Hey look. Final part, final chapter, final... Movie. Sure. I guess. Let's see how this goes, cats.
Time to finish this.
Also, I suppose I should say that if you have not seen Battle of the Five Armies yet, nor have you read the book or payed attention too all the spoilers that have already been in the Fiction, this part is going to be a lot of spoilers.
So many spoilers.
All of 'em.
Let's get back into it.
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies (Maybe I Won't Go Back Again: Part 3)
Previously on Maybe I Won't Go Back Again:
Cheyanne has worked her way through spiders, elves, some orcs, Lakemen, and has finally reached Erebor with the company of Thorin Oakenshield. That should have been it, right? She'd made it to the mountain; it was time for her to go back to Texas and hopefully hold onto whatever sanity remained, yes?
Nope.
She's still in Middle-Earth, and has just witnessed Smaug fly out of Erebor and towards Lake-town, hungry for revenge. If only Thorin's own plan for revenge had actually worked out. Fucking two-year-old. Didn't he know dragons are impervious to hot stuff?
Oh, right. At it seems like Smaug knew something about what Cheyanne is doing in Middle-Earth in the first place. Kind of wonky, isn't it? How did he know, other than by the fact that she smells like a human? He didn't know she had lied about being a hobbit.
Or did he?
The time for battle is drawing near. Is Cheyanne going to be able to do whatever she has too before it arrives, or will she succumb to the affect Middle-Earth is beginning to have on her mind?
Everyone's gotten that feeling where their heart stops working and they suddenly feel like they're about to vomit, right? Usually, it's before giving a presentation or performing on a stage. Perhaps it's before a date or when something scary happens to them.
Well, in Cheyanne's case, the cause of her nausea was the giant dragon that had just flown out of a mountain and was heading out to destroy a small city filled with innocent people.
A bit of a bigger deal than a presentation or a date.
Her eyes had tunnel-visioned onto Smaug, who seemed to be getting eight miles closer to Lake-town every moment. All she could hear was a small buzzing noise in her left ear, like an annoying fly that wouldn't leave her alone. She couldn't look away, and all she could think about was how the dragon had known something about how she was dreaming everything.
What had he known, and how had he known at all? This was just… Ridiculous. It wasn't like this whole situation wasn't already ridiculous, but knowing that Smaug had known out of everybody was incomprehensible to her. Especially when she didn't really know anything herself.
It was too late to learn anything from the dragon, however. He was gone, on his way to destroy a town that had invited dwarves, his mortal enemy, into the mountain he'd claimed as his own, and Cheyanne was left standing outside of Erebor, the destroyed doors behind her, watching it all happen with a look of horror on her face.
What a couple of weeks it had been.
"Cheyanne!" Something finally broke through the dull buzz in her ear, and she turned to see Thorin and the other dwarves hurrying through the rubble of the doors towards her and Bilbo, who was still crouched on the top of the rock he'd climbed onto moments before.
Thorin reached her first, and he took Cheyanne's face in his hands. "Ê 'ibin! Are you hurt?" he asked her, his voice gentle.
Cheyanne had no idea what he had just called her, but she was too shaken to care. Her head was pounding, and her leg was throbbing where she had been burnt, but she shook her head in answer to his question all the same. Thorin let out a sigh of relief and tilted her head forward. Cheyanne felt him press his lips to her hair in relief. "Never do something like that again," he whispered to her, voice tight.
Cheyanne was already confused, not only by the words he had called her in Khuzdul, but also by his affection. Now she was even more confused because she had no idea what he was talking about. "What?" she questioned, furrowing her brow.
Thorin shifted, and raised her head. "I saw you step right in front of Smaug and speak with him," he told her. He shook his own at her. "You're not the most imposing creature, 'ibin. There was no way you could have talked down that dragon."
"I appreciate the nickname, whatever it is, but I would like to know what it means before it sticks," Cheyanne said after looking at him for a long moment.
Thorin smiled and pressed his forehead against hers. She gave him a weak grin, unable to do anything more. She didn't want to get more attached than she already was, especially now.
Thankfully, Bilbo saved her. "I love Thoranne as much as the next company member, but did we forget Smaug just flew out of Erebor and is about to wreak havoc on Lake-town?" the hobbit queried, sliding down off of the boulder and pointing.
Cheyanne had to force herself to pull away from Thorin, who made sure his fingers grazed her hand even as she did so. "Come on," she said to the others. "I know a place where we'll be able to see everything."
She led the company away from the Lonely Mountain and up a small hill just outside the doors. The top of the hill was flattened and lined with stones, like it had served as a meeting place or a viewing area a long time ago. From there, she pointed. Lake-town was in the distance, shining bright with light on the darkness of the Long Lake. Bilbo stepped up beside her and sucked in a breath.
