Thorin, Gandalf, and Bilbo enter the Gates of Erebor, a bit late for their appointed reunion with Balin. They were please to see that Dwalin, Ori, Dori, Bifur and Bofir had also come to see them. After warm greetings, they sat down to lunch.

Balin explained the absence of Oin, Gloin, Bombur and Nori. Bard's Master at Arms, a man named Beywynd, had graciously offered to take a contingent of Dwarves with him to Rohan. Gloin and Bombur went to buy good ponies on King Dain's behalf, since no better could be found in Middle-Earth. Oin went to confer with the healers of Rohan, to learn how they treated the plague that tragically passed through the south a few years prior. Oin wanted Nori with them, in case the healers of Rohan weren't willing to share their best potions with Dwarves, and the skills of a thief were needed.

Once the state of everyone's health and happiness had been established, Gandalf began the difficult task of explaining the true purpose of his visit. When the wizard finished, the Dwarves stared at him silently. Balin was the first to speak.

"Thorin is with us, now?" he asked hesitantly.

Gandalf smiled, "He is, and he is greatly pleased to see you all so well. He wants you to know that there is a place for each of you in the Halls of Mahal, and he sends word from your father, Fundin, of how proud he is of his sons."

Balin dabbed at his eyes, "No matter how old one becomes, you are like a little boy when you hear a word of praise from your father. Thank you."

"How do we know you are telling the truth?" Dwalin scowled.

"Dwalin!" Balin scolded. "Gandalf and Bilbo would not play such cruel games."

"Thorin enlisted my help because no one else can hear him. If Dwalin doubts that Thorin is speaking to me at this very moment, he offers to tell me the exact location and design of Dwalin's first tattoo. Thorin was with you when it happened, and regrettably, has one exactly like it."

"Enough!" Dwalin replied. "That will do for now."

"Explain how we can help Kili. That is the reason you are here?" Balin returned them to the most serious matter at hand.

"Kili's spirit is in peril if he is not found and returned to the Halls of Mahal very soon." Gandalf confirmed.

Gandalf feared that Thorin was also in jeopardy. His spirit was fading, even to the wizard's eyes. Cold weather was coming, and the anniversary of Thorin's death loomed. Gandalf had not yet shared his fears with Bilbo or Thorin, hoping that he was wrong.

"Kili was in Erebor, and we can try to track him. But the greater question is the reason for his return. We thought Kili might be looking for the Elf girl, Rhavaniel. But she is avoiding us and may have left Dale for parts unknown. Do any of know where she might have gone?"

Balin shook his head "We do not speak with her. The girl asked to stay in Erebor after Kili died, but I had to refuse her. It would have been completely inappropriate. We did not know she hadn't gone home until Dwalin saw her hunting Orcs by herself a month after the Battle. She must have developed a taste for adventure."

"She has crossed paths with Dwarves a few times since, but never for what you would call pleasant conversations. " Ori offered.

Dori frowned, "Are you sure Kili's ghost would be looking for her? He only knew that girl for a fortnight."

Dwalin spoke solemnly, "Kili swore to me, the first thing he was going to do after the battle was find that girl. Stay with eyes on her long enough, and Kili will find you."

"Unfortunately, I have yet to see this girl. If we cannot find her, we cannot find Kili." Gandalf insisted.

Dwalin pushed himself away from the table, stood, and walked off in silence.

Balin explained, "Dwalin and Rhavaniel had more than a few disputes in the year after we reclaimed Erebor. At first it was over hunting Orcs. Dwalin felt it was his duty. In truth, he did not know quite what else to do with himself in peacetime. But Rhavaniel considered hunting to be her livelihood - Bard was paying her for every Orc head she brought in."

"Her and all the other bounty hunters." Dori said, "None of them cared for Dwalin doing for free what they could be paid to do. They'd have taken his head if they thought they could get away with it."

"Sometimes I think Bard would have paid them double for Dwalin's head." Bofur quipped.

Balin continued. "She accused Dwalin of chasing Orc mostly in her territory, to drive her away. She probably was not wrong on that count."

"She was good enough to bring Dwalin back home once, when he broke his leg out hunting by himself." Bofur mentioned.

"That just insulted him. Made things worse." Dori confided. "In every tavern in Dale, Dwalin called Bard a fool for hiring a little Elf girl to hunt Orcs. And every time he did, it ended in a fight."

"Those were good times." Bofur recalled, "Until the best taverns got tired of it, and banned all us Dwarves."

"The people of Dale respect Bard." Dori explained. "He is a good leader. And soon they respected Raven, too. She would come back from a long hunt laden down with Orc heads. Everyone thought Bard was brilliant to hire an Elf."

"Tensions reached the breaking point last year." Balin explained. "Two Dwarrowdams claimed to have been insulted by a she-Elf in Dale. Well, there being only one she-Elf in the whole city, Dwalin decides it had to be Rhavaniel, or Raven as she calls herself now. Dwalin went to confront Bard about the complaint, and the next thing you know, the two of them are arguing and Raven put an arrow in Dwalin's shoulder."

Bilbo was aghast, "Rhavaniel shot Dwalin?"

"Because she's in Bard's service!" Dori argued, "That is what she is supposed to do if she thinks her master is threatened."

"No wonder Bard had to make a truce."

"Dain was furious with Dwalin. He might have ruined all of our trade agreements." Dori grumbled, "Over what? Here Bard had apologized to those Dwarf women and already paid them for their trouble. Dwalin should have let it go and told our people to stop complaining. Instead he needed to make it worse, because Raven was involved."

"There had already been talk of dividing up Dale, and that clinched it. Dwalin hasn't been back to the city since, not even the section open to Dwarves. The terms of truce were harsh on both of them." Balin said with sadness. "Dwalin had already made sure that no Elves were allowed in Erebor unless carrying paper from King Dain. Then, as part of the truce, it was agreed that Rhavaniel would never enter Erebor. Dwalin had that last part added."

Gandalf was discouraged, "Were none of you on speaking terms with her?"

They all shook their heads 'no'.

Bilbo asked, "What else did you know about her, though? Who did she hunt with? Where did she live before the armory? Who are her friends?"

"Bard is the only person we knew her to be speak to."

"No one else?"

"I often wondered why she stayed." Ori spoke hesitantly. "The Orcs are gone, if she wanted adventure. Dis is beyond her reach if she had still wanted to talk to her about Kili."

"Maybe this is her home, now." Bilbo said, "She had no other place to go."

"Are you saying she couldn't go back to Thranduil's Kingdom?" Balin asked.

"She ran away from there." Bilbo told them. "The Elves were not pleased that she consorted with Dwarves. A boy confessed to setting a building on fire with her in it, and that was her friend."

"We had no idea she was not welcome home." Balin replied with heavy heart. "We would have done different if we had."

The Dwarves looked at each other silently.

Author's note: Too many characters, so I had to pare off some Dwarves. Six left, plus Thorin makes Seven Dwarves. Where is Snow White?