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A dragons wish Chapter 6

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The dwarrows hadn’t moved an inch since Bilbo had left the forges running after Ruby. They stood around the cushion-castle the little girl had built, like fierce guards made of stone, staring into space. He stopped, right in front of Balin, frantically trying to catch his breath.

“The… The dragon! It was huge. A gigantic beast! Even larger than I ever dared to imagine,” he huffed.

Instantly he had their attention. The dragon was real, and very much alive. A cold shudder ran down the hobbit’s spine. The whole situation had just drastically changed.

The eyes of the company simultaneously shifted from Bilbo to Thorin. The king hadn’t said a word so far, in fact he hadn’t shown any kind of reaction since the young girl had left them in a hurry.

“Thorin?” Balin tried it again.

He didn’t react, didn’t move. Thorin just stared into the empty hallway where Ruby had vanished not long ago.

Ruby!

“It has Ruby,” Bilbo whispered in horror.

Just now he remembered the clothes the dragon had in his massive claws. Looking up he could read the same horror in the faces of the dwarrows.

Yes, he was their king, and yes he had become a good friend for Bilbo over time, but his behavior was just too much!

Ori sat down next to him, taking a break from barricading the large entrance with massive boulders. The young scribe was by far stronger than he looked. When Bilbo had complimented him for it, Ori had only shyly mumbled something about having it inherited from their mother and that Dori was even stronger.

Glancing to the side he could spot a familiar book in the scribe's hands. The book he had received from Ruby. It was bound in leather and rather plain looking. There were no golden ornaments or embedded jewels on the cover.

Thinking back, the hobbit hadn’t seen any fancy jewelry or other valuable things on or near Ruby. The braids in her hair were held together by wooden clips and beads, she hadn’t worn any bracelets, rings or necklaces. Even her clothes looked rather old and had many patches and parts that were repaired.

“What is it about?” the hobbit nodded towards the book, watching the nimble fingers of the scribe caressing the worn pages.

“Stories, it seems, about adventures and magical creatures from faraway places. One is about a young elven woman visiting her grandmother in the dark forest. Sadly the grandmother had been eaten by a warg, which now posed as the grandmother to also eat the young girl. Luckily a ranger comes by, freeing the grandmother as well as the young girl. Which is highly unlikable, but still… I like the happy ending,” clutching the book even harder he stood back up, rejoining his brothers.

Bilbo was the only one who noticed the faint brushing of the young scribe's hands against the rough palm of the warrior as he passed by him.

Dwalin sighted. This was not what he had hoped for, not at all. Still, having the little scribe by his side gave him strengths to press on. With a last look on the youngest of the dwarrows he left the front gate to inform his king of the newly arrived visitor.

“Thorin,” upon entering the grand hall of the forges he noticed how the king hastily straightened himself, “we have a guest on our front door.”

Hope sparked up in the blue eyes, but almost instantly died down again as Dwalin lightly shook his head. Thorin’s head dropped, facing the floor. His hand clenched around a silver necklace of some sort, he continued to stare at the floor in front of him.

“Who is it?” Thorin managed to ask after a moment of silence.

The warrior tried to gloss over the amusement in his voice with a khoff. This was really not the time to laugh at the childish reaction of his friend. Still, seeing Thorin, king under the mountain, his brother in arms and on the battlefield sitting in the middle of a cushion castle, surrounded by fluffy blankets, soft cushions and pressing a vibrant pink, flower-shaped cushion against his chest, was rather unsettling and strange.

“Bard the bowman from Lake Town is asking for an audience with you,” the warrior simply answered.

Thorin didn’t react. He hadn’t really moved since Ruby had left and had holed himself up in the forges as soon as the devastating news Bilbo had brought them had gotten through to him fully. Even now he was only staring into the empty hallway, while his fingers fumbled with the strange silver necklace.

Dwalin sighted again. If he hadn’t saized command shortly after Bilbo had returned, who knows what would have happened. Sure, they all were shocked and devastated at the horrible news of the dragon returning and taking the wee lass with him, still, Thorin was their king, their leader. The warrior hadn’t seen his friend like this since Frerin had gone missing. Enough was enough! There was a pile of work left and Dwalin was rather sick of it.

