Labamrazûkh'azghu

credit goes to SunnyRose

Summary:

As Erebor starts to receive its winter snows, the company seems interested in participating in this labamrazûkh'azghu. Bilbo assumed it was a type of snowball fight. He's about to find out, like most things the dwarves do, it's a little more intense than that.

Bilbo had thought with the end of their quest, things would slow down a bit, but he found himself busier than ever. There was so much to do! Especially in the wake of battle. There was managing the rations that Thranduil and Dain brought to make sure the men and dwarves would see this winter through to the end. There were all the injuries that kept Oin and the other healers on their toes all day long. And then there was the actual rebuilding of Erebor itself. Turning a dragon infested tomb into liveable conditions wasn't an easy process, and it seemed like at every turn something else went wrong.

In all honesty, it was far more than a simple hobbit from the Shire could comprehend. And yet, he stayed. He had told Gandalf he would see this quest through to the very end, and it didn't feel...complete yet. Maybe when Thorin and the boys were back on their feet and crowned before his very eyes. Maybe then Bilbo would find satisfaction. He doubted it though. His heart knew that which his brain refused to acknowledge. In a sense, he was already home.

"Come on, Fili. Hurry up!"

"You try going fast on these things."

Bilbo stepped out of the way of Kili and Fili, the latter on crutches, limping for the front gate as fast as they could manage.

"What in the Green Lady's Garden?" Bilbo muttered before following the two knuckleheads to make sure they didn't hurt themselves worse.

A type of childish glee Bilbo hadn't seen on their faces in a long time was present as they surveyed the landscape before them. A winter storm had moved through that night leaving a fresh blanket of puffy white snow covering every surface.

"The first real snow of the season." Fili remarked.

"You know what this means..." Kili smirked at him.

Bilbo frowned. That they could now add cold and wet to their list of grievances? That it would make getting to Dale much harder?

"Labamrazûkh'azghu (War of snow)!" They declared at the same time.

"Absolutely not."

The three of them turned to see Thorin limping towards them looking pale and covered in a sheen of sweat trying to catch up to his errant nephews. Bilbo immediately rushed to his bad side, letting Thorin rest his weight on him instead of his pained foot. Thorin shot him a look of gratitude before turning back to the two now despondent dwarves.

"But Thorin..." Fili stated only for Thorin to shake his head.

"There will be time for games later. The most important thing we can do now is rest and heal."

Fili and Kili still looked out over the snowy surface with longing. Thorin chuckled.

"Erebor is not like Ered Luin. This won't be the last snow of the season, I can promise you."

That seemed to reassure them some as they limped their way back to the healer's wing, talking softly about what they were going to do first when they finally were cleared by Oin. Bilbo and Thorin followed behind at a much more laggard pace with Bilbo softly admonishing the dwarf for getting out of bed at all.

Thorin chuckled. "I saw Fili and Kili do it. I thought I could too."

"They are rather younger than you." Bilbo pointed out wryly.

"Don't I know it." He groaned.

Bilbo chuckled warmly before asking the question that's been on his mind. What exactly was a lambas razu...? Labom zook...? Whatever the boys had uttered.

Thorin keened clearly looking for the right words to use. Bilbo noticed he did that a lot when he asked him about dwarven traditions. At first, he thought it was because he was deciding whether or not Bilbo should be allowed to know it. He learned the truth when Bilbo asked about Yule traditions and Thorin constantly kept using Khuzdul words during the conversation, looking frustrated when there wasn't a clear enough translation for him. It had been more endearing than it probably should have been.

"You choose sides and battle each other with ice and snow." Thorin finally decided on.

Luckily, Bilbo immediately knew what he was talking about this time before he could frustrate himself.

"OH! Like a snowball fight!"

Thorin's eyes grew round as he pierced Bilbo with his gaze.

"You have such things in the Shire?"

"Of course." Bilbo answered. "Every faunt knows how to throw a snowball."

Thorin suddenly laughed. "Forgive me." He shook his head under Bilbo's questioning look. "I'm having a hard time picturing a bunch of hobbits in the labamrazûkh'azghu (war of snow)."

Bilbo puffed up his chest indignant. "You say that, but my rock throwing skills were enough to brain a few orcs. Why would snow be any different?"

