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Chapter Text

The screeching wind was nothing compared to the sound in Bilbo’s mind. Myrtle had been carrying him without slowing down for over, what Bilbo assumed, was half an hour. Wherever she was taking him seemed to be a whole new world on its own with freezing rain and dead trees almost swallowing them into an abyss.

Myrtle came to a slow stop before an old sign. Erebor. The young man’s eyes widened at the name, so familiar yet so strange. It almost sounded like something one would hear from a fairytale. Shaking his head Bilbo urged Myrtle to go down an old path hoping that it would lead to wherever his father ended up at.

Sure enough, the path through the forest did lead them to Erebor. Of course, it was nothing that Bilbo expected. An old abandoned castle and marketplace overrun with plants. It was devastating, how a once surely beautiful place was left to rot by the rest of the world. There was a sickness here; one that you could not cure with medicine. It seemed to be a curse, a heavy plague trapped in this small pocket of the world and left to destroy any light that came through. If anyone tried to fix this place with gentle, patient hands; they were surely left to do it without help.

If Bungo was here, he’d only stopped for any hope that someone could help him. Bilbo didn’t want to think about how sick or scared his father was.

Hopping of Myrtle Bilbo ran towards the front doors of the castle. His horse trotted behind him but stopped in front of the heavy doors, pawing at the ground in protest of Bilbo going any closer.

“I’ll be back, old girl, I promise.”

Pushing through the front doors was easier said than done. It was almost as if the building didn’t want him to come through. Stepping back Bilbo narrowed his eyes and shoved his entire body into the wooden doors. They swung open and he was faced with a surprisingly clean entrance room. Rushing forward Bilbo didn’t even register the cold until the doors slammed shut behind him once again not only leaving him with minimal light coming from the late afternoon sky but in the icy cold of the castle. He had to find his father.

“Father! Where are you!?”

There was no response but Bilbo was not going to let himself panic. It was a large castle, perhaps Bungo had found a nice room to rest in for the night and lost track of time looking at all of the objects this castle had to offer. Yes, that had to be it. Walking further into the freezing building, Bilbo looked in small rooms and even closets. He finally reached a living room where a fireplace had a few dying embers sparking with leftover light.

Someone had been here.

“Father, please answer me!” Bilbo called out. Instead of voices, he heard some shuffling around him and he stood still, hoping to hear more.

“Fili, that’s his son,” a soft voice whisper out of the darkness. By Yavanna there were more people here?

“I can see that, Ori.” A lower yet smooth voice, Fili, responded.

“Well, maybe we should lead him up to where that man is. Kili is keeping him some company,” Ori replied.

“Ah yes and what joyous company that is.”

“Don’t talk like that! Kili is trying his best.”

The rougher voice snorted. “Ah, Ori. You give my brother too much credit sometimes. I agree that he tries his best, but sometimes he can come off as annoying.”

Ori laughed quietly before stopping. “Can we please take him to his father, Fili? Please?”

There was silence from Fili before Bilbo decided to speak up himself. Honestly, he needed to say something now before they decided to leave Bilbo to his own devices.

“Please show me where my father is,” the young man said to the darkness.

There was some mumbling between the two before three bright lights illuminated the room. In front of Bilbo stood a large harpsichord that he swore made a grim looking face at him. But in honesty, he was more focused on the candle and feather duster that had faces (by the gardens that was terrifying to get used too) and were moving around. The candle had legs! And the feather duster seemed to move around magically. Well, they were both magical objects if Bilbo thought about it.

“Are you two sure this is smart?”

Now that was a very gruff voice indeed! But what shocked Bilbo was how it came from the harpsichord! He thought if he were to fully believe that objects could come to life, that the musical instrument would belong to a quieter voice. No, this one sounded like a warrior. How strange.

“Of course, Dawlin,” the candlestick, or Fili, Bilbo now realized by the voice, retorted. He jumped off the harpsichord and made his way closer to Bilbo. Ori followed him, thanking Dawlin for letting them go and eventually the young man was faced with two objects looking at him expectantly.

“Why aren’t you running away? Or screaming?” Fili asked curiously.

Bilbo scrunched his nose and thought. Why wasn’t he scared out of his mind? Perhaps all those fairy tales and stories he read made these kinds of things seem possible to him. But he also knew deep down that he was staying strong for his father. He needed to get Bungo out of here.

“I need to find my father. I’m not leaving without him. Maybe my mission is just keeping me somewhat calm,” Bilbo finally responded. The objects, including Dwalin, laughed brightly. He didn’t see what was so funny but it did brighten the mood of the place. Belladonna always said laughter was the key to fixing a situation.

“What a brave soul. Well, come along then we should hurry,” Ori said before leading them off to a staircase. The castle was incredibly spacious and full of wonderful things to look at but Bilbo kept very close to his two unexpected guides. He needed to find his father and would not risk getting lost on his own.