“Thorin, you are my king and friend. I respect that you are…” not sure how to describe the sight he saw before him Dwalin coughed again and continued on, “You will come with me and if I have to drag you there myself. You ought to be king and welcome our kin not long from now, so behave like one!”

Bombur nearly choked on the bite he had just taken from the large sandwich Bifur had brought them all. Hastily he took a large swig of the water he held in his other hand. Blinking twice the cook realized that this was no daydream or illusion at all. There was Dwalin, which was nothing out of the ordinary, striding down the hallway and dragging something behind him.

Only after looking a second time he identified the thing as a person, huddelt into a fluffy blanket and clutching a bright pink and flower-shaped cushion as their king. The glare thorin gave him was not to be misunderstood. Still, how was anyone able to take their leader seriously after seeing him like this ?!

Shoving the rest of the sandwich into his mouth he poked Bifur in the back. The old warrior spun around and the axe in his head gleamed in the low light. Letting loose a wave of rapid Khuzdul he picked up a pebble and threw it across the hallway at Gloin, who was currently talking to Balin.

Gloin reacted as expected. Angrily he turned around to look for the person who was responsible for interrupting his chat with the king’s advisor. Before he could utter a curse his eyes locked onto the scene right in front of him. Dwalin, dragging what looked like a pink-reddish lump of clothes behind him towards the main gate. The pebble surely couldn’t have hit him that hard!

Balin on the other side only buried his face in his hands. He was used to seeing his brother doing impulsive and sometimes rather stupid things, as he had always been there to help him out in the end an straighten things out. But this was a first in case of stupidity and impulsiveness. Dwalin had to see how to get out of this mess afterwards all on his own.

Bilbo stopped abruptly in his movement. He had rushed to the front gate as soon as the raven had delivered the message that the rest of the company and two other people were making their way towards the mountain. He didn’t want to wait any longer to finally see Bofur again. Surely he would get an ear full, cause he had left his dwarf behind and didn’t wake him in time. But at that time Bilbo was rather fond of the idea to at least assure Bofur to survive the wrath of the dragon.

Bofur, still holding the hobbits hand, was forced to stop as well. Questioning he followed the line of sight of his beloved. With the utmost of his will and control he was able to disguise his laughter as mere coughing. Bilbo’s elbow in his ribs made him turn towards the hobbit again, he also couldn’t contain his wide grin. For the dignified leader of the company to be dragged through his own mountain at that!

Bilbo’s amusement vanished and was replaced with worry and sorrow. For a moment there he had forgotten the reason for the king’s odd behavior. Bofur frowned, there seemed to be more to this situation than they all had let on.

“* Kidhuzel , what is the matter?” concerned he lightly squeezed the hand holding his.

“I’ll tell you the story behind that in a bit,” Bilbo promised him, before moving on.

(*gold of gold)

Oin had stayed with Bard and Tauriel to chat some more about medicinal herbs after reassuring himself that the two princes and especially Kili were alright to go on on their own. The elven woman had fussed some more over the dark haired prince, but respected the decision that she would have to wait outside.

Kili still leaned on his older brother even though he tried his best to walk on his own. Facing down he made sure not to trip over anything and to burden Fili any further. Strangely enough the floor was sparkly clean aside from the trail of mud the others must have left behind.

To his own surprise the front gate was almost unscratched and not missing as he had assumed from his uncle's stories. Even more, it was warm inside and the hallways were lit! There was no foul smell of dragon or whatever he might have left behind. It felt almost homely and welcoming. The others had accomplished so much in such a short amount of time! He could do nothing else but be astonished by their capability.

Fili stopped abruptly and nearly let his brother slide from his shoulder. Luckily Kili was quick enough and steadied himself before kissing the floor.

“By the beard of-” looking up, Kili had wanted to lecture his older brother on how to properly handle hurt and ill dwarrows, but stopped himself.

There must be some poison left inside his system, which made him hallucinate once more. No other explanation was reasonable or possible. With his free, left hand he rubbed his eyes. Still there.

Pinching Fili’s arm he tried to wake himself. The immediate response, a light jab in his stomach assured him that this was real.

Not being able to take his eyes off of the unreal scene in front of him he wasn’t able to see the unbelieving look in Filis eyes and how the blond prince's jaw seemed to drop even further.

“Uncle… is that really you?!” Kili was not entirely sure if he was seeing things or if this was reality, but either way, it was hilarious.

