Life is Precious

AN: It's a rather short one, yes, but there's an important dynamical shift in it. I'll explain my reasoning for it down below for anyone wondering why I did it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hobbit or Lord of the Rings.

Chapter Twelve:

It was dark when she awoke. So dark, in fact, that she couldn't even see her hand in front of her face. The warm scales behind her were the only thing that prevented her from panicking too much since she knew she was still with Smaug and not blindfolded in an orc camp or something. Still, after a few minutes, her vision had yet to adjust to the darkness, and she briefly worried that she'd gone blind somehow.

There was no sound to be heard save for the rumble of the dragon's steady breathing. The smell of smoke was faint in the air, and it became more prominent in time with Smaug's exhales. Based on that and where the sound was coming from, she reasoned that the dragon's head must be a mere few feet in front of her.

As she tried to make out its outline in the ever-penetrating darkness, she spied a sliver of faint, silver moonlight above her. It being night would explain things, she supposed. And she remembered that Smaug had covered her with his wing as he had during their expedition to find her father.

The thought of that trip—and of her father—had her grieving anew. Her whole family was dead, and she was now stuck on some forsaken mountain in the middle of a cursed, orc-ridden forest. Her only company now was the dragon who'd completely upended her normal life in Edoras. Because he'd barged in her life with little explanation, everything and everyone she once knew was gone.

She wanted to hate him. She wanted to blame him for everything and force him to tell her why. Why had she been chosen by him, or by the wizard, or by fate if that was the culprit? It didn't make sense! She was just some random girl who'd never once been outside of the city until the day she felt the pull to the mountains and found the dragon waiting for her. It would be so much easier to just hate him.

But she couldn't.

Maybe it was all a trick, which she wouldn't put past him, but his words stuck in her mind. This wasn't something he'd chosen, either. And he was a victim, too. This bond, whatever it was, meant he was as stuck with her as she was with him.. And she didn't want to just force him to do whatever she wanted because, as he had once pointed out, she hadn't wanted to be forced into marriage.

Neither of them wanted to be here, yet here is where they were. Just as he'd torn her away from her family and her home, she was preventing him from taking back 'his' mountain and gold. Both of them were miserable. Both of them had lost everything they once had. And the only thing either of them had now was each other...as strange as it was to think about.

It was easy to see why she would need to depend on the dragon. She had no way to defend herself or survive out here on her own. She didn't know how to hunt or fight or do anything like that. Smaug could provide her with food and protection. It was less clear, however, what she could do for him.

Maybe there wasn't anything. Maybe she was nothing but a burden to him. That was the only thing she could figure to be true, for what else could she do for him, a dragon, that he could not do himself? She knew there had to be something because she couldn't—wouldn't—accept being a burden. Did it have something to do with their bond, perhaps? Maybe it had something to do with his 'reasons'.

The temptation to make him tell her rose and was quickly squashed again.

If all either of them had was the other, then they needed to be able to trust each other. Or at the very least be able to live with each other without constantly detesting the other's very existence.

Seeing him kill a troll so easily after taking a hurled boulder to the face made her a bit hesitant to always being on his bad side. She knew he couldn't kill her, of course. Their bond prevented that somehow. He could still make her life miserable in more ways than one, though.

And here, with her ear against his chest listening to his powerful heartbeat and with his wing protecting her from the world and its many monsters, she actually did feel safe. It was strange, almost concerning to associate a dragon with safety. If anyone else found out about it, they'd think her mad, at best, or a witch, at worst.

Maybe she was mad. Maybe this whole thing was some hallucination or fever dream. Maybe she'd wake up from this nightmare and suddenly be back home with her family.

But that was a mere delusion. She knew the truth, and it was all around her as much as she wished it wasn't.

"Must you cry so loudly?" The sudden question made her gasp in surprise. Her eyes opened—she didn't remember when they closed again—and her vision was watery. Smaug's single, fiery eye produced light enough to see the small world within his wings. As she had deduced, his head was mere feet from where she rested, and it took up almost her entire vision from how close, and big, it was. "It is not only annoying, but also potentially dangerous. You don't wish to attract unwanted attention, do you?"

"Have a heart, Smaug," she snapped, her tone bitter. "I just lost my family, so I'm sorry that my loud mourning is keeping you from your beauty sleep." And what was that she just said about staying on his good side?

