A/N: Hey there! I am back again with a properly long chapter. But here's a warning, I TYPED THIS ALL FROM MY CELL PHONE for my laptop is out of my reach. Even though I did my best to avoid typos, a phone is a phone and sorry for the possible mistakes. :/

This chapter is totally made up, it's neither from the bookverse, nor the movieverse. Still, the base definitely belongs to Tolkien, I just made some research and used a totally valid background. I don't wanna spoil it, but when you read further and see what I mean, you can use lotr wikia to learn more about it.

by the way, things are better for me now and thank you for being there. :3 It's the first chapter in a while and I'd like to know what do you think about it. So rewievs would be much appreciated. :)

Since the night they had taken their leave from the abandoned barn, the company had been on the road for both day and night. It was hard to remember the last time they had slept for more than a few hours, and eating had become an on-the-go activity. Most of the food Elrond had given was lost in the Goblin Tunnels, so they were pretty much up for anything they came across.

A week on the road had worn each of them out, even Gandalf was sighing like an old Human every now and then. But to object would be in vain, for Thorin's decision wasn't made out of mind. They had been traveling out in the flatland all exposed, without a single tree to cover them. It was one of the most dangerous parts of their route, and in their case, pacing at night was even safer.

The wind was making eveything feel ten times worse. Its scourging strokes were like blades, piercing their cheeks and penetrating through their cloaks. Not a single member of the company could remember what was it like to not shiver, and Fai in particular couldn't recall how walking properly felt like. Constantly shaken and blundered by the strong windstorm, she and Bilbo had to be protected by a couple of sturdy Dwarrows. Technically, Bombur, Dwalin and Gloin were acting as a shield around her.

It had been five days since the younger heir had suddenly grown fonder of the idea of not talking to her, and still Fai had no idea about what caused it. Apart from a couple of unwilling mumbles every now and then, he hadn't said a word. After a while Fai lost the chance to invesgate further, for the wind was constantly trying to sweep her off of her feet. Surrounded by a shield out of three Dwarrows, she couldn't go to Kili's side and force the words out of him anyways.

Her lips were pursed all the time, even the slightest attempt to talk was enough to swallow a mouthful of dirt, damn, how much did she hate that stupid storm. The cold was making her muscles even sorer, but she was glad to have some pain to keep her mind busy, instead of thinking about the most complicated Dwarf, ever. She also had some other exhausting thoughts creeping in her head, and they were all eating her up from the inside.

Her story. After Ori, Kili also had gotten curious about her background. Falling from a tree and losing her memory started to seem like a poor setup and it was making her nervous at all times. The next time someone question her memory or where she came from, she had to give a better answer. Lying seemed inevitable but Fai wanted to keep it on a minimum wage, for she was growing closer to the company more and more each day. Hiding things was bad enough, thinking about the intensity of guilt coming from faking a story, Fai sulked.

Then there was the fear. Consuming, irrepressable fear. Knowing what lies ahead, she was spending all her energy to keep herself calm. For ignorance was bliss, most of the Dwarrows were grumpy, yet undoubtedly relieved; thinking that the Goblintown was the worse and it was already behind them. Till Smaug, they thought, they would be rather safe. With the old and deceitful memories of the path they follow, they couldn't even imagine the possible dangers waiting for them. Even the most cautious ones, like Balin, Dwalin and Thorin; had no idea about the darkness dwelling on Arda. Fai squeezed her eyes shut for a second and tried to shoo away the image of Mirkwood, the spiders, and worst of all; Azog the Defiler. After her momentarily pause, she quickly kept up with her protectors.

She had memorized the backs of each member of her Dwarven-shield; Bombur, Dwalin and Gloin. The way they braided their hair, the way their cloaks dangled down from their shoulders and the way they prefer to carry their weapons on their backs. She knew it all. In fact, it was all Fai had seen for the past couple of days so unconsciously, it all got craved in her mind. If she were given a paper, she could even draw the engravings on Dwalin's axes.

She wanted silence, or to hear something besides the howling wind. She never thought that she would one day dream of a deep, dark cave but there she was, longing for the solitude and silence it offered. Remembering the cave they took shelter after coming across the Thundergiants and how she had hoped to reunite with the rest of the company, she got filled by mixed emotions. It was the first time she had feel like she had family, but it was also the night they got ambushed by the Goblins.

