Chapter 5: Taking Turns

With the 11 dwarves remaining in the tent, they went over their schedule and who would help where. Bombur and Dori volunteered to help with cooking and distributing food, while Oin and Ori would help with taking care of the wounded and documenting what supplies were running low. The others would help with moving debris or carrying the wounded to the medical camp. Once they had begun to trickle out of the tent, only Fili and Kili remained.

They moved towards the cot, folding Bilbo’s clothes and setting them on the ground next to the chairs. Kili sat near the head of the cot, closer to the tent entrance while Fili sat on the other side, closer to the rags and water. Fili sighed, picking up one of the cleaner rags and wiping the sweat from Bilbo’s brow. “You’re really putting uncle through a lot right now master burglar, he’s sprouting more gray hairs than when we were born!” The brothers laughed at Kili’s comment, grateful to have each other during this. The tent fell silent again after their giggles subsided before Fili began to reminisce more. “I haven’t seen him that worried since Amad fell ill, and we weren’t sure if she’d make it through the night. He must really care about Bilbo after everything they’ve been through.” Kili snorted at this, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms. “Took him long enough to realize! I was starting to get tired of them ogling at each other after Bilbo protected him from Azog.” The blonde prince rolled his eyes as his brother continued, “What! I know you’ve noticed it too, I’d be surprised if anyone in the company hasn’t caught on! Well, besides them of course. They’re as oblivious as I am handsome.” Kili stated this matter-of-factly, almost daring his brother to fight back on this.

The flap to the tent moved, causing both of them to stand up abruptly, ready to defend the comatose hobbit. They both relaxed as Tauriel stepped in, a small smile on her face as she spotted Kili. She moved gracefully towards the trio, pulling a bundle of Athelas out of her pocket.  “Where was he injured?” Fili and Kili scrambled to roll Bilbo over onto his side, allowing Tauriel to see the bandage plastered onto the small of his back. It looked like the bandage that Oin had applied hours ago, muddled with a deep brown color and covered in sweat. Tauriel peeled the bandage off, gasping softly at the sight of the wound. What was once a simple pinprick with some blood leaking out had evolved into a giant black spot, pus oozing and tendrils of what was definitely morgul poisoning spreading out across his back. She helped roll Bilbo fully onto his stomach, causing both Fili and Kili to curse under their breath in Khuzdul. The hobbits back, once only spotted with sun kissed freckles and patches of light curly hair, had transformed into almost a map of black veins.

“Fili, hand me a bowl of water! I don’t understand why Hûredhiel did not do this herself, she should know Athelas grows abundantly here.” She hurried herself, wetting the Kings foil before slathering it where she assumed the wound was, as it was hard to distinguish. She began reciting the same incantation from when she was healing Kili, “Menno o nin na hon i eliad annen annin; hon leitho o-ngurth.” Fili and Kili looked at her with confusion and concern, before Fili asked, “What are you saying? What are you doing to him?” Tauriel looked up from where she was concentrating on the Athelas, “It means ‘What grace is given me, let it pass to him; let him be spared’, it is Sindarin. We use it to direct our magic into other beings, and it is what I said while helping your brother. We must hope this is enough to help your friend now.” She applied a clean bandage to the wound before having Bilbo turned to lay on his back once again.

Some time had passed, and Tauriel had stayed to help monitor the halfling for any signs of improvement or worsening. Fili thought as though he would be sick, watching his younger brother and the red-haired elf playfully flirt with each other. Before he could start to complain about it, Bofur popped his head into the tent, the ears of his hat bouncing as he spoke. “We are here to relieve you of burglar watching duty! Go be useful somewhere else you two, and try not to get into too much trouble.” This caused Tauriel to giggle softly, making Kili blush and Fili groan in defeat. Bofur’s dopey smile widened as he relished in the suffering of the princes, before fully walking in with Nori behind him. “Any updates?” Nori had sidled up beside Bilbo’s cot, eyes flitting over the halfling. He looked up to face Kili as the young prince spoke, “Well, not much exactly. But Tauriel used her elf magic and some.. How do you say it? Ath-at..” “Athelas, Meleth nin” Tauriel corrected, causing Kili’s blush to darken with the soft name. “Yeah, that! She put some of that on Master Boggin’s wound, and we’ve been watching him since.” He smiled brightly, almost entirely forgetting the situation at hand.

Bofur smiled back in earnest, clapping his hand on Kili’s shoulder. “Alright lad, you lot go be helpful out there, and me and Nori here will keep watch over Bilbo. We’ll send word if anythin’ should happen.” Fili and Kili nodded in response, and Tauriel bowed her head as the three of them departed. Bofur all but threw himself into the chair Kili was occupying before pulling out a piece of wood and began whittling away at it. Nori sat where Fili was, watching the shadows move outside of the tent. He kept his arms folded across his chest, a dagger in each hand. The thief made sure to stay extra vigilant while in the tent, not wanting anything else to happen to their burglar. He was grateful that he and Bofur had been standing so close to Bilbo when he fell, knowing that if they had been a second later they might not have had a living Bilbo to send back home. He looked at Bofur as he started whistling, a tune Nori couldn’t quite place. This helped him relax a little, remembering that the other dwarf was almost as skillful as him with a knife.

Their hour with Bilbo had come and gone, with Bofur managing to make a wooden duck. He placed it on the table beside Bilbo, hoping it would help cheer up the hobbit once he was awake. As Bofur and Nori waited for the next duo to arrive, they heard battlehorns and screams outside. They looked at each other before running outside of the tent, ready for a fight.