"Smaug."
Cheyanne glanced upwards towards the sky and saw the dragon flying towards the town. He was very close now. Time shifted into slow motion, and in her mind's eye, she could see Lake-town as they saw Smaug flying for them. People hurried for boats, carrying valuables in their arms. They were terrified, the whole town bursting at the seams with fear as the menace came closer and closer.
She blinked and came back to the top of the hill. There was a beat, and then another.
And then the town on the lake knew nothing but fire. Smaug had found his revenge.
Cheyanne turned away from the burning town in the distance, walking away from the wall of stones. The dwarves swarmed in beside Bilbo to watch. They did so in silence for a long moment, and then she heard Ori murmur, "What about the others?"
"They're going to be fine," Cheyanne told him. She sensed the dwarves all turn to look and her, and she rotated to face them. "They'll be here in two days, at the very least."
Hearing this, a visible weight seemed to lift off of the company's shoulders. Thorin let out a breath, his own shoulders relaxing. He gave Cheyanne a grateful look before he turned and walked down the hill aways to a different outcropping. The other dwarves moved away from the wall, worries receding.
Bilbo remained where he was. "Bard and his family? What of them?" he asked Cheyanne, still watching the town.
"They'll be alright, too," she told him, "but it doesn't matter, does it? Their home is gone."
"Smaug doesn't just… Up and disappear, does he?" Gloin asked. He turned to look at Cheyanne, along with the other dwarves. "How does the dragon die?"
"Did I win the beat?" Nori asked, starting to grin. "I placed mine on Kili."
Cheyanne shook her head. "No one from the company brings down the dragon," she said quietly. "Bard kills Smaug with a black arrow, the thing his ancestor Girion couldn't do. It earns him the leadership of the surviving Lakemen."
"That means I won," Dwalin said after a moment of silence. "I said it was going to be someone outside of the company."
"You did not!" exclaimed Ori. "You placed it on Gandalf! I have it written down somewhere!"
"No I did not!" Dwalin retorted angrily.
"Ya did!" Gloin cried. "I heard ya say it!"
The dwarves started to argue. Cheyanne saw Bilbo's shoulders tense, and he turned around, eyes flashing with rage. "Stop it!" he shouted, voice rising above the clamoring of the dwarves. They all fell silent, and Bilbo glared at each of them in turn. "Who are you all?" he demanded. "Lake-town is getting destroyed by a dragon we released. We should be down there helping them."
"We won't though," Cheyanne said quietly. No one heard her.
Bilbo continued to gaze at the dwarves with narrowed eyes. "Don't try to tell me there's nothing to be done."
"It's over, Bilbo," Cheyanne said, speaking louder this time. The hobbit looked past the dwarves to her, and she shrugged. "Lake-town is lost." She turned away and glanced towards Erebor in the distance. "It was lost as soon as we found the hidden door."
She then turned her gaze back to Lake-town, which was burning brightly and dangerously. The company sat in prickly silence for a very long time, each of them wanting to say something, but no one actually willing to speak.
Finally, however, Bilbo must have grown uncomfortable. "Can someone please do something to kill the silence?" he asked softly.
"You just killed it," muttered Dwalin in response. The dwarf was grumpy he had lost the bet. Cheyanne could see all of the dwarves were.
"I'm being serious," sad Bilbo as he glared at Dwalin. He glanced around at the others. "Please?"
No one spoke. Bilbo sat down on a rock with a sad sigh, and Cheyanne glanced down at the ground. She had something to end the silence, and it was rather fitting for the current situation they had found themselves in. She decided that it was better than nothing, so she began to sing:
"Oh, misty eye of the mountain below.
Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls.
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke
Keep watching over Durin's sons."
The dwarves and Bilbo all looked up in surprise when they heard her voice. They exchanged looks as Cheyanne sat down on a rock, being careful on her bad leg.
"If this is to end in fire, then we shall all burn together.
Watch the flames climb high into the night.
Calling out father oh, standby and we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain si-i-ide."
She glanced down the hill at Thorin as she sang. The dwarf glanced up at her, and his eyes softened. The others had gathered around her in a lazy arc, and were watching her with faces full of mixed emotions.
"If we should die tonight then we should all die together.
Raise a glass of wine for the last time.
Calling out father oh, hold fast as we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side.
Desolation comes upon the sky."
She turned away from Thorin and gazed past the dwarves and Bilbo towards Lake-town.
"I see fire, inside the mountain.
I see fire, burning the trees.
I see fire, hollowing souls.
I see fire, blood in the breeze.
And I hope that you remember me."
Cheyanne let out a breath and lifted her gaze to the sky.
