The Path Through Mirkwood: 7 - The River
Characters/Pairings: Fíli/Bofur, Thorin, Thorin's Company
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror
Warnings: Body Horror, Oviposition, Medical Procedures, Character Death, Hallucinations
Summary: The things Thorin’s company encounters in Mirkwood are beyond their worst nightmares. As Fíli’s uncle says, the faster they travel, the sooner they will leave the forest and all its horrors behind - if they manage to....
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit.
Chapter 7: The River
Luckily for them, the storm had only left a relatively narrow path of destruction through the forest and they were soon able to travel again without having to climb over fallen trees.
Several days later, they finally reached the river that flowed through the forest. It lay before them like a dark, motionless mirror as they pondered silently how to cross it. Beorn’s words of warning echoed in their minds. Nobody was tempted to touch the forest river’s water but they seemed to be at an impasse. At least Fíli saw no way to cross the river except by swimming and that would mean rather more contact with the water than any of them wanted.
As it was, they stood in the gloom and glared at the water. Thorin paced back and forth as Fíli wondered at the perfect stillness of the water. He tossed in a leaf and was surprised at how quickly it was carried in the direction that Fíli wouldn’t have guessed was downstream.
Kíli stopped his own pacing and watched the leaf disappear into the darkness.
“Huh. I didn’t think the river would have that much of a current. I wonder how deep it is.”
He knelt down, pulled a pebble from between the roots of a tree and flicked it towards the river. It skipped three times before it disappeared into the darkness.
Kíli sighed. “You know, I think this is the most fun I’ve had since we entered this awful forest...”
He trailed off as Thorin stormed towards them.
“What were you thinking?! Do you want to wake something with your splashing about? You should be thinking of ways to cross instead of fooling about!”
“I doubt anything would want to live in that water. But I won’t do it again,” Kíli replied, his shoulders sagging.
“I hope so. Even if there’s nothing in the water, the noise could draw Mahal knows what from the forest.”
“Leave the lad alone,” Óin chimed in. “It’s just water and I wouldn’t even have noticed the splash if I hadn’t been looking. I think there’s no harm in having a little fun.”
“Oh, do you?” Thorin said, his voice rising. “Just because you didn’t hear it doesn’t mean half the forest didn’t either. In fact...”
“I think I found a boat!” Bilbo’s call prevented things from escalating further.
Calling it a boat was a little optimistic though, Fíli thought. There was a plank missing and the wood was slimy with moss. In a few places, tiny mushrooms and seedlings were pushing through the wood.
Still, it was better than nothing. In a combined effort, they tipped it over to empty it of water. Bilbo instructed Kíli where best to shoot his arrow with an old rope attached. The second attempt was successful and they managed to get the rope across the river. After fastening the other end of the rope to a tree, Nori got into the boat and pulled himself across the river. When he reached the other side, he tied the rope more securely around a tree and pulled the boat back across to ferry the others over the river in groups of two.
Fíli and Bofur were almost last to cross, with only Bombur still waiting on the western bank. Fíli watched the dark water beneath the boat with trepidation. Like most dwarves, he had never felt at home on the water and this river was even more eerie than most. The water glided beneath the boat silently, but Fíli and Nori had to make quite an effort to keep the boat from drifting away from the rope. Bofur sat on the other side of the boat to keep it in balance.
Bofur didn’t seem to be disturbed by the river. He was cheerfully humming a song about a picnic and all the different kinds of food he would eat, tapping his fingers in time to the rhythm.
Fíli looked at the bank towards which they were heading. He couldn’t see much in the gloom. His companions were either sorting through their packs, watching the boat’s progress or trying to get some rest. Bilbo was looking up at the trees, which seemed a bit different to Fíli from the ones they had previously passed.
Fíli glanced back at Bofur and startled. Still humming cheerfully, Bofur was picking away at the planks of the boat, prying away large pieces of wood and tossing them into the river.
“What are you doing?” Fíli demanded. “Do you want the boat to sink and all of us to drown?!”
