Chapter 19: Remember Thorin Oakenshield
The battle below them was fierce, so much so that Linshara felt every death on that field keenly. This required her to wall herself up mentally to be able to focus at the task before her. Thorin needed to be freed from the Sith's grasp, Erebor had to join the battle.
The dwarves had been shocked when Thorin ordered the stand down instead the battle. Rage, shock, disbelief and a tiny amount of relief coursed through her staunch friends. Now all of them, bar Thorin and Dwalin sat in the main armoury, waiting.
Kili paced restlessly, picking fights which Nori picked up with ease. Gloin and Dori were at eachother's throats whereas the others, bar Fili, Oin and Bofur cheered them on or tried to pull them apart.
Linshara sat on her knees at the other end of the room, seemingly meditating. She was focusing her mind and her mastery of the Force onto her task, task she would engage in once Dwalin returned.
"Lass, can't ye 'elp?" Bofur whispered to her as he stepped over.
The blonde opened her eyes slowly and looked over at the funny hatted dwarf, "have faith, my friend." She smiled.
He didn't, she could feel it but true to himself he smiled and nodded, ambling away. Before she could refocus she could feel Fili's concerned presence next to her. He mimicked her posture and tried to say something.
She looked over at him slowly, her green eyes softening as she caught the expression of his face. While serious, his eyes were soft, concerned, loving.
Lightly, he took one of her hands into his and squeezed gently. That act alone made her realize she had to explain.
"I feel everything that's going on outside, every death, every injury, the fear, the anger, the hate. It is hard to focus unless I detach myself." She whispered to him. "I will go see Thorin once Dwalin returns, do what I must do."
He put his other hand over their clasped ones and squeezed firmly, nodding. "Is there anything you want me to do?"
"Keep everyone here," Linshara replied in the same, hushed tones, "if I should fail, be ready to lead your people and join the battle."
A tight squeeze of her hand, "I will be ready." He whispered solemnly.
Linshara could feel his reluctance but also resolution. He was concerned they would not make it out if this battle alive should they go, but also determined to try. In a manner she'd come to understand was very dwarvish, he was concerned for her as well, as his kind was very protective of women, and he unabashedly considered her HIS woman.
"And the Sith?" He queried again.
Linshara sighed, "he is close, he is gripping and Thorin. The mountain somewhat shields him, but when he is at the gate he is vulnerable. If I manage to break Thorin from his grasp, he will be even more dangerous. A confrontation between us is inevitable until only one of us remains standing."
She knew in her heart her words were very dark, a very dangerous path to even consider, but there was no other choice, she knew. She had to eliminate him or he would ally himself with the great evil of this world and he would be all but unstoppable.
"Linshara," he leaned in closer, she could feel the full heat of him now and dearly wished they were alone, "I am not foolish enough to fervently believe that we will survive this. However, should we do so, will you consider becoming part of my family? Part of the Durin line? I know our courtship is barely in its infancy but I have come to know you since and I would consider no other even close to worthy."
She looked over at him, her mental defences softening, as did her face. Green eyes locked on blue and she leaned closer to him, leaning her forehead against his. "I would be honored to, Fili. I would have no other."
He pulled back palming her cheek with one gloved hand gently. Leaning in he kissed her softly, pouring in what emotion he could into it. Linshara leaned into the kiss, echoing the motion and sentiment, to show him she loved him back equally.
Leaning their foreheads together as they pulled back, they heard Dwalin stomp in, cursing everything and everyone there was to be cursed. His talk with Thorin hadn't gone well.
Linshara and Fili embraced each other tightly before they both stood up and nodded to each other. She threw her barriers up again as she watched Fili walk over to the other dwarves, gathering them around him. Quietly, she slipped out of the armoury and headed to find Thorin.
Once outside the armoury, she stopped for a moment, reaching out with her senses. Her mind scanned every room, every crevice, eventually homing onto the large source of the Dark Side. A brief image flashed in her mind, Thorin, dressed in his majestic heavy, intricately designed armour, crown on his head, royal cape on his shoulders, walking over a river...no, a floor of gold. Blinking the image away, she headed in the direction which she detected him in.
It took her a few moments to arrive to the long room, full of pillars on each side. Linshara knew the room from her vision. The floor was indeed made of gold, or just filled with it, she wasn't sure. At the far end of it Thorin paced, muttering to himself, something about how Dwalin and all of them were wrong.
"Thorin!" Linshara walked to him resolutely, calling upon the Force.
He turned to her, waving his hand at her in a dismissive manner, "be gone from my sight, witch!"
She ignored his command, stepping closer. Stopping about two meters from him, she extended her arm towards him, just as he was about to lash out at her for ignoring his order. As he was about to grab at her with his gauntleted hand, she released her barrier and grabbed at him through the Force, lifting him up in the air, motionless.