"And should my people fall then
Surely I will do the same
Confined in mountain halls we
Got to close to the flame.
Calling out father oh, prepare as we will
Watch the flames burn auburn on the mountain side
Desolation comes upon the sky."
She could see that the dwarves were seeing all the connections the song was making with what had just occurred, and the changes on their faces because of it. The all looked down at the ground, and some looked towards Lake-town, frowning.
"I see fire, inside the mountain.
I see fire, burning the trees.
I see fire, hollowing souls.
I see fire, blood in the breeze.
And I hope that you remember me."
Her voice cracked slightly, but she carried on all the same. She had to finish the song for them.
"And if the night is burning I will cover my eyes
For if the dark returns then my brothers will die.
And as the sky was falling down
It crashed into this lonely town
And with that shadow upon the ground
I hear my people screaming out.
Now I see fire, inside the mountains.
I see fire, burning the trees.
I see fire, hollowing souls.
I see fire, blood in the breeze.
I see fire, oh you know I saw a city burning out.
I see fire, feel the heat upon my skin.
I see fire, ooh hoo hoo hoo-oo.
I see fire burn auburn on the mountainside."
She stopped singing, her voice slipping away into the night on the cold breeze. Cheyanne grinned to herself and looked around at the company.
"That was a good song, lass," Dwalin said once the shock had drifted off of his face.
"Yes it was," Balin agreed. Others added to the dwarf's words, praising her for her singing. She looked at Bilbo.
"Are you alright now?" she questioned.
Bilbo bowed his head. "Yes, thank you, Chey."
"Miss Baggins." Thorin called to her from his outcropping. "May I speak with you?"
She gave the others another smile before she stood and hobbled down the mountain towards him. Thorin frowned when he saw she was limping, and he immediately bent down to inspect her leg when she reached him. "Thorin, I'm fine," she insisted.
"It doesn't look fine," Thorin mumbled in response. "You should get someone to wrap it for you." He straightened back up and met her gaze. "I appreciate you doing that for them."
"It wasn't exactly spirit-lifting," she joked.
"I know, but it was very…" Thorin trailed off for a moment and glanced towards his company. "They needed to hear it."
Cheyanne dipped her head in understanding, and reached into her pocket. She felt the crystal deep in there, and she pulled it out to look at it. Thorin's eyes brightened when she took it out. "Perhaps I should call you beleb instead," he said, reaching out and taking it from her.
"What does that mean?" she queried.
Thorin raised this crystal and gazed at her through it. "Crystal," he told her. "'Ibin means jewel."
Cheyanne swallowed nervously. "And… Ê?" The dwarfish language was hard on her throat.
Thorin smiled. "My."
"So, before you called me "my jewel"? Thorin…"
"Hush," he insisted, stepping closer. He was only two inches away from her, and he held up the crystal between them just as she leaned up on her toes, straining her bad leg. "Which do you prefer?" he queried softly.
"Well," Cheyanne began, taking the crystal from him and falling back onto her heels, "'ibin is prettier… But beleb makes more sense, so I'm torn."
Thorin brushed a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. Cheyanne closed her eyes briefly as his hand rested against her cheek when he was done. She opened them again and met his. "A crystal and a jewel can be considered the same thing," she whispered.
"No they can't," Thorin told her. "They have a different luster."
Cheyanne let out a hoarse chuckle. "Of course."
Thorin laughed as well and winked. "We will figure it out later."
Cheyanne gave him a nod. "I'll think about it until then," she said.
Thorin brushed his thumb against her cheek. "Cheyanne-"
There was a gasp of surprise from up on the higher part of the hill, and Cheyanne looked away from Thorin in surprise. "What was that?" she called to the others.
Bilbo appeared at the edge and looked down at her. "The dragon," he said, "I saw him fall." He turned around and faced the company, but Cheyanne was well aware what that had meant. "Smaug is dead."
"Chey."
Cheyanne awoke with a start, sitting straight up in surprise. Jon was standing next to her bed, his eyes wide. "Jesus," he exclaimed hoarsely. "I thought you were dead."
Cheyanne swallowed thickly. It felt like her throat was full of ash. She scrambled towards him and threw her arms around his neck, ignoring all other aches and pains that came with the quick movements. "Oh, Jon," she sobbed, beginning to cry.
Jon seated himself on her bed and lowered her head onto his lap. She covered her face and sobbed while he stroked her hair and murmured soothing things to her.
"It's alright, Chey. You're home now. It's over."
It's over. But it's not.
Thoughts flew around Cheyanne's head in a tornado as she cried. Thoughts about the company and the wealth of Erebor and of Smaug. Thoughts about Bilbo and Gandalf and… And Thorin.