He couldn’t wait to write to his mother about it! This would provide them with amusement and embassesment from the king till forever! Fili also seemed to have overcome the shock. Leaning onto his older brother Kili could feel the faint shaking, which got stronger by the second, signing that Fili was trying his best to hold in his laughter.

A sly grin appeared on Kili’s lips. He would certainly have to help his older brother, no? With a hearty jab of his elbow he forced the first prince to break into laughter. Not able to hold in his own amusement he joined in and filled the halls with their voices. Even the deathly glare Thorin was rather known and feared for couldn’t stop them. The pink cushion and the blanket he was wrapped into made him look rather ridiculous than intimidating.

“I brought the king.”

Tauriel’s face turned to stone, expressionless as only elves were capable of, while Bard tried his best to keep his mouth shut, the face strangely red as if he had forgotten how to breathe. Confused Oin turned around, the rather worn trumpet in his hand. What was going on?

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A dragons wish - Chapter 4

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They were loud and messy, just like Tolkien had described them. There were bits and pieces of food flying around, ale was splattered on the floor and table. They laughed and sang, ate and cheered. Ruby was glad she had bought this much food otherwise they would have eaten her out of home and house.

Looking at the gathered lot she couldn’t help but smile. Even her dragon seemed to gradually accept them. It had started when Ori had walked up to her, fidgeting with his fingers and asking if there would be something to read that hadn’t been destroyed. The joyful spark in his eyes and the excited squeal had almost melted her heart.

The dragon reacted strangely, just like when Bilbo had handed her the tray and the tea-set he only grumbled low and swung his tail from one side to the other, watching the young scribes every movement. Not controlling, but rather protective.

There was still another strange thing she had noticed. Whenever Throrin was near the dragon would uncurl himself and openly watch the king, urging her in his direction with gentle, and not so gentle, nudging against her ribcage. Shaking her head she tries to forget the strange thoughts.

“Tell me about your adventures,” pleaded Ruby after bringing out a large tray of cookies.

Dori urged her to sit down, while Ori was immersed in the book she had brought him. Bombur seemed to make sure her plate was never empty and even the stern warrior, Dwalin, looked out for her, refilling her cup with tea and sliding her the sugar before she could even ask. Balin was just about to begin telling their story as Nori cleared his throat.

It was unusual for the king’s spy to direkt any attention towards himself. Still, he eyed her with a piercing gaze, noting her every movement and word. He found it strange for such a young girl to live all alone in this mountain where there should be a dragon. She had enough food ready for all of them as they arrived, as if she had known they would come. On top of that Thorin was acting strange, well, stranger than normally, and Dwalin looked like he just had seen a puppy in a carton at the corner of the street, free to adopt. Something was off, he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Mistress Ruby, I hope you do not mind me asking, but do you live here all alone?” he asks, well aware of the looks his brothers were giving him.

“Ah, well yes… I do live alone. Have been on my own here since I can remember. That reminds me. Why don’t you send a message to lake town, so the others can come home as well? The ravens came back a few years ago. They don’t really like me, but I tolerate them,” her dragon snorted as she mentioned the ravens, all they did were laugh at her whenever she had tried to send a message to Bard through them.

“When exactly did you arrive? Was the dragon gone then already and where is he now?” the thief wouldn’t so easily back down, not even the murderous look from the oldest of the Ri brothers could stop him now.

In the meantime it had quieted down around the table. All eyes were on Ruby and Nori, most of them concerned for their hosts' reaction and wellbeing, some angried by the rude behavior of a member of the company and one pair confused, yet somehow knowing.

“I, I arrived some time ago. You could say the mountain is all I know. Besides lake town I haven’t been anywhere else so far,” she stopped hesistand of how to answer the second question of the dwarf.

The dragon had curled himself back up around her heart, snoozing peacefully. She didn’t know why, but he had taken a liking to the dwarrows he once had killed and robbed off their home. But maybe that were her feelings and he just accepted the fact. He had been acting strange since she first shifted into human form. Valuing books and tea over gold and jewels and now even having the desire to protect the rightful King under the Mountain instead of roasting him alive.

“The dragon is currently sleeping and as it seems he doesn’t mind you being here,” she answered truthfully.

