I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.
Please review! I love getting them-they keep me encouraged J
The first thing Bilbo realized as he woke up was that, for being on top of a mountain on an eagle's eyrie, he was strangely warm. The second thing he noticed….was the smell.
Grimacing with disgust as the smell of unwashed dwarf assaulted his nostrils, the hobbit cracked one eye open, only to discover that he was wedged in between Balin and Bofur. Though he was touched that the other two had clearly devised a plan to keep him warm during the night after he had placed his own coat under the injured Fili's head, he really wished that they had had a chance to bathe first.
Bilbo tried to move the sleeping Balin's arm off him, thankful at least that he was warm. The dwarf's arm was quite heavy, despite his missing coat, and the hobbit groaned as it fell back to the position it started in.
At least unwashed dwarf isn't as bad as unwashed troll, the hobbit thought to himself wryly. Though I dearly hope that some of the rose scented soap from Rivendell missed the goblin's scrutiny.
Gandalf glanced over, chuckling as he observed Bilbo's attempts to free himself. A few of the other dwarves were just beginning to stir, when a sudden shout was heard.
"Nori, you stupid little git! Get your foot out of my arse!" Dwalin growled, swinging backward at the offending dwarf. However, Nori wasn't the one behind him, and the squinting Gloin sat up with a shout, red hair in a wild mass atop his head.
"Watch where you're waving those things around!" he growled, gesturing towards Dwalin's knuckledusters. "And do I look like a halfwit thief to you?!"
"Oi, who are you calling dim?!" Nori's indignant shout sounded from under Bombur, the thief's voice slightly muffled. "Tell this oaf to get off me!" Bombur, on the other hand, was snoring loudly, Nori's cries from beneath him going completely unheeded amongst the arguing dwarves.
"Help!" Bilbo cried, the poor hobbit having only just risen to his feet when a still sleeping Bofur turned over, sending him face forward into the midst of the cranky dwarves. Dwalin and Gloin were just about to go to blows, when Thorin's tired voice sounded above the din.
"Enough!" the company immediately became silent as several pairs of eyes turned toward the clearly exhausted dwarf king. Fili lay beside him with flushed cheeks, the young dwarf clearly in the throes of another nightmare as a weary Thorin placed a cool compress over his nephew's sweating forehead. Looking up from his task, the elder's tired eyes searched out the company's healer.
"Oin!" he cried once his gaze fell on the healer. "I need your assistance. Fili has a fever." Oin turned toward his brother with a confused expression on his face, and the latter repeated Thorin's order in a loud voice. Nodding, the deaf dwarf stood up and moved towards the pair as the others began to huddle around the fire, warming up the leftover mutton from the night before.
Dropping down beside Fili, the healer removed the compress and placed his hand atop the young dwarf's forehead. The flushed young prince shivered at the contact, despite having four coats over him and two underneath him. Frowning, the older dwarf looked up at Thorin, slowly removing his hand.
"He has a very high fever," Oin said grimly, before looking over his shoulder. "Someone get some more water and warm it up, but only until cool!" The healer looked back at Thorin, experienced eyes noticing the worried dwarf king's haggard appearance.
"He needs to have his face and chest bathed in cool, not cold, water to help lower his fever," Oin stated. "I will ask Gandalf if that athelas or whatever he called it will bring the fever down." Thorin nodded, the fear in his eyes for his nephew visible as he looked back down at the unconscious dwarf.
"You need to rest too," Oin admonished sternly, causing Thorin to look back up at him with an unreadable expression. "I know the warg bite was slightly deflected by your oakenshield, but some of her teeth did find contact. And you received Azog's club to your face, before being thrown eight yards onto a rock, for Durin's sake! You are injured too, whether you admit it or not, and need to rest just as much as the lad does." Thorin scowled.
"I will rest when he is well," he growled, gesturing toward Fili. Oin took a deep breath, before looking Thorin in the eye.
"You barely slept last night," the healer pointed out sternly. "With all due respect, my king, your eyes are so dark underneath them that you resemble a raccoon, and your face is almost as white as the snow on this mountainside. I am loyal to you, and it is my duty as a healer to make sure you rest and heal as well!" The dwarf king clenched his jaw, biting back words better left unsaid, though it took a great deal of self restraint. Oin sighed, laying his hand gently on Thorin's shoulder, before looking him in the eye.
"If you want to be of any use to the lad, you need to take care of yourself as well," the healer said gently, tears pricking the corners of his eyes as he swallowed heavily. "He will need you when he wakes, now more than ever before as he grieves the loss of his brother."
Oin looked at him gently, before standing and approaching the wizard. Thorin watched him go, throat constricting as Oin's words rang through his mind.
He will need you when he wakes, now more than ever before as he grieves the loss of his brother.
XXX
Thorin remembered the Battle of Azanulbizar all too well. The blood, the shouts, the horrible moment when his grandfather was beheaded and the dwarf army fled.
Amidst the chaos and shock, Thorin had succeeded in cutting off Azog's arm in revenge for his grandfather's death. After the pale orc had been taken back into the great gate of Khazad-dum, the young prince, finding no sign of his father, rallied his people to arms.
With Balin and Dwalin at his back, the dwarf army turned and charged the orc ranks, the fury ignited in their eyes at the merciless slaying of the eldest descendant of the father of their race causing many of the orcs to cower in fear as the sound of steel clanging rang through the dale.
Dwarf steel flashed in the dim sunlight, dripping in the black blood of their enemy. Thorin remembered the hacking and the slashing, the yells of the dwarves and the cries of their prey. He fought with a fury that was unmatched, his blade, Stormcaller, singing through the air.