Bofur looked up in surprise. “What? No, of course not. Why would you...” He looked down at his hands and the side of the boat that was now even more unstable than before. “Oh. I didn’t realise... I’m so sorry.” Bofur bit his lip and folded his hands so they were no longer touching the boat.
Nori scowling and Fíli glancing at the water even more nervously than before, they continued their journey across the river. By the time they finally reached the bank, Bofur was already humming softly again.
Sending nasty looks at Bofur, the other dwarves inspected the damage to the boat. Finally, they decided it was stable enough to send it back to get Bombur, as long as he and Nori avoided all unnecessary movements. They didn’t have much of a choice anyway.
Nori made it back across the river without any problems and the dwarves could faintly hear him explain the additional difficulty to Bombur. Finally, Fíli was able to make out the shape of the boat journeying towards them with Bombur sitting as still as possible.
“You’re almost there!” Kíli called to encourage Bombur, who was clearly terrified.
At that moment, a huge white stag erupted from the bushes and leapt across the river in a jump longer than Fíli had even considered possible. Bombur startled and tipped towards the damaged side of the boat. He clutched at it, grappling as more wood broke off. Then he fell backwards into the water as the boat tipped over and drifted into the darkness, taking a fair amount of their food stores with it.
Nori, limber as he was, had barely managed to clutch the rope and hoist himself onto it. Dwalin and Ori quickly reached out to him and helped him across the last bit of the river.
The other’s combined efforts finally managed to pull Bombur out of the river, where he lay on the ground dripping and motionless. Under Óin’s instructions, they made sure Bombur spat out any water he had breathed in or swallowed. Then, they stood around Bombur anxiously, waiting for him to regain consciousness.
Bifur sat next to Bombur, patting his cheeks and pressing an old wooden toy into his hands.
Fíli looked around to find Bofur. Bofur was staring into the gloom, his shoulders hunched in that distinct way that Fíli knew meant he wanted to be left alone.
Fíli turned back to Bombur. If Bofur wanted to deal with things this way, that was up to him.
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Rating: PG-13
Genre: Horror
Warnings: Body Horror, Oviposition, Medical Procedures, Character Death, Hallucinations
Summary: The things Thorin’s company encounters in Mirkwood are beyond their worst nightmares. As Fíli’s uncle says, the faster they travel, the sooner they will leave the forest and all its horrors behind - if they manage to....
Disclaimer: I do not own The Hobbit.
Chapter 7: The River
Luckily for them, the storm had only left a relatively narrow path of destruction through the forest and they were soon able to travel again without having to climb over fallen trees.
Several days later, they finally reached the river that flowed through the forest. It lay before them like a dark, motionless mirror as they pondered silently how to cross it. Beorn’s words of warning echoed in their minds. Nobody was tempted to touch the forest river’s water but they seemed to be at an impasse. At least Fíli saw no way to cross the river except by swimming and that would mean rather more contact with the water than any of them wanted.
As it was, they stood in the gloom and glared at the water. Thorin paced back and forth as Fíli wondered at the perfect stillness of the water. He tossed in a leaf and was surprised at how quickly it was carried in the direction that Fíli wouldn’t have guessed was downstream.
Kíli stopped his own pacing and watched the leaf disappear into the darkness.
“Huh. I didn’t think the river would have that much of a current. I wonder how deep it is.”
He knelt down, pulled a pebble from between the roots of a tree and flicked it towards the river. It skipped three times before it disappeared into the darkness.
Kíli sighed. “You know, I think this is the most fun I’ve had since we entered this awful forest...”
He trailed off as Thorin stormed towards them.
“What were you thinking?! Do you want to wake something with your splashing about? You should be thinking of ways to cross instead of fooling about!”
“I doubt anything would want to live in that water. But I won’t do it again,” Kíli replied, his shoulders sagging.
“I hope so. Even if there’s nothing in the water, the noise could draw Mahal knows what from the forest.”