Chaos broke loose. The fact that the dragon was indeed alive and sleeping somewhere in the mountain, presumably, made the resting dwarrows wary once again. Dori grabbed her and Ori and pulled them closer to himself as if to shelter them. If he knew who he was pulling close…

Dwalin and Thorin were immediately on their feet, knocking over their stools and scattering some food across the floor while Bilbo shrunk, nearly vanishing under the table. Bombur nudged Bifur, who pulled out a knife while Gloin eyed the fast halls.

“Where is that ugly fat snail?!” Thorin rumbled to no one in particular.

Outraged, the dragon jumped up and against her ribs. Ruby let out a small yelp by the sudden impact forcing the air out of her lungs. It was one thing to tolerate them, but hurting a dragon's ego was never a good idea.

Ruby could feel the familiar warmth rising from her chest and lungs up her throat. She had to bite her own tongue so as not to curse. There was no way they would not notice if there would be smoke coming from her mouth or worse, fire.

“But I am very small and very cute,” Ruby managed to say, trying her best to calm the dragon before he would break her whole rib cage in the attempt to escape.

“Yes, you are very sweet,” Dwalin mumbles to her and the whole company's surprise.

The dragon stopped his attempts and returned to his spot around her heart, grumbling and growling lowely, but rather pleased with the praise, non the less vary and with one eye open. This had been dangerous. Ruby couldn’t have ever forgiven herself if she would have harmed any of them. She would need to be more cautious.

“I need some air,” she excused herself rather poorly.

Separating herself from Dori she nodded apologising in Balin's direction and rushed past the startled Thorin. Ruby could feel Noris eyes staring at her back just like the worried looks from the rest of the company.

“What were you thinking?! She is our host! Did you even consider …”

The voices grew quieter until they finally faded away. The cold wind blew through her hair, made single strands dance and pulled on her several braids as she reached the very top of the wall. In the distance she could see the faint lights of lake town shining through the fog and the dark.

It was quiet out here. When she had still been at home, on earth, she had always longed for peace and silence. Now it seemed less peaceful and rather suffocating. They all had been so happy, probably positive that the journey was over. And yet there were so much more to come.

Her heart tightened at the sheer thought of losing any of them, of seeing them run into battle, into their death. The dragon growled threatening and she eased his and her worries by starting to hum. It had become a habit over the years. Whenever the silence would become too heavy she would break it with something as simple as humming.

For some reason Ruby ended up with the song ‘Still into You’ from Paramore. She climbed up onto the outer wall, opening her arms, closing her eyes and just enjoying the wind. Yes, maybe even after sixty years she still wasn’t over that stupid crush she had on the king that Tolkien had killed in the end. Yes, it didn’t help that Peter Jackson had casted Richard Armitage. And hell yes, why on earth did they resemble the movie characters so much?!

For a moment she thought about letting herself fall and stretch her wings for a bit, as she spun around herself again and again, when two strong arms wrapped themselves around her waist, easily lifting her up and bringing her away from the edge.

“What were you thinking?! She is our host! Did you even consider …” Dori immediately started his lecture.

Nori could only roll with his eyes. He had heard all of this more than a million times. That he would not come far by being so nosy and rude and that he should finally stop upsetting everyone around them and consider the feelings of others … bla bla bla.

“Yeah, yeah. I get it, you nagging old mother hen. For how long did we know her? Three hours? Four? There is something fishy here and it is not the soup.”

Turning around on his heels he followed the strange little girl calling herself their host. She was strange and his instinct told him that she was hiding something. A bit further behind him he could hear the hesitant steps of his younger brother echoing from the walls. For some reason Ori had already let that little redhead into his heart. Ori had always had a soft and big heart.

His heart however nearly stopped when he saw her. Dancing on the outer wall, eyes closed and humming a strange tune. She turned and turned, her arms extended and her feed always seemed to find the right foothold. Even though she danced right on the edge her movements were precise and confident.

Before Ori could let out a high pitched squeak, Nori quickly covered his mouth. He didn’t dare to startle the girl and risk her falling off the wall. Signing in Iglishmek he urged Ori to go and get Thorin and better not let Dori know. Otherwise their brother might indeed blow up or at least get a heart attack.

It didn’t take long and to Noris' discomfort Ori not only brought Thorin and maybe Dwalin, but also Dori and Bombur. Rubbing his temples the spy only pointed at the still dancing and humming girl.

