The Gathering Storm

I don't own Digimon or The Hobbit

"Any sign of it!?" Thorin shouted as he stood on a balcony overlooking the other Dwarves as they searched the mountains of treasure for the Arkenstone.

"Nothing here!" Dwalin replied.

"Nothing here either," Ori said.

"Keep searching!" Thorin ordered.

"That jewel could be anywhere," Gloin told him.

"The Arkenstone is in these halls. Find it!" Thorin barked making the Dwarves groan.

"You heard him. Keep looking," Dwalin said.

"All of you! No one rests until it is found!" Thorin shouted. Daisuke, Veemon and Bilbo watched on in sadness.

"This is going too far, he's going to tire the others out. This isn't the same Thorin we started our journey with," Veemon said.

"Because it's not. This gold…this worthless horde of treasure has clouded his mind, it's all he sees now." Daisuke replied. "What did you tell Bard after you killed Smaug?"

"I told him to come to Erebor once his people had salvaged what they could. Though I fear what Thorin will do when they show up in a few days." Veemon answered.

"Which means we're running out of time, either Thorin barricades the entrance to the mountain and we all starve because of his stubbornness or he'll see reason and uphold his promise." Bilbo said.

"Let us hope the latter is what happens," Daisuke said. "I fear now that Smaug is dead word will spread, meaning this mountain is going to be at the forefront of a conflict." And Daisuke was right, approaching Erebor was rank upon rank of Orc led by Azog who now wore a metal chest plate and his iron claw prosthetic was replaced by a large blade and he was riding a normal Warg to replace the one slain by Daisuke.

"Azog!" he held his arm up to stop the legions of Orcs as Bolg rode towards him. "Oakenshield has reached the mountain. We followed their trail to the shore of the lake." He explained in the tongue of the Orcs. "We saw the dragon fall; the mountain is ours for the taking."

"Good. But no doubt Oakenshield will repair the mountain gate." Azog said. "Ride to Gundabad. Let the legions come forth." He told Bolg who nodded and rode off to Gundabad. "Dwarves and Men! The mountain shall be their tomb, all who stand in our way will die. To war!" He shouted and the legions of Orcs marched on to Erebor, and to war.

Back in Erebor, Daisuke, Bilbo, Veemon, Balin and Dwalin stood around Thorin as he stood in front of the throne and looked up at the mantle which once held the Arkenstone but now was half destroyed.

"It is here in these halls. I know it." Thorin whispered.

"We have searched and searched," Dwalin told him.

"Not well enough." Thorin snarled.

"Thorin, we all would see the stone returned." Dwalin told him.

"And yet, it is still not found!" Thorin shouted and his voice echoed through the silent halls of Erebor.

"Do you doubt the loyalty of anyone here?" Balin asked him and Thorin looked at him. "The Arkenstone, is the birth right of our people."

"It is the King's Jewel. Am I not the king!?" Thorin shouted at him.

"I see no crown on your head." Daisuke whispered walking off patting Balin on the shoulder in comfort.

"And where are you going!?" Thorin asked her and she stopped and glared in his direction.

"Away from you before I do something I'll regret. You claim to be the king, but you're acting no different from your grandfather. Hell, I bet you're acting just like Thranduil." She answered muttering the last bit, but all heard it and Thorin frowned glaring at her back.

"Know this: If anyone should find it, and withhold it from me, I will be avenged." He said walking off and Bilbo shared a worried look with Veemon. A few minutes later he found Balin withholding sobs in one of the old libraries of Erebor.

"Dragon sickness. I've seen it before. That look. The terrible need. It is a fierce and jealous love, Bilbo. It drove his grandfather mad." Balin told him.

"I know. Balin, if Thorin had the Arkenstone, or if it was found. Would it help at all?" Bilbo whispered and Balin frowned.

"That stone crowns all. It is the summit of the great wealth, bestowing power upon he who bears it. Would it stay his madness? No, laddie. I fear it will only make it worse. Perhaps it is best, if it remains lost." He told Bilbo who nodded and walked off and soon was sitting on a small chair and he pulled something out of his pocket as Thorin saw him.

"What is that?" he asked walking over and Bilbo stood up. "In your hand."

"Nothing." Bilbo answered quickly and Thorin growled.

