried him. The bad dreams he easily explained away in his mind. Even he had been having trouble sleeping after the events in the clearing, though his sleeplessness was more through pondering and confusion than true sleeplessness. But for Reina to have been as tired as she was when he put her to bed and to be as warm (he refused to consider her being feverish) as she was now, was rather worrying. He would take her to see Oín around lunchtime tomorrow, if her temperature hadn't gone down by then.
Reina gasped for breath still, attempting to calm her wildly beating heart. It had been so real! She could almost smell the smoke from the battlefields if she closed her eyes. But it couldn't be real. Elves and Dwarves never worked together, and never would, no matter what she did or said.
If that were really true, I wouldn't be here.
Reina thought to herself, smiling slightly, though it barely showed on her tear-streaked face.
No, it wasn't real. It couldn't be. She was here, at home with Da and Fili and Kili; Aunt Dis probably was down the hall still, making tea already, or still asleep if she was lucky.
It was too odd to be real, anyway. She mused to herself as she felt her cousins hug her gently before heading back to bed at Thorin's command. Da would never let me fight in a battle, at least not willingly, if he could help it. And his eyes aren't golden. I don't know what that was about, but still.
Reina barely registered her Da tucking her back in as sleep called for her once again. She barely heard him ask if she wanted him to stay, just slightly remembered her own nod and only felt him wrap his arms around her once more, as she fell back into the bliss that was safe and uninterrupted sleep.