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Just to make things clear, in this chapter, italics means a dream.
Thorin was on a battlefield. The battle was won but no one was celebrating. Dwarves and Orcs where everywhere and it was a mess. It smelt like death and the screams of the dying where horrible. Thorin tried to shut them out but failed. He needed to find his brother. Frerin had been convinced that he was ready and (stupidly) Thrór had let him fight. Stupid. Stupid.
Thorin spotted Balin and Dwalin who were standing next to each other, grateful that the other was still alive. He quickly ran over to them.
"Have you seen Frerin?" He frantically asked. The sons of Fundin exchanged looks. "HAVE YOU?" Thorin was frantic.
"I haven't seen him." Balin started.
"Neither have I." Dwalin said.
"Neither of you? Where is he?"
"Frerin! Where are you?" Thorin was getting desperate. "Frerin!" After hours of searching, Thorin finally saw his brother's shield. Which meant that Frerin would be close by.
"Thorin." A whisper followed by a cough finally alerted Thorin to his brother's position. Within seconds, he was at Frerin's side.
"Frerin, I'm here." Thorin tried to sound like nothing was wrong, but it was hard to do so when there was a spear embedded in Frerin's chest.
"Thorin." Frerin choked. "Hurts." Thorin could see in his eyes that he was scared. He lifted Frerin's head off the ground so he could breathe better. Pull yourself together. Be strong for Frerin.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay. I'm here. You're going to be fine." As Thorin said this, he waved to indicate to anyone watching that a medic was needed. "You're going to be fine, someone will come to help." By this point, Frerin was having trouble breathing.
"Look after Dis."
"Yes I will. But you will too. You're going to live." Thorin was panicking. His little brother couldn't die!
"No…Love you."
"I love you too Frerin." Thorin said. Frerin weakly smiled before coughing. This time it didn't stop. Frerin was gasping between coughs that shook his entire body.
"Frerin! Stay with me. You're going to be okay!" Frerin silently grabbed Thorin's hand and Thorin immediately squeezed it to let him know he wasn't alone. Frerin started coughing again and Thorin saw the light leave his eyes.
"NO! Frerin! No…no…come back!" Tears started pouring down Thorin's face, leaving a trail through the dirt. "FRERIN!" Thorin shook his body, screaming. He rocked backwards and forwards, clutching the body of his little brother, openly weeping. Frerin was his brother and he loved him.
Thorin woke with a start, tears silently trickling down his face. He wiped them with the back of his hand. He thought he had stopped having nightmares about Azanulbizar decades ago, but the disappearance of Dis brought back memories of his other sibling. Thorin had to be strong for Fili and Kili, but he struggled.
He went back to sleep, the pillow wet with tears.
"Thorin! Help us." The voices of his siblings cried. Thorin tried to answer but couldn't. He was surrounded by fog and couldn't move.
A ghostly figure appeared before him.
"Frerin." Thorin whispered. The ghost smiled cruelly.
"Yes. You let me fight when you knew I could die. Why did you do that?" Another figure appeared by Frerin's side. Dis. Thorin thrashed against invisible bonds to reach out to his siblings.
"Thorin. Why did you stop looking for me? You abandoned me. You aren't even looking after my sons properly. They don't love you. You failed them." Dis frowned at Thorin disappointingly.
"No. Frerin, I didn't want you to go…Dis, Fili and Kili are fine." The two ghosts started cackling before rushing at him and disappearing, leaving Thorin alone in the fog. He started to cry again, echoes of what they said haunting him.
This time, when Thorin awoke, it was morning and sunlight was streaming through the window. He was sobbing, mourning his siblings. He was angry at them for leaving him all alone. Suddenly he heard laughter coming from another part of the house. He wasn't alone. Not quite.
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