Thorin gave Bilbo an assessing look as if suddenly reminded that Bilbo was not in fact useless dead weight. Something he wished he would get through his thick skull sooner rather than later. They stumbled into the healing ward and Bilbo helped Thorin back onto his bed before the dwarf spoke up again.

"Then you should join us. When we're feeling better. We can all go out and participate in the labamrazûkh'azghu (war of snow)."

Bilbo gave him a warm grin. "I think I would like that very much."

***

A week went by, then two and finally a month and a half before the Line of Durin were cleared for duty once more. The urgency that had swept through the mountain at the beginning of its reclaiming had calmed down some even if the workload was still full. Bilbo did find the time and energy to start decorating for Yule, even if it was sparse. It brought a sense of joy to all that saw it, and that was what mattered.

In addition to the festive season, Erebor saw its third snow, this one the heaviest of them all. And Fili and Kili, mostly healed, definitely took notice. Smirking at their enthusiasm, Thorin called them altogether and declared the labamrazûkh'azghu (war of snow) would be on in the morning. Bilbo had never seen so many grown individuals excited about a simple snowball fight.

It was the next morning that Bilbo realized his assumption of the very complex word they kept using was completely, overwhelmingly inaccurate. Bilbo shivered in his borrowed coat as he watched Dwalin, Gloin, and Thorin meticulously sharpen large icicles to a point as Nori, Fili, and Bifur stuffed rocks and ice into snowballs.

"Right...what's happening?" Bilbo asked Kili as he rushed by with more icicles.

"I thought the Shire had labamrazûkh'azghu (war of snow)?" Kili smirked.

"I thought we did too." Bilbo muttered.

"It's about what you'd expect." Ori shrugged. "We split up into two camps. Each with their own banner. Whichever team makes it back to their base with the other team's banner wins."

Bilbo looked out at Dori, Bombur, Bofur, and Balin as they were making what appeared to be walls out of the snow which made a lot more sense now. No, he was fairly certain none of this was 'as he expected'.

"Oh! And if blood is drawn, you're out." Kili pointed out.

"Excuse me! This gets bloody ?" Bilbo asked aghast.

Kili shrugged. "I wouldn't go that far. Mostly it's little cuts on your eyebrow or cheek from where you were hit."

"Or arms from where the icicles get you." Ori pointed out.

"Oh that reminds me! One year Fili made an ice axe that nearly took Gimli's arm off! Gloin went ballistic for days. It's why he's on projectiles only now."

"Don't remind me!" Oin sniffed approaching the group. "I lost track of how many stitches I've put into that lad. Luckily, my healers have tents set up and ready for anything."

"Oh my!" Bilbo declared.

"Eye? I wouldn't take a hit in the eye, you might just lose that, lad."

Bilbo started shaking as spots appeared in his vision. They've just finished one war, what was the point in getting into another?! With each other! He might add.

"Don't worry Bilbo." Ori patted his back. "I would imagine with your skills; you will be one of our runners."

Bilbo frowned. "What's that?"

"They're the sneaks that try to steal the banners." Kili answered. "In fact, the rumor was that Dwalin purposefully didn't try to catch Nori during the winter so that way he could have the thief as his runner."

"Oi! As if that lead-foot dashatu rukhs (son of an orc) could catch me any other time!" Nori shot back offended.

Kili and Fili both snickered at this as they continued to rile up the thief. Being so distracted by the good-natured teasing, Bilbo didn't even notice anyone had come up behind him until a gloved hand set on his shoulder.

"Are you ready, Bilbo?"

Bilbo wrung his mittened fingers as he turned around to face Thorin's dazzling smile.

"Thorin, I must confess something I..."

"I'm sorry I couldn't make you a general." He interrupted.

"Pardon?" Bilbo gaped like a fish.

"It's just that, Dwalin was the general of the victorious team in Ered Luin and I thought he deserved that right, and Hamrak was the winning general in the Iron Hills. To best keep the peace I chose them. I didn't want you to think I was belittling your Shire labamrazûkh'azghu (war of snow)."

"No, Thorin. That's what I'm trying to tell you. I wasn't a general."

"Ever?" Thorin gasped. "That's surprising, considering you're so clever."

An unexpected flush of warmth fell over him as he averted his gaze.

"Yes, well. Thank you." He coughed. "My cleverness wasn't always so...well thought of."

"More's the pity to the Shire then." Thorin declared. "Come, you'll be on my team with Hamrak."