"Show it to me." He demanded, Bilbo sighed and slowly opened his hand to show an acorn baffling the Dwarf. "An acorn?"

"I picked it up in Beorn's garden." Bilbo answered.

"You've carried it all this way?" Thorin asked with a surprised look on his face.

"I'm going to plant it in my garden, in Bag End." Bilbo explained making Thorin smile softly.

"It's a poor prize to take back to the Shire," he said.

"One day, it'll grow. And every time I'll look at it and, I'll remember. Remember everything that happened, the good, the bad, and how lucky I am that I made it home." Bilbo said and he and Thorin smiled.

"Thorin." Both turned to see Dwalin walking towards them. "Survivors from Lake-Town, they're streaming into Dale. There are hundreds of them." he told Thorin whose expression changed and he walked off.

"Call everyone to the gate. To the gate!" he shouted walking off and Bilbo and Dwalin shared and look and followed. Soon the entire company was moving stone around to reinforce the main gate as Thorin watched. "I want this fortress made safe by dawn, this mountain was hard won. I will not see it be taken again."

"Those people over there have nothing. They came to us in need, they've lost everything," Kili told his uncle as he put down a rock he was carrying.

"Do not tell me what they have lost. I know well enough their hardship. Those who live through dragon fire should rejoice. They have much to be grateful for." He said looking at Dale and the numerous fires the people of Lake-Town had made to keep warm during the cold night and he scowled. "More stone. Bring more stone to the gate!" he shouted.

"This is insane, if nobody speaks up I'm going to." Daisuke thought as she passed a rock to Fili who shared her worried look.

The next morning Bard walked through the ruins of Dale and saw several women, children and wounded in need. "The women, children and wounded come first when it comes to food and what water we have." He told everyone as Percy ran up to him.

"Bard, there's something you should see." He said, and Bard frowned before walking outside to see a large group of Elves had marched into Dale. "They just arrived, they said they bring aid."

"So, they bring aid to us, yet they did nothing to help the Dwarves when Smaug came." Bard whispered, making Percy frown and nod in agreement. Bard walked through the group of armed Elves and saw Thranduil arrive on a large stag followed by several Elves on white horses. "My Lord Thranduil, I did not expect to see you here."

"I heard you needed aid." The King of the Woodland Realm said before he nodded to some more Elves and Bard watched as two large wagons filled with food and drink were pulled into the courtyard and the people of Lake-Town all muttered in excitement.

"You are most kind, but something does trouble me." Bard said looking at Thranduil. "When the Dwarves came to you when Smaug drove them from their home, did you give them the same aid you give us now?"

"I fail to see how that matters. I warned the Dwarves of what their greed would bring to the mountain, they ignored my warnings and paid the price. And I did not give you aid for your sake, I came here to reclaim something of mine." Thranduil told Bard who looked at him with concern.

Back in Erebor, Daisuke and Thorin were now in a large treasury as Thorin pulled out a necklace that was buried in a pile of diamonds and he smirked. "The White Gems of Lasgalen. I know an Elf Lord who will pay a pretty price for these." He said tossing the necklace back into the pile of diamonds scattering them over the table and floor causing Daisuke to frown at what he said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if all of this escalates over those stupid gems." She thought, meanwhile Bard back in Dale was having similar thoughts and voiced them to Thranduil who was watching his troops march through Dale.

"You would go to war with those in Erebor over a handful of gems, did you condemn their people to suffering because they didn't give you what you desired?"

"The heirlooms of my people are not lightly forsaken. As to the suffering the Dwarves faced I already explained that I warned them, they did not listen. What the dragon did to them is not my concern, nor was it my oath to aid them." Thranduil answered calmly.

"My people also have a claim to the riches in the mountain, let me speak with Thorin." Bard reasoned and Thranduil looked at him.

"You would try to reason with a Dwarf?" he asked.

"To avoid war, yes." Bard answered, he then walked off and mounted and horse and rode off towards the mountain.

"Thorin." Kili said as he ran into the treasury making his uncle and Daisuke look at him. "We just saw Bard leave Dale, he's on his way here."

"Why?" Thorin asked and Daisuke grabbed his arm when he tried to walk out of the treasury.

"You know why, he is coming to ask for what you promised him and the people of Lake-Town." She told him.

