TOLKIEN; imagines

45: The Tears of the Heartbroken - Dwalin

Imagine: comforting Dwalin when you find him in tears after he had confronted Thorin.

A/N: I was watching the Battle of the Five Armies and I saw the 'you cannot see what you have become' seen with Dwalin and Thorin and I just had to write this. Dwalin just gets so soft and it breaks my heart. Anyway...

Translations: ghivashel: treasure of all treasures, armalime: love-of-me, agyade: my happiness,kurdel: heart of all hearts, laslel: rose of all roses, men inananubuhks: I love you.

Warnings: Sad Dwalin

Words: 990

"You sit here, in these vast halls, with a crown upon your head, and yet you are lesser than you have ever been," the burly warrior lamented, absolute melancholy overtaking him as he stared at his once honorable and trusting friend.

"Do not speak to me as if I were some lowly dwarf," the deranged king reprimanded, tears rolling down his cheeks and into his dark beard. As he growled heartlessly at Dwalin, the warrior who had always fought by Thorin's side, protecting his king from the threats of unseen blades, "as if I were still Thorin Oakenshield."

Dwalin could feel his heart pounding in his chest, sending pain and sorrow surging through his veins as the disheartening sound of steel being unsheathed resonated throughout the cold mountain halls, the light from the sconces illuminating the blade, making it gleam in angry and fiery tones.

"I am your king!" Thorin bellowed, brandishing the sword dramatically.

"You were always my king," Dwalin croaked, tears brimming in his eyes, blurring the image of the dwarf before him, "you used to know that once. But you cannot see what you have become."

"Get out, before I kill you."

-

The task of sifting through immense piles of gold and gems and the like for a single jewel was annoying and taxing enough, without the knowledge that those who were breaking their backs searching for the desired item were never going to be thanked but rather berated with harsh comments by their once kind and trusting friend, Thorin, who had become deranged by the mere thought of Erebor's hoard. The thought that one so valiant and loyal to those who who followed him, who loved him as if he were a brother, worried the company to the point at which every accomplice had become irreversibly tense the moment Thorin stepped into the same room as they.

Dwalin, one of the members of our group and my lover, had gone to speak with Thorin over an hour ago, in hopes of persuading our acrimonious king to see the effect his bitter ways had upon those who he used to trust with his life, who honored that trust and followed him, their loyalty unwavering.

Surely, persuading him shouldn't take this long, I thought, as I wrung my hands nervously and searched through the mounds for a few anxious moments, even if Thorin is completely mad and sickened by his filthy hoard of gold. If Thorin had hurt Dwalin in any way, I did not believe I could have forgiven the dwarf, even if he did come to his senses.

Not being able to withstand the irresolution, I stood, brushing the dust from my over sized apparel the villagers of Laketown had given me, and stumbling over the gold until I reached the large set of smooth stone stairs, my feet scuffing softly as I climbed them. When at the top, I looked down upon the twelve figures, woefully searching through the gold, that horrid gold, realizing just how foul the mood that hung about the lonely mountain actually was.

Oh, Thorin, what have you done to us?

I ran off to the armory, in hopes that I would find Dwalin there, sharpening his axes with the small tranquil ghost of a smile that graced his lips whenever he did so. But unfortunately, that was the opposite of the fragile and grief-stricken state I found him in.

"Dwalin!" I cried the moment I saw his brawny form, kneeling on the rugged floor before Thorin's armor, soft sobs trembling from his lips as each shook his body violently.

"Y/N, ghivashel," Dwalin murmured miserably, longingly. His watery eyes widened upon he seeing me and he made to get up before he collapsed back to ground, another sob ravaging his body.

Heartbroken, I ran to him, descending to the floor by his side, pulling his gaze to mine with a gentle tenderness only I could provide.

"Oh, Dwalin," I lamented, softly caressing the tears from his skin with as much compassion as my heart was capable of, tears of my own starting to accumulate behind my eyes, "what could have happened, what could Thorin have said that has rendered you to this, amralime?"

"H-he... he threatened to kill me," Dwalin stammered with a deadly quietness as he stooped his head deplorably, tearing it from my grasp, "now go, rejoin everyone else before Thorin realizes you are gone."

"Dwalin."

"Please," the dwarf, the beautifully stubborn and tough dwarf, pleaded, his eyes void of all but sorrow, "go. I don't want you to get into a quarrel with him."

"Or do you want me to go because you don't want me to see you like this, you don't want me to think you're weak?" I asked softly, watching as his eyes drifted down to the ground, beginning to fill with tears as his answer became clear in my mind. I grasped his face once more and pulled him into me, resting his head in the crook of my neck while my fingers stroked his back in hopes of soothing him. "Dwalin, agyade, listen to me. I know that Thorin has been harsh ever since we set foot in this mountain, and I assure you, it is okay to weep. It is a frailty we all take part in, I assure you.

"And even if you were feeble, I would protect you with all I had, providing you with the security you needed. But you are tough, and strong willed, and I will still try to protect you in anyway I can because I love you all the same.

" Don't you see, Dwalin? You have only ever given my heart a reason to increase my love for you, not diminish it, and this doesn't change anything. I will always be here for you, kurdel."

"Oh, Y/N, my lass, laslel," Dwalin whispered, his accent rather accentuated, as he pressed fluttering kisses upon the skin of my neck compassionately, "thank you. Men inananubuhks."

I pulled out of our embrace, staring fondly into his cerulescent irises, in which admiration and love were evident, whereas the dire tears seemed to have departed, and kissed him lovingly on the cheek.

"I love you too, Dwalin... I love you too."