“Leave the lad alone,” Óin chimed in. “It’s just water and I wouldn’t even have noticed the splash if I hadn’t been looking. I think there’s no harm in having a little fun.”
“Oh, do you?” Thorin said, his voice rising. “Just because you didn’t hear it doesn’t mean half the forest didn’t either. In fact...”
“I think I found a boat!” Bilbo’s call prevented things from escalating further.
Calling it a boat was a little optimistic though, Fíli thought. There was a plank missing and the wood was slimy with moss. In a few places, tiny mushrooms and seedlings were pushing through the wood.
Still, it was better than nothing. In a combined effort, they tipped it over to empty it of water. Bilbo instructed Kíli where best to shoot his arrow with an old rope attached. The second attempt was successful and they managed to get the rope across the river. After fastening the other end of the rope to a tree, Nori got into the boat and pulled himself across the river. When he reached the other side, he tied the rope more securely around a tree and pulled the boat back across to ferry the others over the river in groups of two.
Fíli and Bofur were almost last to cross, with only Bombur still waiting on the western bank. Fíli watched the dark water beneath the boat with trepidation. Like most dwarves, he had never felt at home on the water and this river was even more eerie than most. The water glided beneath the boat silently, but Fíli and Nori had to make quite an effort to keep the boat from drifting away from the rope. Bofur sat on the other side of the boat to keep it in balance.
Bofur didn’t seem to be disturbed by the river. He was cheerfully humming a song about a picnic and all the different kinds of food he would eat, tapping his fingers in time to the rhythm.
Fíli looked at the bank towards which they were heading. He couldn’t see much in the gloom. His companions were either sorting through their packs, watching the boat’s progress or trying to get some rest. Bilbo was looking up at the trees, which seemed a bit different to Fíli from the ones they had previously passed.
Fíli glanced back at Bofur and startled. Still humming cheerfully, Bofur was picking away at the planks of the boat, prying away large pieces of wood and tossing them into the river.
“What are you doing?” Fíli demanded. “Do you want the boat to sink and all of us to drown?!”
Bofur looked up in surprise. “What? No, of course not. Why would you...” He looked down at his hands and the side of the boat that was now even more unstable than before. “Oh. I didn’t realise... I’m so sorry.” Bofur bit his lip and folded his hands so they were no longer touching the boat.
Nori scowling and Fíli glancing at the water even more nervously than before, they continued their journey across the river. By the time they finally reached the bank, Bofur was already humming softly again.
Sending nasty looks at Bofur, the other dwarves inspected the damage to the boat. Finally, they decided it was stable enough to send it back to get Bombur, as long as he and Nori avoided all unnecessary movements. They didn’t have much of a choice anyway.
Nori made it back across the river without any problems and the dwarves could faintly hear him explain the additional difficulty to Bombur. Finally, Fíli was able to make out the shape of the boat journeying towards them with Bombur sitting as still as possible.
“You’re almost there!” Kíli called to encourage Bombur, who was clearly terrified.
At that moment, a huge white stag erupted from the bushes and leapt across the river in a jump longer than Fíli had even considered possible. Bombur startled and tipped towards the damaged side of the boat. He clutched at it, grappling as more wood broke off. Then he fell backwards into the water as the boat tipped over and drifted into the darkness, taking a fair amount of their food stores with it.
Nori, limber as he was, had barely managed to clutch the rope and hoist himself onto it. Dwalin and Ori quickly reached out to him and helped him across the last bit of the river.
The other’s combined efforts finally managed to pull Bombur out of the river, where he lay on the ground dripping and motionless. Under Óin’s instructions, they made sure Bombur spat out any water he had breathed in or swallowed. Then, they stood around Bombur anxiously, waiting for him to regain consciousness.
Bifur sat next to Bombur, patting his cheeks and pressing an old wooden toy into his hands.
Fíli looked around to find Bofur. Bofur was staring into the gloom, his shoulders hunched in that distinct way that Fíli knew meant he wanted to be left alone.
Fíli turned back to Bombur. If Bofur wanted to deal with things this way, that was up to him.
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