"I will not give them a single coin. This is my mountain, and the gold in this mountain is mine, no one else's." Thorin snapped before Daisuke slapped him hard and she glared at him.

"How could you say that, you made a promise to the people of Lake-Town, I was there we all were. You are acting just like your grandfather did, you're obsessed with the treasure you're not yourself." She said.

"And what would you know of who I really was!?" Thorin shouted pushing her against a wall roughly, Kili grabbed his uncle and pulled him away from Daisuke who looked at Thorin with unshed tears.

"Because I'm your friend Thorin, I know this isn't who you really are. Until you realise that, you and I have nothing to say to one another." She whispered storming off past him and Kili as she headed for the gate.

"She is right Uncle." Kili said before he walked off after Daisuke leaving Thorin to himself and his thoughts and the room full of treasure which didn't seem to interest him much currently.

"Not bad for a night's work." Gloin muttered as he and the rest of the company looked at the makeshift wall proudly.

"Let's hope it holds," Dwalin said as Daisuke walked up to him. "Lass, where's Thorin?"

"He's not available right now, what's going on?" she asked walking up the stairs to the wall with Dwalin, Balin, Bilbo and Veemon following her.

"The Elves just moved into positions all over Dale, they'll probably be able to hit us at this range if they wanted to." Dwalin answered as they stood on the wall and saw the Elven archers around Dale with their bows ready when Bard rode up to the gate on his horse.

"Hail, Company of Thorin Oakenshield, we are glad to find you alive beyond all hope." Bard said.

"Greetings Bard, what brings you to Erebor with an army of Elves behind you?" Daisuke asked.

"They wish to reclaim what the Elven King sees as his, and I have come to seek fair settlement as promised by Thorin." Bard answered honestly.

"We have no intention of dealing with the Elves, but the people of Lake-Town we promised to help." Daisuke replied, she walked down the stairs and Bard climbed off his horse and walked to the wall and stood by a small hole and he saw Daisuke on the other side.

"So, you will honour the pledge you made to the people of Lake-Town? A share of the treasure so that we all may rebuild our lives." Bard said.

"We shall, are your people prepared for winter?" Daisuke asked softly.

"As best we can be with what little we have left after the dragon attacked, your friend saved my daughter from drowning, and for that I am eternally grateful." Bard told Daisuke who smiled.

"You're welcome. Tell your people they may seek refuge in Erebor if they wish. We've got the forges going and it's keeping then mountain warm, but we've not much food to offer."

"Thranduil gave us more than enough food when his army arrived, I'm sure we can find a way to make it last for us all." Bard reasoned.

"What do you all think?" Daisuke whispered to the company who shared a look before they nodded as one. "Acceptable, tell your people our bargain will be honoured." She said to Bard who nodded and he mounted his horse and rode back to Dale as the company watched him from the wall, Daisuke smiled and turned to the steps and saw Thorin and she frowned. "What do you want?" she asked him coldly.

"To…apologise." Thorin muttered making the entire company look at him weirdly. "I find myself doing that a lot with you for some reason." He added with a small smirk and Daisuke blinked. "You were right…once again. I was not acting like myself, I spent so long dreaming of reclaiming Erebor that I didn't see anything after that, if you were not here I probably would have risked war with Bard and the Elves and we'd not have lasted even if we called for aid."

"Just don't act like that again, or we won't help you find the Arkenstone after this is all over." Daisuke told him with her arms crossed and he nodded.

"I doubt I would even care as much as I once did if we found it. It seems to have brought nothing but pain and suffering to my people." Daisuke shared a look with Bilbo and Veemon before she turned back to Thorin.

"That's good to hear at least, but for now I think we should be careful. I doubt Thranduil will take my refusal of settling with him lightly." She said and sure enough Thranduil waited for Bard to return and saw the bowman arrive.

"Well?" he asked.

"They agreed to honour their deal with the people of Lake-Town, as they promised." Bard informed him. "But they will not deal with you." He added and Thranduil frowned.

"I see. It seems the only thing Dwarves will understand will be brute force." He said drawing his sword. "We will attack them at dawn, I advise you to stay out of the way bowman." He turned his stag around and walked back to Dale with Bard growing concerned as he looked back at the mountain.

The end of the chapter

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