Hello, hello!
As promised, the chapter is ready! (I already had all in mind, all I needed was the will to do so)
This one is slightly darker than the others, because of the topic and because this story is not all that happy.
Warnings here are for minor characters death and angst...looooot of angst.
As always thank you thank you thank you for your feedbacks! You're all amazing and it's thank to you that I always force myself to write following my schedule!
I hope you enjoy this update, and let me know what you think about it, if you have time, please!
Flames as tall as buildings came from the Camp.
Screams of fear and pain and anguish pierced the morning air and through the King's own soul.
Running along the hallways of his palace, he bumped into Dwalin, who was running in his direction, already covered in sweat and breathing heavily.
"What the hell is happening out there?" demanded the King, not waiting for his friend's own question.
"A fire in the Camp, I've already sent my Dwarves down there" answered Dwalin between shorts gulps of air "still no information about it".
Absent-mindedly, Thorin nodded, walking towards the Doors, followed at a brief distance by Dwalin and, he later noticed, by his sister and his Sister-sons.
When they reached the Camp, it looked as if Melkor had come down to earth, the smell of smoke both suffocating and blinding.
"Dìs, you and the boys go help who's been injured, call Oin, if you need it, but stay away from the fire, all three of you!" ordered Thorin, looking around for someone else to help the Hobbits.
Dìs grabbed her older brother's arm with force, forcing him to focus his attention to her. "Don'y you dare die on me now, you dollop head, got it?"
"Yes, now go!" he watched them go and then turned to Dwalin "we need to go in there, save as much as we can. And send one of your Dwarves to Dale, Bard could send someone to help us here."
Dwalin nodded, running towards the group of guards nearby, barking orders at them, making them jump.
Without a second thought, Thorin leaped into the fire, walking through burning tapestries and tents.
What he'd seen the day before, the beautiful arrangement of light coloured drapes and the breathe-taking view of the Hobbits going around it, had been burnt to a cinder.
He could already see burnt corpses on the ground, some reduce in such shapes that made them unrecognisable and the sight of them made Thorin's stomach turn.
They were all innocent and unarmed and they had died horribly.
The sound of something falling to the ground made him turn around quickly.
"Help! Please help!" screamed a voice, raucous because of the smoke.
"Stay there, I'm coming!" he answered, running to the voice.
"King Thorin!" the female Hobbit standing before him was unknown to the King, but he knelt beside her, lifting her from the ground, careful of her broken leg, that was bent at an unnatural angle.
"I'll take you out of here, what's your name?" the King asked, trying to distract the Hobbit woman, while running to the healing camp set up by his sister.
"Lily Baggins, Your Majesty. You know my great-nephew, Bilbo."
Bilbo.
The mention of the Dancer made Thorin's heart stop.
He had to find him, his mother and the kids as soon as possible.
Leaving Lily Baggins with one of the Healers, he looked around, trying to find at least one of them, but without success.
At least until Gloin, his cousin and part of Dwalin's guard, come out of the flames holding Belladonna's waist, the Hobbit leaning heavily on the Dwarf with a limp in her step.
As soon as she got a glimpse of Thorin, however, she straightened and marched to him, as much as her limp allowed her, with such a fire in her eyes that would have made a lesser Dwarf back away from her.
"You! You burnt us alive! You're no better than the others!" she yelled at him, so near he could actually see each freckle on her smoke-covered face.
Thorin was confused by her outburst and tried to make her see reason, but apparently to no avail, seeing as the Hobbit was shaking frantically, barely containing her fury.
"I did no such a thing, Lady Belladonna! I never even thought about something like that!"
"Lies! We all heard them! We all did!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I have no time now, you have to tell me where you last saw your son and your grandsons, I haven't found them yet."
At that, Belladonna's face went white and she looked about to faint right into Thorin's arms "You...you did not find them? Oh Eru! Oh Eru!" she burst out crying "they were in their tent, just next to mine" she sobbed desperately, her body shaking convulsively.
"I'll find them, I swear on Mahal's hammer. You stay here. Kili, take her to your mother, Fili, with me, now".
"Where are we going, uncle? We're going to be crushed by those planks!" Fili shouted, running through the burning Camp alongside his uncle.
"There are kids still alive in there!"
"They were alive! They could be dead by now! It's suicide!"
"Shut up and help me! They should be here, somewhere".
"Thorin!" Little Sam came out of nowhere, his clothes slightly burnt and his red hair almost black because of the cinder "you have to help us, uncle Bilbo is hurt!"
"Hurt?"