Then, all was quiet….
The weak cries of the wounded mixed with the anguished cries of those who discovered their kin dead. So many had fallen, so many had been slain. It was a victory, but with an impossible cost. Then, an injured dwarf came running, screaming Thorin's name.
"Prince Thorin!" the dwarf cried, the broken haft of two orc arrows protruding from his belly as he gasped, "I-it's Prince Frerin…" Thorin's eyes had widened in panic, and as the messenger fell gasping onto the ground, he knelt down beside him, turning the messenger's bloody face towards him.
"Where?" he demanded, panic and fear barely concealed within his trembling voice. The messenger weakly lifted his arm and pointed back in the direction he came from.
"O-ov'….th'r," the dwarf gasped, before the light died in his eyes and his body went limp. Thorin's face had drained of blood, and, screaming for Balin, he had run in the direction the messenger had indicated, taking care to not step on the dead and dying dwarves.
A flash of gold trimmed mail caught Thorin's eye, and he fell beside the still form of his younger brother with a cry. The side of Frerin's white face was bloody, and his abdomen was covered in scarlet. Ripping the mail and tunic aside, the elder's eyes beheld a ripped open stomach, and one look told him that his brother was beyond saving.
"Frerin," he gasped, cradling the dark head in his lap. "Brother….can you hear me?" Frerin's dark eyes opened slowly, his gaze locking onto Thorin's blue tear-filled eyes.
"Th…Thor'n," he gasped, and Thorin smoothed back the hair out of his forehead.
"I'm here, brother," Thorin gasped out, tears falling freely. "I'm here." Fear shone out of Frerin's eyes, and he weakly reached up to grasp his elder brother's.
"S-scared," he gasped, and Thorin's free hand moved down to run over his young brother's barely coming in beard on his cheek, Frerin's childhood beard in front of his ears still wispy and fine.
"That you will arrive in the halls of Mandos with still no beard to speak of?" Thorin jested, knowing Frerin couldn't stand the jokes about his beard. The younger gave him a dark look, causing the elder to smile grimly. Both knew that it was no time for joking, and yet Frerin's hand squeezed Thorin's at the lighthearted attempt.
"I-I lo…love y-you," Frerin whispered, tears falling down his cheeks and mingling with the blood dripping from his mouth. The young prince breathed his last, and Thorin brought the now limp hand up to his mouth, then leaned forward and kissed his brother's forehead.
"I love you too, little brother," he whispered.
Thorin had carried his dead brother's body to the healing tent to be prepared for burial. A younger Oin, hair just barely showing grey streaks, met him at the door, the apprentice healer's eyes instantly realizing that Prince Frerin was dead.
The then- apprentice healer had placed his hand on his shoulder, giving him the same gentle look that was visible in the old eyes now, and Thorin knew.
He had endured the pain of losing his younger brother, and now he watched as his eldest nephew had endured the same. Lying down with some struggle, the dwarf king reached over and placed his hand on the golden head, before shutting his eyes to rest and regain his own strength.
He would not fail Fili. Not again.
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WOOHOO! 300 REVIEWS! I love you guys! :D :D :D :D :D
A response to guest reviewer Ri-chan: Orcs are by very nature extremely cruel-and VERY much inhuman. Azog the Defiler didn't earn his epithet (the "defiler" part of his name) without good reason. As for the baby-trust me I almost cried writing it (it took a LOT of strength not to), but it will be very, very important later. Read the first chapter again, then think of a certain character's reaction upon seeing this…and you might understand why I had that part in there. There are some things that have been bottled in that need to come out. I would explain more, but since this response is a footnote for a chapter, I am hesitant to divulge too many spoilers here, in case some readers wish to not be spoiled (I may have already included too much).
A response to SMCB: Thank you, and I am glad you believe me :) I will try to get the next update out to you as soon as I can, but I do have some important tasks at home to do as well, so it might not be for a couple days. As for finding out when it's relevant, I do plan on switching perspectives between Kili/Cira and the company, so the relevancy of this may not come for another couple of chapters. But I hope you won't be kept guessing too long :)
A response to guest reviewer Horsey: I am glad you are liking it! I can resist, because in story time it's only been about 3 weeks since her family has died. Love doesn't happen quickly in the real world (lust maybe, but there really is no such thing as love at first sight), especially if someone is grieving. I am very happily married and have been for 5.5 years, and we got married 11 months to the day after we met- and people said that was way too fast. So I cannot imagine it happening in a story and being believable or realistic. Besides, we made the choice (based on past events/trauma) to not kiss before we said our marriage vows, and we were able to wait-and it was totally worth it. So it is entirely possible, if both people are on the same page (and if they're not, they probably shouldn't be getting married til they are ;) They are finally going to have a moment, but it won't be for a LONG while…But there will definitely be that tension there for sure. As for Fili-yes, it is absolutely heartbreaking-if I made readers feel that too, then I feel that I have done my job ;) Hopefully the time spent building up towards the reunion will make it that much more intense-and you aren't far off ;) I know people are chomping at the bit, as it were, to get the reunion here. But the separation is crucial to the plot and to character moments- I really want Fili to sink to the lowest point in his life, and I want Kili to rise up to the prince he was born to be, and start truly finding his own way, independent of Thorin or Fili's ideas. So I ask my readers to please bear with me…because it's definitely for a reason :D Thank you for the writing skill comment- I know I have typos here and there (courtesy of my 19 month old, who tries to "help" or climb into my lap while I type ;P but I am glad you enjoy it!
Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- seriously you guys are so amazing! :)