The Gathering Storm. The Hobbit fanfic. A Thorin Oakenshield love story.

Chapter 85: The Exhausted Little She-Elf.

About a week had passed since Smaug had wreaked havoc on Laketown and had been by some miracle killed, and Thorin had been down in that make shift treasure room almost ever since. He wouldn't give up until he found the Arkenstone and he would barely let himself rest. He hardly slept a wink, maybe getting only a few hours every night, and he'd only eat enough to give himself enough energy to keep on going.

Taryn was beyond worried about her husband, as she watched him succumb to the madness that was filling his mind. She didn't want him alone in that treasure room, but she could barely watch him searching around and muttering to himself. She tried her best to get him to stop, to rest, and to eat more but it was useless. He wouldn't listen to her, he just pushed her way, as all he could think about was the Arkenstone.

It was breaking her heart to not only see her husband like this, in this terrible state of mind, but to also feel him push her away and hear him say things to her that scared her. But still, she wouldn't give up on him and continued to try her best to break through to him.

If anyone looked at Taryn right now, they'd say that she was definitely in worse shape than her husband. Not only could they see the heartbreak she was experiencing written all over her face and in her pale blue eyes, but they could also see the worry in her eyes and the physical effects that Thorin's current state was doing to her. Everyone could notice the dark circles forming under her eyes, her pale blue eyes looked almost dull. The heaviness of how exhausted she she truly was showed all over her face.

Taryn was restless, constantly worrying about Thorin and what all of the gold and other treasure was doing to him. She would barely eat anything, and she didn't want to leave Thorin alone. She wouldn't let herself rest, as she tried to look over him and help him. She felt hopeless and drained, as she thought nothing would break him out of his current state. She was only getting worse with every day that passed, and the company were beginning to worry about the little She-Elf and her unborn child that she was carrying.

As an Elf she put so much of her own strength into the developing baby, which made her weaker already. But, since she was hardly eating or resting she couldn't possibly keep her strength up for the two of them and was becoming weaker and weaker as time worn on. Balin and Dwalin had cleaned her old bed chamber for her, they were trying their best to get her to rest but she didn't want to leave Thorin's side.

The whole company was worried and would bring her food around the clock. Practically forcing her to eat and drink what little they could. No one was sure how long she could keep this up and with Óin still away with the other three dwarves who stayed back in Laketown, they didn't even have their medical expert to help them. They knew Elves were different when it came to ways they could die since they were immortal, but one thing was for sure eventually they could die if they didn't rest their mind enough or didn't eat enough food. She was almost starving herself and either she would lose their baby, or they'd both end up dying.

Bilbo never left her side, as he was so worried about his new friend. He didn't know what he could possibly do to help. He would practically follow her around the mountain carrying bread and water, just trying to get her to eat and drink something. He talked to Balin and Dwalin about Taryn's condition getting worse. They agreed that somehow they had to talk to Thorin, they had to break him out of this state of only thinking about the Arkenstone. Because, they all knew if he didn't start thinking about the well-being of his wife, that he was going to lose her and lose their unborn child.

Seeing a rare moment where Taryn wasn't in the treasure room for the first time in days, Balin, Dwalin, and Bilbo decided to take this opportunity to try and talk some sense into Thorin. To make him see what was happening to his wife. They just knew that they had to get through to him. Making their way into the make shift treasure room, all three of sighed as they saw Thorin muttering to himself as he searched for the Arkenstone. Slowly they made their way closer to him.