His struggle was in vain as she kept him locked in that position. "Re...lease me, witch!"
Her tone seemed dual toned as she spoke. "No. It is time we set you free, Thorin Oakenshield."
"I...am...king! Set...me….down." He gasped.
Closing her eyes, Linshara took a deep breath. As her eyes opened again, they were glowing a bright gold light, "not until I find you!"
Focusing her mind she bore into his own violently, smashing through the layers of haze, confusion and confounding. Her whole body began to glow a soft gold as they stood like that, motionless.
*Inside Thorin's Mind*
At first she saw only smudges of gray, black and off white as the image slowly formed in front of her. Slowly, they formed into familiar halls and pathways. Only they were fully built and erect, bustling with life. There was Thorin, his hair raven black, beard long down to his waist. It was clear that she was looking at a memory. The young Thorin was talking to an older dwarf, who was similar in look and stature but more wide and square built.
"Thrain?" She murmured to herself.
Suddenly two hands grasped at her wrists and spun her around, pinning her against the nearest pillar. She realized they were in the hall with the golden floor, only in the past, probably before the Desolation of Smaug, by her guess. What stared at her was a harrowed, dirty, angry version of the Thorin she knew glaring and growling at her.
"Get out of my head, you fell abomination!" He pressed her back against the pillar heavily.
Fili was strong and built like a brick, but Thorin was the proverbial mountain.
"Thorin, the Sith is controlling you. The gold has been infused with the Dark Side of the Force. It is feeding off of your anger and your sorrow. Your susceptibility to the Gold Sickness. This isn't you." She poked calmly, not wanting to use the Force to push him away from herself.
"Do not tell me what I am…" he snarled, his breath tickling her face. "What's the matter, little Jedi? Cannot control me like you control my nephew?"
Linshara stared into his once clear blue eyes, "I do not control Fili, nor have I ever. But your past is controlling you! How long have you been stuck in this image?"
He seemed to falter a little, "do not…"
"What happens after this?" She pressed.
His jaw tightened, he was gnashing his teeth together. She felt unnaturally warm all of a sudden, not just herself but the air around them.
She searched his face and found it contorting in pain, he was fighting. "The dragon comes after this, doesn't he?"
A gauntleted hand grasped around her throat. "Stop…."
"It's the last fond memory you have of this place?" Linshara continued to push.
The hand on her throat tightened. "I commanded you to stop."
"No, I will not. Even if the Sith wasn't pulling your strings this is not a healthy way to live!" She countered, grabbing his hand at her throat and slowly removing it, twisting it aside.
"It is the only happy memory, I have! You cannot steal it from me!" He growled and grasped with his other hand at the hand that twisted his.
She grabbed his other hand with hers and twisted it too, "that is not true and you know it! You had a good life in Ered Luin! Remember the happiness you felt when Fili and Kili were born! When Dis married Vili."
He faltered, "no…"
Linshara pressed, digging deeper into his mind, for that sliver of a memory of Ered Luin, forcing it to resurface. He fought her, using his heavily armoured leg to push at her midsection and kick her away, but it was too late. She had caught the edge of the memory and pressed it forward in his mind.
"Noooooo!" He howled as he fell to the floor, hands grasping at his head.
Recovering from the kick, Linshara slowly stood up, her mind forcing her way deeper into his. "Remember Ered Luin! Remember Dis, Vili, Fili and Kili! Remember your days with Dwalin, your brother in all but blood, remember Balin, ever your friend and advisor! Remember!"
The image around them began changing, slowly, with no small amount of difficulty. He both wanted to remember and didn't. Linshara knew it was Ruun's influence, try to hold onto the dwarf king, so she pressed harder, pushing the memory forward.
At first an image of a mountain range, filled with greenery, with forests and dales, nooks and crannies teeming with life and joy, shallow rivers and rivulets, deep lakes and snow covered peaks. Linshara pushed it further towards the Dwarven stronghold, its architecture quite different yet not entirely dissimilar to Erebor's. There was a young dwarven woman, with light, black, braided beard on the side and under her jaw with two young dwarflings. The slightly older one had golden blonde hair and was practicing braiding the female's hair, while the other, younger and dark haired stood a little to the side with a young looking Thorin. He was teaching the young dwarf how to aim his bow and knock the arrows properly.
Linshara couldn't help a smile at the young Fili and Kili, they were quite adorable as youngsters. Some of her fondness must have rubbed off on Thorin who was no longer rolling on the floor grasping at his head. He was slowly coming to and watching the scene unfold.
"Look at them, they are so happy. Kili is almost beaming with joy at his uncle teaching him archery." Linshara spoke softly.
