Reson with a dwarf?

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Pov a/n

Pov a/n

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In Erebor, Thorin strides toward the blocked-off gate, calling the other dwarves to him. "Come on!" The dwarves lay down their tools, pick up their weapons, and follow him up the stairs they've created in the blockage, all the way to a platform they have built at the top of the gate from which they have a vantage point over the plain in front of the entrance. They see the walls of Dale filled with Elves ready for war. Bard rides up the gate on a horse and stops in front of the door.

Silveria is in her baby dragon form; she's sitting at Bard's shoulder. When Throin sees her, his eyes widen. She reads his expression. "Traitor." She sighs but keeps her eyes on him and his dwarves. "Hail Thorin, son of Thrain! We are glad to find you alive beyond hope." Bard says. "Why do come to the gates of the king under the mountain armed for war?" Throin asks, his tone rude. "Why does the king under the mountain fence himself in? Like a robber in his hole." Bard shots back. "Perhaps it is because I am expecting to be robbed," Throin says back.

Silveria sighs and then speak up; her voice is worried and tired. Tired of all this. "He has not come to rob you but to seek a fair settlement. Will you not speak with him?" Thorin nods and steps away from the platform and down the stairs. Bard dismounts his horse and crosses the bridge in front of the gate. Silveria is still sitting on his shoulder. As he approaches the blockade, a raven flies out of the opening above the entrance and wings away rapidly, cawing loudly. Bard sees a hole built into the embargo, and Thorin strides up to the other end of the hole.

"I'm listening." He says. "On behalf of the people of Laketown, I ask that you honor your pledge. A share of the treasure so that they might rebuild their lives." Bard sates. Thorin feels Silveria's eyes. They're complex and full of attention. "I will not treat with any man while an armed host lies before my door." Throin hisses back. A growl is heard from Silveria, but the two men ignore it. Silveria understands that she'll not sway Thorin's choice, so she takes off and flies towards Thranduil. When he sees her, he nods as she lands on his elk's head, curling up to a ball.

-back to the mountain gate-

"That armed host will attack this mountain if we do not come to terms," Bard says. "Your threats do not sway me," Throin says, proudly, too proud. "What if your conscience? Does it not tell you our cause is?! My people offered you help. And in return, you brought upon them only ruin and death!" Bard snaps. "When did the men of Laketown come to our aid but for the promise of rich reward?!" Throin shots back, his eyes blazing with anger. "A bargain was struck!" Bard snarls. "A bargain? What choice did we have to barter our birthright for blankets and food? To ransom our future in exchange for our freedom? Do you call that a fair trade? Tell me, Bard, the Dragonslayer..." throin pauses, and Bard looks up, surprised.

"...Why should I honor such terms?" Throin continued. Bard's face hardened, and he barked out the following words "Because you gave us your word. Does that mean nothing?" Thorin turns away from the hole, disappearing from Bard's view. He leans back against the blockade and, for a moment, looks tired and weary. He then looks at the other dwarves and Bilbo, all standing there. He shouts back to Bard.  "Begone, ere arrow fly!" Bard slaps the rock angrily, then mounts his horse and rides to Dale. The company watches him go from the top of the platform. "What are you doing?! You cannot go to war." Bilbo exclaims, and Throin says back rudely.

"This does not concern you." Bilbo scoffs.  "Excuse me?! But just in case you haven't noticed, there is an army of elves out there. And not to mention several hundred angry fishers. We-We is outnumbered." Thorin turns to look at Bilbo, smiling.  "Not for much longer," Thorin says smugly. "What does that mean?" Bilbo asks but looks down as he can hear small wing beats; Silveria comes flying and lands at the edge of the platform. Thorin glances at her, and she gives him a slight nod. He then turns to Bilbo again, saying, "It means Master Baggins; you should never underestimate Dwarves." He turns to the whole group.

"We have reclaimed Erebor - Now we defend it!"As Thorin strides down the steps, Bilbo and Balin look distressed. Silveria jumps down and transforms them places a hand on bilbos shoulder. She says a silent message in his mind. "Do not give him, Bilbo."

Bard rides back to the gates of Dale, where Thranduil is waiting. "He will give us nothing." He says and stops his horse. "Such a pity. Still, you tried." Thranduil says. "I do not understand - Why? Why would he risk war?" Bard says, and as they look back toward the Mountain in time to see the dwarves dislodge the head of one of the massive stone statues, causing it to fall and break the raised bridge to the gate, thus disabling any attackers from approaching the gates. "It is fruitless to reason with them; they understand only one thing," Thranduil says and pulls out his sword and gazes at it.  "We attack at dawn! Are you with us?" Thranduil says, and as he rides back toward the city, Bard looks over his shoulder at Erebor.

In Dale, Bard, and the Lake, people begin collecting and distributing the various weapons and armor stored there. In Erebor, the dwarves do the same, suiting up for battle. As Bilbo walks by, Thorin calls out to him, holding something.  "Master Baggins, come here!" Bilbo comes up and sees that Thorin is holding a tunic of white mail. "You are going to need this. Put it on." Thorin says, and Bilbo begins removing his jacket. "This vest is made of silver steel - "Mithril" it was called by my forebears," Thorin explains and holds it up so that Bilbo can slide into it.

"No blade can pierce it." He finishes. Bilbo finishes putting it on, then looks at himself; the other dwarves watch along with Silveria, who already has her armor on. "I look absurd. I'm not a warrior; I'm a Hobbit." He says. "It is a gift. A token of our friendship. True friends are hard to come by." Thorin says. Although he had started smiling at Bilbo, he looks toward the other dwarves and frowns, then grabs Bilbo by the shoulder and pulls him away from where the other dwarves can't hear him. But Silveria hears him and stiffens. She knows that Bilbo has it, the Arkenstone.

"I have been blind. Now I begin to see. I am betrayed!" Thorin hissed in Bilbo's ear. "Betrayed?" Bilbo asks, a little clueless about what the dwarf king means. "The Arkenstone," Thorin says. As Thorin moves closer to him, Bilbo looks highly uncomfortable and worried. Thorin whispers to Bilbo. "One of them has taken it." Bilbo almost sighs audibly in relief. Thorin continues.  "One of them is false." Bilbo looks at Silveria, who's begun to walk up to them. She's creeping as Thorin shouldn't hear her. "Thorin...the quest is fulfilled. You've won the mountain. Is that not enough?" Bilbo says and turns back to Thorin.

"Betrayed by my kin," Thorin says, unfazed by the hobbit's words.  "No, eh...You...You made a promise...to the people of Laketown. Is-Is this treasure truly worth more than your honor? Our honor, Thorin. I was also there; I gave my word." Bilbo says, trying to get Throin to think about something else. "For that, I'm grateful. It was nobly done. But the treasure in this mountain does not belong to the people of Laketown! This gold...is ours...and ours alone. By my life, I will not part with a single coin! Not...one...piece of it!" As Thorin speaks, his voice grows more profound and more and more like Smaug's until the very last line, which was precisely a repeat of what Smaug had said previously to Bilbo. Thorin is mentally affected, and Bilbo stares at him in shock as the other dwarves, dressed for battle, stride by.

Silveria is finally beside Bilbo. A worried look on her face.

——————-
Somewhat short, but anyway.

-Saph

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