Nori witnessed, for the first time on their whole quest, how all color drained from the king's face. Gently Thorin approached Ruby and waited till she slowed her spinning and turning and then quickly wrapped his arms around her middle, carrying her away from the edge and back inside.

What a particular and strange behavior for their king and leader. Looking to the side Nori could spot Gloin and Balin joining them with a large raven on Gloins arm. Dori leaned at the wall, his eyes wide open and one hand clutching his chest. It was obvious that the mother hen was not too far away from a hysterical attack.

“What were you doing?!” Thorin grumbled, horror in his voice, looking down at the small creature, still secure in his arms.

“Well, it is a wonderful night for a dance under the moon, don’t you agree?” tilting her head back until the back bumped against his chest she smiled up.

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A dragons wish - Chapter 5

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Dwalin watched as his best friend awkwardly let go of their host. What was he witnessing here? First Thorin had held her longer than necessary as she was clearly able to look after herself and now the king looked lost.

Ruby turned around, looking up into Thorin's eyes. It was as if she was not completely sure how to react in this kind of situation. It was obvious that their host knew her way around the mountain and also knew how to survive, otherwise she wouldn’t have been able to live so long here all alone.

An awkward silence filled the air while Ruby stared up at Thorin, and Thorin, to Dwalins surprise, avoided her eyes, scratching his neck.

“You didn’t have to, but thank you though,” she grinned and hugged the startled king, rubbing her cheek over the fur of his coat.

For a moment all dwarrows froze in their movement. Dori was the first to react by snatching Ruby by her shoulders and dragging her away from Thorin and further down the hall. Dwalin shook his head to come back to his senses. Was Thorin’s hand following the small red-head just now? And did the ever frowning, grim expression of the king just turn into a fond absentminded smile?!

One after another they broke free from their frozen state, following Dori inside like little ducklings would their mother. The eldest of the Ri brothers gently guided their host by the shoulders back inside, sending deadly glares at the king and his brother. After a final look out into the dark night Dwalin turned around to follow the others. A warm presence on his left made him turn his head.

The young scribe had found his way right next to him in the very back. Without the never ending fussing of his oldest brother and the silent threatening glares of his second brother, Ori had grasped the chance and separated himself from them.

Warm fingers brushed lightly over the back of Dwalin's hand. He nearly flinched away, but his brain reminded him just in time, that he probably would never have a similar chance ever again. If Dori knew, they wouldn’t even have this chance at all. His fingers fidgeted, while his other hand fiddled with the edge of his shirt. Dwalin would have liked nothing better than to grab the young dwarrows hand, but he decided not to. There was already enough going on as is, he could wait.

Abrupt the warriors head flings to the side. Ori had grabbed his hand all on his own and gave it a light squeeze, as if to test out Dwalin’s reaction. His head spun back to stare blankly forward as he lightly squeezed back, but even the dimly lit hallway couldn’t hide the crimson blush down to Dwalin’s neck.

A loud gasp from Gloin made Dwalin and Ori instinctively jump away from each other, awkwardly coughing. The remark wasn’t for them, but rather what lay before them. The great forges of Erebor lit the hall and warmed the air, drawing strange shadows onto the walls. No, not shadows. There were actual paintings on the walls of tall buildings, strange looking skylines and unfamiliar sights.

Like most of the company Dwalin stared at the new sights those paintings were showing him. Ori on the other hand had made his way to the front where Dori and Ruby stood. At the base of the largest fire pit was something which looked like a castle of cushions, blankets and books, towers of books wherever one looked.

Ruby stopped in front of one of the book-towers and confidently grabbed one of the large leather bound books. It looked a bit worn out and the lather was bruised on the edges. Multiple bookmarks stook out of the tattered pages, marking the beginning of each new year. Their host wiped off some of the dust that had gathered on the golden ornaments on the back of the book.

“Here,” she handed it over to a surprised Balin, “these are all items in the treasury as well as the expenses I made over the years. Most of which was trade, but some of the gold I had to use as well. It should be alright though, cause some of the gold in the treasury was taken from Dale when the dragon came, so it is only right to give it back, don’t you think so?” she smiled up at him.

“Miss Ruby?” her attention as well as Dwalins shifted from the astonished king’s aide to the scribe of their group, “what exactly is all this? I have never seen anything similar in the slightest!”

