Prompt Post 8

[bettiebloodshed]

Welcome to the Hobbit Prompt Post!

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Fill: Love Lies Bleeding 1/2

[anonymous]

OP: Sorry that this got a bit out of hand. Hopefully this is what you were looking for.

Love Lies Bleeding
"There's rosemary, that's for remembrance; pray,love, remember: and there is pansies. That's for thoughts." Hamlet, act IV, scene 5

The Healer did not argue with the strange, short fellow who was determined to leave his house before the parade started. His wife was already hanging the banners from their top rooms; and he himself wanted a good vantage point to see the glittering lords make their way in triumph to the reopened kingdom.

Bilbo Baggins made his way to the top of what used to be known as Chestnut Hill. Before the firedrake had scorched the earth, a peaceful copse of chestnuts had bloomed here. Now, the dark, burnt timbers covered in dew creaked in the morning breeze. He lay upon the damp grass, struggling to breathe, his injuries worse than he let on. For Bilbo Baggins was no fool, he knew that he would not be returning to the Shire. The return trip was long, and too treacherous for a hobbit travelling alone, had he the strength to attempt it. His previous traveling companions, he mused, would not escort him home. He had travelled with them, through the cypress-hung forests of Mirkwood, and the moss and rue strewn mountain ranges, in good cheer and dreaming of restoring a kingdom to friends. A dream cut to pieces by the new King Under the Mountain.

After the battle, as he smelled the burning of goblin corpses through dusty windows -the medicinal smells of willow bark and mint fighting their way through - he woke daily in hopes of a messenger, recalling him to the halls of Erebor. The king regretting harsh words between them, welcoming him back to rejoice and rebuild with his companions. As days turned to a week, then with news of a celebratory parade and festival, Bilbo sadly reminded himself that dwarves and hobbits differed in many ways - and while his whole heart forgave Thorin Oakenshield and the rest any wrong or slight - the company did not feel the same. To them, his contract was up and he had served his purpose. The smiles and laughter, danger, terror, and relief shared did not equal kinship or the bonds of friendship for those who came from stone.