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Mending the Broken Pieces	By : LadyLaran Category: Lord of the Rings Movies > Het - Male/Female Views: 13613 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own "the Hobbit" nor do I make money from this story. Tolkien and Jackson are the ones who own the characters and world.

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Author’s Note – I want to thank everyone for their amazing support; I wouldn’t have been able to keep on with this behemoth of a story without all of you. I hope that this chapter continues to please since I’m taking a different approach regarding Mirkwood than I did “A Hobbit’s Rescue.” Merry Christmas and Blessed Solstice to you!

Disclaimer – I do not own “the Hobbit” nor do I make any money from this story.

Chapter Thirty-one – Brainstorming an Escape

The only time the dwarrow saw their hobbit was when she joined them to sleep in front of the cell of whoever had watch during her sleep time. Despite telling her they would save food for her, Hawthorn never showed at meal times so they often had enough food hidden away to make her at least two full meals by the time she arrived to sleep.

Oin could see that she was growing frustrated at her inability to come up with an idea on how to get them out of there, and he worried about her. She wasn’t gaining weight like the others were, and the healer could tell his daughter was in a lot of pain due to having to sleep on the cold stone floor as well as not being able to use her staff. She’d actually handed it to him to hide under his bed right after they had been imprisoned, worried that she would strike something with it by accident and give away her position. The lass had also shared that it felt as if the ring was sapping away her strength, making her feel exhausted if she wore it for a long period of time.

There was a lot of responsibility on her shoulders right now, and the dwarf hoped she would be able to carry the burden just a bit longer. He knew none of them wanted this for her, but she was the only one they could rely on to release them from their prison. Each time she’d returned, they had done everything they could to bolster her confidence as she kept struggling with it and self doubt.

The healer watched her as she sank to the floor, sitting in front of Thorin’s cell. She looked incredibly weary, and all of them had a feeling the ring she was forced to wear was draining her more than she was letting on. It reinforced their desire to have Tharkûn get rid of it as soon as possible since it wasn’t doing their hobbit any good.

“There’s a feast coming up in a few nights,” the hobbit said to the company, distracting them briefly from their concerns about her. “Apparently, it’s a very important celebration to them. Judging from the preparations going on, I’d say the party is going to be like the celebrations on midsummer’s eve in the Shire.”

“Meaning a lot of food and wine,” Fili stated, leaning against the wall near the door to his cell so he could be comfortable but still see his family. “That might be the right time to get out of here since they’ll be distracted by what’s going on.”

“I was thinking the same thing; I’ve seen that these elves have a bit too strong a fondness for wine. The problem is finding a way out so we can take advantage of this distraction,” she answered, sounding tired and frustrated.

“You will, lass,” Gloin soothed. “You’re clever and patient. You’ll find a way and tweak that damned elf’s nose at the same time.”

“The water coming into the kingdom that Thranduil spoke of has to be a constantly moving source, faster than a stream or shallow river,” Hawthorn stated, eyes half closed in exhaustion. “With the sheer amount of damage to the earth, a pond or lake would only absorb the darkness and make it unhealthy to drink. So the water source has to be a deep river of some kind that moves too swiftly for the darkness to infect it.”

“There is a river that runs through part of Mirkwood,” Balin commented, mentally going through the maps he’d memorized over the years. “It runs down to the lake where the men built Laketown. In fact, I seem to recall the river being used as a means of transporting goods because it became expensive to haul the wine and other goods over land since the forest is thick, making it too difficult for a trade caravan.”

“If we could get to it, it’d make for a faster way to get to Laketown,” Kili mused. “It’s just a matter of finding the spot where they built an access point to the river.”

“We’re going about this the wrong way,” Bombur shared, surprising everyone since he’d been quiet for a good portion of the day.

“How so,” Bofur asked his brother.

“Trade goods usually mean food stuff,” the heavy dwarf pointed out. “With Mirkwood as dark as it is, it’s not healthy to garden or hunt in the forest so they would have to import it. It’s stupid to have the trade come in near the front of the kingdom where you’d have to haul heavy crates and barrels to the supply storage areas. You have them come in the rear way that’s closest to where they need to go.”

