"Come, Whelp. I've someone you need to meet."

Fíli's large nose wrinkled in confusion. "I thought ye lived alone, Master Orsimer."

Ahkmar laughed softly, her boots crunching softly over the pebbles she had scattered around the house's foundation to discourage weeds. She did not give the young dwarf an answer, however. He nearly stumbled over himself in his haste to follow.

She stopped at the small but sturdily built barn, pulling open the wide wooden doors. A black and white bovine with a shaggy coat brayed at her and she placed a hand on her snout. "Hush, Peyt."

"A cow?" Fíli raised an eyebrow at her, unimpressed.

"No, Child. The cow is just for sustenance. This is who I wanted you to meet." The heavily clothed orc gestured to a monster of a horse, his coat black as night and large muscles rippling beneath his shining hide. Large, intelligent brown eyes examined him from head to toe, making the dwarf feel very small. "This is Venrukaan, my zeymahzin. He has been beside me through the worst and best of trials. He is no mere horse. He is family."

Fíli nodded mutely, a tremor running through his spine at the growl her voice had dipped into near the end. Ahkmar held his gaze through her shadowed helmet visor for a moment before breaking it with a nod. "Venruukan is all that I have left of my homeland."

Fíli swallowed, turning to the foreign equine. "Nice to meet you, er, Venn-rookin."

"Ven. Ruu. Kahn." Ahkmar emphasized. By the Nine, if he struggles this much with Ven's name how much would he butcher my own?

"Venruucan?"

"Ven. Just Ven." Ahkmar brought a gloved hand up to rub at the bridge of her nose. "Don't hurt yourself, Kid."

Fíli reddened, his earlier fear forgotten. "Ven, then. What tongue is that?"

Ahkmar smiled at the question, letting the mirth seep into her voice when she answered. "It's called the Thu'um, or the Voice. It's the language of my soul."

"Of yer soul?" Fíli wondered, raising an eyebrow at the smithy.

Ahkmar stiffened, muffling a curse before it passed her lips. "I think that's enough talking. Come, let me see what you're capable of." The doors to the barn Ahkmar left open to allow the beasts within out to pasture. Fíli followed her around to the side of the house. When he saw the half-forged swords hanging on brass rings, he began to salivate.

"Are ye going to teach me how to make the dwemer warhammers? Short swords? Axes?" His blue eyes shone brighter with every question.

Ahkmar snorted, handing him a chunk of dark, heavy metal and a few strips of leather. "Make me an iron dagger."

"But I already know how to do that. I made my first dagger when I was thirty five!" Fíli whined in protest, resting his fisted hands on his hips.

Ahkmar shook the reagents at him pointedly. "Then you shouldn't need any instruction from me. You have three hours."

Fíli still had a pout on his lips when he took the materials, barely preventing himself from stalking to the forge to begin heating it up.

"Wipe that frown off your face, Whelp." Ahkmar growled, irritated. "I didn't ask for a brat to babysit."

A shudder ran down his spine again at the guttural growl and he quickly straightened his features. "Yessir."

Ahkmar gave him one last cursory glance and turned, entering the house. By the time the boy was done, he would likely be hungry. And she had to eat too. Alone.

Fíli was a little nervous. He had gotten too comfortable, too fast with Orsimer. The darkly clad man's silent but jovial manner had all but disappeared in the last hour. And he was making him make an iron dagger. No teaching, nothing new, nothing even rather challenging for that matter. Fíli grimaced angrily as he pounded perhaps a little too hardly on the hot piece of metal, making it bend awkwardly over the lip of the forge. Fíli bit back a curse and cast a nervous glance around the yard.

The monstrous black horse flicked an ear in his direction, but his master was still in the house. Fíli breathed an audible sigh of relief and turned the dagger to hammer out the kink. He set his thick eyebrows in a determined glare. He would make the best iron dagger that Orsimer had ever seen, and he'd be so impressed that he'd have to teach him something new.

Once the blade was hammered into the right shape, he dipped it into a bucket of water. The red heat of the metal faded to grey-black with a hiss. Pulling it from the clear liquid, he inserted the base of the blade into the pommel he had shaped earlier. With leather strips, he bound it tightly for security and comfort.

"You've been working hard, Whelp." The rough, gravelly voice of the tall man startled him out of his concentration, making him jump slightly. "Sharpen that, and then you can come inside and eat."

Fíli nodded, bringing the newly forged blade over to the grinding wheel. He pumped at the pedals with his feet, holding the dagger fast to the stone by its handle. Orsimer's gloved hand tugged his off the machine. "What?" He uttered confusedly.

"Not like that. You'll make it uneven." He pulled a spare set of leather gloves from a box beside the house. "Put these on." He leaned over Fíli, using his longer arms to guide the dwarf's hand placement. "You want to hold the tip, here, and the hilt, here." Then he pressed the very edge of the blade beneath Fíli's fingers to the still stone. "You want to make sure that it is even lengthwise and at a very small upward angle, like this. Otherwise you get a weak, notched blade." He released Fíli's hands. "Now get the stone rolling again and do it right this time."

Fíli followed his instructions, guiding the dagger carefully until the edges were perfectly tapered, if not a bit thin from overly wasted metal.

Orsimer examined it when the dwarf passed it to his gloved hands, giving a short nod of approval. "Good work, Whelp. Let's get you something to eat."

A gurgling growl rose from Fíli's stomach, coaxing a blush to his round cheeks. Orsimer chuckled, placing a plate of boiled potatoes and venison in front of the young dwarf. "Eat up." Fíli dug into his meal with gusto. Orsimer cooly regarded him from a seat in the corner of the room.

Thank you so much for all the positive reactions to this story. I apologize for the slow updates, but I hope that you stick with me! I'm hoping to get through the apprenticeship quickly enough so we can start on the quest, but I have to develop the trust and companionship between Ahkmar and Fíli before I get around to that.

For all who reviewed, I read each and every one of them and they give me the motivation to keep writing. Until next time,

Kohlii

Thu'um

Peyt – Flower

Zeymahzin – Companion