Bloodstained (Thorin x OC)

The Ring

The company had gathered on one of the eastern watchtowers, looking down helplessly at Laketown which had been set ablaze. Agarwaen wasn't sure what to feel. She was distraught, sad, and angry. Angry at Thorin, at herself, the prophecy, and growing evil that prompted this whole quest. Her fingers itched, wanting to take up arms and kill something. As she watched Smaug take out yet another section of the town, she turned on her heel. She wouldn't be there in time, but she could help any survivors that washed up on shore.

She didn't say anything to the dwarves, not even to Bilbo, and just started down the stairs, her jaw clenched and eyes fixed on the stone below her feet. As she passed Thorin, he put his arm out in her path, stopping her.

"There is nothing you can do." He said, his odd tone of voice back.

"Fili, Kili, Bofur, and Oin are down there. The least I can do is help the survivors." She protested.

"There will be no survivors. Not as long as Smaug lives and has his way."

"Don't say that!" She yelled, gaining the attention of everyone else. "That's what we thought when we faced Azog. That's what we thought in Thranduil's halls! And yet here we are! I will not sit by idly while my friends die!"

"There is nothing you can do!" Thorin shouted back. "Any survivors will be found and eaten. This is not an orc or an elf, this is a dragon! If you go down there, you will die too."

"Then I will have died trying to help. Just as I was prepared to do a hundred and seventy years ago." She pushed past him but he grabbed her arm.

"I cannot let you waste your life." He ground out.

"What would your sister say?"

"I will not lose more to save that which cannot be saved. Dis won't like it, but it is for the best."

"I was never yours to lose." She snatched her arm away. "I am not your kin." Thorin was about to reply when the ground rumbled beneath them.

"What was that?" Ori asked. "What happened?" Agarwaen looked to the burning city, not able to see Smaug anymore.

"It fell, I saw it." Bilbo said, walking toward the edge of the tower. "It's dead. Smaug is dead!"

"I think he's right." Gloin spoke. "Look there, the ravens of Erebor are returning to the mountain!" Agarwaen looked up at the cawing birds that flew back to long forgotten nests on the face of the mountain.

"Aye. Word will spread, before long, every soul in Middle Earth will know the dragon is dead!" Balin said with a smile. Agarwaen looked between everyone. How could they think thoughts of triumph right now? Yes, Smaug was dead, but so were men, women, and children of Esgaroth. What if their four other companions failed to make it too? Her voice was not among the cheers, and when she looked back to where Thorin stood, he had already left, heading for the mountain again.

"Why do you rejoice when so many have perished?" Her voice was quiet and broken, but they'd all heard it and their smiles dropped.

"You've never seen war or battle, have you lass?" Balin said sadly.

"It shouldn't matter if I have or not. Those who are left need our help. We brought this upon them, did we not?" The rising sun in the east made her squint as she looked at everyone.

"Thorin was right about there being nothing we can do right now. If you go down there, what do you plan on doing?"

"I..." She hadn't really thought about that, her only goal being to do everything in her power to help. Balin was right. She was no healer, she had no food or supplies to give, and would merely be an extra person among the crowds.