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
"Gandalf? H-how are we going to get down from here?" Bilbo asked, turning to face the wizard even though he was still slightly nauseous. Gandalf sighed, glancing at the badly injured Fili and the less injured but still hurt Thorin hovering over his nephew with a shocked look on his face.
"There are steps," he began, causing twelve pairs of eyes to turn towards him, questioning in their gazes. The wizard frowned as he noticed Fili completely ignore the goings on around him, the young heir's gaze fixed on something indiscernible in the distance.
"Natural steps?" Bofur asked, peering over the ledge at the spiraling giant steps down below. "If they are, they're mighty even for something formed by wind and rain."
The wizard shook his head.
"They were carved some time ago," he replied vaguely. "By the same person who named this pillar of rock the Carrock."
"How are we going to get the lad down to the bottom without hurting him further?" Balin asked, turning towards his brother. The burly dwarf sighed.
"We're going to have to carry him down," Dwalin muttered, "Unless he can walk on his own two—"
"No." Dwalin and Balin turned toward Oin, who was currently sporting his flattened ear trumpet. The healer shook his head. "He has lost too much blood. He will need to be carried down."
Thorin nodded, rising to his feet a bit shakily as he took a deep breath, before turning toward the group.
"Dwalin and Dori- you carry him down."
XXX
Dori jumped down to the next level after passing Fili down to Dwalin, the youth seemingly not caring that he was descending this tower of stone like a feedsack rather than an heir of Durin's line. He had been as gentle as he possibly could, but it did not keep him from being very nervous about being charged with this responsibility.
Yes, he was the strongest dwarf in the company. Few could tell by outward appearance, but Dori was even stronger than Dwalin, a fact he had reluctantly proven on a few occasions. But that did not mean that Dori wished to incur Thorin's wrath when it came to the well-being of his sole remaining nephew. Thorin's order had been very matter of fact, yet the glowing embers in his eyes and the tone of his voice left little doubt to the hidden meaning behind his words.
You drop him, and I WILL kill you.
So Dori had been as gentle as he possibly could, but the exertion of the past two hours had taken its toll on even his own hardy body, and beads of sweat poured off his brow. Wiping his forehead with the back of his sleeve, a task he normally thought to be rude and uncouth, he looked around at the exhausted company.
Behind him, Bombur huffed like a giant bellows, bending over and resting his hands on his knees. Gloin cursed as he landed in a heap next to the pair, it being his third time doing so during the course of his descent. His axe clattered to the ground again, ringing loudly.
"Gandalf, whoever made these steps must have been a giant!" Bofur cried as he placed his hat back on his head, the former having fallen during his last jump.
"Maybe it was the stone giants we saw in the mountains," Bilbo muttered, brushing the loose pebbles out of his skinned knee. "Though that doesn't explain why this rock was carved like a bear of all things."
XXX
Gandalf cast a sidelong glance at the hobbit, noting that, while hobbits usually were perceptive, this seemed to be a bit odd for Bilbo. He had seen how green the hobbit was after his descent with the eagles, and was rather surprised that Bilbo had still manage to notice the shape of the Carrock's peak even when hobbits normally despised heights.
There is something strange at work here, the wizard thought to himself. Bilbo has changed. I knew he would, but it happened far more quickly than I thought.
His mind was quickly taken off his ponderings by a relieved shout from Ori down below.
"I think we're at the bottom!"
XXX
The midday sun shone brightly above on an utterly exhausted and sweaty company.
Fili had been laid down gently in the green grass near the edge of the Anduin so Oin could check on his securely strapped arm. The large river ran sparkling down either side of the base of the Carrock, it's cool, clear water a welcome relief from freezing cold snowmelt.
Bilbo eyed the river with no small degree of longing. His clothes were covered in dirt, sweat, orc and warg blood, and he smelled far worse than he looked, in his opinion. The sun rising higher in the sky was far warmer than it had been in weeks, and as the hobbit glanced back toward the Misty Mountains, he was fully aware of why.
It had been the day after Midyear's day when they had left Rivendell and begun to climb the tall peaks. It was now nearly 3 weeks since, and summer was in full swing in the vale of the Anduin. The tall hobbit shook his head in wonder as he gazed upon the bright green leaves of the trees, and the bright blossoms of lupine in a meadow across the river. The birds chirped their cheery song, oblivious to the grief still present in the hearts of the company.
As he remembered Kili and Cirashala's deaths, the day suddenly seemed a bit less bright to Bilbo.
