So Tilda and Sigrid usually argue, but have it ever turned like…ugly? Like, have it ever gotten to the point when one of them got hurt?
It was shortly after Tilda got out of her depression episode, where she did just about anything to not fall back, even going as far as starting to rely on drugs. It all made her fuzzy and happy, but it quickly turned into dependency and finally, addiction.
Her family of course got worried, especially her older brother Legolas, but she always assured him that she was fine and that he should just leave it. And well, she wasn’t shutting into herself or crying constantly anymore, which was good, right?
Sigrid was the first to realize that it had become a serious problem, and she went straight to Mirkwood with Bain in tow to put a stop to her little sisters destructive behavior.
But of course, Tilda has never been one to listen to others, especially her nagging older sister, so she shrugged of her concerns like it was nothing.
Sigrid wouldn’t have that, she couldn’t just stand by and watch her sister hurt herself like that, so she kept on going with her arguments, and Tilda just got more and more aggressive towards her, until the argument turned both nasty and personal, with Bain just trying his best to calm them both down. Things quickly escalates and Tilda’s patience runs dry, which results in her decking Sigrid square in the jaw.
Sigrid would normally never retaliate as she doesn’t enjoy violence and their Da has always told her to be responsible in front of her siblings, but Tilda coldly reminds her that Da isn’t here.
That brings back all the memories of Tilda bullying her over the years, throwing the books she’s reading into the lake, dipping her hair in paint, tearing up her song pages, and running to tattle to their Da the second Sigrid raised a hand in retaliation.
Tilda is right. Da isn’t here.
Bain knows they’re going to fight and desperately tries to get in between them, but despite being stronger than them both he’s too soft, and his voice goes unheard. It’s an ugly brawl, neither sister holding back, years of venom between them rushing to the surface. Sigrid is strong, and has the advantage of size over her sister, but Tilda has the years of soldier training under her belt and is simply just stronger.
And it feels good. In fact, it feels incredible. Why has she never done this before? Her sister has always frustrated her to no end, and she’s always been prone to teasing and bullying, but punching her feels just so much better.
In the background, Tilda can hear someone shouting, calloused hands trying to pry them apart, but it might as well just be background noise. Nothing matters anymore, she thinks, blood thundering in her ears. Nothing matters other than seeing Sigrid break.
Through the blood and blows Tilda feels something grab onto her back and yank her hair, trying to pull her off of Sigrid, and without thinking she knocks the peat aside so she can finish what she started-
But Sigrid is suddenly shrieking, up on her feet and bleeding from her forehead, kicking Tilda off with renews strength. She rushes to get to-
Bain has fallen to the wayside. Sigrid helps her little brother sit upright, but Bain’s breathing is jerky, uneven. He clutches weakly at his heaving chest, then brushes trembling fingers against the rapidly darkening bruise on his cheek where Tilda struck him.
Tilda feels bile rush up in her throat, at the same moment she’s surging forward, the words already rushing up, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, are you alright, can you breathe- but when she reaches out for him, hand searching wildly, Bain recoils.
It’s enough to stop her cold. She watches as his white cloudy eyes well up, his labored breathing turn to wet hiccups, and Bain buries his head against Sigrid’s chest and begins to cry.
Sigrid curls her arms around her brother protectively, then fixes Tilda with a glare hot enough to scald iron. Tilda can now see how she herself is bruised and battered, the wound oozing blood. She did that.
Her precious siblings. She’s hurt them both.
Her mouth is dry, her voice coming out as a croak. She reaches forward again, but Sigrid shakes her head violently, her own eyes prickling with furious heat, and she scoops Bain up despite his much larger bulk and storms out.
No one of the Dragonchildred were okay after that. Bain had a pretty violent panic attack, and Sigrid did her absolute best to calm down both him and herself, reassuring him that Tilda didn’t mean to, she loves you, she loves US.
And Tilda herself almost re enters her depression, and it’s only the knowledge that doing so would only hurt her siblings more that keeps her strong.
The whole incident leads to her quitting drugs cold turkey and seeks proper help, both from her family and professionally.
It takes a year for Tilda to build up the courage to face her siblings again, and when she does she’s met with the biggest hug from Bain she’s ever received.