Ori’s eyes beamed at her filled with curiosity for the unknown things he had just discovered. He had removed his shoes and was sitting on one of the cushions spread over the blankets on the floor. In his lap he held a book that had prior lay open on the small desk in the far back.

“That is my diary, master Ori,” she grinned down at him, before sitting in the place next to him.

The young dwarf blushed furiously, muttering something indistinguishable before closing the book and desperately searching for something else to talk about. His gaze stopped at Gloin, who was still admiring the large paintings of buildings on the walls.

“What are those then?” he asked, pointing at the painting on the wall nearest to them.

“That was my home.”

A heavy silence filled the halls, only interrupted by the crackling of the fires. Dwalin could see the longing and the sadness in her eyes.So she as well had lost her home and made a new home here in the mountain.

“I will tell you about it someday,” Ruby looked up, a sad smile on her lips.

Dwalin nearly moved towards her, to hug her and tell her she would be fine, that she no longer was alone any more, but something bumped against his shoulder, bringing him back to reality.

Looking to the side he could witness something rather unusual. Thorin Oakenshield, his friend and king showed open concern and worry. Thinking back Thorin had acted quite strangely ever since they had reached the mountain, somewhat out of character. He had been more open and not as on edge as he had been throughout the whole journey. His king was also more considerate towards their host than Dwalin would have ever considered possible.

Ruby was no dwarf, just a child with unknown background, living in their home as it seemed to be. Still, there was some strange aura around her which made it impossible to grasp the whole situation, or rather her whole being. There was definitely more to her than she would let on. He shouldn’t have let his guard down in the first place, only because she looked like a child and they were in the safety of their home.

A loud crashing sound made him shift his attention back onto the situation. Once again the forges were wrapped in a dead silence. On the ground next to Thorin he could spot a pile of books and in between those, small shards of what looked like some kind of teacup.

Even though it was shattered, Dwalin could see that it was rather poorly made, most likely by a child or a very untalented potter. The sharp inhale of air made him look in Ruby’s direction. The attention of the whole company lay on her. Thorin even slightly flinched back, a guilty grimace on his face.

Her eyes lit up like a golden flare, shining from the inside out. A slim line of smoke crept out of her mouth as she began to speak, her voice deep and menacing, “You! You come here, into my mountain. Eating my food, drinking my ale and enjoying the warmth~” she nearly hissed the last part, letting the sound slowly die out.

The sound, her flashing eyes and mannerism as well as the fact that there was literal smoke coming out of her mouth and nostrils made Dwalin shiver. The chill crept right through his flesh and into his bones. His hands automatically flinched to grab his weapons. The realisation hit his mind like fire. He, as well as the other dwarrows had left their weapons in the dining room.

In the meantime Ruby had started to circle around Thorin. Her presence had become dangerous, almost even more terrifying than the dragon that might still be somewhere in the mountain. What in Mahal's name was she?

“Thorin Oakenshield,” her hissing voice cut through the air like a sharp knife, “There is no King under the Mountain, just a fool!” tears welled up in her eyes as she stood in front of him, trembling terribly.

“I gave it to you, I gave it all to you! The Arkenstone, the gold… I thought about not giving it to you at all, to hide it where you may never find it, so I didn’t have to see you going mad like your grandfather did,” her last words were no more than a whisper.

With that she slipped away, leaving the dwarrows standing still as if they had been struck by lightning. Ruby hurried through the hallways. Now they felt cold and empty, almost hostile towards her. She needed to get out. She needed air, silence and some time to stretch her wings.

The dragon rampaged in her chest, desperately trying to get out once more, to get to the surface and burn whatever had hurt her. But that was no option, she would never be able again to sleep soundly if there were any harm coming to her dwarrows. No, she would need to vent her anger elsewhere.

Maybe she would even be able to kill two birds with one stone. To prevent any further harm coming to her drarrows she would just have to get rid of a small obstacle, and said obstacle would be a perfect target for her to vent her anger without further consequences.

Azog would die tonight. As if to agree her dragon roared as she changed forms, her clothes secure in her right claw.

She didn’t notice the hobbit, running out of the mountain shortly after she had shifted into Smaug, watching her as she glided through the air and into the dark. Neither did she see the horror on the small creature's face as he spotted the familiar clothings in the dragon's claw. Even to hear the shocked “What have we done?” whispered by Bilbo, she was already too far away.