Why is it the young die before their time? He thought to himself sadly. First mother, then Cirashala's family, then young Kili and Cirashala. Must life be so cruel?
Looking at the blue river ahead of him, the hobbit suddenly had an image enter his mind of Fili and Kili laughing as they splashed and dunked each other in the cool water, laughing uproariously.
It had been on the edge of the Brandywine river. The company had stopped for the night, and Fili and Kili had been sent off to fetch water for their supper in the late dusk. They dawdled far longer than they usually did, and Bilbo noticed Thorin had begun to grow a bit uneasy.
When Thorin, Bilbo, and Dwalin had gone back to the river to see if the lads had run into trouble, they met a most unusual sight. Kili was standing on the edge of the bank, laughing uproariously as Fili stood waist high in the water, scowling and soaking wet.
"You could always help me!" he cried, glaring daggers at his younger brother, who by now was laughing too hard to speak.
"What is going on here?!" Thorin bellowed, causing Kili's chortles to cease immediately. Gulping, he stood up, before gesturing out toward his elder brother.
"Erm, Fili and I saw some fish, and…well, you see, we forgot some hooks and string in our packs, so Fili decided to try and catch one with his hands," Kili began. Though he was trying to be serious, the younger dwarf was visibly holding his laughter in.
"Why is your brother standing in the river glaring at you, rather than the two of you finishing the task I assigned you?" Thorin asked sternly. Kili gulped, before letting out a nervous laugh.
"Well, uncle….you see….uh, there was a bit of…mud…in the bottom of the river, and…well…." He faltered, the corners of his lips twitching slightly.
"MY BOOT IS STUCK IN THE MUD!" Fili bellowed out from the water, spitting the water out of his mouth as he resurfaced from trying to tug it out again. "This water is FREEZING, and that little hobgoblin there—" he pointed at Kili "Was too busy laughing to bother helping me get it out!"
"He got one out by himself," Kili protested, pointing at him. "It's the OTHER one that caused him to fall on his arse in the water and scare the fish away!"
Thorin sighed loudly, rubbing his hand over his forehead, before glaring at Kili. The younger shrunk in a bit at the chilling gaze, and suddenly found his boot to be very interesting.
"Since you find this so amusing, YOU get in there and help him get his boot out," Thorin growled. "And then you will relieve Gloin and Oin in looking after the ponies after we return to camp." Kili sighed, shoulders slumping.
Looking toward the water with a bit of chagrin, he removed his weapons and his coat, before stepping into the chilly water, hissing as the cold hit him. Reaching Fili, the two brothers attempted to work together to pull the errant boot out of the bottom of the riverbed.
Bilbo watched as they pulled hard, twice, to no avail. Kili then proceeded to move behind Fili, and wrap his arms around his elder brother's torso, and pull. Two more heaves, and they still had no luck. But on the third tug, Fili's boot came flying out of the water as the two heirs landed in the water with a huge splash. The boot itself flew off Fili's foot, spiraling through the air….
And landed right smack on top of Thorin's head, dousing the dwarf king in water and sludge. A shout emanated from the elder dwarf, and the pair had stood up in shock, along with the wide eyed hobbit. Sludge dripped down Thorin's face, and the glare he sent the lads would have made Smaug turn to dust.
Suddenly, a snort sounded to Bilbo's left, and he looked wide eyed at Dwalin, whose face was rapidly turning crimson with suppressed laughter. Tears were pricking his eyes and sliding down his cheeks, and his snorts were getting less and less muffled behind his giant hand. Within three seconds of looking at him, the two young lads burst out laughing, heedless of the consequences.
Their laughter was enough to cause Dwalin to be unable to hold his laughter in any longer, and within seconds every dwarf present save Thorin was in tears and holding their sides. Bilbo looked around at the dwarves, wondering for the umpteenth time if Gandalf had indeed sought to place him with a bunch of lunatics.
The images of the lads' laughter, Dwalin snorting, and Thorin covered in sludge brought a sad smile to the hobbit's face.
"Who suffers more?" The hobbit asked himself as he glanced at Fili, the stone cold gaze staring straight ahead, the only indication of his inner pain and turmoil present in the grief filled orbs. "Is it the ones who die, or the ones who are left behind?"
Turning back to the water, the hobbit smiled slightly, thinking of what Kili would have done in their situation. And he suddenly had an idea…
Thirteen pairs of eyes looked up in utter shock and bewilderment as the normally prim and proper gentlehobbit ran straight into the water with a loud splash, naked as the day he was born.