Thorin halted at the door of the forge, lost in memory. The past month's attacks by the fell creatures spurned wariness now in all who traversed this corner of the Blue Mountains. There had been far too many lost, far too many buried. Far too much danger to remain much longer. Dis had discussed with him only the night previous about moving onward again, to Erid Lurin, the dwarven settlement where yet resided some of their distant kin. Thorin of course agreed with his sister; the villages of men were far too vulnerable to those who thrived on violence for him to in good conscience remain, for the sake of his sister-sons. So he had come early this morning to the forge in the village to finish his current projects all the sooner, so they could start off before winter was again upon them.
Groaning, and twisting great creaks out of his back stiff with the morning chill, Thorin tood a cursory glance around the shop as he hung up his cloak. Nothing seemed to be unusual - wait. Thorin listened hard. Again he heard it - a rustling motion. Where - there! Behind the scrap chest. A snuffle - and a whimper.

It was the whimper that caught Thorin off guard. He rolled his eyes skyward, thinking a small animal had gotten in through some crack or other. Moving quietly, so as to not scare the creature, Thorin crept towards the chest.

Then stopped.

What he found wasn't at all what he was expecting.

A child.

A dwarf child.

Asleep in his forge.

Not only a dwarf child, but a girl dwarf child.

Which was rare enough, especially as the lass showed no signs of a beard. Given her slight figure - she could be no larger than young Kili - Thorin surmised she was not much older than his smallest sister-son.

She had clearly been traveling - with leaves caught in her ebony curls, and a well-worn satchel being used as a pillow; was she a runaway? He had heard no mention of a lost dwarfling, and her gaunt features showed some time on the road, or off it as it may have been.

All observation then begged the question: what was she doing in a forge of all places?