“The lowest levels of the kingdom,” Nori stated, sitting upright. “Like Miss Hawthorn pointed out, Thranduil and his elves are very fond of wine and with there being no dwarven crafters right now, barrels for that wine are reused as often as possible since the men aren’t as good as making barrels as our woodworkers are.”

“The easiest way to get the barrels back to the men would be to send them down the river,” Dori replied. “Thranduil is known for keeping his people hidden away so I doubt he’d allow them to escort the barrels to where they need to go. Chances are good they’re dropped into the river and picked up by one of the men from Laketown close to the lake.”

“So I need to find where the barrels are dropped into the water and see if I can find enough barrels for everyone to use so we smuggle ourselves out,” Hawthorn decided, a little more awake now. “Would all of you mind if we used them for escape?”

“If it got us out of here, you won’t hear a word of complaint from any of us,” Bofur informed her. “Won’t be a comfortable trip but it’ll get us out of this Mahal forsaken place and closer to Erebor before time runs out.”

“Don’t you dare move from that spot,” Oin ordered, spying his daughter trying to get up. “You’re too tired so I want you to sleep. Once you’re rested, you can look for where the barrels are dumped but not until then.”

Too tired to argue with him, she curled up and drifted off to sleep. Once they knew she wouldn’t be disturbed by the voices, Nori broached a subject that had occurred to him while they’d been coming up with a plan.

“I’ve heard that hobbits don’t swim,” he stated in khuzdul in case their hobbit woke up at the wrong time. “Has anyone asked her if she knows how?”

“I haven’t thought of it since we hadn’t come across anything deep enough that required swimming,” Fili replied, looking worried. “If she can’t, we’ll have to make sure she’s in a barrel if someone has to be left out of the barrels to get all of us out of this fortress and into the river.”

“Even if she can, she needs to be in a barrel. She’s not gaining the weight she needs and is obviously exhausted. Cold weather can also cause old injuries to be even more painful and if memory serves me correctly, the rivers and lakes in this area of Rhovanion are cold even in the hottest months of summer,” Thorin shared. “I don’t care what it takes, she’s getting in a barrel.”

Oin and Gloin nodded, agreeing with their cousin. Hawthorn had no business getting into water that cold, and the healer was already fretting about what their current situation was doing to her health. There was simply no way he’d allow her to remain outside of a barrel during their escape.

“We’ll insist on it,” the younger brother announced. “With her body weakened by whatever the ring is doing to her as well as her being affected by her surroundings, we’ll have to do all we can to keep her healthy. A dunking in a cold river is one of the worst things she could do to herself right now.”

“As it is, after we reach Laketown, I’m going to insist she spend a few days resting and not doing anything strenuous,” Oin informed them. “I’ll count myself lucky if she doesn’t get sick from all of this.”

“Let’s just hope she can sleep this off and be all right,” Kili stated. “I really wish she didn’t have to wear that ring; I can tell she hates it.”

“Given her description of what she feels when she wears it, I have a feeling she’s going to be needing the rest soon,” Ori added. “Between that and her connection to nature, she’s got to be fighting to keep herself calm. She said it was like the ground and the plants were screaming at her in pain, and I can’t imagine anyone being okay with that going on constantly.”

“The bond has been growing, and I know she’s not at peace with what’s going on around her,” Thorin shared. “I do what I can to help her stay calm, but I don’t know how much more of this she’s going to be able to take.”

“You’ve not said anything about this before,” Gloin commented, not sounding happy with what his cousin had just shared.

“There’s nothing to be done, and I had no wish to worry everyone any further than they already are. She wouldn’t be pleased with me mentioning it,” the dwarf lord replied. “I do what I can through the bond; mostly it’s just soothing her when she’s overwhelmed or nightmares try to start.”

