Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings Imagines

Connected 16

Pain surged through Veera and she gasped, staggering and collapsing to the gold coated ground, breathing hard.  Her hands clenched as tears began to pool from her eyes, hitting the gold in thick drops.

This pain wasn't hers.

She stared at her reflection in the gold, saw the dulled look in her eyes, the dark circles underneath, the draw of her face after not having eaten or been well in days.

Who was this pain coming from?

Veera shudders, holding her stomach as light seemed to dash before her eyes.

Thorin...  The thought left her before she could focus, but it wasn't his she could feel, no, he was different, she could feel...

Fear.

That had another sob leaving her.  Why was Thorin afraid of her?  She had helped, that was all she had wanted to do to begin with, was help.  She knew he wouldn't have been strong enough, knew he would've succumbed to this so easily...

...and yet so had she.

More tears.  She could feel him coming for her but she suddenly didn't want him too, didn't want him to see how broken she was, how fragile she was, and she tried to push him away but she felt so weak.

Pain again flashed hot through her.

"Keeva..."  She whimpered,  her eyes going wide as she realised that that was what the pain was.  Keeva was in peril.  "Keeva what have you done?"

With everything she had, Veera struggled to her feet.  Being a burdened had always been a strong fear of hers, Gandalf had warned her when they first met that her power could be a problem, it weighed so heavily on her.

Veera shrugged the heavy coat from her shoulders.

Wasn't that what had happened over the last few days?  She'd placed all this on everyones shoulders, all to protect Thorin, while noble, she had lost herself in the process.

She gasped, feeling her stomach wretch and she gagged a little.

She couldn't go on like this.

The rings that she'd collected fell from her fingers and she angrily kicked them away.

This was going to stop now, she was stronger and better than this.  Veera took a few shaky steps forward, breathing hard, shaking her head, trying to clear it.

Veera....

Keeva's voice was weak and panic made Veera's head snap up, eyes wide and desperate.

Keeva!  Hold on!

Veera fought through the haze, struggled against the invisible threads holding her, a scream leaving her as she realised exactly how distant Keeva was.

Falling forward, she stumbled, arms catching her.

Veera looked up, Thorin's blue eyes looking at her filled with concern.

"Thorin," Her voice broke, her gold eyes shining but bright.  "Thorin, what have I done?"

The wound in Keeva's side burned, she'd been careless and was now paying the price.  She was stuck between holding it so she didn't bleed to death and fighting so she didn't get hit again.

Like so many times before, she reached out for Veera on instinct, but had actually been stunned when she responded, although it still felt like a long way away.

Her side burned and she grit her teeth with a growl.  She was better than this, this shouldn't have happened.

Keeva, we're coming.  Dwalin's voice was firm in her ear, hiding his fear, but it just made her smile.