He growled lowly, the fire in his eye blazing even brighter for a second. "You don't need them anymore. They are gone, and I am here. Accept it, as I have accepted you as my charge."

Earyth scoffed. A moment's shock at his harsh words turned to grim understanding. "Of course...how foolish of me to expect a dragon to show empathy."

He huffed, smoke coming out of his nostrils. "I have already vowed to protect you. Is that not enough?" He growled again, a sign of his rising anger. "Do you expect me to coddle you? Tell you that everything is alright and whisper sweet nothings in your ear?" He huffed again, this time in clear derision. "I am no human. Do not expect me to act as one."

"Then don't expect me to act like a dragon!" she shot back. When he remained quiet, she took it as a sign that maybe he was thinking about the double standard he was expecting of her. "Losing loved ones hurts, okay? For the vast majority of us, family means a whole lot more than gold and jewels. They are our treasures...and I just lost all of mine..."

As she trailed off, he made a sort of rumbly noise. "An apt analogy," he admitted, albeit begrudgingly.

She nodded, and then chose that moment to offer a deal with the great dragon. "Listen...you don't want to act like a human, and I'm not going to act like a dragon. Neither of us are going to change how we act, but if we're going to be stuck with each other, maybe we should try to understand each other a bit more."

He snorted again, and Earyth got the sense he would've rolled his eyes then if he had been a human. "And after dismissing my ability to provide empathy, as well..." His gaze hardened. "I do not wish to understand you, human, and you do not need to understand me. You simply need to listen and obey."

Her expression darkened considerably as she stood. His pupil moved to track her movements in an almost predatory fashion. "No, you listen. I may not know how to survive out here, and I may need to rely on you for that reason, but you aren't in charge here. I'm the one that can order you around, and I can make our life here as pleasant or as miserable as you want. The former, however, requires some understanding and patience!"

This time, he growled louder than before. "Then force me to comply."

"Is that what you want!?" she demanded, completely unconcerned with volume at this point. "Do you want me to force you to do things you don't want to do!? Are you—" At that moment, she remembered something from her own internal monologue before he'd awoken. "You need a reason to hate me..."

The utterance that accompanied that realization was soon overshadowed by the utter fury radiating from Smaug. His wing retracted to reveal the starry night sky and let in the cold mountain air. His head rose, so he could glare down at her imperiously as he also bared his teeth at her. He didn't speak, but Earyth knew she was. This intimidation display was all an act because he knew she was right...and he didn't like it. Otherwise, he would've said something.

Despite what he was, or maybe because of it, it was becoming quite easy to read him. "I'm right, aren't I? You feel it would be easier to hate me if I acted the way you expect me to. Since I haven't, and I'm trying to be understanding, it's harder for you to understand what you feel."

"Be silent!" he hissed.

"Don't bother denying it, Smaug. I can see right through you." She paused and shook her head. "And it might surprise you to know we're more similar than either of us would admit. You see, I've been trying to find a reason to hate you, too. But what you said about being a victim just like me made me realize that we've both lost a lot. And neither of us want to be here, but we are."

Though she was trying to be as understanding and reasonable as possible, Smaug seemed to be growing angrier and angrier. "You want a reason to hate me?" he spat. "I used my dragon spell on your father the day we rescued him. Using it, I imprinted an idea into his head that you would never be safe, that there would always be someone waiting to take you away from him. I made your father go mad!"

Silence.

After Smaug's declaration, there was absolutely no sound to be heard save for the wind and the rustling brush. For her part, Earyth was trying to figure out if he was telling the truth or if he was merely saying that to get a rise out of her. He wanted a reason to hate her, right? That meant her punishing him for what he did, which is exactly what she would do if what he said was true. There was no forgiving that.

"I told you there would be consequences for daring to order me around," he snarled. "For your transgressions against me, I took away that which you held most dear. Do you—"

"Be quiet!" she yelled. He was silent within an instant. She was shaking with rage as she came to realize that, yes, he was telling the truth. He had been responsible for driving her father mad.

But he wanted her to punish him. He needed a reason to hate and resent her, but she wasn't about to give him the satisfaction. Oh, the temptation to make him do something utterly terrible was there. All it took was a single sentence, and she could force him to break his own wing, thereby stripping him of the freedom of flight.

But that's what he wanted. Instead of doing that, however, she stalked silently into the cave. All the while, she could feel his intense gaze on her, though he still couldn't talk because of her lingering order. The moonlight provided enough light to see the first few feet inside, but as it turned out, that's all she needed.

