ATTENTION!

I want give my most sincerest apology to anyone who has read this story and been frustrated/angered/sad that it has not been continued. I have decided to not discontinue it, but to rewrite it!

I will be giving a few major changes to the whole idea, but I believe it will make this story much better!

I do want you all to know that I have not stopped thinking about this story since I last updated it. I feel so guilty for just leaving you all here and not continuing or fixing it, but now, here I am!

Better late than never, right?

Some of the changes will include:

-Nakita's description/personality (Not by a large amount, but some small tweaks)

-The pairing of the story

-Some key points

-The quality of this story

I'M NOT GOING TO SUGAR COAT THIS PEOPLE!

I FUCKING SUCK!

But, like I said! I'm here now and this story shall be revised and be brought back to your attention brand spankin' new!~ :D

So, please enjoy the revised story of Of Dragons and Men!3

Prologue

The fragile sky was broken up by the teeth like mountains known as the Grey Mountains. They were vast, dark mountains, but were not nearly as mighty as they used to be. To the west sat the Withered Heath. A dangerous, yet beautiful place where the dreadful race of dragons bred. Not much of them were seen in these days, but there were rumors of them still about. The worst was the dragon known as Smaug the terrible, but none had heard of him in so long, everyone didn't expect him to still be snorting his nasty fire anymore.

In between these two mountainous regions was a small cave. The cave wasn't just a regular old cave, but a home. It was the home of an odd woman who slept on the furs of fallen stags and bears and anything that she had hunted. She wasn't savage, like it seemed. The home had a door and wall covering the entrance, a window, and even a warm hearth. It had a room for books and scrolls and a room for dining, which the woman felt like a mockery. She didn't get guests. But, what the woman was was she was skilled and knew her ways around trouble. She was different than the original races of Middle Earth. Orc, Elf, Dwarf, Human, even Hobbit. None of them remembered this woman or her people, but it was for the best, was it not?

The woman was just finishing making a delicious looking meal of deer meat, potatoes, mashed of course, and a cup of water. She would have preferred wine, but she didn't have many people to trade with, other than the occasional times she would go into the town of men south from her. She usually only went when she was running low on food. She would pick up odd jobs here and there and get some money or something she could trade. After all, there wasn't much the small Laketown could offer in it's poor state.

She had just sat down and taken a bite of her meat, when a knock on the door had her practically jump out of her skin. She hadn't had a visitor since she was about fifty seven years of age. Hastily, she rose up from her chair and ran to the door, as if her guest was going to vanish if she didn't get there fast enough. Opening the door, she was met with a wizard and a familiar one at that.

"Gandalf..." She whispered in surprise.

The grey bearded wizard smiled fondly at the woman and leaned against his staff. He replied in his gruff voice, "Nakita. It's been too long. Much too long." He laughed, but the woman, known as Nakita, did not share his humor. Instead, she answered him hotly.

"Yes, I recall you saying one thousand one hundred and thirteen years ago, you said you'd visit soon..."

Gandalf looked a little defeated as she pointed out the truth. "I am sorry that you had to be alone for so long, Nakita. I truly am." He sighed, "But, I have lots of important things to attend to."

Nakita's shoulders drooped slightly and she retreated farther into her home, entering the living quarters. "I know you do, Gandalf. I'm sorry, but I just get so lonely." Gandalf was following her and and to duck slightly to get around, but it wasn't too bad. The roof was uneven, which left him some spots to stand upright. He noticed the meal still sitting on the table, through the archway into the dining hall.

"Am I interrupting your dinner?" He asked, politely.

"No, of course not. Please, sit." She smiled softly at him and offered him a one of the two chairs that sat at the beat up wooden counter. "So, what are you doing this far north?" She asked, sitting back down in hers once the wizard sat next to her.

"What? Am I not allowed to come visit you out of the blue?" He asked, sounding hurt. Nakita looked up at him with a glare and the wizard huffed. He was quiet before sighing and speaking. "I have a task for you. It is of utmost importance that you come with me."

