It was a few hours before twilight; Dimaera had been traveling since dawn and the lack of rest was beginning to make her weary but she was determined to ride through the night and find an inn. She had almost fallen asleep atop her horse three times in the past hour, the forest around here was peaceful and there were few dangers lurking in these woods due to it being so close to civilization. Despite this, she took comfort in knowing that her black bow and quiver hung across her back while her finely crafted sword hung in its sheath by her side. She also had daggers tucked into the back of her trousers and one tucked into her right boot.
Dimaera was beginning to wonder when she would finally be out of this forest and into a warm bed when she heard whispers coming from nearby. She halted her horse and tilted her head to the side, trying to make out the voices but she found that she couldn't hear them clearly over the sound of the leaves rustling above her. Deciding to see who it was, she dismounted and led her horse over to a nearby tree.
"Wait here, my friend. Only come when I call." She whispered softly into its ear and patted the stallion's neck gently. His response was to gently nudge her arm with his head and dig at the ground softly using his hoof. Dimaera smiled and turned to where the voices where coming from before pulling her bow off of her back and nocking an arrow, just in case.
She moved silently, careful not to step on any twigs as she did so. The faint glow of a campfire radiated across the clearing and outlined the two figures sitting close by. Dimaera stopped in the shadows close to the clearing as she observed the two young men. Only they weren't men. They were dwarves.
Her attention was caught by something coming out of the shadows on the other side of the clearing. A pack of wolves had begun to advance on the oblivious dwarves who sat in deep discussion. Dimaera swore softly, by the time the dwarves even noticed the wolves it would be too late.
She stood straight and drew back her arrow but in doing so she accidently stood on a twig making the two dwarfs' heads snap towards her direction. She saw the wolves getting ready to pounce, seeing this as their chance so she shot the arrow. It whizzed past the two dwarves' heads and hit one of the wolves in the neck as it howled in pain. She quickly pulled another two arrows out of her quiver and killed two more, sending the rest of them fleeing for the shadows once more.
Both dwarves turned, staring in her direction. One of them held two finely crafted dwarven swords while the other held a skillfully made recurve bow. The one with the sword was the one who spoke first, "Who goes there?" Dimaera pulled her hood forward to cover her face more and took a tentative step into the clearing, aiming her own arrow at the one with the bow, figuring she would have to kill him first if they tried anything.
She ignored his question to ask one of her own, "Adhrug bên bâh? State your names." Both dwarves stood shocked for a moment, though Dimaera couldn't tell if it was because she spoke in Khuzdul or because she was a woman. At that point she didn't care.
"A woman?" Dimaera tightened her grip on her bow which didn't go unnoticed by the two young dwarfs. The one that spoke cleared his throat before taking a step forward and speaking again, she aimed her bow at him which didn't go unnoticed by his brother who tightened his grip on his own weapon. "My name is Fili and this is my brother, Kili" He gestured between them both as he spoke. "I think friend would be the wise choice."
Dimaera nodded and lowered her bow, taking a moment to take in their appearances. The one that spoke, Fili, had dirty blond hair that was pushed away from his face with braids on either side of his head. His youth was shown through his short blond beard, which also had braids in it on either side of his mouth. He was shorter than the other by a few inches and wore a brown cloak over his fur lined coat that was held in place with a large leather belt. His dark loose fit trousers were tucked into a pair of sturdy leather boots that stopped just above his calves and had various buckles on them.
His brother, however, seemed to be the complete opposite. He had dark brown hair that was left to flow free and reached just over his shoulders. Although he had a beard, it was very short and grew to the sides of his face to join with his hair; he wore no braids at all. A long overcoat with a hood covered his dark brown tunic and did not have fur like his brother's. His tunic ran to the length of his knees and revealed only a small part of the dark brown trousers tucked into leather boots much like his brother's but with less buckles. He also wore leather gloves that ended at the beginning of his fingers, making it easier for him to wield his bow, no doubt.
Dimaera offered them a small bow as she introduced herself, "Dimaera, at your service." The two relaxed slightly and watched as she walked over to the wolves and pulled her arrows out of their still-warm flesh. She could hear them whispering between themselves as she cleaned the blood from the arrows on the grass before placing them back in the quiver on her back. When she turned back to the two brothers they were staring at her expectantly.
"Is something wrong?" If she had not been wearing her hood, they would have seen her raised eyebrow and look of slight annoyance. Kili took a step forward from where they stood by the fire, "We were wondering if we could see the face of the woman who saved-"
"No." He was cut of briskly by her sudden outburst and both he and his brother stood in shock for a moment before Fili took a tentative step forward so that he stood next to his brother once again.
"May we ask why?" Dimaera folded her arms; she had always hated it when people questioned her hood, it was not that she was ashamed; it just scared her to think of how people would react once they saw her face.
"You may not." She didn't say it unkindly but something in her voice made them stop asking about it and instead divert their attention back to the wolves that lay dead behind her.
"We didn't thank you for saving us, no doubt we wouldn't have seen them in time" Fili nodded his heads towards the wolves. Dimaera nodded, "Think nothing of it"
"Nevertheless, we are very grateful." Dimaera nodded again before walking back the way she came into the clearing. She was stopped when Kili called her back, "Perhaps we could offer you some food to show our thanks?"