And that was that then. Bilbo was participating in this bloody snow war whether he liked it or not.

***

Even though Hamrak was the general, he naturally deferred to Thorin when it came to the planning of their battle strategy. Aside from Thorin, the other company members on their side were Fili, Dori, Ori, and Bifur. The rest remained on Dwalin's team with the exception of Oin who was with the other medics on standby and Bombur who rather unfairly is always the first one out and therefore chose to observe this year. Otherwise, there were about twenty Iron Hills dwarves Bilbo had yet to be acquainted with.

A handful of the dwarves, along with Fili, Dori, and Ori were put on defending their own banner. Thorin, Bifur, Hamrak and the majority would be running out to meet the other side head-on in battle. Bilbo along with four other dwarves would be their runners. They're job was to sneak to the other side and snatch the banner and return back to their side without getting hit.

Bilbo looked out to the other side with dread. There was a solid hundred yards between him and the other team's banner. Of which there would be at least fifty battle crazed dwarves standing in his way. Plus, snowballs designed to see him bleed. Bilbo would rather take the dragon again. However, he made the mistake of looking over at Thorin who smiled warmly as he clapped his shoulder.

"Shouldn't be too hard for a Master Burglar?" He teased.

Bilbo forced a smile to his face. "You can count on me."

Because honestly. Bilbo ran outside his door for a pretty voice and a haunting song. He faced orcs and wargs for the desire to see Thorin live. And he stole from a dragon because Thorin wanted a pretty gem. As if he needed just one more thing to broadcast his infatuation for all to see. Thorin's grin spread wider, his eyes dancing with some unnamed warmth.

"I know I always can."

Bilbo sucked in air so fast, the cold actually hurt his throat a bit. Well, there's that then. Bilbo was going to have to win this damn thing now. The horn sounded in warning, and Thorin squeezed Bilbo's shoulder before releasing him to make his way to the front of the barrier.

"Come with us, Master Baggins. We'll show you all the best tricks." Brasha, one of the other dwarven runners invited.

Bilbo looked back over his shoulder at where Thorin had drawn his ice blade. As proud and regal as he looked holding Orcrist. He could only hope he had better luck with this blade that it wouldn't see him bleeding out in the snow again. Bilbo shook his head of such thoughts knowing that no one would purposefully try to hurt the king as he followed Brasha to the side. One of the other dwarves was distributing icicles as daggers, and drawing a crude map in the snow to show their best position of entry. Bilbo was only half listening as he took in the landscape a bit more.

There were plenty of boulders to hide behind, but it would be getting past the other team's barrier that would be the hard part. It was nearly a full circle with the cliff face acting as the 'wall' at their backs. Scaling the cliff was certainly out as Bilbo was not the best climber, and the number of heads peeking out over the wall didn't encourage any blind spots. However, if Hamrak and Thorin's plan of providing a distraction worked out, all Bilbo would need to do is figure out how to get into the six foot tall snow wall. Yeah, piece of cake.

The second horn sounded and that's when the field erupted. Thorin led the charge, screaming at the top of his lungs as the other side did the same. Brasha tugged at Bilbo's arm. He followed her as quickly as he could, racing out with Thorin's group until the other group was nearly upon them. All the runners fanned out to find a hiding place right as the clash of ice sounded around them.

Bilbo peeked from behind his boulder to see Thorin and Dwalin had met each other in the middle. Of course, he knew from experience they were both good fighters, but to see them dance around each other, trading blow for blow, while holding back just enough to keep their ice weapons from snapping...it was the most magnificent thing Bilbo had ever seen. It wasn't until he finished his gawking that he realized he had missed Brasha's signal to push forward. He cursed under his breath as he couldn't see any of the runners anymore. He was on his own now. Bilbo shook as he tried to convince his legs to push forward to no avail.

"Having fun there?"

Bilbo yelped as he turned to see Nori settling in beside him. Bilbo narrowed his eyes at the thief, gripping his icicle a little tighter, but the dwarf just threw his hands up as if to show there was nothing in them.

"I'll trade a secret with you if you tell me something I want to know."

"Why would you do that?" Bilbo asked, eyebrow raised.

Nori shrugged. "Benefits me and makes it more interesting. So what do you say?"

Bilbo hesitated. It would be very easy for Nori to tell him false information or not tell him anything at all once he got what he needed to know. Then again, it would have been very easy for Nori to have gotten him out of the game just now as well. Very slowly, Bilbo nodded.

