This is a special introduction to my new OC, Valdis, who is the older sister of Fili and Kili. My full story of her and her brothers will be coming out soon. It is called You'll Always Be in My Heart.
Just as a note dwarves mature and age slower than humans so I gave her dwarven age and human age. There is also a little Khuzdul (dwarvish) in this story.
Amad means mother and Adad means father.
That's it! Enjoy. :)
The fire crackled loudly as the last of the direct line of Durin stood in the same room together in a stone house in the Blue Mountains. Thorin Oakenshield, the exiled heir to the defeated kingdom of Erebor, stood by the fire, looking into the dancing flames. Dis, Thorin's younger sister, sat in a chair with her young daughter on her lap. The daughter's name was Valdis, daughter of Dis and Vali. Valdis was seventeen years old, around five in the years of men. Her raven hair, that looked much like her mother and uncle, was braided back in a large and long brain with small braids from the side of her head woven into it. The royal dwarfling had beautiful blue eyes with flecks of light brown in them, similar to the shade of her mother's blue eyes.
The three heirs were singing a song about their far away home of Erebor. It was like a lament, and a retelling, of the night Smaug, a fire drake, decended on the mountain. They sung into the night, harmonizing perfectly with each other with the practice of long nights like this one.
Far over the Misty Mountains cold
To dungeons deep and caverns old
We must away ere break of day
To find our long forgotten gold
The song went on, one could sing it long into the night. Years of dwelling on the loss allowed the exiled dwarves of Erebor to add more and more verses to the song. Valdis grew up hearing it nearly every day. She loved the stories of her uncle and Amad's lost home, it was like a fairytale but she knew it was real.
"Has Adad ever been in Erebor?" Valdis asked during a quiet moment. Dis smiled down at her young daughter.
"Aye, he had. His Adad was a merchant and we often bought his wares. I however didn't see your father often when we were dwarflings." Dis answered. "It was not until the mountain was taken that I truly got to know your father. He was a great help to your uncle and I when we were trying to care for our people. Years later we settled down and got married." She added with a smile of her face, looking back over the years.
"Adad still is a merchant, right?" The dwarfing asked, blue eyes shining.
"Aye child, that's why he is often on small journeys to other villages." Dis said patiently to her daughter who had actually heard the same answer multiple times but loved hearing how her Adad traveled to earn money, how he got to see other dwarves.
"Dis, where is Vali traveling to at the moment?" Thorin asked, entering their conversation from where he stood, across the room near the fire.
The young mother sighed. "To that settlement near all the Big Folk towns. Cashûl I think it was called." She did not like the idea of her husband dealing with such people.
"Don't worry Dis, he knows how to deal with Man and the dwarves that associate with them." Thorin reassured his sister.
Dis nodded.
Valdis saw that her mother was slightly upset and wrapped her little arms around her. "Don't worry Amad, Adad will sell lots and come back with some money." The young dwarf reassured her. Both Thorin and Dis smiled at the optimism and innocence of children. It was a gift the two siblings had lost at an early age. Disasters, deaths, and the duty to lead their people aged Dis and Thorin beyond their years.
Valdis jumped off her mother's lap and skipped over to a small wooden box containing two dolls, a few spare dresses for them, and little axe. She knelt down and picked up one of those dolls. The little fabric figure with almost realistic looking golden hair sewn onto its small head and Valdis often tried braiding it.
"I wish the dolly was alive." Valdis whispered to herself as she held the little figure in her tiny hands. She was sitting by the warm fire. "Then I could play with her and take care of her." Valdis continued
The dwarfling's mother smiled at her daughter. Valdis was rocking the doll in her arms as she hummed an old dwarven tune.
My lass would be a good older sister. Dis thought to herself. Of course it was possible she would never had a sibling to care for, since dwarven pregnancies were few. Yet Dis had two other siblings, Thorin and Frerin, making the children number to three, so it was also possible Valdis would have as many as two little siblings to care for.
Frerin. The name stung Dis' still tender heart. My older brother who moved to the Halls of our ancestors.
The dwarf prince and brother of Thorin and Dis had died at a young age in battle that had killed his grandfather. That was decades ago but Dis and Thorin both felt the loss of their ever present brother. Valdis did not know much about her uncle as Dis did not have the heart to tell her daughter.
"Amad? You alright?"
Dis was taken out of her mournful thoughts by her daughter's voice. When she looked up she looked into the depths of big blue eyes. Dis smiled to reassure her child that all was well. When she looked up she saw Thorin looking at her from where he stood with an understanding look. He knew what she was thinking about. He always knew. And Dis always knew when her brother was grieving, and she had helped him when he relived the past and his mind was not in the present.
"What's wrong?" Valdis asked with a frown, concerned. She had seen her Amad's face become filled with a sadness the dwarfling had never experienced. Her concern grew when Dis did not respond to her questions.
Finally her Amad looked down at her and smiled slightly. She did not say anything, she simply pulled Valdis into her arms, holding the dwarfling close to herself. Thorin saw his sister do this and walked over to her chair, and stood behind it, silently running his fingers through her hair, something only a close family member was allowed to do in dwarven culture. It had long been a comforting gesture between the two.
Valdis often saw her mother distressed in this way, and it broke her young heart to know she could not fix her mother and could not understand what was the matter. As she sat in her Amad's arms, she promised herself she would do everything she could to help her Amad daily and maybe make life better for her.
When Vali came home later that week, Valdis told her Adad that she planned to help Dis in every way so that she would be less sad every day. Vali smiled at the compassion of his daughter and at her naivety. He hastened to his wife. Even the devotion of a child could not heal such wounds. Yet, the more he thought the more he because convinced that Valdis could still help her mother see that there is still light is the world. And that would bring hope to the princess of Erebor. Durin knows his children neeed hope.
The End! I hope you all enjoyed this character introduction. The main story will be mostly about Valdis' relationship with her little brothers, and she will be in the events of the Quest for Erebor, but it will be different than most other storylines about Fili and Kili having a sister. This story's is full of adventure and a look into the family lives of Fili and Kili, as well as Thorin. Please watch out for it this next month!
Just a quick note, the dwarven village I named Cashûl is something I made up. It seems like a mix between Khuzdul and Westeron to me so I just went with it to name the village.
Please review and tell me what you thought of this character introduction. Thank you for reading! 3
Love,
N.T.N.