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 Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 1:31 pm
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:21 pm
Jaws snapped out angrily at Thorin's ankle. A wolf lay trapped beneath a heavy net, woven by raccoons and weighted by rocks. Thorin reared back and slammed his front hooves down on the cursed creature's neck ending it's life for good. They had been attacked while traveling over the mountain to reach their new home. He called out for his men but was answered only in silence. The lack of sound wrapped around Thorin weighing him down. Thorin called out again, this time for his only brother, only his voice came out as quiet as a whisper no matter how hard he tried to shout. A frightened scream from the right reached his ears. Dis. Thorin hadn't known she was there.
He dug into the earth, slick with blood, to propel himself towards his kin. Thorin cried out for her but this time no sound escaped his throat at all. The screams of his sister abruptly stopped only to be replaced by the shouts and sobs of his nephews coming from the other side of Erebor. He tried to run to them but took a wrong turn somewhere. He found himself in a room full of gold staring at Frerin. Thorin finally found his voice just long enough to rasp out his brother's name. Frerin smiled, unnerving Thorin instantly. His smile continued to grow wider and wider until it split the sides of his face. Scales began to replace Frerin's golden coat and he grew larger and larger until Thorin was staring at the dragon Smaug. The dragon snarled at him declaring that he would not part with a single piece of the gold before opening his mouth and releasing a stream of fire directly at the dwarf prince.
Thorin's blue eyes snapped open as he jerked away with a start. His heart raced and he couldn't seem to fill his lungs with oxygen. As his eyes focused he looked around quickly. They were not in Erebor. They were halfway across the world, or so it often felt. Thorin took in a few more breaths quietly watching as bits of fog rose every time he exhaled. Feeling more steady he looked to the sky, it was covered by a thick blanket of snow clouds waiting to drop even more snow on the little mountain valley the dwarves of Erebor currently inhabited. It was not yet noon and sometime after dawn but that was as much as Thorin could tell.
Whatever time it was it seemed that no one had seen it fit to waken him. Perhaps none of his officials wanted to hike up to where Thorin resided in order to attend to business. For a moment Thorin considered seeking them out instead only to dismiss the idea. They lived on all sides of the settlement. Thorin could spend all of the daylight hours hunting them down and never see even a fraction of them. Today could be a day of rest.
Thorin took a few minutes to drink some water, blissfully not frozen beyond the top layer. He had just started pushing snow off of the store of food that would be his breakfast when he heard someone shouting further up the hill. Kili. Thorin felt the blood drain from his face remembering his dream. "Kili!" He shouted pushing through the knee deep snow as fast as he could following the tracks that undoubtedly belonged to his kin. He wove his way through pine trees and bare-branched aspens and came to a stop on the crest of the hill. From there he could see his youngest nephew climbing out of a small pond. Judging by the looks of the ice floating on top of the water and the looks Thorin's heir was giving his brother, Kili had tried to walk across the ice and it had broken under his weight.
Thorin felt like he could collapse under his own weight any second and chose to lean against a near-by pine. Kili would be the death of him one day. Thorin's heart simply couldn't take the worry that boy provided.
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Posted: Sat Jan 04, 2014 2:56 pm
Frerin had been woken at the crack of dawn when his nephews had decided it would be funny to tip a bucket of water over his head. It had been funny for them at first until Frerin had chased both of them up the hill promising his revenge. Thinking back on it, as Frerin watched the younger stallions play in the high snow like new born foals, it was funny. It hadn't been for Frerin since the temperature was somewhere between miserable and detestable outside and the water hadn't been warm to begin with. Now that his coat was dry Frerin could laugh about aspects of it. How Fili and Kili had possessed the foresight to not chose their mother or Thorin as targets. How they had managed to sneak around without waking anyone when snow was far from the quietest substance to be walking through. Even how they had somehow managed to find a bucket that hadn't been frozen solid was amusing.
Frerin chuckled to himself as Kili started kicking snow at his brother stopping only when his stomach growled. He had forgotten to eat in his rush to kill his nephews. Keeping an eye on the lads, lest they mark him as a target again, Frerin starting digging in the snow for a bit of greenery that wouldn't quite be green anymore. He found a patch of dead grass. It would have to work for now. Nothing was really alive right now and he didn't want to hike down the hill to get some food from their stores. Frerin tossed his mane out of the way before leaning down to clip at the dead grass. Tasteless. He grimaced but worked the bite down his throat anyway. Bland was better than disgusting, ask anyone. With that happy thought Frerin continued his tasteless but not vile meal peacefully. Until Kili cried out suddenly followed by Fili calling for his brother.
