Thunder in my heart (Bagginshield)

Thunder In My Heart

The first drops of rain took the Company by surprise.

After the eagles had dropped them off on top of the Carrock, the Company of Thorin Oakenshield decided to make their way down the mountain. Gandalf insisted on resting after their descent, all of them weary from escaping the Goblin Town and Thorin still hadn't had time to breathe or even check the injuries of his fight against Azog the Defiler. However, the stubborn dwarfish prince refused to set camp so close to where the eagles had left them, fearing the Orcs would find them too soon, and instead pushed the entire company to put as much distance as they could between them and the Orc pack.

They didn't stop much to rest, covering as much distance as they possibly could in one day, having been walking since sunrise. It was starting to get dark when Thorin finally relented and stopped, letting them rest on a clearing. Grateful to finally stop and breathe, none of them realized the clouds moving fast above them and threatening with rain. By the time they had left their belongings on the floor and were getting everything ready to prepare dinner, a sudden storm took all of them by surprise and made them pack in a hurry and run towards the scarce refuge the steep mountains could provide.

Bilbo tried to keep his hood up but the raging storm, wind and pouring rain kept pushing it back, leaving a very wet, uncomfortable and cold Hobbit. He tried to push down his dread at storms, he'd always been afraid of them. Rain and wind he could live with, thunder and lightning? Not so much. He gulped and closed his hands in fists when he could see the sky lit by a flash of huge lightning and, a few seconds later, he heard the roar of loud thunder. His body was shaking and he knew it wasn't entirely due to the cold rain, but he wasn't about to let a stupid rainstorm get the better of him now.

"We cannot stay here, Thorin! The thunderstorm is coming closer!" Bilbo heard Gandalf shouting from the back of the group. He tried to distinguish the dwarfish prince and he could only recognize him by his coat, he couldn't make out what he was telling Dwalin over the pouring rain. He only heard Fili and Kili's groans and mutterings, incapable of understanding what they were saying but too exhausted and scared to try anyway; the rest of the company were silent.

He couldn't say he disagreed with Gandalf, they needed to find shelter and they needed it now. Bilbo's trousers and coat were drenched and it was starting to get difficult to walk, plus the path was muddy from the water and it made him tumble every few steps. It wasn't easier for the sturdy dwarves either, they were used to walking in the rain but their heavy boots and winter clothes made it all the more difficult for them to move, and more than once their feet had just got stuck in the mud. Bilbo just focused on getting one foot before the other and not let out a scream or jump whenever there was a thunder closeby.

"IN HERE!" He heard Dwalin's voice in the long distance. Bilbo looked up and saw the dwarf maybe less than half a mile away, hard to distinguish amid the rain falling incessantly from the clouds above them. He realized he must've lost track of time because one second Thorin had been speaking to Dwalin, and the next the dwarf was signalling towards a nearby cave he'd scouted. Bilbo thought, in the haze of his exhausted mental state, that Dwalin must've run ahead to try and find them shelter. The Company would've cheered but they were all too exhausted to even do that, with silent and slow steps they walked towards the entrance of the small cave where Dwalin was waiting for them.

In the minutes it took them to arrive at the entrance of the cave the thunderstorm had come upon them, the rain even stronger than before, the wind blowing against Bilbo's face and making walking even harder, and thunder and lightning were falling now every few seconds. He gulped and tried to push down his fear, wanting nothing more than get inside the cave and get as far away from the rain and thunder as possible, so he put one foot after the other, careful not to be left behind by the dwarves who were walking towards the cave at a much faster pace than he was.