The Three Women Of Durin

Dain II Ironfoot

As Thorin crumpled down onto the ground, his body shaking uncontrollably, head in hands, Fili leaned over the gate and called down to the two leaders.

"Welcome to the halls of Erebor!" This caused Thranduil and Bard to nod in return whilst in the distance you could hear the cheering of the men and women of Laketown. The company began moving down and off the gate so that they would be able to smash it down, however, one person seemed to be lost to himself.

"Come on Thorin," Rosie said as she pulled on Thorin's shoulder, however, he refused to move.

"I can't...I can't...I failed...I..." Thorin mumbled to himself as he began slowly rocking himself backwards and forward.

"It's okay Thorin. You can do this later, but right now you need to get off the gate. We're going to knock it down," Rosie said, her voice wasn't warm, but it wasn't cold. It was neutral and unfeeling as if the sight of a broken Thorin Oakenshield meant nothing to her.

"No, no, no," Thorin continued, lost in his own mind.

"Yes. Now come on," Rosie said curtly before latching her hands onto his shoulders and dragging him to his feet. When he seemed to regain a balance, she pushed him over to where Fili and Kili were standing, they nodded at her before leading the emotional Thorin down the stairs. Rosie turned to her friends. "I told you it would work,"

"Yes," Cece said as she watched Thorin go, "But now we have a wimp instead of a warrior,"

"She has a point," Frankie joined in.

"Well, it doesn't matter now. We just need to get Bard and Thranduil inside, then we can start battle planning," Rosie said as she leaned over the gate and looked down at those who were patiently waiting.

"Dain will come soon," Cece said as she looked to the west where Dain and his army were supposed to appear.

"And so will an army of orcs," Frankie replied. The three girls sighed as they looked out at the scene, it was going to be a long day.

The gate was soon demolished with the golden bell and all stood and watched from a safe distance as it collapsed. Then the company stood to the side as Bard and his people began to enter the kingdom, pulling along scraps of food and whatever else they had saved from their burning town. A few dwarves then began to lead them down through the tunnels to where a whole section of rooms lay. Then Thranduil and his army began to enter.

He sat high on his stag, the hooves echoing through the mountain. The tension between the elves and the dwarves was evident, the way they looked at each other, moved around one another. But this was not a time of old feuds and everlasting grudges, this was a time of desperateness and everyone was just going to have to move on from their stubbornness.

The three girls let Thranduil and his people to another area of the palace, one without beds and rooms since they, as elves, would not be needing them. The army chose to stand in a perfect formation in the large hall that they had been assigned until further notice from their king. That's when Rosie spotted a familiar face.

"Legolas!" She called as she pushed her way through the bodies of golden armour and towards the blonde-haired elf. Legolas turned around and smiled kindly down and Rosie.

"So, we meet again little one," He grinned.

"It seems that way," Rosie grinned back, "Oh, you remember Cece and Frankie," She said as she gestured to her two friends as they made their way up to them.

"Ah yes, of course," He smiled down at the two, "It is good to see you again," Rosie smiled before looking left and right, making sure no one was around.