Frerin's head shot up and he nearly choked on his meal. What had happened? He abandoned his meal and ran back to his lookout to find Kili swimming through the water and breaking up the ice in front of him that. Kili had fallen into the pond. Both the boys looked a bit startled but at the same time they seemed to be managing alright. Frerin allowed himself to relax a little until a new sound reached his ears, the sound of someone barreling through the trees. Frerin watched in wonder as Thorin charged up the hill stopping at the top only when he could see their nephews. Frerin hadn't realized his older brother was even awake yet. It hadn't been long since Fili and Kili had woken Frerin in the first place. Perhaps Thorin had been waking by the time their nephews had dropped the water on him.
Frerin watched as Thorin sagged against the tree. He understood that feeling too well. Of the three of them only Dis had managed to produce any heirs. If they lost Fili and Kili they might as well hang up their crowns and call it quits. "They'll be alright, Thorin." Frerin said calmly and quietly not wanting to startle his big brother. There was nothing quite like a death scare to put Thorin, or anyone sensible, on edge. "They're tougher than the hardest stone."
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:29 pm
Seeing Frerin's face sent a chill racing down Thorin's spine and he straightened up away from the tree. Would his face split into a grin only to have a ferocious monster emerge like it had in his dream? Thorin studied his brother carefully for a moment. Frerin was speaking more reasonably and compassionately than he usually did. Thorin frowned in slight annoyance. He did not need to be babied by his little brother. "That does not give them cause to be so reckless." He said with a bit more bite than he meant to.
Turning away from Frerin, Thorin began a march down the slope to the formerly frozen pond. They needed to learn sense and that included his brother. Where had Frerin been when this had happened? Fili and Kili were still very much children even if they were grown. Tougher than stone did not make them indestructible. "Fili! Kili!" Thorin called as he drew closer to the pair. The relief he had felt over seeing that they were both alive had been short lived. "What were you thinking?!"
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 4:55 pm
From the neck down, all of Kili's hair and coat clung to him from the water. Even shaking himself off forcefully didn't do much good to dry him. At first walking across the frozen pond had seemed like a grand idea. Kili thought it would be a great way to get away from his brother's snow kicking since Fili refused to follow him. Unlike their bathing area near their home that had a small stream to keep the water moving this till water froze over looking every bit as solid as the ground around it. Unfortunately it seemed that this pool was only good for pond scum, tadpoles, and deceiving dwarven princes.
Kili shivered and looked down at his coat, there was a thin coating of something green on it that Kili didn't even want to know what it was. Even if he had wondered about the substance Kili wouldn't have had the opportunity to investigate. He heard his name and Kili didn't need to turn to know who was shouting at him. He had thought that Thorin was asleep. He had looked to be asleep when they had left and that hadn't been long ago. Much to Kili's regret it looked like Thorin had followed after them and from the sound of it he had seen everything that had just happened.
Kili's ears flicked back apologetically, it was an automatic reaction to the tone in his uncle's voice. "I didn't mean to..." Kili said feeling very much like a young colt once again. A young colt that had just upset a basket of apples or singed his tail on an open flame. A young colt disappointing his family.
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:32 pm
Fili had felt more than slightly panicked when Kili had dropped into the pond. It had felt like time had come to a halt around him and then his brother had been fine. He stood with all for feet planted firmly on the bottom of the pond and the scummy water only came up to his chest. Now that Kili was on dry land shaking like a dog Fili was tempted to shove him right back in the disgusting water. He had warned his brother not to go out there just like their mother had warned them every time they had played out here as foals. It wasn't as though this was the first time they had seen a frozen pool and yet for some unfathomable reason Kili had decided that it would be a good idea to go out on the ice.
Fili wouldn't get to chastise his brother over his stupidity. He wouldn't have to. Thorin had seen.
Fili stood up a bit straighter and his mouth set into a grim line. Fili had not been the one to go onto the ice but he would hear his uncle's lecture all the same. He always did. As Thorin's heir Fili was expected to be better and do better at all times. Fili chose not to speak until Thorin had said what he needed to say. If he kept quiet there was a chance that Thorin's anger would burn itself out quickly.
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 5:48 pm
Frerin was at a loss. Being gentle with his brother seemed to have backfired spectacularly. Instead of calming Thorin it had lit an angry fire in his heart and now Thorin had turned his sights on two unwitting victims. Their nephews had only been playing around and enjoying the day free from responsibility. It wasn't unusual for Thorin to lash out after having a scare, actually it was almost a predictable reaction. The only unpredictable part was who Thorin would shout at.
Frerin watched as Thorin turned on their nephews, shouting their names angrily. He watched Kili duck his head slightly while Fili straightened up like he was preparing to take a hit. Thorin had them trained. Frerin opened his mouth to call to Thorin but no sound came out. What could he even say to make things any better?