Soon they were traveling through the second and third floors. Bilbo hoped his father wasn’t any further up as the cold seemed to grow bitter they more they journeyed. Fili pushed open a door (how odd that such a small thing had so much strength) and they were faced with a spiraling stone staircase leading up a tower. A shocking realization rushed into Bilbo’s mind. He rushed past his guides, ignoring their calls to stop. If he was right about what this section of the castle truly was, he was not going to let Bungo stay in a prison tower for any longer.

Of course, Bilbo was right. At the very top of the tower were four holding cells, and right in one was a shivering Bungo Baggins.

“Father!” Bilbo called out as he ran to him.

Bungo immediately shot up and raced to the door of the cell. Bilbo kneeled down to hold his father’s ice cold hands, desperately trying to warm them. The relief at the sight of seeing his father alive was quickly replaced with confusion and rage.

“Who put you in here?” the young man demanded.

Fili and Ori ran in at that moment, obviously quite upset that they were ignored. Fili yelled at Bilbo, calling him foolish for just pushing past them. Another voice piped up through the commotion.

“Brother, please! Would you not come running to save us if we were in danger?” a smaller candle called out. Bilbo eyed the creation and he remembered who this was. Kili, the one keeping his father company. Fili sighed and nodded, quickly apologizing to Bilbo and pulling Ori towards his brother. They were so young, like teens. It bothered Bilbo that they were stuck here.

“Thank you, all of you, for helping me find my father,” Bilbo said but quickly thought over his words. “But I must know why he is locked up like a criminal!”

The three objects fell into a silence, refusing to look at the young man. Bungo pulled his son’s hands, quickly gaining Bilbo’s attention. His father’s eyes were solemn and cold in the dark. There had to be a reason for all of this; there just had to be! None of the ‘residents’ of the castle had been hostile to him and seemed like they wanted to free Bungo as much as Bilbo did. Then why weren’t they helping? Why was his father trapped? Was there a curse open the inhabitants of the castle, turning them into objects? Did they have a master, a king? None of this made sense!

“Bilbo, my sweet boy, you must go.”

That definitely brought Bilbo out of his thoughts. Why on earth would he just leave his father? Especially now that he had found him and they could go together?

“What are saying? I’m not leaving you! We just need to find the keys and-”

“Bilbo! Please leave this place. I was put in here by a terrible beast,” at this the objects bristled and the two candles seemed to grow defensive in their posture.

“Father, whatever man put you in here must’ve had some reason. He is not a beast, I’ll find him and get you out!” Bilbo replied desperately.

“No, my son! I tell you the truth! He was large and fury, with horns and clawed paws! Bilbo, he was terrifying and I will not have you face him down!”

Bilbo looked at his father in confusion. He was still having difficulty comprehending everything; from the living objects to the castle’s obvious curse. A beast surely seemed likely to be here but the way Bungo described him and the way Fili, Kili, Ori and most likely everyone else in the castle acted, it was as if the beast was once a man. If so, a man can be reasoned with.

“I don’t care! Father, I will get you out of here,” Bilbo said, refusing to let the old man think he’d leave him.

“Do tell me, how you plan to do just that?” a rough voice called out from the shadows. Bungo trembled even more as he clutched onto his son. Bilbo’s eyes narrowed in the direction of the voice knowing that whoever this ‘beast’ was could see him. The three young objects rushed away and carefully stood on a table, obviously hoping to get out of the eyesight of whoever this was.

“Finding the key would be the best start, I assume,” Bilbo replied calmly. The beast let out a breathy laugh and he moved closer to the young man.

“And where would you find that?” the stranger asked.

“Well it’s obviously in here; perhaps even with you,” Bilbo shot back. He was not in the mood for all these questions.

“Clever little thing, aren’t you? Answer me this, what makes you think I’ll let you have the key? Let you take him home?”

Bilbo stood up and walked away from his father. He hated being looked down upon and quickly fixed the shadows a nasty look.

“He’s a sick old man and you have no reason to keep him here!”
The beast growled and moved even closer. Bilbo still couldn’t see him perfectly but he now saw just how large he was. The horns were quite intimidating as well as his now obvious sneer, but Bilbo was not going to be scared. There was still a man underneath that beastly appearance.

“He came into my home, unwelcomed mind you, yet I was going to give him pardon to leave. But then your father had the brilliant idea to go to Smaug! That fiend would kill my family and I would not allow that to happen!”

Bilbo was startled that the beast even knew who Smaug was. It made sense that Bungo would look for Smaug if only to help him home, but he couldn’t imagine his father wanting to hurt the residents here.

“My father would never hurt a soul. He would never tell Smaug to kill you nor your family!” Bilbo retorted. The beast huffed before turning back into the shadows.

