The Hobbit: The Gathering, Chapter 2

[aegistheia]

Title: The Gathering
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Word Count: ~1500
Warnings: Dark themes, including violence, gore, starvation, and refugee psychology. Also a drunken timeline mash of both the original and the movie events where possible, no thanks to Tolkien himself not knowing/writing down half the secrets of the Dwarves in his mind, and Sir PJ and Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens simplifying it into a giant accounting mess where the years don’t add up and my literary headcanon got flipped ass over teakettle and etc.
Also Archived On: Livejournal; Archive of Our Own.
Summary: Twelve dwarves, one wizard, and one hobbit answer Thorin Oakenshield’s call for companions on the quest for Erebor. This is a story of their marshalling.
Series: Part 1 of The Tales In-Between series.
A.N.: Balin fought me unbelievably hard in the writing of this chapter. This, dear reader, is why watching/reading/playing through the source material before embarking upon the writing of fic would be the wisest course of action. (Also, never underestimate Balin.)

( II. At his back, Dwalin matches him step for step as they trot deeper down into the royal hall. )