Clarity of Purpose, Chapter 31/33

[mithen]

Title: Clarity of Purpose, Chap. 31
Chapter Summary: The final fate of the Ring and the world (and the members of the Fellowship) are decided.
Relationship: Thorin/Bilbo
Characters: Thorin Oakenshield, Bilbo, Arwen, Gimli, Dis, Legolas, Denethor, Theoden, Thrain, Gollum
Fandom: Hobbit/Lord of the Rings. Begins in 2968, twenty-six years after the

Comments

[shirebound]

All across the battlefield, heads turned at his call to look at the son of the last Steward of Gondor, holding the standard high above Aragorn.

Oooooh!

And... rescue from Mt. Doom! Ahhhh! *happy dance*

[mithen]

I was so happy to give Denethor a good moment! I would really like to think that in different circumstances he could have done this...

And elephant rescue, yayyy!

[navaan]

Oh, dramatic showdown time! Poor Denethor, loosing his father, but understanding so much from the sacrifice. I'm so proud of the way he's come. And I loved all the Arwen fighting scenes! That's how it's done, yeah!

I'm glad that this is how the ring was destroyed and that Gollum spared Thorin the burden of having killed his father. It's all traumatic enough as it is.

[mithen]

Ugh, we ended up with a LOT of father-loss here, didn't we? But I am also really relieved Thorin didn't have to kill Thrain--I love how Tolkien uses Gollum as the eucatastrophic agent and couldn't resist having him here too, saving Thorin from all that guilt (oh, he still takes some on himself, of course).

[navaan]

he still takes some on himself, of course

Of course, he does. He wouldn't be the character we love if he wouldn't.

Part 1!

[starsandsea]

From the northeast came a ululating cry, and a new force appeared on the horizon--a long row of chariots and horses, led by a woman in sky-blue robes riding an annoyed-looking lion: Bachai and the Wainriders, come to join battle.

Eeeee, yay!

“Legolas and Gimli are fighting fiercely from atop an olifaunt--Gimli seems less than happy about this.

Eeeeeheehee!

She smiled up at him. “We are neither of us easy to kill, are we, old man?”

Eeee, Dis! *hearts her*

“For Rivendell!” she cried from the top of the gate, lifting her daggers in the air. “For Lothlórien! For the Lady of the Golden Wood!”

Oh, Arwen! *pets her*

Thorin felt utterly weary, but he put his hand on the throwing axe at his belt, squared his shoulders. “Leave us to finish our quest, father. Or I shall be forced to stop you.”

Meeep, Thorin! Oh Thorin...

“If that is what is needful,” he said. “To save Erebor, and the Shire, and Nurn, and all the wide lands between them.”

THORIN!! *hearts him*

Bilbo threw up his hands to shield himself, and the Ring seemed to spring

Re: Part 1!

[mithen]

AHHHHHH YOUR COMMENTS ARE THE BEST AHHH.

I felt really bad killing off Ecthelion, who is obviously very cool and a great guy! But oh, for the chance to have Denethor accept his fate and embrace it--! I can hardly wait to post his Appendices, lol, it will quickly become obvious he was a really important character to me, since he gets a huge role in half of them!

Also, Arwen on the battlefield, yay! I actually choked up a bit when she invoked Galadriel...

Thrain! Poor Thrain, this changed world was probably worst on him, wasn't it? I think he's one of the only characters to get a worse deal (morally, I mean--getting tortured to death isn't that great a fate either.)

Part 2!

[starsandsea]

Thorin lifted his throwing axe, his father's image blurring through the heat haze and the sweat and tears in his eyes. "Do not make me slay you, father. I loved you truly, I swear."

*wibbles* Thorin!

Thorin threw his axe

Re: Part 2!

[mithen]

I really went back and forth a lot on Thorin and Thrain--there were earlier versions where he really does kill him more directly (and I found it really interesting to learn than in early versions of LotR Sam kills Gollum more directly! I'm really glad he ended up not going there, though...)

Also, I absolutely did not expect Thorin to bring up the afterlife issue at this point! It wasn't going to get resolved until the Appendices, but he was like "Hey, I think we're going to die RIGHT NOW, it's important we get this sorted out!" and I couldn't really argue with that! (I also didn't realize about being banned from the Halls until Bilbo did! I was very surprised and would have certainly put that in earlier if I were editing, lol... Thanks for not mentioning that very important detail sooner, Thorin!)

Part 3!

[starsandsea]

“We truly hate to interrupt a tender moment,” came a familiar voice, “But that lava draws apace, and if you wish to escape it, speedy action will be required.”

“What the elf is trying to say,” Gimli’s annoyed voice cut in, “Is that we’re here to rescue you, so get moving!”

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Legolas! Gimli! *hearts them*

-Bilbo made an undignified sound of delight, while Thorin made a very different but equally undignified noise

Eeeeeeeeeee!

Then the olifaunt turned and began to trot away from Mount Doom, away from the devastation and death, toward cool air and their friends and the future.

From this day forward, Thorin thought, his arms still around Bilbo.

*flails SO MUCH*

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! There were SO MANY wonderful and painful in all the right ways moments in this chapter! The Ring is finally destroyed! Bilbo and Thorin are free, yay! And Bilbo didn't lose any fingers! And THORIN-! *wraps him and Bilbo up in blankets*

*dances* I was so happy to see this update! But only two more chapters left, nooo! *hugs*

Re: Part 3!

[mithen]

Legolas and Gimli saving the day on an oliphaunt was so fun to write, eee! It was an image I had really early on and you can see me making sure to get that oliphaunt in there in earlier chapters...Chekhov's Oliphaunt! :I

(Bilbo didn't have to lose any fingers, yay! I couldn't bear it!)

Two chapters and four Appendices, at least! So that's not SO bad, right? ;)