Title: The Gold Zone
Author: Alania Black
Fandom/Genre: The Hobbit
Relationship(s): Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield
Content Rating: R
Warnings: Explicit sex, canon-typical violence
Summary: In a world where the Dwarves exiled from Erebor stumbled into the warm embrace of the Shire and built their new homes in the hills surrounding it, Thorin Oakenshield has grown into one of the strongest and most well-respected Alpha Sentinels the Dwarven race has ever had. But the King Under the Mountain has never taken a Guide amongst his kin, and after almost 100 years of struggling with his gifts on his own, his people grow concerned for his mental well-being.

Meanwhile, tucked safely away in his Smial, Bilbo Baggins has grown accustomed to his quiet, respectable life. Until the day a Wizard emerges from his past with promises of an adventure Bilbo never asked for and doesn’t want, and Bilbo mind awakens gifts that no Hobbit has ever had…

Story

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five | Chapter Six

Notes

Runes and languages I am using the Angerthas Erebor runic alphabet, which are based on the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runes.

Sentinels and Guides I will detail the lore as I go through, but essentially a Sentinel is a person with all 5 senses heightened, as well as mental abilities that allow them to sense and make connections to Guides. Guides are empathic and have mental abilities that, once bonded with a Sentinel, allow them to balance and settle a Sentinel’s mind. Both Sentinels and Guides of the mortal races can live longer than their average. Races are affected differently:
Dwarves – About 10% of their population are Sentinel or Guide, 1 in 10 Sentinel/Guides are female (1 in 3 Dwarves are female). Can live a little longer but only an extended normal lifespan.
Hobbits – Hobbits have never had Sentinels or Guides in their population.
Dunedain – All have Sentinel or Guide abilities.
Men – About 10% of their population are Sentinel or Guide, can live up to 100 years longer – it is believed that the intermarriage of Dunedain into the Men introduced the gift – this also explains why the gift has not shown in the Haradrim or Easterlings and is most prominent in the Men of Gondor.
Elves – They do not have Sentinels or Guides in the way mortals do but have developed gifts that have a mix of the Sentinel senses and the Guide empathy. They do not bond.
Orcs and Goblins – Some can have twisted versions of the gifts – one or two heightened senses, or a type of telepathic sense, but no traditional Sentinel/Guide gifts.

For reference, this is the timeline I am using (using Third Age dates):
2746 – Thorin born
2770 – Smaug attacks Erebor, the people flee
2790 – Thror is killed by Azog, the War of the Dawrves and Orcs begins
2799 – Battle of Azanulbizar, Azog is killed and the War of the Dwarves and Orcs ends
2800 – Thorin and Thrain find the Shire – settle in the White Downs
2841 – Thrain sets out with Balin and Dwalin
2845 – Thrain is taken to Dol Guldur
2850 – Gandalf finds Thrain at Dol Guldur, Thrain gives him the key and map and then dies. Thorin becomes King Under the Mountain.
2859 – Fili born
2864 – Kili born
2890 – Bilbo born
2911-2912 – Fell Winter
2941 – The story starts