Throw Your Mercy Down

by meteormoss

Summary:

Silence stretches on for several moments until the person in the center says, "You aren't supposed to be here." It's the only sound in the whole world when he says it. Thorin scoffs somewhere to the right and the birds shriek somewhere deep in the trees, but before he can say anything this person keeps speaking, "Who are you?"
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The members of Thorin Oakenshield's company hadn't even really started their quest when they laid down that night. The world around them warps and twists until they're standing in a large circle of people they don't know as someone explains the game they've been chosen to play. A death game. The world blinks with them and it all starts. The game that turns into a desperate crawl for survival and all out war. Who lives? Who dies? Who wins? Will anything even stay the same in the end?

Notes:

For the first time in my entire life I'm in two fandoms at once. Obviously the next step is to combine them. I thought about doing a lifers go to Middle Earth fic, but this seemed far more interesting (and evil). I'd like to say thank you to Cupcake_Princess for hyping me up today while I thought about this, only reason this exists at all.

Chapter 1

Nori meets up with his brothers at a dusty fork in the road. He had just one small piece of unfinished business he couldn't leave behind back home, so he slipped off just before they were due to leave. Ori grins and waves as soon as he catches sight of him approaching. When Nori falls into their little group Dori makes a small comment about assuming he had bailed on the quest before it even started. Nori would never, but it's been a long time since Dori had that type of confidence in him. He says nothing, having expected it before the words were ever said.

It turns to dusk quick. The three of them settle to the side of the road for the night, cram and jerky being passed between them. Quiet conversation fills the small space around them. It's largely Ori rambling once again about the importance of the quest they're on, the stories that will be written about it, and how excited he is to write a first hand account. Nori's heard it all before, and Ori is one of the reasons he had even signed that contract in the first place.

They settle into their bedrolls not so shortly after. Nori's clothes are dusty and his chest twists in a strange way. He's never felt as if there were so many eyes on him before. Ori turns over restlessly underneath his blankets, but Nori says nothing. The world fades to black, fades into the depths of sleep.