Slowly Thorin stood up, his eyes glued to the scene, "it was the day I finally relented and agreed to teach him. The little bugger had been at my back about it for months."
Looking over she could feel Thorin's eyes soften. The dark was a little lessened, she could feel it. Now to amp up the memories. It seemed his fondest, post Desolation were those of his nephews.
"Show me Fili, I know you watched him train with Dwalin." She pressed, waiting to tether the memory when it appeared.
The image started to change, but it couldn't fully form. Ruun was interfering again. Linshara grabbed Thorin's hand. "Remember! Remember Thorin Oakenshield, the loving uncle, the protector, the friend, the advisor."
There it was, the sliver of a memory surfacing, she closed her eyes momentarily, to help the image reform.
There was Fili, slightly older than in the previous image. His hair was longer, braided in much the same fashion as it was today, his moustache and beard only starting to grow. He was bare chested, glistening with sweat as he sparred with Dwalin. Even at that age, Fili was a smart, tactical combatant as he dodged and parried the larger dwarf with gusto.
To the side, Thorin sat on a stone bench, throwing out instructions every so often, puffing on his long pipe.
There were tears on Thorin's face now as he stood beside her reliving his memory. She could feel the love in his heart he held for his eldest nephew, the admiration and friendship for Dwalin. Dwalin was the brother he got, while losing his own brother Frerin and brother-in-law Vili. He felt remorseful and happy at the same time.
"You are not your grandfather, Thorin. Yes, you are susceptible, that cannot be helped, but you are not them, you are stronger than that. You have had a good life in Ered Luin despite of the hardship. You cannot forget all the good that you did, Thorin. The good inside you that is still there, I can feel it." She placed a hand on his shoulder.
He looked at her, conflict clearly written on his face. "I cannot forget what Smaug did to my people, what Thranduil did NOT do for my people in our hour of need."
"Noone is saying you should forget, but you should not let it control you, you should not live in a past long gone, you are better than this. Your Company, your nephews, your people deserve better from you!" Linshara continued emphatically.
He grasped at his head, grunting, "but the gold...all that wealth, Linshara…"
She smiled slightly at the sound her name, she was no longer a witch. This was a good sign.
"All that gold is not worth the lives of your people. It was not worth when the dragon came, it is not worth now. War is upon you, the forces of evil are outside right at this moment, taking the lives of your kind, the elves and the humans. And you are here like a coward shored up in your mountain, while lives are lost. There will nobody to blame but yourself this time, should they fall." Linshara rounded him so she could face him fully, her hands on his, slowly removing them from his head.
"I know how you had to drag your grandfather from the gold when the dragon was destroying everything. You yourself had to drag him away from the very thing that is keeping you locked up in this mountain now. Remember!" Linshara urged.
He looked down at his hands, her own still on his wrists. "I could not believe he would choose gold over his people…" he murmured softly.
The hold on him was almost gone.
"Yet you are doing the same now…" Linshara responded in kind.
Suddenly, he looked up at her, ferocity and determination growing in his eyes, in his features. "No! I am not my grandfather! I will not sit idly by while my people are slaughtered. Durin's people do not flee from a fight!"
Thorin Oakenshield rose to his full height, the majesty she saw in him returned.
"I will be a proper king to my people, I will not fail them, not for all the gold, not anymore!" He spoke as much to himself, as he did to her, looking at her with newfound reverence.
Linshara smiled, nodding resolutely at him.
"I am not my grandfather!" He stated.
"If you feel your resolve slip, Thorin, remember the good in your life, remember the people who need you, your company, your kin, your nephews. Remember Thorin Oakenshield." Linshara stepped over to him, placing her hands on his shoulders.
"Thank you, Linshara." He spoke softly as he embraced her, tightly, "forgive me for all my wrongdoings towards you."
"All is forgiven, Thorin. Now let's get back out there. You have a people to lead, I have a Sith to deal with." She pulled back slightly, looking at a free dwarf, smiling.
He nodded resolutely. Linshara closed her eyes and focused, pulling out of his mind, images around her hazy and fading.
*Back in the Hall*
Linshara dropped to her knees, and Thorin fell to the floor with a loud thud. Both were gasping for air trying to regain their senses. The trip into Thorin's mind gave her new insight both into the King Under The Mountain and her future husband and his brother. Something she looked forward to exploring once this was done.
Finally, both coming about, they looked at each other, Linshara on one knee, Thorin still on the ground about a meter from her. As they caught each other's eyes, he nodded at her slowly and she nodded back. Slowly she rose to her feet, looked at him briefly then turned and left the room. He was asking for a moment to compose himself before going back out and she would give it to him.
She returned to Fili and the others quickly. As he saw her Fili looked at her expectantly at which she nodded with a small smile. He answered with one in kind.
And they waited….