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Posted: Wed Jan 15, 2014 7:02 pm
It did not take an expert tracker to follow her family. When Dis came back from Onar's favorite tree with her hair freshly set in braids and gold Dis found that not only were her children and Frerin missing but now Thorin was gone as well. There were only a handful of paths leading away from their home. One was from Dis herself. The others all went in the same direction. Never one to stick only to her own business Dis trudged down the snowy path to see what was going on up the slop that required the attention of both of her brothers and her sons.
She spotted the golden hide of Frerin first and he seemed to have been struck dumb by something happening down the other side of the slope. She approached quietly seeing no point in greeting her brother until she knew what was going on. There was no doubt that he would notice her but that didn't concern Dis. The worst Frerin could do would be try and kick her. As she came to a stop on the crest of the mountain foothill she also discovered that the worst Thorin seemed to be capable of was yelling at her boys again.
Dis raised her eyebrows slowly as she watched her oldest brother. The should-have-been king of the dwarves. She found his title meant very little to her especially when it concerned her children. Thorin was allowed to train Fili as his heir, seeing as he seemed incapable of producing his own, but he wasn't allowed to jump on him for any little thing. If he wanted to scold children at will he would have to find himself a mare and make some of his own.
"Frerin, let's go visit our brother." Dis said sweetly, perhaps a little too sweetly. She would determine whether Thorin's lecture deserved to be listened to or not. Of course based on the fact that Kili was soaking wet in the middle of the winter whatever Thorin had to say probably needed to be said. Dis just wanted to be the one to okay it.
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 7:56 am
Frerin should not have been surprised to see Dis. He didn't know exactly what his sister did during the days but if there was something going on with the family she almost always found out. The longest they'd kept a secret from Dis had been four days when Frerin finally cracked under the pressure. He had sworn up and down to Thorin that evening that Dis had probably known from the start that they'd let those rocks fall on Kili's head. Despite the fact that the foal wasn't really talking yet Frerin was sure Dis had found someway to get the colt to talk or she had noticed some dust in his mane or something. She noticed everything. It was like she had eyes everywhere, not just on the back of her head.
He shouldn't have been surprised, but he was all the same. Frerin's heart jumped out of his chest and his jaw shut with an audible clicking of teeth when he heard crunching in the snow behind him. Seeing that it was his sister did little to relieve him. Frerin glanced warily down the hill to where Thorin had come to a stop in front of the lads. Dis would not like this. A few times Frerin thought to try and explain but somehow it seemed better to let Thorin fry for getting angry at them this time. Frerin didn't want to be on the wrong side of his sister's wrath, nobody did.
Dis spoke. Frerin shuddered. Thorin was going to die. This was it. Fili was about to be king because Dis was going to murder their brother and Frerin wasn't sure he'd be able to stop her.
Slowly Frerin nodded his head before accompanying Dis down the snowy slop to her boys. It was a very slow but purposeful walk. Either Dis was in no hurry to stop Thorin or she wanted to give him the chance to have a heart attack before she reached him. Frerin couldn't be sure.
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 8:27 am
As Thorin looked at the faces before him, one guilty and the other resolute, he felt his anger waver slightly. They weren't dead. Aside from Kili's occasional shaking from the cold they were completely unharmed. It was difficult to maintain his anger towards the two. He had helped raise them after their father had passed. Every time he looked at them he just saw the little faces of knobbly kneed colts. Sometimes it was just so easy to forget that they were done growing. Kili was almost as tall as he was and while Fili still had a bit of a wild streak it was tempered with sensibility that he wished many members of his own council possessed.
They were still watching him silently, expectantly. He had come down to them with a purpose that he had nearly forgotten. "Do not be so reckless." It was a command but it came out with much less force than Thorin had intended. He just wanted them to be safe especially when his nightmares were so keen to remind him that they were anything but. Thorin looked at Kili, still soaked to the bone and covered in grime. Their mother would kill him if he kept Kili out any longer. They had thick blankets at home and Dis's raccoon could light a fire and clean the muck off of Kili's coat.
"Kili, come on." He said turning to take him home, Fili could do as he pleased. As soon as he looked up the hill, however, he saw exactly who he didn't want to see at this moment. "Dis."
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 8:44 am
There was no response. Kili couldn't tell if that was a good or bad thing. All he knew for sure was that he was currently under close scrutiny from his uncle. Thorin almost wasn't blinking, he was just looking at them silently. Kili glanced at his older brother to see what Fili was doing during this. He stood straight and still as a rock. Kili slowly straightened up in such a way that he hoped his uncle wouldn't notice what he was doing. He wished that Thorin would hurry up though even the slightest wind was making him shake from the cold now.
