Jeweled dolls of Durin

Fates

The chilly dawn covers the land..the burning town upon the lake can be seen in the distance..a smoking ruin that reminds any who see it of the destitution that Smaug had wrought upon the peaceful town. Over the sound of lapping waves upon the shoreline, cries could be heard from survivors of the destroyed town as they swam or boated towards the dry land before them. As the only legacy of the town stepped onto the shoreline they began to shout for family members that had become seperated from each other...hoping against hope that they would find them.

Bofur and Fili grunted as they propelled their small vessel towards the shore..the two girls, Sigrid and Tilda, sat huddled against each other softly crying in fear...afraid that their father and brother were lost to them. In the back end of the boat sat Alysi and Kechi helping the two men row while Oin and Ahmi sat with Kili who held onto the whimpering child close to him. Finally the old wooden craft scraped upon the sound, signaling they had finally arrived and all breathed a sigh of relief to be back on dry earth. The moment they stopped moving Bofur reached for the child, who had started whimpering louder in Kilis arms but calmed down as soon as he was in Bofurs arms again...he placed him to his shoulder, rubbing the childs back while the others helped the injured archer out of the craft. Sigrid and Tilda leaped out and began to frantically search for their family..the dwarves just watched them, praying for a miracle to come.

"DA!...DA!...DA!"shouting out as they held hands..easing through the throngs of other survivors. Tilda made a small sobbing sound in the back of her throat as they walked..suddenly she felt her sisters hand tremble in her own and an excited shriek fell from her lips as they spotted their brother. "BAIN!" all three ran to each other, collapsing into one anothers arms as they cried in joy...strong, large arms appeared , enclosing around the three and looking up Tilda saw Bard, who was smiling with tears in his eyes. "DA!"

The dwarves made their way over to the reunited family...halting a bit to give them a moment of privacy. Bard peered up seeing the group and gave them a grateful smile.

"Thank you, master dwarves, for protecting my family." he picked up Tilda and walked over to them..shaking each of their hands in thankfulness .Bard goes to shake Bofurs hand when he notices the smoke stained bundle he is holding begins to move and make a mewling sound from within..he gives the hatted dwarf a questioning look. Bofur reached up to uncover the child and began to make soothing noises to calm him..the green eyes looked at him pitifully but settled within moments.

"Its alright laddie...yeh tell Bofur whats wrong." suddenly the child stretched as a loud sound and foul odor emitted from him, who started to cry at his new discomfort. The look on Bofurs face was priceless at that moment..he scrunched his nose and looked down in horror at the wailing child, but he quickly shook it off and got down to business at easing his situation. "Come on lad, lets get yeh cleaned up and maybe we can scrounge up something teh eat fur yeh." his only answer was a sniffle and a pouty lips from him. When Sigrid offered him help he excepted and they walked over to where a woman was handing out blankets and what nots to the survivors. With a thank you to the woman they both began to clean up the child using water from the lake, which didnt sit very well with the child who made his displeasure well known  quickly.

"Im sorry lad. I know its cold, but its what we got. We will make it quick..then yeh will get warm again." he spoke softly to the child..big, fat tears rolling down his plump cheeks. Bofur looked over at Sigrid, who was preparing the nappy for the child and asked her the question that was on his mind since he found the child. "Uhhmm...Sigrid?" she glanced over to let him know she heard him..he sighed deeply at his discomfort. "Do yeh know if the lad has family he can go teh?" he watched her thinking.

"No. I do know this child. Hes an orphan that came to Misses Thackery. She only took him because he has no one since his mum died last spring from the fever that swept through the town. Many people died then...especially children." Sigrid felt sadness at the loss of innocent lives..all because of the squalid conditions most were living in.