Clarity of Purpose, Chapter 23

Title: Clarity of Purpose, Chap. 23
Chapter Summary: Thorin's rescue party overhears one conversation, interrupts another, and finds themselves in great danger.
Relationship: Thorin/Bilbo
Characters: Thorin Oakenshield, Arwen, Aragorn, Gandalf, Thrain
Fandom: Hobbit/Lord of the Rings. Begins in 2968, twenty-six years after the events of "Clarity of Vision" and fifty years before the canonical events of "Lord of the Rings." Thus, characters' ages and the geopolitical situation will be different than LoTR canon!
Warnings/Spoilers: None
Rating: R for violence
Word Count: 2200
Summary: Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins have been parted for many years now, despite the love they bear each other. Now Thorin's research has uncovered a dire threat to Middle Earth--the Ring he carried a little while and then gave to Bilbo. Together with a group of companions composed of the different Free Peoples of Middle Earth, they must attempt to destroy the artifact before its Dark Lord can re-capture it.

( Once Erebor is taken, my troops will fall back before your Ironfists. You shall be hailed as the liberator of the Lonely Mountain. )