Bloodstained (Thorin x OC)

Aftermath

"The only way?" He grumbled back. "We could have found another way."

"Oh? And what did you have in mind?" Thorin just shot her a glare, getting distracted for a moment as eagles flew by overhead.

"The armies..." Agarwaen tried to stand, but doubled over in pain.

"Here." Thorin helped her up, and they slowly walked toward the edge of the waterfall together, her leaning on him, and him limping due to his foot being previously stabbed. Azog's armies had begun fleeing Dale, and retreating from the mountain as the eagles laid waste to their troops. She saw Beorn tear through their ranks as well, and smiled. They'd won. Her smile was short-lived however, when a searing pain pulsed through her abdomen, and she stepped back, gritting her teeth.

Thorin led her off of the waterfall, onto solid ground where they sat down together.

"We need to get this armor off so we can stop the bleeding." He said, beginning to unclasp her armor.

"Just leave it." She breathed out, shaking her head.

"You're not going to sit here and bleed out. Not now, not ever." He took her quiver off and started on the straps to the pauldrons.

"Thorin, I'm going to die anyway." She grabbed his hands to stop him.

"No you're not." He shook her off and continued.

"I promised Thranduil he could have me." Thorin froze.

"You did what?"

"When I left Erebor, I came to Dale with Bilbo to give them the Arkenstone." She paused, looking at his eyes, waiting for them to turn gray, but to her astonishment, they did not. "Thranduil wanted to end me right there, but I told him that if he let me fight and defend Erebor against the orcs, that I would go peacefully after the battle. When I knew you all were safe."

"I won't let him kill you." Thorin lifted her pauldrons over her head.

"You don't have a choice. I made a promise."

"I said I won't let him!" He raised his voice.

"Thorin..."

"It's not up for debate. I don't care if you made a promise, I am not letting you die. Not like this."

"That is why I am telling you to let me bleed out. That way, I'll have died in battle, giving my life for my king."

"No!" He started undoing the breastplate straps. "You will live to be honored. To be recognized among my people. I don't care if you never return to Erebor after this, all I want is to know that you're alive." Agarwaen sighed before coughing, blood dripping from the corner of her mouth. He looked at her, pain and sadness written all over his face. He carefully wiped the blood away with his thumb, his eyes jumping between the cuts and scrapes on her face, eventually settling on the crusted over one that ran from her cheek to her forehead.

"I'm so sorry." He mumbled. "If...if it weren't for that cursed treasure, perhaps none of this would have happened. We could have taken Azog out together from the beginning. I never would have...never would have hurt you." His voice held such regret. "To think that that might have been the last time I ever saw you..." She watched as tears began building up at the thought. "Let me save you, please." He begged, and she hesitated, looking into his pleading eyes.

"Do what you must." She reluctantly agreed, knowing that there really was nothing he could do to prolong her life when it came to Thranduil. But he could try. He removed the breastplate and set it aside before doing the same with the bloody cuirass. The blood had darkened her dark blue tunic to the point where it looked black, and he peeled the fabric away from the gushing wound, and ended up having to rip it to have better access.

"It goes through the back, too." She groaned as she sat up straighter and turned so he faced her side. He then grabbed his own clothes and tore a few long strips, bunching two of them up and pressing them into each opening. She hissed in pain at the contact, but stayed still as best she could as he took the third strip and tied it around her waist tightly to keep the other strips in place. The touch of his calloused fingertips sent a shiver up her spine, but searing pain returned as he pressed hard on both sides of her.

"I-I've got it." She put her bloody hands over his, but he refused to move away just yet, half expecting her to remove the bandages and bleed out despite his insistence on keeping her alive. She sighed. "Ever the trusting one, hm?" He grumbled something under his breath. "Are you alright?" She'd noticed the blood leaking out of his boot and onto the snowy ground below them.

"I'll be fine." He replied. "Did you see Kili on your way over here?"

"I thought you'd run after him after we fell?"

"That's when Azog attacked, but I never found him."

"Then go. Make sure he's alright. I'll be fine."

"Kili is a strong fighter, I'm sure he's alright. Dwalin can find him. I'm not leaving you." Agarwaen was silent and looked back toward where the rest of the battle was being fought.

"What now?" She asked, unsure of what came after war as she'd never taken part in one.

"Infirmaries will be constructed and we will have healers brought in to tend to the wounded. The dead will be honored and laid to rest as well."

"So many children, Thorin. All over Dale." She coughed again. "I tried to save them..."

"The war is over. No more will perish." He assured her. "The people of Dale will be given everything that they are owed and more. I am through with keeping the treasure for the mountain. Never again will I allow myself to think that way."

"And what of the elves?"

"I will deal with them."

"You need to give him the gems back."

"He will have them if everything goes accordingly."

"Thorin..."

"Trust me." He said. "Everything will end the way it should have ended before this infernal war."

"Thorin?" Bilbo's voice called from somewhere amid the mist.

"We're over here!" Thorin responded, and Bilbo finally came into sight.

"Oh my--" He put a hand over his mouth at the sight of Agarwaen. "What happened?"

"Azog wasn't expecting me to stab him with his own sword...through myself." She laughed, and instantly regretted it as her abdomen erupted in fiery pain. "I am glad to see you are still alive." She ground out through clenched teeth.

"The same to you. We...we need to get you to a healer." He looked around, trying to figure out what he could possibly do in such a situation.

"Bilbo, have you seen Kili?" Thorin asked.

"I...I, no."

"Go find him." Agarwaen said. "None of us have seen him since he ran." The hobbit nodded, looking up at the tower ruins.

"I, um...I'll find him." He then ran off, and Thorin turned back to Agarwaen, shifting slightly into a more comfortable situation as the air grew quiet again.

"Everything hurts." She eventually broke the silence with a groan.

"Welcome to battle." Thorin chuckled lightly.

"I don't like it." She leaned against the dwarf, grimacing at the now increased pressure on her side. Thorin just rested his forehead on her shoulder and was glad he could hold her close again, even if it was just after battle and her blood was coating his fingertips.

"I don't either." He murmured. She turned her head to look down at the dwarf, not quite sure what to do now, besides wait for news on Kili and for infirmaries to be set up.

"Uncle?" Kili's voice asked from across the frozen waterfall. Both of them let out a sigh of relief. The sons of Durin had all been saved.