A dragons wish - Chapter 3

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“Da! You have to go and check on her. What if something bad happened? What if the dwarrows took all her food and tea and … and forced her to bring them to the mountain?”

“Sigrid is right, father. Ruby lives all alone there in the shadow of the mountain. She helped us all so much,” Bain intervened before his father could say anything, “she doesn’t deserve to be left all alone.”

Tilda stepped forward. She didn’t say a single word. She only clutched her stuffed animal while her lower lip slightly began to tremble. Big round eyes staring at her father.

Bard sighed, against his children he didn’t stand a chance. He once again looked at the stuffed animal his youngest was holding. It had been a present from Ruby a long time ago. Such a strange animal. Long and gracile legs with hooves like a horse. The long neck, almost too long to be real, on the thin body ending in a horse-like head with two ears and two bumps, which looked like they could have been horns at some point. Two dark beads as eyes and a pink tongue in the slightly open mouth. What a strange creature. But the strangest by far would be its colouring, yellow with brown spots. This could only be a made up creature.

“Fine, I am going,” he nodded, “Sigrid, you look after Tilda. Bain, keep them safe while I am gone. The slightest sign of danger and you take them out of here. If you have to, go to the forest and wait there for me. I won’t be gone for long.”

Bard gave each of his children a kiss on the forehead before he took his bag, a rather improvised weapon and left this home to search his lifelong friend in the shadows of the mountain.

The screaming subsided when Thorin abruptly stopped at the beginning of the large staircase leading into the treasury. Dwalin collided with Thorin's back, almost knocking them all down the stairs. The warrior caught Ori in the last second before the scribe could tumble over the edge, earning a dark glare from Dori, while Nori protectively snatched their youngest from Dwalins grip. Gloin and Balin ran in, shortly followed by a confused Bifur. Bombur took a while longer, but he as well entered the chamber, huffing and puffing.

Silence filled the grand halls of Erebors treasury. Ruby nudged Bilbo’s arm. The hobbit was awkwardly silent. Looking to the side she could see him shaking, hands covering his face. Was he scared that their shouting might have woken the dragon? Right before Ruby could place her hand on his shoulder he bursted into laughter. The merry sound echoes through the large hall, recoiling from the walls and transforming it into a strange layered grumble.

In an instant the weapons were risen once again, while the dwarrows built a protective circle. Poor Ori squeezed in the very middle. Alarmed they scanned the vicinity, looking for the big, scary and definitely deadly dragon. Bilbo and Ruby were hidden from their sight up on the balcony.

“Let’s go down and surprise them,” whispered Ruby to the still snickering hobbit.

Bilbo only nodded, one hand pressed over his mouth to stifle his laughter. Together they made their way down the stairs. Ruby stopped in the shadows of a large pillar, letting Bilbo go on. It might be better for the gentle hobbit to ease the tension, before she showed herself. She couldn’t be sure how they would react to the new face in their very own home.

“Bilbo! We thought you were lost!” Balin began walking towards the hobbit, but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.

Thorin stood there, a hand on the advisor's shoulder. He looked grim, furious even. Ruby leaned a bit in, out of the shadows. He was really handsome, even dirty and ragged as he was at this point.

“Y-you should have seen your faces! It was hilarious,” snickered Bilbo holding his stomach with one and the railing with the other to not fall to his knees out of laughter.

Thorin raised an eyebrow, looking down at the shaking hobbit. His eyes were narrowed and not as amused as Ruby had anticipated. She would have at least thought him to be happy that there was no fire breathing dragon in his ancestors home. Strangely enough, but he looked dark and cold, but only for a moment. As the king raised his gaze to face Balin.

“What do you make of this, Balin. Burglar, where is the Arkenstone?”

Before the king's advisor could race his voice Bilbo stood up, his knees still shaking and the corners of his mouth curled up into a grin. He was probably quite amused to see the leader of their company so baffled and lost for words.

“Thorin, instead of barging in on another innocent person, dragging them into your mess and eating them out of home and house you should greet our host. She was kind enough to invite me to tea and cookies as well as offering a hot bath and some new clothes. This is Ruby.” gesturing in her general direction.

Thorin's face changed from grim to utterly confused in just the blink of an eye. He looked at the pillar Bilbo had pointed at, the pillar she was hiding behind. Peeking out of the shadows she smiled brightly up at the soon to be king.