"He isn't waking up! He hurt his head!"
Without a moment hesitation, both uncle and nephew entered the burning tent, following Sam into it, and found himself in front of Bilbo's motionless body onto the ground, surrounded by his crying nephews, Merry holding Pippin tightly to his chest.
"Fili, take Bilbo and get out, I'll follow you! Frodo, Merry, get up, we have to go!"
Both the boys leaped from the ground, Merry passing Pippin to Thorin, the baby stopping wailing as soon as he mas held close to Thorin's broad chest.
They all run outside the burning Camp, until they were safe, the air starting flowing again into their abused lungs.
Dìs soon started checking the new arrivals, declaring all them healthy apart from their cough caused by the smoke inhalation.
Then she moved on Bilbo, who had just started blinking and was now trying to get up from the ground, looking for his nephews.
"Calm down, now, you can't get up yet!" Dìs ordered, pushing Bilbo on the ground yet again, checking his vitals "your nephews are all here and they're okay. Thorin and Fili tooke them out of the fire."
"Mum?" asked Bilbo with a rasping, barely-there voice.
"She has a sprained ankle, she'll be fine." Thorin answered, passing him Pippin, whom Bilbo covered in small kisses on his round face. "It'll be all right."
It wouldn't be alright.
That morning thirteen Hobbits died because of the fire.
And during the next week another six passed for their injuries.
The survivors were still in the healing camp, because, even if the Dwarves felt bad for the Hobbits, nobody wanted them to live within their Walls.
During said week, Thorin and his family visited the Hobbits daily, but both Bilbo and Belladonna reused to look at them in the eyes.
The kids, however, were another thing alltogether.
Merry, Frodo and Sam were fascinated by the Princes and Dìs' beard attracted lots of attention the first time they saw it.
After another, silent meeting with the Dancer and his mother, Thorin had enough and demanded an explanation for their behaviour, cornering Bilbo while he was walking around, trying to make Pippin sleep.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"This what?"
"You know what! This...thing! You couldn't shut up the last time we spoke and now you barely say anything! Why?"
"Why?" the chuckle that came from Bilbo was terrible and void of mirth "we all heard what they said."
"They who?" Thorin was perplexed at the Landless' response, so similar to the one Belladonna gave the day of the fire."
"The ones who set fire to the camp!"
The King's eyes widened almost comically at this "Set fire? You mean it wasn't an accident?"
"Accident? Are you trying to make me believe you thought that was a natural fire or an accident?!"
"It wasn't?"
Bilbo scoffed, shifting Pippin so that his head was on his uncle's shoulder "Don't play dumb with me! Those arseholes yelled they were making that for you! In your name! They said it and then they burnt us! You burnt us all!" he was crying by now, his tears wetting his hollow cheeks, fixing his eyes onto the King.
"I never! I did not order something like that! I never would have!" Thorin was conflicted: on one hand, he wanted to defend himself, making the Hobbit apologise for his lies, but on the other hand, all he wanted was to hold the Dancer, consoling him, cradling him as close as he was cradling Pippin.
"I want to believe you, really, but..." Bilbo sighed deeply, tired and distraught "but I heard what they said. I can't...I can't believe you!"
"Right. Right." Thorin looked at the Hobbit with such an intensity that made him lower his head.
"You are welcome to stay here as long as you want, Master Hobbit. Your people will not be hurt again"
"You can't be sure about it. They can always hurt us. They did last week, and before that again. They'll do it as soon as they can."
"Bilbo" Pleaded Thorin, touching the Dancer's shoulder.
"No. Your Majesty, I understand what you want to say, but really, we aren't safer here than anywhere else. Next week, we'll go to Rivendell, as the Thains decided."
"So, it will be a goodbye. We won't see each others ever again ."
A chuckle more similar to a sob than an actual laugh escaped Bilbo, making his dark blue eyes water again.
"We won't, Your Majesty, we won't."
For some reason, that made Thorin want to leave his gold filled Treasure Room and start wandering across Middle-Earth.
Notes:
Melkor is the original name of Morgoth, the Ainur who competed with Eru and was defeated by the Valar (Tulkas, the Champion of Valinor, had a main role in this)
He was the one who created the orcs by torturing the Elves and corrupting them and
Sauron was his first Lieutenent. I nice chap, then
Lily Baggins does exist! She is Mungo's (Bilbo's grandfather) sister, making her ( I suppose) Bilbo's Great-aunt
Don't hate me for the last part or the chapter, everything's gonna be good!
Sooner or later.
Hope you liked it!