Upon the ground lay an orcish dagger that had remained mostly unscathed from the earlier firestorm. She picked it up. Weapon in hand, she turned back and made her way back to the dragon, intent on teaching him lesson he wouldn't soon forget.

Her glare matched his, never once did her gaze waver from his fiery one. "Lay on your right side." With no choice but to obey, he did so. With him still watching her, more warily now that she was forcing him to do things, she showed him the dagger. He growled, still trying to intimidate her into stopping, but she wasn't about to.

He wanted her to act more like a dragon? Fine. She was about to show him just who was in charge here. She approached the missing scale, his growl growing louder the closer she came, but as soon as the tip touched his bare skin, he went completely still. No longer was he trying to intimidate her. She could see the tenseness in his muscles as he tried, and failed, to fight the order forcing him to stay on the ground. Likewise, his eyes no longer held anger or hatred. Now, the only thing she saw within them was fear.

"Now, you listen to me, and you listen good. You took away the one thing in the world I care most about, so there's nothing left for me in this world. If I were to die right now, there'd be no one to mourn me. I have the power and the will to kill you, dragon." To emphasize her point, she pushed the tip of the dagger harder against his skin until he hissed in both fear and discomfort, likely because she'd drawn blood. "If you give me any further reason to, I will kill you. You are not in charge here. I am. I am the alpha here. Hate me, fear me, respect me...it matters not. All it want from you is your obedience. Do you understand?" He nodded, but she wasn't satisfied again. "Speak up!"

"I understand," he quietly rumbled. His voice was remarkably steady for how fearful he appeared to be. She pressed the dagger even harder into his skin, making him shut his eyes with a hiss. Blood was beginning to flow freely from the wound. It was uncomfortably hot against her hand, almost scalding, but her expression and gaze remained resolute. "I understand!" he repeated, much louder. She pressed it deeper, and he actually whimpered. "I am at your command, master!"

Master?

The very word made her extremely uncomfortable despite her justified anger, especially since it was in reference to her. It's not the result she'd intended, but she'd go along with it.

With her new title given and his obedience secured, for now, she removed the dagger, angling it up to cut a larger gash than necessary. His pained roar echoed across the mountains. It was clear that until now he'd constantly looked down upon her. Maybe now he would realize her spirit wasn't so easily crushed. "This is by your choice!" she spat once he'd gone quiet again. "I was willing to live together as equals! Partners! But since you clearly wanted to break my spirit until I allowed you to be in charge, take this as a reminder that your life belongs to me! And not the other way around!"

For the first time since they'd first met, Smaug averted his gaze first. There was no angered snarl, no biting insult. Instead, he merely answered in a flat, dead tone. "I understand."

She narrowed her gaze at him, and her tone was as sharp as the dagger's blade when she spoke. "I understand, what?"

Again, there was no frustrated growl. He merely gave a flat answer. "I understand, master." It was odd, and a bit unnerving, to see the normally fierce dragon so timid. Gone was the cunning and fiery pride from his gaze. This incident had apparently made him realize how thin the ice he trod upon was.

"Good." She nodded her approval before saying her piece. "You will address me as such until I say otherwise. Prove to me I didn't make a mistake in letting you live, and I might be swayed into letting you further off your leash." She let the silence reign for several seconds before giving him leave to get up. "You may get back up, now. Tend to your wound if you wish."

He was on his feet and all but running into the cave in an instant. Now that he was gone, she glanced at the dagger with a sigh. She regretted having to do that, but it was probably the only way he was going to learn not to cross her. Still, she'd go a bit easy with the whole 'master' thing. Maybe in a week or two, she'd let him address her by name again.

AN: Perhaps it's a bit OOC to have Smaug submit like that, but my reasoning is thus: His brush with death months earlier after Laketown has made him fear death even more. Despite him being a dragon, that encounter has left a mark upon him, in more ways than one. Not only does he carry a permanent physical scare of his near-death experience, he also knows that he actually can be killed. There's little draconic arrogance and pride can do to sway him otherwise when he carries a scar the proves it wrong.

Upon realizing he had grossly underestimated what Earyth was capable and willing to do, he swallowed that pride. Does that mean he'll act like an obedient pet forever? Of course not. But he is cowed for the moment. And next chapter, we'll get to see what he thinks of this incident.

Until Next Time

AdmiralCole22