During the long winter nights that kept you up at night and on the edge, it was always during the deepest of the night that songs had been sung. Low songs, full of heartache and regret. The melodies of the forest used to be quaint and consoling, when the animals would come out and harmonize with the sounds of the trees and the winds. The pitter pattering of mammals scattering about as they hummed, coming closer together with the tall pines. It was when the animals could feel comfortable with the wild, for no evils had come across the lands for many years. Things had changed, though. No longer were the creatures walking on the forest floors, rare was it that they walked among branches. The aging forest lay dormant, as if in a long hibernation. You were no longer the only one who sensed the disturbance of the peace and light in Middle Earth. You spent months inside, leaving when you needed to track the hideous creatures that roamed in the trees and on foot. These disturbances were not by coincidence; something was rousing that caught your concern.

It was not long until you were once again before the familiar entrance of the Woodland realm. You were all in formation, Thranduil led with Legolas right behind him, Bofur waddling after in shackles; Tauriel several feet behind him keeping close eye, with you in shackles walking beside her. She would momentarily glance at you, with a stern face but the slightest hint of a smile. You had never had an issue with the Captain of the Guard, although you would sometimes argue over whether or not Legolas's hair was real. You firmly believed he used a matter of elf magic to grow it out so blonde, considering the shade of his brows. She claimed otherwise. As you walked through the massive halls, she quickly pulled on your shackles to draw you closer and whispered to you,

"It's nice to have you back."

In an unexplainable way, it was somewhat of a nice feeling to return. Even if it be by force. You looked ahead to notice Bofur turned around trying to catch your attention, but Legolas warned him to keep his focus onward. Bofur puffed angrily as he kept walking.

"Tauriel," Thranduil's voice echoed through the wooden hallways, "take the prisoners to the dungeons."

Prisoners? What a Ud'Raan.

"Legolas, you are to come with me."

"Yes, sir."

As you walked down the spiral staircase, you caught a moment to remember the times you had spent in these hallways. You took a deep breath and smelt the air, nostalgia filling your mind. You laughed to yourself when you remembered the time that Elrond had drank one too many glasses of wine, and had taken a nasty fall down these stairs, just to stand right back up and make an amazing impression of Thranduil, "Look here," he had said with such a priss face," my aesthetic!" and then fell face flat. You vaguely recalled when you and Legolas had gotten much too tipsy and tried to create a synchronized dance to perform in front of the council, but thank god Tauriel was there to lock the both of you in individual cells before you would have embarrassed not only yourselves but the entire kingdom on your behalf. Not to mention Thranduil would have probably thrown the both of you down the outside rivers. You also remembered the downbeat ones; in your younger years, when you would spend the quiet and empty nights with Thranduil, when you would spent countless hours talking under the moonlight. The prince would worry about his legacy to be king, and you wondering where your family had gone off to. You knew a side to these elves that no dwarf could ever understand, but yet it was you who had abandoned them.

As Tauriel walked to the nearest cell, her footsteps had caught the attention of another...or a whole lot of others.

"Oi! What's the big deal, treatin' us like we're some sewer beasts! I swear when I'm outta here I'm gonna-"

Bofur's sulking head shot up,"D-Dwalin," he called, "is that you!?"

Everything went silent, and not even a second later voices shot from left and right, "Bofur!?"

"Brother, is that you?"

"Aye, cousin, figured you were dead around now!"

"Do you hear lads, I think it's Bofur!"

Bofur grinned from ear to ear, "You know it's Bofur! I was kidnapped by these pale and stubborn barbarians!"

The all cheered happily, yet you were quite confused what was happening."The people he was separated from..." you thought to yourself, "these must be his kin."

"Quiet, now!" Legolas roared as he entered the scene."Tauriel, my father has called for you. Hurry up with these two. And grab Oakenshield."

She hurriedly placed you both in separate locks, and smiled at you quickly before making way to another cell.

"Oakenshield..." you whispered. Why did that ring a bell... why did you feel that you knew this name?

Tauriel passed by you once again with a man the size of Bofur, and he gave you a quick glance before stopping and staring straight into your eyes. He did not look comfortable at all..he seemed bewildered.

Always with the staring, you were starting to think it was genetic.

"That skin...the hair...you-"

He was cut off by a strong shove,"Chat later," Legolas growled. As they exited up the stairs, everything became quiet once again. All until the voice of an elderly man began to converse," Erm, so Bofur, how exactly did you manage to survive and NOT die? We thought for sure that we had lost you."

Bofur sat thoughtfully as he slumped against the stone wall of the cell, "You know, Balin, the last thing I can remember was getting shot by that arrow, and waking up with..." he paused momentarily, "my savior."

"Savior?!" voices began to shoot again, and Bofur yelled that he had yet to finish his tale. "Yes, a-"

"I saved him." You said aloud, finishing his sentence. Followed by a silence. And then a cough.

"Who?"

"None of your concern."

"Well, Bofur. It seems that your savior couldn't save you from these elves," Kili chuckled as the hall began to fill up with awkward laughter.

"S-shut up, you don't know anything! Kiev here is the only reason that I was even able to make it this far. It was I who got her caught up in this mess."

Dwalin's voice rang above all the noise in the room, "Kiev? What color is her skin?"

God dammit, Bofur has such a loud mouth. "Who's interested?" you answered.

"You're skin is purple, am I correct?"

Alright, now you're more interested in how this dwarf knew of you. "What's it to ya?"

The dwarves began to whisper is Khuzdul, a language unfamiliar to you. How much more frustrating is a dwarf than an elf? SO much more.

Finally, he spoke in a tongue you could understand," The fifteenth member of the company. Had no idea he was a she."

It was like a lightbulb had gone off in Bofur's head, "Oh, oh, this is Kiev!? The Kiev?! I had forgotten the name, but this was who Gandalf spoke of! I am sure it!"

You were getting frustrated now, "which one of you halfwits is ready to explain to me-" You were cut short by the storming of feet down the stairway, and Legolas's body stood in front of your cell, blocking you from making eye contact with the other dwarf.

"Kiev," Legolas spoke softly, "My father would like to have a word with you. Now"