Setting down her fork, she looked up at him. Curiosity sparking in her golden eyes. There wasn't much thinking for her to do and Gandalf was a bit taken back by her outburst.

"Anything to get out of this boring purgatory I call a life!"

Chapter One

Bilbo Baggins ran throughout his house frantically as he tried to keep the many dwarves from destroying everything he owned. "P-please! Don't touch that! That was my mother's!" He ripped a fragile looking cup from the hands of a laughing dwarf. Twelve of these things were waltzing around his hobbit hole, eating just about anything they could find.

They had all introduced themselves quite politely, but even after he had tried to kept them out, they all had barged in. He was exceptionally aggravated by the two known as Fili and Kili. The two, who were brothers, were throwing things back and forth and poor Bilbo was caught in the suspense of something to break.

He was running passed his room, but slammed his large feet down the second he saw the door was slightly ajar. Infuriated that one of these brutes had entered his personal quarters, he burst through the door, but all anger turned to confusion and shock when he was met with a woman with her back to him.

"E-excuse me... How did you get in here?" He asked, his eyes lingering on her flowing white hair that ended near her lower back. He expected full features of a dwarf woman, beard and all, but when she turned to face him, he was left with more shock. He began making more stuttering noises.

"Through the front door." She answered simply. Her golden eyes were fluttering through a book. "It's not that hard to enter in a house full of obnoxious dwarves." She cocked an eyebrow and looked up at him with a smirk.

"But w-what are you doing here?" He asked again. She had no beard, let alone any braids, and her face was very elven like, with a hint of man in the way her jaw set, but she stood at a possible four foot five inches and the way her hair tumbled down in curls was most definitely dwarf. Her lips were a bit darker and had a pinkish tone to them.

"Same as the others." She stated, looking back down at the book. It was very old and intrigued her.

"But why is that? No one will tell me!" He cried in frustration and, had he not covered his face with his hands, he would have seen the look of sympathy the woman gave him.

"You'll find out, just relax and-" An uproar of laughter burst through the doors, making Bilbo flinch and run out of the room to check to see if they had done any damage. The woman sighed, shaking her head in sympathy for the poor hobbit. She was surprised he was able to handle so much stress. She closed the book and set it back gently where she had found it and pulled her hair up in her hands in a ponytail manner, but dropped it and began to walk out of the room. All at once the laughter stopped, which made the hairs on the back of Nakita's neck stand up. She knew exactly who had just arrived. She could hear the faint chuckles of greetings as they were exchanged. The last guest had come and it was time to get serious. She walked out into the dining room where everyone was seated. She had remained undetected so far and as soon as she entered she hid behind Gandalf as she sat down in a chair. He gave a small smile as he smoked his pipe. She looked up to see the leader of the dwarves and her eyes slightly widened at the man standing before her.

"Thorin... son of Thrain..." She breathed, only Gandalf being able to hear her. The true king of the dwarves sat at the foot of the table and she wasn't even supposed to be here. It had been Gandalf's idea to bring her along, not Thorin's. No one except for Gandalf and Bilbo knew she was here. She closed her eyes and waited for her poor soul to be noticed. She had the feeling it wouldn't go well.

A prodding on her side awoke Nakita. She had dozed off after closing her eyes. She turned to Gandalf who had moved from her side. He was now pointing to her as he spoke to Thorin. Another poke to her side made her look over at the dark haired dwarf who was leaning uncomfortably close. A blonde dwarf stood next to him as he held a piece of her white hair.

"How old are you?" He asked curiously and she swatted both of their hands away.

"I'm fifty seven, thank you very much." She lied and slid away from the two a bit, looking back at Thorin and Gandalf.

"Who are you?" The dark haired one asked, leaning back. He had an uncomfortably intense glare as he examined her. She was wearing her usual attire of a strapless grey shirt under a brown leather corset. Black shorts that stopped too high to be called proper were under a brown leather belt. Her rump was covered by a leather flap and a slanted red skirt flared out from that. All of this was usually hidden under her black cloak, but that was hanging up in the entry way of Bilbo's hobbit hole. She still had her brown fingerless gloves on that were made from thick wool she had traded a stag for not too long ago.

