the Stowaway (Hobbit fan-fic)

Chapter 18

"Nori, have you seen Thorin?" I asked.

The company and I were seated at a table, eating the meal that Bombur and Gloin had prepared. I was seated between Nori and Bifur. Nori sighed.

"He still has not left the great hall," he muttered.

He hasn't come out for days. He's been in there ever since Smaug was killed. I'm going to find him and talk to him later.

Once I had finished eating, I excused myself and left the room. I walked quickly to the great hall. I paused outside the large doors and took a deep breath before walking in. Gold was still piled high around me. The whole room felt sick. I kept moving, keeping my eyes and ears open.

"Thorin?" I called, my voice echoing through the room. "Where are you?"

"I am here." I looked to my left and saw Thorin approaching from behind a mound of gold. "What do you want?"

"I want to talk with you, Thorin," I said, trying to seem casual. "We've never really gotten the chance to talk properly since we met."

"No, we have not." He motioned for me to follow him. "This way."

I followed the dwarf for a while until we came to a balcony that overlooked the great hall. I sighed quietly at the sight of the gold.

"So," I said, turning my head away from the gold to look at Thorin. I could see in his eyes he was not the same dwarf I had helped for the longest time. "Tell me about your family. I know your nephew are a handful, but tell me about their mother. What were the two like when they were younger?"

Thorin smiled. He told me about his sister, Dís. She was apparently a very caring woman. She could be fun and mischievous when she wanted to, but she could also be serious and wielded a sword very well. She had trained with Thorin for years when they were growing up.

Thorin told me about a time when Fili and Kili had tried to sneak up on her. She was sitting by the fireplace, reading a book. Thorin was sitting across from her, so he could see the boys coming up behind her chair. The two boys were being incredibly quiet as they moved, careful not to make a sound. Just as they got to the chair and were about to jump out, Dís said, "If either of you want to have dessert for the next month, I suggest you rethink what you are about to do." Fili and Kili stopped dead in their tracks. They had horrified looks on their faces, making Thorin laugh. Dís only glanced up from her book to look at him and smirked.

I laughed at the tale.

"That sounds like them," I said. "It sounds like something I did when I was younger."

Thorin raised an eyebrow at me.

"How so?" he asked.

"Well, I have a father and a twin brother. My mother died many years ago in battle. When my brother and I were still very young elves, we got our mother to help us try and scare our father. Our father was a high ranking elf in the kingdom, but she managed to pull him away from his duties for a while. Mother brought my father a small ways into the woods, where my brother and I were hiding in the trees. My parents stopped just below us, holding hands and talking softly. We watched our mother closely, for she would give us a small sign when we would jump out of hiding.

"After what felt like eternity, she finally gave the signal. She quickly stepped away from my father as my brother and I jumped down from the trees. We managed to tackle our father to the ground. He was definitely shocked, but recovered and we started to wrestle. My mother just stood back and laughed as she watched us. Soon, my father reached up for her hand. She let him take it, but he pulled her to the ground. She laughed and took my brother into her lap. A moment later, our parents started tickling us. Our laughter filled the air. We spent the rest of the day there and watched the stars as night began to fall."