“We reach Laketown, I’ll see if I can find some herbs to help her rest,” the healer shared. “I’m not sure how to keep bad dreams from reaching her, but a few nights of sleep might be what she needs to shake off what she’s had to go through since entering this damned forest.”

“We should have time for her to regain her strength,” Thorin answered. “I want everyone in the best possible health before we set off for home.”

“Aye, best not to have any lingering injuries or sicknesses,” Dwalin agreed. “The hard part is finding weapons since we can’t get ours back. I’ve no doubt Laketown will not have much and what they do have is going to be of very low quality.”

“We’ll make do as we always have,” he reassured his shield brother. “The blessings that have occurred on this journey make me hopeful that we will succeed.”

“Then the hard work will begin,” Balin chuckled.

“Cleaning up the mess the worm left behind as well as restoring everything to its proper beauty and strength,” the king-in-exile agreed. “It will be difficult but worthwhile.”

“It can’t be so bad,” Kili asked, blanching when he heard his uncle’s laughing reply.

“Oh I have no doubt we’ll be running across massive piles of dragon shite,” Thorin snickered, remembering the conversation where this topic had come up. “Unless he was polite enough to relieve himself outside.”

“You find piles of shite funny,” Bifur asked, looking confused by their king’s reaction.

“No, the conversation where it first came up was,” he answered, sharing the small story of how Hawthorn had brought it up by accident and her reactions to her words. The tale made the group laugh quietly, glad to hear this funny little memory.

“Thanks, Uncle Thorin, now I’m going to have dragon poop showing up in my dreams,” Fili grumbled, causing the others to snicker.

“Glad to be of service, sister-son,” Thorin answered back, grinning as the laughter grew louder.

“Maybe we can pay someone to clean it up so we don’t have to,” Ori mused.

“It’s a good idea,” Bofur acknowledged. “I don’t know much about growing things, but isn’t shite used by farmers for their crops?”

“We might have to ask Hawthorn since I don’t know,” Thorin replied. “Even if shite is used, we’ve no idea if the stuff Smaug left behind is even good for the fields. That’ll be entirely up to Hawthorn to decide.”

“At least he’d be good for something then,” Bombur grumbled. “We’ll want to get that out of the mountain pretty quickly since there’s two important events to be planned.”

“Coronation for one thing,” Balin agreed. “And the wedding once everything is done according to tradition.”

“I am not going to rush through the steps,” the king-in-exile informed them. “I want to have enough time to ensure the king’s halls are safe for all of us to live in and that the king’s suite is perfect for her to move into. Dis will want to be there for the planning of the ceremony, and I want this to go flawlessly for Hawthorn. Since the courtship was done on the road and a good portion of the betrothal as well, she deserves the best wedding we can possibly give her.”

Oin and Gloin looked very pleased with that statement, glad to know that Thorin was taking the lass’s happiness seriously.

“We’ll have to send for her things,” Gloin shared. “I know they’re stored with the elves in Rivendell since she didn’t want to leave her important belongings behind in the Shire.”

“I had planned for Dis to pick them up on her way to the mountain,” he answered. “This way I can include Hawthorn’s belongings in the suite to make them comfortable for her.”

“We’ll help you plan for the wedding and making her comfortable in Erebor,” Dori promised. “She’s important to all of us, and we want to see her happy as well. I’d very much like to be involved with the making of her dress and wardrobe when the time is right to get started on that.”

“I think she would like that a great deal,” Thorin told him. “There’s a lot to be done, but I am confident we can get everything taken care of so she and our people will be happy in the mountain.”

The group smiled at that, having faith that everything would work itself out.

Author’s End Note – Brainstorming dwarrow style! I love how things are coming together, and the idea that she can’t swim has been brought up. I don’t think it was mentioned in the books or movie in conversation about hobbits and water. I really hope all of you enjoyed this chapter; thank you so much for reading. Please share your thoughts with me on what you thought of it, and remember to stay safe this holiday! See you next Wednesday! ~ Laran
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Mending the Broken Pieces