Dimaera stopped and turned to face them once again, considering the offer. It had been a long time since she had last sat and shared a meal with someone but she was wary of strangers and determined to ride through the night to find an inn.
She looked up at the sky; it was midnight by now which meant there likely wouldn't be an inn open at this time. She sighed, looking back at the two brothers who were watching her expectantly. "Fine, but know that if you try anything then I will not hesitate to kill you both without a second thought."
They both relaxed slightly before Kili spoke up, "Wouldn't dream of hurting a lady." She scoffed but went to sit by the fire anyway.
Kili sat by her while Fili stirred something inside a pot on the fire. "So if you're travelling somewhere then why is it that you don't have anything with you?" Dimaera looked at him from the shadow of her hood before looking in the direction she came from and whistled loudly.
Kili and Fili exchanged glances, wondering if she had other companions and if so then how many but before they could ask, a large white stallion emerged from the shadows of the trees. Dimaera stood and met the horse halfway, taking its reins and stroking its nose gently before leading it over to where sit by the fire.
"This is Khiluz," She gestured proudly to the stallion. Kili and Fili smiled, relieved that there weren't other travelers with her, they wouldn't have had enough to feed any more.
"Why did you name him that?" Dimaera turned to Kili who looked at her curiously; she wondered how to explain it to him. "He has been with me for many years and is my oldest and closest friend," was all she said but Kili felt there was more to it. He chose to leave it, deciding that it's her own business and if she wanted to tell him then she would.
Their conversation was cut short when Fili asked if she had a bowl to put the food in. Once she had given him the bowl and the food was served out, they sat around the fire eating silently.
Dimaera turned to look at Khiluz who was lying down nearby. She could tell he was glad to be resting after a long days ride; he looked much more at peace without the weight of a saddle and bags on his back. After two weeks on the road they were both exhausted. There were few villages between Forodwaith and The Shire so they had spent many nights sleeping on the hard ground, the only comfort they had found was in each other and the knowledge that they would soon be at their journey's end.
Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of someone clearing their throat. She looked around to find both Kili and Fili looking at her expectantly. "Men gajamu, I am not used to being around others, I forget that I am not alone with my thoughts as usual." She would have offered a small smile if her hood had not been covering her face.
They shrugged it off before Fili said "We were just wondering why it is that you are travelling alone and as late as it was when we met." She frowned, she had not been told much by Gandalf but he had sworn her to secrecy none the less. "There is business in these areas that I must attent to. Besides, I am not alone. Khiluz is as reliable as any; he just does more running than the average guard is all."
The last part earned a few chuckles from the two and she couldn't help but smile. It had been a long time since she had last laughed earnestly so she welcomed the feeling of content it brought with it. "I could ask the same about the two of you as well. I hear that dwarves are not often seen in these parts, what brings you?" Dimaera didn't miss the brief glance they shared before they looked at her.
"Just passing through actually" Came the reply from Kili, "Our weapons are in need of sharpening and provisions refreshing." Fili continued. Dimaera raised an eyebrow that went unseen by the two dwarfs but she didn't push them. Dwarves are a very secretive race after all.
Once she had finished her food, Dimaera wiped her bowl clean using a piece of cloth before placing it back in one of the saddle bags that now lay on the grass behind her. "It is getting very late indeed. I think it is time I should be moving on." She began to ease herself off of the ground when a sudden protest came from the brothers.
"It's much too dark to travel-" and "There won't be an inn open at this time" came from the two. She hesitated; she knew that there probably wouldn't be an inn open at this time and the dark would make it difficult to travel through the woods but she was hesitant to stay with strangers. Although, the looks on their faces told her that they wouldn't let her leave without an argument and she was much too tired for that so she slowly sat down again. They both sighed with relief and moved their bedrolls so that Dimaera could fit hers by the fire. Kili and Fili had both gotten comfortable on their own bedrolls by the time she had rolled hers out.
At first she was hesitant to fall asleep; the fact that she had not been around anyone in a long time and was now placed between two young dwarves had unsettled her. She was also aware that they could try to take off her hood while she slept and that set her on edge even more. It meant that she would have to be more aware of her surroundings during the night as she still did not trust them. Perhaps it was a bad idea to have accepted their offer.
For some reason those thoughts disappeared as she sat looking down at their sleeping figures. She suddenly felt like she could, and should, trust them but she wasn't sure if it was because they were dwarves or just because of the way they had shown concern for her earlier. She just knew and that unsettled her even more.
"Lomil ghelekh." She whispered softly, wishing them a good night even though she knew they were already fast asleep. She lay down and quickly slipped into a deep slumber.
So this is my first fic (ever) and I'm actually quite excited to see how it turns out. Quite glad I chose to do a Hobbit fic as my first one and I hope you guys like it. I wasn't really sure about this first chapter, I had to rewrite it about 10 times until I was happy with it so I'm kinda nervous to see what you guys think :L If I get anything wrong in my writing then feel free to correct me&reviews are more than welcome c:
I'm going to write any translations down here in the A/N at the end of every chapter so don't worry if you don't know what something means. I get all of the Khuzdul/elvish from websites/blogs so if I get it wrong then please don't get angry because it probably took me ages to find what I was trying to say in the first place.
Adhrug bên bâh = Friend or foe , Khiluz = Family , Men gajamu = My apologies/I apologize , Lomil ghelekh = Good night
