The Hobbit / LOTR -oneshots

Agony - Thorin

Warnings: quite angsty, burns and getting burnt, fluff at the end
Word count: 1251
Other: Soulmate!AU: they feel each other's pain.
Requested: by RennisanceBlade

Thorin witnessed the death of his soulmate. Or did he?

The trees were crackling as the fire licked them, the dry bushes lit ablaze under them as the fire Smaug had spread across the forest claimed its victims in the forest. An ear-splitting groan broke through the cacophony of sounds as an old pine gave up, its roots letting go of the smoking, dry earth beneath, its trunk too burnt to hold the weight of the top anymore, weakened by the fire. It fell, the wind of the fall feeding the flames, straight towards a small boy.
"Hirlum!" He heard the horrified cry of a mother as her son wandered away, disoriented by the mayhem and screaming.

The tree didn't hit the boy, as a figure stormed out of the crowd and scooped him up, and threw him out from the way of the fire. He landed in a heap, now crying louder, bruised but unburnt and alive. The action had cost the figure precious minutes to get out of the fire's way herself, and Thorin caught her eye as the tree came down on her, landing on the ground with a deafening sound. She tried to scamper from under it and was able to free herself, but then, Smaug released another plume of fire into the trees, and she released a scream.

Searing pain filled Thorin's entire body. It was a pain unlike he had ever felt, the heat licking against his skin. He was horrified and confused at the same time, as he heard the scream echo in the night, the only sound in the darkening evening as the panicked crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief. The wails of pain and loss returned soon after, and Thorin wasn't able to hear anything from the forest anymore, just the rustle and hum of the fire as it licked the trees.

The spot where he had seen her last was now black as night from soot as the fire had reigned hell over the spot. His brain just kept repeating the same words, over and over again. He knew he should have been helping his people, it was his duty as the grandson of the king, but he couldn't. His body and his soul were in grieving, as he realized, that the woman, the elf, that had just given her life to save one of his kin was his soulmate. Had been his soulmate. But now she was gone. Thorin had been forced to continue on with his life after that night. With the knowledge that his soulmate was dead and that he had never had the opportunity to know her. He didn't even know her name. He watched as his friends found their soulmates, grew older with them, and he was forced to walk his path alone, knowing that there was no one waiting for him.

- -

Thorin was wrong. You had survived the fire, by a hair. As the Smaug's fire crashed to the ground, you dove for cover next to a large rock. It had taken most of the force, but you still got burned by the flames, scarring most of your body. But you had made it out alive. Thankful of your mother's insistence that you knew healing plants, you were able to tend to your wounds and slowly recovered enough so you could travel. You spent years wandering around Middle Earth, living off the land, always forced to move on as people never seemed to look past your burns.

In the end, you settled into Rivendell, Lord Elrond helping you to tend to the burns and make them as bearable to live with as possible. With his skills with elven healing magic and herbs, your skin healed even more, and you were even able to play the violin again. You knew your skin would never fully heal, you knew you would always carry the marks of what had happened.

- -

Thorin arrived in Rivendell begrudgingly following Gandalf, not wanting any dealings with the elves. Being around them was too painful of a reminder of what had happened to both his kingdom and his soulmate. Her eyes as the tree landed on top of her haunted him almost every night, and he could still sometimes feel the heat of the fire that had taken her away on his skin. The company remained in a tight group as they were escorted into the kingdom.

The sweet notes of the violin caught the dwarves' ears, but they didn't think anything of them until they saw who it was that played them. When Thorin saw who was playing the instrument, he felt like his heart stopped. It was you, sitting on a rock under a cherry tree. He didn't understand, he thought his mind was playing tricks on him. He had thought you dead, he had watched you die. But there you sat, luring notes out of your violin, a gentle smile on your lips. Your eyes were closed and the gentle summer breeze moved your hair around lightly, revealing the scarring of your skin. It was really you. You were alive, somehow having survived the attack of dragon fire. Without even realizing it, Thorin walked away from the group and towards you, shaking Dwalin's hand off his shoulder as he tried to stop him.

The rest of the company was very confused as to why Thorin was so warm towards the elf, one of a race they knew he hated. Balin was the only one who understood what was happening. He ushered them out of the hall and after the elf that had been escorting them, saying that Thorin would find them later, and refused to answer any more questions. Thorin would answer them when he returned, but for now, Balin knew it was for the best that he got all the time he wanted with you.

"You're alive." The music halted as you opened your eyes and turned to face the speaker. To your surprise, it was a dwarf with a dark beard and the bluest eyes you had ever seen.
"Yes?" You didn't know how else to answer the question. You were alive.
"But I saw you die... E-Erebor - I-I felt the heat..." He trailed off and you started to understand.
"You were there?" Your voice was barely above a whisper as you spoke, setting the violing to rest leaning on the bench you were sitting on. When he saw the scars on your hands, paler than the normal shade of your skin, he grasped them and was pleasantly surprised to see that you didn't pull away from him. His fingers traced the web-like patterns that the fire had left behind, and you gave him a gentle, although shy smile.
"My name is Y/N."
"Thorin." You introduced yourselves, and you found yourself enjoying his calloused hands exploring the skin on yours. Normally, you didn't let people touch you, but this was different. This was your soulmate.

I was so excited about this request and it didn't disappoint! I don't know why I haven't written a soulmate AU before, but I'll definitely do it again!

27 possible requests under 12 hours. I won't be able to write them all ( as I've said before), but some of them might get spots on the first line of the second book ;)
But keep sending them, I love reading them! <3

Part 183.