Torn In Two | Thorin Oakenshield |

3. Fear

A/N: SO sorry for the late update! I decided to restart the chapter and added in some more interactions. 

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Living underground for most of my childhood, caused my eyes to become more adaptable to seeing in the dark. To me, there's no difference between night and day and I'm glad sunlight doesn't bother my vision. It may create a few headaches but I can still see no matter how much the scenery shines.

Though, fire is another thing. It doesn't do anything to my sight, but ever since those dreams, I've been pretty uneasy near its presence. Anytime I notice it, I can't help but get flashes of what I normally watch through my nightmares.

The smoke, blood, people on fire and those horrifying screams. Plus, the fact that I have to see it through a child's eyes, makes it much worse. No one should have to witness such a thing but I have to almost every time I attempt to sleep.

Those dreams have given me a fear of flames but it's not the only vision I have to spectate. The only other thing I'm more afraid of besides my Master and fire... is water. When I'm not viewing a whole village being burnt to the ground... then I'm drowning.

But it's not the suffocation or death that has me scared. It's those creatures that are hidden underneath that watery surface. The ones that pull me under and drag me down into their world. The ones that make swords and armor look like simple toys for children.

I've been around Dark Magic long enough to know of the enchantments done to most waters. How it can make people hallucinate and become unaware of what's staring right at them. Some victims have even claimed to hear voices and in the dream, I have to swim across one of these cursed lakes. It's the only way to escape the fire and I only get to this part when the dream lasts long.

The darkness prevents the bodies from being noticeable to the girl's eyes, but not mine. It was the very first thing I saw as soon as the moon glided over the calm surface. No matter how many times I try to control this child's actions, she proceeds to step into the water.

I'm trapped in a prison until something wakes me up. But by the time that happens, I'm already being dragged down into the darkness unable to shut my eyes. Thanks to this, I can't stand being near any type of open water environments. The closest I'll ever get to such a thing, is through my cup and when rain decides to pour. Which is something I'd love to happen right now to take that damn fire out.

Fili and Kili have been assigned watch duty for the night, but it seems as though Gandalf, Bilbo and I won't be getting any sleep. For the past few hours I've been thinking about dousing our only source of light. Wouldn't be a problem on my end but I know I'll get hassled for it.

I flinch the moment the flames reenter my vision and I curse under my breath. Why do we even need that stupid light anyway? If anything it's just letting enemies see us better. But alas they'd never listen to me since it's pretty cold out and they don't posses my kind of sight.

A sudden screech in the distance causes me to look up, and my eyes narrow upon recognizing the sound. What're orcs doing nearby? We're not even close to the location so they shouldn't be here. Unless we're being followed. At the sound of feet shuffling, I gaze down to see Bilbo hurriedly moving away from the edge and towards the brothers.

He asks them something I'm unable to hear, so I go back to continuing my previous actions. The sound of rock scraping against the blade overpowers their voices. But it's not enough to douse my interest.

With a few grunts, I readjust my position on the branch for the third time and lean back against the trunk. One leg hangs off the side while the other is propped up to aid my current activity. From this spot, I'm facing towards camp so I can see movement, but thankfully the leaves block the fire.