Chapter Text
Dori and Nori have another fight.
Ori listens from the bedroom he shares with Nori, ear pressed to the door and his knees pulled up to his chest. It’s bad this time, worse than normal, and Ori presses his overly large sleeve over his mouth to muffle the sound of his harsh breathing and quiet crying. He hates it when they get like this.
“You’re corrupting Ori,” Dori declares. “I’ve been trying to keep this family afloat and respectable, and you go and decide to steal things and teach him that it’s alright to be a thief and a liar. I don’t want you in this house anymore. You can pack your bags tonight, and I don’t want to see you any more after that.”
Ori gasps, but luckily the sound is suppressed by the sleeve. He trembles, closing his eyes. No, please don’t send Nori away…
“I steal for Ori!” Nori roars. He sounds angrier than Ori’s ever heard him. “Send me away and all that will happen is that you’ll starve, but at least you’ll be respectable as you’re dying!”
Dori says something that Ori can’t make out, and it seems to frustrate Nori even more.
“Do you even care about him?” he spits, and Ori shivers, wishing they would just stop and get along. “I may be a thief, but at least I’m an honest one. We’ll see how much your blooming pride helps when Ori’s starving and no one will spare you even a crumb to save him!”
The creaking of wood is a sure sign Nori’s stomping up to the bedroom, and Ori scrambles to his feet to quickly lie down in his bed and pretend he wasn’t listening. The door swings open and slams shut, and Ori can hear Nori cursing softly under his breath.
There’s a creak as Nori sits down on the edge of Ori’s mattress. “...I know you’ve been listening, Ori. You can stop pretending to be asleep.”
The young dwarf rolls over then and looks up at Nori. His lip is quivering, tears welling up in golden-brown eyes. Nori sighs softly and pulls Ori into a hug, knocking their foreheads lightly together.
“A-are you leaving?” Ori asks tremulously, fingers curling in Nori’s front. “I don’t want you to go.”
Nori sighs and closes his eyes, giving a short nod. “It’ll be better for you without Dori and I fighting all the time.”
A sob bursts from the younger dwarf and he shakes his head furiously, looking down. “Please stay, please.”
“Ori…” Nori gives up and just pulls Ori closer, feeling his younger brother sob into his shoulder. This isn’t fair for him, Nori reflects sadly. We’re all we’ve got left. Ori doesn’t even remember our mother.
Eventually, the tears stop and Ori pulls away, sniffling.
“Go to sleep, lad,” Nori tells him gently, and ruffles his auburn hair. “I’ll wake you up before I leave.”
Ori nods and bites his lip, and before he can lose heart, he blurts the words out. “I love you, Nori.”
Nori just smiles sadly. “I know.”
oOo
“Ori? What are you doing here?”
Ori looks up from his tankard to see Fili and Kili headed towards his table. Nori was gone and the consequent shouting match between Ori and Dori this time had resulted in the youngest Ri brother retiring to the tavern to drink away his sorrows.
“Sitting,” Ori replies a bit sulkily, clutching his tankard tighter in case one of his friends tried to pull it away from him.
“Aye, we can see that much.” Kili slides into the seat across from Ori, followed a moment later by his brother.
Fili leans in across the table, concern on his face. “What happened, Ori? This isn’t like you.”
Ori gives a sad little shrug. “Dori kicked Nori out,” he mumbles. “He’s not allowed to come back anymore.”
“What?” Kili is all righteous indignation on his friend’s behalf. “Why?”
Ori lets out a deep sigh and finishes off his ale, setting it back down on the table. “Because Nori’s a thief and Dori thinks he’s ruining the family reputation,” he replies flatly. Mentioning how Nori was supposedly corrupting him wouldn’t do any good, and honestly that part embarrasses Ori more than anything, so he keeps quiet on that.
“That’s ridiculous!” Kili is as loud as ever, scowling fiercely. “Fili and I nick stuff all the time!”
Fili gives his brother a warning look and rests a hand lightly on his arm. Kili has the good graces to color slightly in embarrassment and murmur an apology to Fili. This time when he speaks again, his voice is quieter.
