Little Hobbit Imagines

The Ones Left Behind- Part 2

You said you could help! This is your fault you whore! He's dead because of you!

You couldn't breathe.

Please help us! You must save our daughter! Please don't let her die!

Y/N... you knew what to do, so why didn't you do it?

"I couldn't save them," you said breathlessly as you lurched upright on your bedroll. You were damp from a cold sweat that made your H/C curls stick to your neck.

"What did ya say Y/N?" Bofur asked sleepily as he propped himself up on one arm to look at you from where he laid by the fire.

"Sorry if I startled you, there was a spider on me." You lied quickly.

Bofur gave Thorin a questioning look but didn't say anything as they took the opportunity to exchange places on watch. You prayed Thorin would go back to his own bedroll, but he instead strode over to you and stopped short at your feet. "Get up and come with me." He ordered quietly.

You tried to rub the sleep from your eyes, feeling frazzled and embarrassed, "If it's about what I said-"

"You can explain the situation to me in a moment, but not here."

Taking a deep breath, you quietly followed Thorin away from the clearing the company had set up in. Neither of you spoke until Thorin stopped and turned around to face you.

"You're shaking." Thorin observed.

"No I'm not." You said refusing to acknowledge that you were in fact visibly shaking. Thorin grumbled something under his breath before shrugging off his coat and holding it out to you. You shook your head, "I'm fine."

"Are all hobbits this obstinate or is it just the pair of you?" Thorin asked, draping his coat over your shoulders himself. When you didn't answer, Thorin took a step back to take in the sight. He let out an amused hum, his coat all but swallowed you whole, the dark navy fabric and fur pooling at your feet.

His face grew serious again as he said, "I know this is most likely a difficult topic for you, but I know something has happened to you." Thorin paused, seeing if you would deny it. When you didn't he continued, "You don't need to tell me what happened, but I'm giving you the chance to do so now if you would like. If you don't wish to tell me you may take this moment to collect yourself before you return to your bedroll."

The all too familiar burn of unshed tears stung your eyes and every fiber of your being protested as you said, "If I tell you this, Bilbo must never find out. He's one of few in the Shire who don't know the truth, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Thorin listened to you quietly, never interrupting as you told him the truth. You were an indentured servant for a lord in Frogmorten who often hired you out to others as a traveling physician for a hefty fee. He had a number of servants who he hired out, but he took pride in the few unlucky hobbits he had under his employment. Not unlike Bilbo's reason for being hired on for the company, your Master knew the usefulness of hobbits and capitalized on it. Physicians that could easily go by unnoticed were most useful during the more important social gatherings. You went by unnoticed unless there was a mistake.

You talked for what seemed like hours until you caught up to your present job under Gandalf. He was the kindest out of the group of regulars who purchased your services.

You cried harder at the memory of the day he invited you on this journey, he promised you half of his share at the end of the quest. And if the quest failed he promised to still buy you out of your contract with the lord.

Regardless of the outcome, at the end of this quest, you would finally be free once more.

The idea of being free from this hellish cycle filled you with an overwhelming sense of hope, but also a unsettling undercurrent of panic. You would never have to suffer having the fate of someone's life rest in your hands if you wished it, but what would you do if you didn't help the sick and wounded? You had no other skill sets.

The feeling of panic swelled in your chest and sapped the strength from your legs. Thorin knelt beside you on the ground. He gathered you up quietly and pulled you to his chest. Despite your panicked uneven breaths, he calmly knelt there on the forest floor with you in his arms until your breathing almost matched his own. You sat there in silence, and tried to focus on the slow steady rhythm in his chest.

You felt the words rumble in his chest when he finally spoke again, "You may not believe me when I say this, but I understand the grief that has a firm hold on your heart Y/N. As you know we too have staked everything on the outcome of this quest. But we will do everything in our power to ensure that you claim back your freedom as soon as we claim back our home. If you are unsure of what you will do after you are free, know this, the halls of my people will always welcome you and your kin. I swear it."

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To be continued?