She also thought about Texas. About Jon and Gary and her parents. She thought about how happy she was to be out of Middle-Earth, but how much she wanted to be back there already to be with the company again, to be there when Fili and Kili and Oin and Bofur arrived at Erebor.
She thought about how terrible she felt about leaving the company right before the time they would need her the most.
Cheyanne knew now that she had been having the dreams for a reason, thanks to Smaug. Unfortunately, she had little to no idea what the reason was. She'd done nothing to change the story, except save Kili from an arrow straight through the leg. It hadn't changed anything about the illness he received from it.
What was she supposed to be doing, then, if her knowledge of the story couldn't change anything? She knew, however, that there was something she had to do in Middle-Earth before the battle.
Well, at the moment, she didn't really feel like trying to figure out what it was. What she wanted to do was suck in as much reality as she could before she returned to Middle-Earth and probably lost it for good.
There were no more tears left to fall from her eyes, and she sniffled a few times. She wiped at her eyes with the back of her hand as Jon leaned over her and grabbed the box of tissues sitting on the bedside table. He handed one to her, and she sat up to blow her nose. She sniffed a few more times when she was finished, and glanced sideways at him, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," she sighed in apology.
"Don't be," Jon answered, giving her a look. "You have every right to cry like that. And besides, I'm your friend. I'm here for you, Chey, whenever you need me."
She smiled weakly. "Thanks. I'm glad you haven't completely lost faith in me." She let out a breath, trying to prepare herself for what she was going to tell him next.
Before she could speak, however, she saw Jon's eyes change when he looked at her straight on. They went from amused and sympathetic to accusing and grave. "You're going back." It wasn't a question, and it was said so bluntly that Cheyanne felt it wham into her stomach like a dodgeball.
She winced. "I have too."
Jon stood up with a shake of his head and began to pace in aggravation. Cheyanne stood as well and grabbed his arm to stop him. "Jon, please. Listen to me, at least."
"Why should I?" he demanded, voice cracking. His eyes blazed with blue fire as he glared at her. "Everything you've been saying to me for the past two weeks has been nothing but ridiculous and unbelievable."
"Why do I have the dreams, Jon?" she asked him quietly.
"What?" His voice was still harsh, but something in his eyes changed, the fire dimming.
Cheyanne looked down at the floor. "Why do I keep having these dreams if I'm not supposed to do something while I'm having them?"
"You don't owe them anything, Cheyanne," Jon told her. "They aren't real."
"If you were there with me, you wouldn't be saying that."
Jon shook his head again cynically. "I used to say your obsession was going to kill you. I might have been joking then, but now…" He pulled his arm from her grasp and gestured to her up and down. "Look at yourself!"
Cheyanne did as he told her too. Her jeans were singed, and the skin that was exposed on her left leg was cracked and blistering. The knee on her right was ripped. One of her sleeves was torn, and she was covered in dirt. She lifted her hand and saw that she could see her veins through her skin.
There was clearly something wrong with her.
She raised her eyes back to Jon's and saw his face had turned from anger to pity. "I-I can't see you like this, Chey," he said softly. "You look sick."
"And I'm going to guess you don't mean the cool kind of sick, either, do you?" she asked wanly. Jon didn't laugh, and she slumped her shoulders. "Jon, I have to finish this. I don't think I have a choice."
"Chey, if you go back again, you might not be able to wake up," Jon warned. "You… You look like you're about to drop and die. I'm not kidding."
Cheyanne could only imagine what her faced looked like after seeing the rest of herself. She silently went into the bathroom and hit the light switch. She flinched immediately when she saw her reflection in the mirror. There were dark circles around her eyes, and her cheekbones stood out very sharp under her skin. She was paler than a ghost. Her hair had lost all its bounce and hung limply down to her shoulders, dry and brittle and dirty.
She had to look away in disgust, and she hobbled from the bathroom. What remained of Cheyanne Phillips looked like little more than a corpse. Jon stared at her in silence for a long moment. "Do you see what it's doing to you?" he asked her at last.
"I do," she agreed. "But… There's a reason. I refuse to believe that I'm being dropped into the middle of the journey just because I'm obsessed." Her eyes went wide. "Gary. He knows, Jon! He has to know!"
She hurried from her bedroom. "Cheyanne!" Jon went after her as she limped to the front door of her apartment, forgetting all about how she looked. She paused and glanced over her shoulder at him. "What if he doesn't?"
"He does," Cheyanne answered with a determination she wasn't sure she had. She turned back to the door and allowed herself to look down at the floor. "He has too," she whispered. "He has too."
I hope you all have a swell fucking day, cats.
Y'know what? Have a swell fucking life.
I'm excited for this.
Also, I See Fire? Fucking wonderful song.