“My point is, sometimes you have to, right? When there’s not enough to eat and game’s scarce, things like that,” Kili points out, this time more softly. “Nori’s doing the same thing, isn’t he?”
Ori shrugs his shoulders. “Mostly,” he agrees glumly. “But Dori won’t have it.”
“Maybe Dori’s wrong,” Fili speaks up, and Ori’s head jerks up in surprise.
“What do you mean?” he asks cautiously.
Kili grins. “You should run away. Go with Nori. Maybe then Dori will realize he’s being unfair.”
Ori looks appalled at that, covering his mouth with his sleeve. “I can’t, I’d be in so much trouble.”
Fili sighs a bit and looks to Kili, who shrugs and speaks what both brothers are thinking. “Come on, Ori. You’re old enough to make decisions for yourself. Dori can’t control you, even if he thinks he can.” Kili glances over to his brother and gets to his feet. “Drinks on me this round, but you’re buying for the next.”
Fili replies in the affirmative and Kili goes up to the bar. Ori sighs, staring into his empty tankard before looking back up at Fili.
“Do you really think I should run away?” he asks, his voice small and frightened
Fili leans back in his seat and considers for a moment or two. “I think you should do what you think is right,” he says finally. “But Kili is right about one thing. No one can control you. Don’t let anyone have that power over you. You’re a free dwarf. The only person that should be able to command you is yourself.” He pauses for a moment, thoughtful. “And Thorin, I suppose, since he’s king.”
Ori nods quietly, lapsing into silence. Fili seems just fine with letting Ori have his moment and lights up his pipe, leaning against the wall and smoking contentedly. It stays relatively peaceful, at least until Kili returns with drinks not just for himself and his brother, but for Ori too.
Between Fili, Kili, and the ale, Ori cheers up considerably, completely forgetting about his woes in light of lewd jokes and drinking contests and demonstrating his belching for his friends. Soon all three of them are roaring with laughter and pleasantly buzzed. A few hours after nightfall, however, Thorin comes to fetch his nephews, and they part ways for the night.
They say alcohol is liquid courage, and Ori supposes that must be true to some extent, because the dark just doesn’t seem to bother him as much as it should and he’s a little less cautious than he would be normally. Humming to himself, he walks fearlessly through the shabby collection of homes built by the poorer dwarves.
He really should have known better, after all the scoldings from Dori and warnings from Nori. But somehow it still takes the poor dwarf completely by surprise when he rounds a corner and walks right into a cluster of ragged dwarves. One catches him from behind and presses a blade against his throat, and Ori whimpers, eyes widening in fear and surprise.
“Hand over all the valuables you’ve got,” growls a rough voice in his ear.
Ori swallows. “I-I don’t have any,” he whispers, terrified.
The knife presses harder, drawing blood. “Don’t lie to me, kid. We saw you with the princes.”
“Wh-what?” Ori stammers, staring around at the menacing dwarves. He feels smaller than ever, helpless, afraid. His vision isn’t the best at the moment and his chances of running away and making it are slim. “N-no, they’re my cousins!”
At some point along the line, anyway. No one was terribly clear of the lineage, unsurprising as all three of the Ri brothers were technically bastards.
His answer, however, did nothing to appease the dwarves. Naturally. He wasn’t even sure what he’d been trying to say. Ori’s tossed roughly to the ground as the group closes in a circle around him.
“P-please, I don’t have anything!”
He cries out as the first boot slams hard into his ribcage, only to be followed by a barrage of blows all over. Ori sobs openly, curling up in a ball against the attack and trying to defend himself, but there’s nothing he can do. He’s always been the weakest one, the one that needs protecting, and even now, it seems, that stands true.
Ori’s shivering, his vision swimming, when he hears the shout. It’s hard to think clearly; he’s taken a blow or two to the head and he’s barely even conscious. There’s yelling and Ori can’t quite make out the words, instead focused on his own pain and remembering how to breathe.
Someone pulls him to his feet and Ori cowers, tears streaming freely down his face. His eyes stay closed tight and he tries to speak, to whisper that he doesn’t have anything, please…don’t hurt me...
“Ori, it’s me, you're safe now.”
Ori opens his eyes.
“Nori.”
And faints.