"More like what are you?" The blonde one broke in.

"My names Nakita..." She hesitated, but added the formal dwarf greeting, however she did do it without a bow, "At your service..."

"Fili." The blonde one nodded. "Kili." The brunette smirked and they both bowed in unison. "At your service." Nakita could tell the two close with the way they seemed to act as a unit.

"You're dwarven, right?" Kili asked skeptically.

"...Sure." She mumbled uncomfortably.

"Then where's your beard?" Fili asked baffled at the lack of facial hair she had.

"I don't have one." She answered, the corner of her mouth tilting upwards at the way their eyes seemed to bulge and Kili's mouth hung open.

They seemed to become even more interested, but apparently all of the other dwarves had been eavesdropping, for the one known as Ori spoke up.

"If you don't have a beard, but are dwarfish, how does that work?" He asked and quickly sunk down at her gaze. Her gold eyes sparkling with amusement. This question made Thorin turn and listen to the woman. She gave Gandalf a quick look to make sure it would be safe to say her cover up race.

"To be precise I have the blood of dwarf and..." She cleared her throat before continuing, "And elf." Thorin's eyes widened and he turned to Gandalf in anger.

"An elf!? You bring an elf with you to come with my Company?" He raged. Gandalf gave a small foxlike smile. Nakita's eyebrows raised as she watched the wizard be unmoved at the seething rage coming at him from Thorin.

"She isn't just an elf, Thorin. You're looking at the one thing that can make your journey a success." He countered. Nakita wiped her head to face him.

"Sorry... I'm what?" The question silenced everyone. As Nakita kept going Thorin sat back listening to every single letter that came out. "You told me I was just another brute to help fight off any trouble that came up. That's my job, Gandalf. What do you mean 'the one thing that can make your journey a success'?" She asked, now being the one that was angry with the wizard who she had apparently known so well.

"And you will help if there is trouble, but... you're a bit more important than that."

"And you couldn't have told me?" Her hair started to move softly as if an invisible breeze had started drafting around her. Gandalf's eyes grew slightly stern as he saw the stray hairs on her head move at a low constant.

"Please, Nakita. Control your temper." He glanced at Bilbo and smirked then stared at Thorin. "We wouldn't want you to burn down this poor Hobbit's home." Most of the dwarves began whispering to themselves, but Bilbo spoke up and started frantically asking what he meant.

"Fine then. I'll just be going." Nakita gave a cat-like smile with her lips as she turned to walk out of the home, but instead of Gandalf's voice to stop her it was Thorin's.

"Wait." His voice boomed and everything went silent. "Stay and let me speak with my company about this matter." He shooed Gandalf and everyone but the dwarves he knew out of the room. When Gandalf passed Nakita she hissed angry remarks at him.

"I hate you... I was just going to be a mercenary, like any other job I've ever taken. I refuse to be some great asset on this quest." Before Gandalf could respond to her, Bilbo cut in as politely as he could without straining himself.

"Excuse me... You're not going to burn my home down... are you?" He asked hopefully.

"That all depends, my dear hobbit," She looked to Bilbo. "If this wizard explains himself before I start spontaneously combusting." This made Bilbo turn slightly pale.

"Nakita," Gandalf grumbled. "Leave his sanity alone. You're coming on this quest, no matter what their vote is."

"Don't treat me like a child, Gandalf. I will go if I please. I will not be someone I am destined to be. I make my own destiny. Not a god, not you, and sure as hell not. A. Dragon!" She ended up yelling and the dwarves, who had been whispering to themselves, had turned to watch the two argue. Thorin stood up and addressed Nakita. She snapped her head over to him with a fierce glare.

"What?" She asked through gritted teeth. Her canines were sharper then the rest of her teeth, making Bilbo jump. The dwarves were baffled by her tone with royalty.

