I don't own The Hobbit. Astrid however, is mine. This fic spawned from too many cute ideas about the mischief she would cause and how it would affect her relationship with Kili later on. This is a prequel to Treasures Lost and Found and follows the movie canon. Enjoy!
The Adventures of Tiny Astrid
—Sharp Edge
"I am sorry sweet pea, but the apple cakes are all gone, and I do not have the apples needed to make more."
Astrid pouted up at her mother. "But I wanted one! I have been looking forward to it all day!"
Under normal circumstances, Astrid might have been able to weather the loss of her mother's apple cake, but the last few days had not been in her favour. After her parents found out about her dropping the axe on Dwalin's foot, Hild had ordered her back to the wagons and she had not been allowed to leave unless it was under the supervision of one or both her parents. Even though Dwalin assured them both he was fine and that Astrid had apologized and been very careful for the rest of the day, Hild had had enough. Astrid wasn't even allowed to play with her toys. She had to help her parents with the trading and purchasing going on from the main wagon. She was allowed to read, but only when there wasn't work to be done.
She was miserable, and her mother's next words did nothing to help the situation.
"Dis's boys bought up the last bunch just a few moments ago."
Astrid huffed and marched to the back of the wagon to throw herself on her bed. For some reason, the idea that Fili and Kili had brought all six of the final batch of apple cakes made her even angrier. They didn't need three each. It wasn't fair.
She pouted for a while and then decided she was going to do something about it. She didn't know what yet, but it wasn't as if she ever planned her mischief very far in advance. When she was sure her parents were occupied, Astrid slipped out of the wagon and started along the path into town, staying out of the line of sight.
It was late afternoon, so the first place Astrid looked for the dwarf brothers was the training fields. They were not there, so she snuck quietly away and headed for the river, where she'd braided their hair together.
To her devious delight, they were sleeping on the river bank again, sprawled on the grass and dirt, their coats bunched beneath their heads and their silver hair clasps glinting in the sunshine. As she carefully crossed the river—it was much easier the second time—she considered braiding their hair together again and maybe affixing it with some tree sap or honey if she could find any. But then she saw the knife in Kili's belt on the grass and she had a better idea.
Or a worse idea.
Astrid wrung out the hem of her shirt several paces away from Fili and Kili and did the same with her hair. It would not do to have them wake up in the middle of what she was planning. Significantly dry, she walked back to the sleeping dwarves. She crouched beside Kili's things and withdrew the knife from its sheath on the belt.
Without another thought, she crawled to Fili's side and gingerly picked up one the braids adorning his head. She put the blade against the hair and was pleased to find it was sharp; the hair split easily and soon, she had three of Fili's braids lying in the ground. She would have cut one of the braids from his moustache, but he was nearly lying on his face and they were unreachable. Kili had no braids to lop off, so Astrid took a handful of the hair on the side of his head and ran the knife through it. She repeated the process at the back of his head. When she made for her third handful of Kili's hair, the dwarf began to stir.
Astrid gasped before she could stop herself and backpedaled away from Fili and Kili as they both began to awaken. She slid Kili's knife into her belt and turned and ran away from the river, back through the trees. It didn't matter that she'd never been on this side of the river before. All that mattered was getting away.
"ASTRID!"
She pushed herself forward, spurred by a strange mix of glee and fear. She could hear the boys crashing along in the woods behind her, not that she was moving particularly gracefully either, but she was faster.
Astrid spotted a tree with a low hanging branch and, without thought, scrambled up it, grabbing for the branch when it was in range. She kept climbing and laughed when she heard Fili and Kili below her.
"Astrid, come back down!"
She wrapped her arms securely around the trunk of the tree and turned her head to yell back at them. Instead, she froze. She was much higher than she'd thought. Much, much higher. Fili and Kili looked tiny from where she was. Her knees went weak and her palms sweaty. She sat down on the branch so she wouldn't fall and held onto the tree like her life depended on it.
"Astrid!"
"I can't come down!" she cried, her voice weak and thin.
She watched as Kili and Fili moved closer together and then Fili ran off, back in the direction of the dwarf settlement, hopefully to get help. Tears stung at her eyes and she began to cry, scared of how high she was, that she'd fall, and what would happen when she got back down. If she made it back to the ground in one piece.
"Hold on Astrid! We will get you down!" Kili yelled.
"Hurry!" Her voice broke over the word, but she hoped Kili could hear her anyway.
So this is the chapter that started it all. Seriously. This was the first moment that came up in conversation about Tiny Astrid and her shenanigans. It's also probably the craziest. Astrid throws a tantrum and bad things happen. She's a five year old who doesn't get to play with other five year olds often, and those she does get to play with can't keep up. That's what you get when you travel the world with your parents meeting mostly adults and exploring cities.