“Ruby? What is a Ruby?” he didn’t even bother looking her in the eyes, instead he looked down at the hobbit once again, as if Ruby wasn’t even there.

In the meantime Ruby had stepped out of the shadows into the flickering light from the torches. While Thorin was talking to Bilbo and Balin (generously ignoring her) she put her mind to get a closer look at the rest of the company.

Dwalin eyed her with suspicion while shielding Ori. Dori looked at her as if he was about to just wrap her up in a blanket and never let her leave again. Bifur stared at her from a bit further back, standing right next to Bombur who was still catching his breath. Gloin still held onto his weapon, scanning the halls for any danger to come.

Ruby took a deep breath to give them a big welcome, this was their home after all so it would be only right. As she opened her mouth a foul smell, even stronger than before almost overwhelmed her and made her choke. The dragon in her chest grumbled, bearing his teeth at the smell.

“You should take a bath, you know? The thing with the water and the soap? You are really stinky.”

Thorin spun around, finally looking her into the eyes. It seemed like the king was at a loss for words yet again.

“You are a girl.” he concluded not very wisely.

“Most certainly,” she nodded, quickly remembering her good manners, “Hi, I’m Ruby!” grinning she extends her hand.

The discussion had been tedious. How in the world could dwarrows be this stubborn? Only the argument that there would be no food if they weren’t taking a bath could finally win them over. No matter the muffled comments or confused looks, Ruby stayed adamant and would not budge.

Humming Ruby hopps through the long hallway. In her right hand she held the Arcenstone, while in the left she held one of her favorite books. She wanted to show it to Ori. The young dwarf was by far the easiest to approach and certainly a worthwhile conversation partner.

As she passed by the bathing facilities Thorin stepped out into the hallway. A very wet and naked Thorin Oakenshield. Ruby stopped her humming and skipping through the hallway. This, this was straight up fanservice! Damn, he was muscular.

Back home she had read many stories and many many fanfiction of which a few were a bit, well… hot. Luckily Ruby had enough practice in putting on a poker face. Like that one time when her teacher confiscated her phone with the website still open.

“Thorin, what can I do for you? Are the clothes perhaps not to your liking?” she pointed at the towel wrapped around the king's waist.

Thorin closed the distance between them with two large steps. Now he was towering over her. He was tall. Almost two heads taller than her. Her eyes were on the perfect height to stare right at his bare chest. Waiting all these years alone here in the mountain was definitely worth it.

“I believe you have something that belongs to me,” he said with a low growl.

Ruby took a deep breath to focus her mind, starring a bit longer than necessary before her eyes found his. His eyes were as blue as Tolkien had described them, sadly they weren’t as warm as before.

“Oh, sure. It is a nice stone. Very handy. But I guess now I have to search for a new reading lamp,” she gently places the stone in the king's open palm before grabbing his wrist in a quick motion and pulling him down to her.

“If you do anything stupid, Thorin Oakenshield, like starting a pointless war over a scratched ego, I will take the stone away as quickly as I have given it to you. You are not your grandfather. You are a great leader to your folk and even though you are sometimes a fool and a stubborn idiot you were right to come home,” she released his wrist, hoping she hadn’t used too much strength on him. Well, dwarrows were sturdy, right?

Turning around she continued her skipping down the hallway. She didn’t see the young scribe behind the corner of the entrance to the baths, his eyes looking back and forth between the small red haired girl and the speechless king, or the slight blush on the king's cheeks and ears all the way down to his neck. She neither saw the spy, tucked in a darker corner and witnessing the whole situation while glaring at her back with suspicion and curiosity.

Ruby stopped in the middle of her movement. Ori immediately held his breath while Nori made sure to stay in the shadows. Thorin on the other hand straightened his back.

“Oh, and make sure to tell the others that dinner is ready. You must be hungry after your travels. I am eager to hear your stories,” Ruby smiled warmly back at the king, leaving the thread she had spoken in a cold voice earlier nothing more than a dream-like illusion.

“What a curious creature,” Nori whispered all but to himself, observing his king closely.

Thorin stood in the empty hallway, nothing more than a towel around his hips, the Arkenstone in his hand and staring with a dazed expression down the hallway where not long ago a small child-like girl with fiery red curls had skipped away. And as it looked she had taken more from the king than just his voice.