"Much to my... distaste, you have been voted to join the Company on our journey. Break this bond and you will be killed." He warned. He knew mercenaries could hardly be trusted if someone offered them a better offer than their original deal, so he would keep a very close eye on her. Gandalf gave a smile as he knew she wouldn't refuse the chance to make a good amount of gold.

Nakita frowned, but nodded and walked over to Balin, who began explaining further into the contract. She didn't want to seem rude, despite her anger, so she let him talk and every so often she would give a nod. Finally after much explaining she signed the bottom, but instead of mingling with the others, she went outside. Gandalf was about to run after, but she informed him she was just going for a walk. He refused to let her go until Fili and Kili offered to spy on her as she went to make sure she didn't leave. He allowed it and the two followed her out through the forest.

"What do you think of her?" Kili asked, as the two watched from far behind so she wasn't able to see them.

"Nakita? She's... interesting I suppose. Definitely not my type, but I'm sure you could get over the no beard." He laughed, adding in something about how Kili couldn't even grow a proper one and received a shove to the shoulders.

"No, you arse! I meant as a person, not a bloody love interest!" He huffed, but chuckled.

"She reminds me of a cat... mixed with a fox."

"Sly and feminine mixed with more sly?" He asked. It was his turn to be shoved.

"Yeah, precisely. You just put it dumbly." Kili rolled his eyes, but quickly froze. "What is it?" Kili looked terrified and Fili almost screamed like a little girl when he saw Nakita standing in front of them. She bent over laughing, eventually falling over onto the ground. The two circled her, Fili with an embarrassed shade of red slightly flushing his cheeks. After a long time of giggle then breathing then more laughter then giggling again then laughing again, Nakita finally stopped and smirked.

"Sly and feminine mixed with more sly?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at Kili. He rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment as she stood up and brushed herself off. "You definitely have the cat part right, but I prefer to be more of a cat mixed with a wolf."

The brothers were surprised at the last part, but it only made them more interested. "So, if you're a wolf, then you're evil?"

"There is no evil, just like there is no good." She looked up at him, her eye half closed, making her look even more sly than usual. "It's all just a matter of opinions. Plus, wolves are one of the most dangerously loyal animals out there."

"A scholar, perhaps?" Fili asked in suspicion. She snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, because I could really sit and waste away my life learning about everything from other people's point of view instead of seeing it myself." She said.

"So an adventurer?" Kili suggested.

"I've only ever served as a mercenary for cave explorations with a group of men once or twice near Gondor... so not really."

"Are you anything?" Fili asked.

"I'm a dwarf woman that'll put you in your place if you make me angry." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned on one leg, pushing her hip out to the side. "How's that?" Kili laughed and Fili took a small step back with his arms raised in defeat.

Nakita began to walk and the two followed her. They kept asking questions, but once Kili asked about her hair she stopped walking and gave them a warning not to ask about it again and kept walking, so they avoided this subject generously. Kili and Fili were in the middle of telling a story when all of a sudden, Nakita stopped walking as they entered a clearing and the moon shown down onto the three. Her hair instantly lit up as if it had absorbed all of moon's rays. Her orange eyes blazing, despite the lack of warm light. The two stared at her as if she weren't mentally sound as she just stood their with her eyes closed, breathing deeply. After a long moment of silence Kili spoke.

"Why, if you don't mind me asking, are you so... odd?" He did his best to be polite about it and his brother joined in.

"I was thinking the same thing. I mean, you're not normal," He paused and quickly tried to apologize for how that came out.

Nakita laughed a little and looked back at the two.

"I'm more than meets the eye. Plus, I haven't had any contact with real people in years, so I'm a little rusty on my social skills." She explained.

"Well, why have you been away?" Kili asked. His brother gave him a slap to the torso, saying it's probably personal.

"It's better if you don't. Now come on or Gandalf will think I've killed you and ran." She called as she turned and started walking back to Bag End.

"Yeah, let's... Wait what?" Fili asked. "Who says you could kill us, especially since it's two on one?"

"Who says I couldn't?" She asked, the look she gave them made it seem like she dared them to answer, but they just stopped and followed her back to Bilbo's, talking to themselves all the way.