Chapter Text
The battlefield was a horrifying mess. People of all races were shrieking and roaring, blood – all red, no matter the source, be it dwarven or elven or mannish – splattered across the ground.
Bilbo couldn’t breathe. Ash and dirt stuck to his tongue and throat. He ached, every inch of him, horror and dread numbing anything else. The writhing mass of violence split, and Bilbo pushed through, trying desperately to get away –
A dwarf appeared out of nowhere, knocking him off course while locked in a furious battle with an orc, and Bilbo stumbled, fell against something hard and cold – there was an orcish grunt, something engulfed his head, a flash of excruciating pain –
and nothing.
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Light bloomed.
Bilbo opened his eyes groggily.
A person hovered before him, kind and warm, though he could not make out any features beyond a gentle smile. “Oh, little one,” it sighed, and the sound came from everywhere and nowhere all at once. “This was never meant to happen… you were not meant to pass.”
He was dead. Somehow, the notion was not bothersome.
“Let’s try this one more time, hm?” The person put a hand to his face, and it was large and warm and soft. “But... I do believe you need an advantage.” Their tone turned humorous, and their hand slid down to cradle his chin. “Or two.” Their fingers trailed down his throat, his chest, splaying out across his belly.
It only felt motherly, in a way. Warm, and intimate. “You will have the gift of knowledge.” A kiss was pressed to his brow. “And a heart full of courage and fierceness.” A kiss to his breast. Then sorrow overcame the voice, and it mourned, “though you shall lose just as much as you gain.” The hands glid across him, like a salve on fevered skin, and he turned to liquid beneath them like a fauntling taking its first bath.
“I am sorry, little one,” the person whispered. “May you forgive me once all this is over.”
And with a breath, they sent him away.
*
The world was cold and cruel when he shattered his egg, and he was young and vulnerable and soft, but his mother’s embrace was warm, and his siblings were kind.