“What he would or would not do does not concern me anymore. He is my prisoner and here he shall remain,” he spat, almost daring Bilbo to challenge him. The young man glared at the silhouette of the beast before turning back to his father. Bungo was shaking and sniffling, and if this beast was the kind of man Bilbo thought him to be, his father would die alone and sick in this cage. Bilbo would not allow that happen, but he needed to think of a way to get him out.

Chewing on his bottom lip, an idea hit Bilbo. The beast wanted a prisoner? He would have one. But first, he had to see who he was dealing with.

“Step into the light,” Bilbo commanded. Everyone in the room stiffened and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Kili do the candle equivalent of a facepalm.

“Pardon?” the beast asked as he spun around.

Straightening his shoulders, Bilbo made his entire body look as intimidating as possible.

“Step into the light.”

The beast snorted at him before stepping ever closer to the light. He wasn’t completely visible yet and he was clearly hesitant to reveal himself. Bilbo tried looking into his eyes but with the shadows, he still couldn’t get a clear picture of the man he was talking to.

“A little further, please,” he said quietly. The beast sighed before finally stepping out. Bilbo’s eyes grew wide but he didn’t move.

The beast was covered in black, inky fur with some silver streaks coating him. He wore torn pants and a blue cloak, his hands (or paws) twitched in nervousness which seemed completely opposite of how he carried himself before. Curling horns caught the light from setting sun, giving them an almost golden glow. But what Bilbo couldn’t seem to stop staring at was the piercing, icy blue eyes. They were so human, so tired and angry and terrified. He covered up this fear expertly as he turned to the side once again. A tail that Bilbo hadn’t seen before curled around the beast’s legs as he stared out a barred window.

“Happy? Will you leave now that you’ve seen me?” the beast asked. Bilbo glanced at his shaking father and shook his head. When he looked back up, his eyes locked with the beast’s, and really he should learn his name if he’s going to have to stay here.

“I want to take my father’s place,” Bilbo replied. The beast took a step back, as if he just got slapped, and looked at Bilbo in complete disbelief. Fili sighed in the background as Ori gasped and Kili seemed incredibly intrigued by what was to go down next.

When no one spoke up, Bilbo coughed lightly, “You need someone to stay, yes? As a leverage in case, I don’t know, hunters come? I don’t want to pretend to understand your reasoning but I will say this; my father will not stay here. And if that means I must take his place, then so be it.”

“Bilbo, my lad no!” Bungo cried from his cell. The beast was eyeing Bilbo with suspicion as he muttered something to Fili. The young candle nodded and quickly ran out of the room. Bilbo turned to his father as the man pulled his arm.

“You can’t stay here, you have a life to live,” the old man sputtered as a cough overcame him. Bilbo tutted him as he brought a hand to his father’s cheek.

“And you need medical attention, I would never forgive myself if I left you here. Go to Amelia and Nellie, father. They’ll take care of you,” Bilbo smiled weakly as Bungo stared at him with watery eyes. The beast hadn’t spoken for quite some time and when Bilbo turned to look at him, he saw him staring at Bilbo with confusion. Blue eyes narrowed before he pulled out the cell keys from a pocket in his cloak.

Fili came back in with a metal man following him; and upon further inspection, Bilbo saw that it was, in fact, a walking suit of armor. It bowed to the beast before taking the key and opening up the cell Bungo was in. The old man pulled his son into a tight embrace before he was pulled off by the animated armor and hefted up to his feet.

“Be careful with him, make sure he returns to Dale safely,” the beast ordered, much like a king would. The armor nodded before Bungo was pulled out, calling out for Bilbo to rethink his choice, but they both knew it was too late for that.

As tears welled up in Bilbo’s eyes, he felt four pairs of eyes on him. Turning to the beast, Bilbo could see him thinking of ways to deal with this new situation. Before the young man could speak up, the beast turned to the three objects on the table.

“Fili, Kili I want you to take Bilbo to the guest room where your mother is. Ori, go to Balin and inform him of our recent events. Don’t keep the company in the dark,” he ordered more gently than he had with the armor.

“Yes, Uncle Thorin,” the brothers replied while Ori nodded silently. So that was his name, Thorin. It seemed so familiar for some odd reason. Thorin looked at Bilbo one last time, shaking his head in quiet disbelief as he stalked back into the shadows. Bilbo stared at him before he saw six bright lights in his vision.

Kili smiled at him gently as Ori quickly left the room. Fili placed an arm around his brother’s shoulder and sighed deeply. It was obvious that the eldest brother was incredibly exhausted by this whole fiasco, and seemingly even more tired of his brother’s energy. The two candles looked at him for a while before bowing together.

“Fili.”

“And Kili.”

“At your service, Master Baggins.”

They were awfully polite, but Bilbo couldn’t help but finally wonder. What the bloody hell did he just agree too?!