Finally Thorin spoke. It was a simple order in sound but it would be complex in execution. Maybe even impossible. Kili didn't feel he was reckless, just daring and unafraid. Still, he replied with a simple, "Yes, Uncle." Thorin would expect them to comply, it didn't really matter what with. When Thorin turned for home and beckoned Kili to follow, Kili was relieved but Thorin didn't move. Following Thorin's gaze Kili found the reason why. "Mom." He had been so focused on Thorin that he hadn't noticed his mother or Frerin coming down to join them.
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:16 am
Fili could only guess at what their uncle was thinking. He'd only seen Thorin go this silent on a few occasions all of them during meetings about dire subjects. Greater numbers of wolves spotted on their borders or a shortage of supplies. Any time the solution wasn't clear Thorin would go silent like this. Why he was quiet now Fili wasn't sure. They had been doing something they should not have been. Scolding seemed like the obvious response but he wasn't doing anything.
Fili's lips parted as he prepared to say Thorin's name to hopefully prompt the stallion into action. He didn't need to. Thorin spoke but they weren't the harsh words Fili had been bracing himself for. It seemed as though Thorin's anger had all but vanished in his silence. Fili's eyebrows raised slightly in surprise as Thorin turned away calling for Kili to follow him. That was really it? Was he just trying to get Kili looked after before he froze to death first? Fili didn't disapprove of that in the slightest but he would have preferred if Thorin had decided to look after Kili a bit sooner if that had been his intent in the first place.
Movement on the hill caught his attention at the same moment as Thorin noticed. "Mom..." Fili said hearing his words echoed softly only seconds later by Kili. All three of them, Thorin, Fili, and Kili, stood completely still as Dis approached as if they had been turned into stone by her presence.
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Posted: Fri Jan 17, 2014 9:24 am
Thorin had kept her sons for far less time than Dis had been anticipating. Whatever Thorin had wanted to yell at them he had already finished with. That couldn't be a good sign. It said to Dis that something was troubling her brother, something important and probably terrible. "Pick up your feet, Frerin." Dis commanded before hastening her pace down to her sons and oldest brother. She would get to the bottom of this just as soon as she sent her sons off. Thorin wouldn't open up much with the two of them around but she could bet that he would speak with enough badgering from her if it was just his siblings about.
She came to a stop barely a foot in front of Thorin to block his path before looking to both of her sons. She started with her youngest who looked like he was about to start growing icicles. "Kili, go home and get under a blanket or four." She said not caring about the mess, they could deal with that later but she wouldn't allow her baby to get sick. "Fili, go find Onar, he should still be in his tree. Make him start a fire so your brother doesn't freeze to death. I need to speak to your uncle for a little while so don't wait for us." With that she leveled Thorin with a serious look just daring him to try and leave.
He might be a sort of king but she was still his sister.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 2:45 pm
------------------------------------------ The lads had gone and Thorin noted that Frerin had left right along with them. Perhaps that was why their grandfather had never quite taken to Thorin's little brother, he could be quite the coward on occasion. This was especially true when it came to their younger sister. Dis was a little smaller than Frerin but something about her cool, collected demeanor could make even the strongest stallions quake in fear. Frerin had once joked that Dis must have been related to a dragon before everyone determined it wasn't funny at all.
"Dis, your sons will be fine." Thorin said softly hoping to pacify whatever anger Dis was experiencing.
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 4:04 pm
It had never failed to amaze Dis that for all of her brother's political knowledge and cunning he couldn't figure out what his own flesh and blood were thinking. Their father and grandfather seemed to have skipped over how to interact with normal people entirely when they had been prepping Thorin for the duties he would one day have. It was a shame too. Perhaps if Thorin had a little more insight to the workings of the average mind Dis wouldn't need to lecture her brother so much.
"Of course they are. In case you've forgotten they've both gone running around like feral children when they should have been half dead with fever." Dis replied to her brother flatly. Her sons were nothing if not durable. She was still entitled to fuss over them as every mother was but that didn't mean she thought they were near death at every turn of the road. "If you think that's why I'm down here then you're absolutely incorrect." Dis leveled her brother with a serious look.
"Thorin, whether they ought to or not Fili and Kili listen to everything you say." Whether or not they actually acted on what they were told was debatable but Dis thought it would be better to leave that out. "Fili especially. He knows what's waiting for him one day and he doesn't need you breathing down his neck about it. They're my sons Thorin. If they do something stupid I expect them to be sent to me." Dis frowned deeply at her brother. She wished that she could say that this was unusual behavior for Thorin but it wasn’t. There was always one thing or another that would send him into a grumpy fit. Today there was something else though. He had given up far too easily for this to be any little thing.
“Thorin, what is this really about?”
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