"Very well, what do you want to know?"

Nori smirked. "Not going to make me give up my secret first? You're too trusting, Hobbit. But here's what I want to know: Dori and Ori are going to be with each other. Where in your fortress are they?"

Bilbo pinned him down with a soft glare.

"I'm not going to hurt them!" Nori complained. "I want to avoid them. They would love nothing more than to see me out and Dori would make it hurt. I've been on the receiving end of one of his snowballs before. Never again. So, what about it?"

Bilbo chanced a glance back to his team's snow wall trying to remember.

"I believe they are on the second level, on the right. Closest to the banner."

"Of course they are." Nori muttered under his breath. "Thanks Bilbo. Well good luck to you..."

"Ahem." Bilbo crossed his arms, glaring the dwarf down.

Nori gave a sheepish grin. "Right. So here's a secret. Rormir is on the far left closest to the cliff and he's a bit pissy that he's on guard duty. That's your best bet to get to the banner."

Bilbo peeked out from behind his rock. That would mean he would have to cross the entire battlefield and get past the dwarves towards the front, all without being seen.

"What a minute, Nori. How am I supposed to...?" Bilbo turned to find he was already gone.

Bilbo sighed. Right then. There was nothing else for it. He spotted another boulder a little bit closer to the middle and decided that was going to be his next target. He just needed to run as fast as he could and look out for anyone nearby waving big ice axes to take off his arms. He gulped. Well, here goes.

Bilbo took three big giant steps before he tripped into a large snowbank. Falling to his knees, Bilbo went completely under and came back up sputtering with only his head reaching the top. Wait a minute. Why couldn't he crawl his way through the thick snow? Thankful for the thick mittens Dori thought to make him, Bilbo got back on his knees and started digging his way through the snow. Every once in awhile, he would pop his head up and see where he was before going back to his tunneling.

The crazy thing was it was actually working. No one seemed to notice him as he picked his way around fights. Pausing long enough for someone to trample their way in front of him before continuing on his way. He made a wide berth to avoid any of the dwarves on the wall who might be looking down at him until he got to the far left side. Bilbo was all the way up to the wall and no one seemed to notice. So far so good, might as well continue the strategy if it was working.

Using his icicle, he started to dig through the thickly packed snow of the wall. He angled his way up, and when he was just beginning to see daylight, began to slow as he listened closely for anyone nearby. When he felt like the coast was clear, he dug a little further so he could poke just the top of his head out. There was a dwarf near him with his back to him, leaning against the wall with his chin in his hand. So this must be Rormir. Wiggling out of the hole he had made, Bilbo slowly began to creep his way around him, keeping his eye out for any other dwarves or the banner. Honestly, he couldn't believe he had gotten this far.

"Bilbo!"

He froze. Certain he had been found out. He slowly turned his head around only to see Kili standing next to Balin, the two clearly lost in their conversation. Bilbo silently released a sigh of relief as he tiptoed around the dwarves.

"Aye, I would imagine Bilbo is their last runner. Seems to be taking his time though." Balin remarked.

"If I know our hobbit, he's most certainly got a trick up his sleeve." Kili insisted.

"You're probably right, lad. All the more reason to remain vigilant."

Bilbo felt something mischievous and certainly Tookish swell up inside him at how much faith they had in him as he creeped right behind them. He took the banner down from its perch and was almost back to his hole when he couldn't resist.

"Don't work too hard, boys. You never know what you might miss."

Kili and Balin turned sharply, their jaws dropped. Even Rormir gaped at the hobbit.

"Bilbo!" Balin cried.

"The banner!" Kili shouted.

Bilbo gave them a cheery wave before sliding down into his hole. Like a sled down a hill, he slid quickly through the tunnel he had made and shot out at the bottom. The time for stealth was behind him. Bilbo began to run as fast as he could through the snow back to their side.

"STOP HIM! STOP THAT HOBBIT!" Balin bellowed.

The dwarves around him that were engaged with fighting another suddenly turned in surprise as if just realizing there was a hobbit with a long blue banner trailing behind him. Luckily, it wasn't just the opposite side who saw him.

"Fall to Bilbo! See him safely back to the fortress!" Thorin roared.

