DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters, except for Dili, Frenli, Vandiel and Gwain. Everything else is and will always belong to the great Professor Tolkien. And I also do not own the image cover. It belongs to .com

Synopsis:

Dili, a clever but reckless female dwarf sets out to secretly follow her father's-King Thorin- journey to Iron Hills and aid the Durin's Folk as they fight off troubling Orc attacks that have slain lives. Along with Ori and Bofur, Dili lead their trio and followed King Thorin and her brother Frenli to the Iron Hills. As they journeyed, they found themselves in the land of Silvan Elves and encountered Vandiel- a wandering male elf. And despite Dili's great doubts and objections- and to the encouragement of Ori and Bofur- she allowed him to join them.

But a terrible turn of events made Dili question everything her knew and believed. Will she fall and retreat to the Lonely Mountain, scarred for life? Or will she choose to take a stand, take revenge and fight for her people's lives?

Read on as the Princess of Erebor gets to have her own adventure.

Chapter 1

The forest was eerily quiet; peaceful and yet still. The tall trees stand mightily as their leaves dance along with the tune of the wind. There were birds but they don't make a sound. They were flying above the bright blue sky, trying to hide in the trees, the same with the squirrels and other animals, as if they were in a hurry. As if they were hiding from something.

But a little rabbit was left busy chewing something under one of the trees, oblivious to its surrounding. It was brown and had a large belly, unusual for such an animal.

"Perfect," muttered a young dwarf as she carefully hid behind a fat tree, her bow was perfectly positioned against her chest, as she waits patiently for the perfect timing to shoot.

The rabbit, still seemingly oblivious to the fact that it's being hunted, didn't know would perish and die in one shot of an arrow. And when the young dwarf fired, she hit it right at its large belly.

The young dwarf walked over to the poor rabbit and took it into her arms, pulling out the arrow as blood gushed out from its body. She then covered it in a thick cloth. She had perfect timing and killed it with one shot, but she didn't smile. She didn't congratulate herself. Instead she closed her eyes and prayed for its soul and sent a silent apology to Rendergast the Brown Wizard for the barbaric thing she had committed.

Back at the castle, the young dwarf took the time to look at it and revel at how the once ruined Erebor was reclaimed by her father, with the help of Gandalf the Blue Wizard, the thirteen loyal dwarfs and—she could still not believe this when her father told her—a hobbit; was now standing again, alive and mighty, home again to the many dwarves who had fled and lived everywhere since the great dragon Smaug attacked and claimed all the gold.

Still, her father told her that there was nothing to celebrate about it. To be proud, there was—proud for her father's courage; proud for Balin, Dwalin, and the rest of the dwarves that had been loyal to his father and their family since the beginning; proud for the wise Gandalf the Blue Wizard; and of course, proud for Master Baggins, the Hobbit. But the lives of Fili and Kili sacrificed in order to save her father was the one thing she was most proud of. She would forever be grateful to them.

As the young dwarf was nearing at the gates she saw Ori run towards her hurriedly, almost stumbling on his way.

"Where have you been?" he asked as he stopped and catch his breath.

"Out into the woods," she replied as she gave the dwarf a worried frown. "Ori, what have you been up to running about the castle? What has happened?"

The dwarf, who is usually calm and docile, looked at her and shook her body rather harshly. "You," he said with a hint of annoyance, an emotion he doesn't usually show. "You are what happened. And if you don't go to your father right at this moment he is going to turn the castle upside down and send out a search party to find you."

"Oh dear," she muttered and then ran hurriedly. "Where is he?" she shouted.

"In the Throne Room," Ori shouted back as he watched the young princess run to find her father and hoped that the king would calm down once he realizes that his daughter was safe.

"Search everywhere!" His father's angry voice echoed throughout the hallowed room and the young dwarf stopped abruptly on her feet, swallowing nervously.

The guard said something inaudible to her father. lt made him angrier. "You are not looking enough!" he shouted and it made the guard, and her, jump back in panic.

"Father I'm he—"

"Dwalin!" his father bellowed, not hearing her. Just then, Dwalin appeared. "Where is she?"

Before Dwalin could speak, she cleared her throat rather loudly and all of them finally turned. Upon seeing her, the guards' terrified looks turned to relief and then annoyance. Dwalin looked at her as if he was trying not to smile. She fought to urge to wink at him.

And then her gaze went to her father. She is suddenly filled with the urge to flee as his mad and heavily disappointed look bored into her.

"Where have you been?!" King Thorin yelled that made everyone present in the room jump back.

"I—I was hunting," she answered.

"For how many times, I have ordered you not to leave the castle grounds without my permission, and yet you still continue to disobey me." His voice was low but deadly. "Now tell me, why should I not punish you?"

The young dwarf winced at the word punish. Her father never punished her before. But this time, she might have pushed him too far.

She opened her thick black coat and took something out of the inside pocket, then showed it to her father. She heard someone muffle a chuckle and she turned to find out that it was Ori. The eleven dwarves were now present. She looked at them for help but they just cocked their head to the side as if to tell her she brought this to herself.

Helpless, she turned back to her still very angry father and said, "I hunted a rabbit, father." Thorin remained silent and continued looking down at her as if he was waiting for a further explanation. "Well," she said, her voice strained with nervousness as she glanced back towards the dwarves who were, in her disbelief, all biting their lips to keep from laughing.

"Well?" Thorin asked.

"Well…" she looked at her father and after a moment, lost her resolve. "I cannot just sit and wander inside here forever, father. And I heard Bombur wanted to eat a rabbit tonight so I thought I could get him one."

Bofur let out snicker which caught Thorin's attention. "Sorry," he said when Balin smacked his back.

Thorin looked back and stared at his youngest child holding an unusually large rabbit. She had been defiling his orders to not wander outside the castle without company since she learned how to use her bow and arrow. At her young age, she's a master in fighting, hunting and, much to his dismay, recklessness. But her love for Durin's folk is unmistakeable and for this he cannot remain angry.

He let out a decisive breath. "Alright. Give that to Bombur and let him cook it." She smiled, gave him a hug and ran excitedly towards Bombur who was grinning.

"How do you want me to cook this, m'lassie?" he asked.

"Stew," she answered and then they started on their way to the kitchen, talking about seasonings and other ingredients to add to the rabbit stew. The other dwarves followed them but Balin remained.

"Dili," Thorin called.

She turned around. "Yes, father?"

"The next time you want to hunt, go with Frenli."

She groaned but nodded, albeit half-heartedly. "Yes father."

The king could only let out a chuckle as she watched his young daughter grumble inaudibly about her brother.

When they were gone, Thorin also dismissed the guards and sat on the throne chair. "What am I going to do with her?" the King asked Balin but more like to himself.

Balin chuckled. "Nothing, laddie."

The king turned to him with a worried expression. "What if she goes out alone not knowing there re Orcs wandering around? I cannot lose her, Balin."

The old dwarf just patted the king's shoulder and said, "You will not lose her, I promise you that. Not when we are alive, not when the whole Durin's folk is."

Thorin sighed helplessly. "If only her mother is alive—"

"It would be easier, yes. But be strong. Raising a child is never an easy task. Harder, even, than winning battle."

Both dwarves could only laugh.