All it did was make Bilbo's chaotic run even more so. He was dodging dwarves with ice weapons left and right. Swerving around his own teammates as they did their best to hold the others off. Bilbo just couldn't move as fast as he wanted to through the thick snow though. That's when he felt a hand wrap around his waist, hoisting him up over someone's shoulder. Bilbo yelped as he looked towards the person's head only to relax when he recognized those raven locks.

"Hold on, Bilbo!" Thorin grunted, easily conquering the snow mounds Bilbo struggled through.

Bilbo grinned as he watched their pursuers fall behind. They were actually going to make it! Or at least, that's what he thought when Thorin was suddenly tackled from the side. Bilbo went flying through the snow, the banner tangling around him. By the time he got free, he saw Dwalin standing triumphantly as Thorin marched off the field with a grim look, a small cut on his cheek.

"Now it's your turn, Hobbit!"

Bilbo yelped as he quickly tried to get himself free before Dwalin could get to him. He had just managed to get unraveled when a shadow appeared over him. This was it. It was over. Desperation kicked in and he did the only thing he could. He closed his eyes and lashed out with his icicle. He waited for the burst of pain to come only to realize it wasn't coming. Bilbo opened his eyes to see his icicle buried in the web between Dwalin's finger and thumb drawing just the smallest drop of blood.

"You...!"

Bilbo didn't wait to hear how that sentence finished. Taking the opportunity for what it was, Bilbo sprinted the last little leg to get back to their wall receiving many cheers and back claps for his effort. He actually did it. He won.

***

Bombur had warm treats and wassail waiting for them back inside the mountain where the company gathered round to commiserate over the battle. Kili was telling everyone in great detail and great exaggeration how Bilbo mocked them before disappearing down the hole.

"Okay, I did not in any way shape or form call you a bunch of elves. I will, however, point out that Nori had a commanding lead on me. How did you not beat me to the punch?"

Nori sunk lower in his seat, grouching.

"I found him slinking by and got him out." Ori announced proudly.

"You barely nicked me! It shouldn't count." Nori complained.

"No, it shouldn't." Dwalin grunted, glaring at Bilbo.

He chuckled awkwardly as Thorin set his hand on his shoulder.

"Drawn blood is still drawn blood. I say we all lift our cups in a toast to our brave and clever burglar."

"To Bilbo!"

Everyone fell into their own conversations at that point leaving Bilbo and Thorin to themselves.

"I just can't believe this was your first labamrazûkh'azghu (snow war)." Thorin chuckled.

"I can't believe I told you 'faunts play this' and you didn't realize we weren't on the same page."

"Well...our older pebbles play it. I just thought hobbits had to be the same."

Bilbo laughed. "Not quite it would seem."

They had tuned back in just long enough for Nori to explain that at least half the victory belonged to him since he fed Bilbo information. Bilbo shook his head as he got up to go fill his drink up again. Thorin followed.

"So decorating in greenery is a hobbit tradition then." He remarked as he looked around at what Bilbo had managed to get done earlier in the week.

Bilbo hummed in agreement. "Yes, of course. It honors the Green Lady after all."

"And what is the purpose of hanging poisonous white berries?"

Bilbo blinked as he looked up to where Thorin was scrutinizing the mistletoe set innocently above them. He felt his face flush with heat having not even noticed it. And he had been the one to hang it.

"Well that's...you see for us hobbits..."

Bilbo sighed before mustering up some of that courage from earlier to lean up on his tiptoes and kiss Thorin on the cheek.

"That's what it's for."

For a long breath, Thorin didn't move as if he had been frozen in place. Bilbo could feel himself wilt as he tried to come up with an apology for Thorin's clear indignation. Just before he could utter a word though, Thorin pierced him with searching blue eyes. Bilbo shrugged helplessly.

"It doesn't have to mean anything, Thorin. It's mostly just for a bit of fun and an excuse to kiss your sweetheart for the tweens. In the Shire, we..."

Bilbo was cut off by a gentle press of lips against his own. His face felt like it was exploding in different shades of color and warmth. The kiss didn't last very long, maybe only a second or two, but to Bilbo, it was the greatest kiss he had ever had. When he glanced back up, he found a similar blush to how he felt on Thorin's face as he looked off into the distance.

"Perhaps the Shire has some good traditions as well." He remarked.

Bilbo shot him a dazzling smile which Thorin returned as he took the dwarf's hand in his own. Maybe it would do well for him to remain in Erebor a little longer.