He hugged you that night, she thought. Despite the freezing weather, she could feel the ghost of their embrace warming her body.

She almost headbutted Dwalin's back when she tripped on a tip of a rock buried on the ground. Barely restraining herself from the fall, she felt her ears burning with anger. What is wrong with you you moron, she scolded herself, just focus on the damn road. Seems like the last thing that deranged little Dwarf wants is to talk to you, and you need to keep your thoughts away from him.

.oOo.

It had been only an hour since Gandalf went for some exploring around the whereabouts, but the company could have sworn that he used some kind of sorcery to vanish into thin air. Despite how wide their sight was, the grey Wizard was nowhere to be seen.

After one more hour of quietly -quiet, because of the annoying wind had finally abandoned them- pacing, Fai heard Dwalin's peaceless voice rear in front of her.

"Ready your weapons!" he roared. "Someone's approaching."

She saw shadows way ahead of them when she resqued her vision from the bald top of Dwalin's head. The shadows resembled of a group of people, pressumably running or walking real fast. They were far enough to look barely taller than a few centimeters.

"What do we do?" Nori inquired, looking back and forth constantly, trying to percieve whether they should move ahead or not.

"There is nothing to do," Thorin commanded, when he turned his face to them Fai saw the trouble that had taken over his eyes. "No point in turning back, they would catch upon us anyway. We are greater in the number and undoubtedly move slower."

"I said ready your weapons!" Dwalin grumbled, looking furiously over the befuddled company. They didn't need to be told twice though, in a blink of an eye, the sound of metal brushing against the scabbards filled the air. Swords were pointed forward, the axes were gripped tightly and Fai heard the clicking of Kili's tensed bow.

She saw the whites of her knuckles holding her sword in a death grip as moonlight blazed upon her Elven sword.

"They are no Orcs." looking at the normal colour of his little sword, Bilbo gave a sound to the thoughts in Fai's head. He poked the air with his weapon to give company a better sight of it. "Look."

Having no clue about the mysterious shadows coming closer each minute, Fai felt a tiny bit of relief. At that moment, the last thing she would like to fight against was Orcs. Seemed like her relief was shared by the company, for their faces didn't look that dark as they did before.

"Doesn't mean they are no danger to us." Thorin spat, as he started stomping forward. "Move."

So they did. Moving forward, Fai was sure that the shadows were definitely coming for them, as they got even quicker after a while. "They also had seen us," she whisper, and she saw the confirming nod Balin gave. Thinking at full steam, she had no idea about who or what would they be. She forced her brain to remember every race and nation in the books. She was certain that this scene is nonexistent in the book and the movies so it made her even more nervous. It must be one of the changes she had somehow caused. Dammit, she bit her lower lip, immediately causing the blood beading around the wound , this is no good.

At first, they moved with an angle to see if the shadows would follow. A couple minutes later they saw the silhouettes changing their routes as well. With Thorin and Dwalin on the frontmost, the company quickened their steps to be done with what's ahead as soon as possible.

"Are you alright?"

Fai didn't know how these Dwarves do that, but they never ceased to freak her out with sudden appearences. She had no idea about when Fili kept his guard up beside her but instead of scolding, she just nodded.

"Do you remember the steps Elrond taught? Not that I will let you fight one-on-one though."

The worry in his voice made Fai angry, for she could hardly deal with her own stress. "Seriously, Fili, you don't have to do this. Go, protect your brother." she protested, helding the gaze of the blond heir standing right beside her.

"For the last time Fai, I'm not doing this out of burden. And I swear to Mahal, I will be deeply offended the next time you deny what you are to me."

His voice was impatient and a bit tempered. She wasn't expecting the outburst, so with her wide opened eyes she just nodded. A few more steps later, Fili spoke again, this time with a cheeky voice. "Also," he grinned, leaning to her ear with a lower tone "my brother is already here for me to protect." Cocking his head towards her left, he secretly winked.

This time she startled for real. Kili was standing right beside her like a marble statue, and their eyes didn't meet for the dark headed prince was determined to look forward instead. So he was still mad at her. Fai felt something twisting in the pit of her stomach.

It took the silhouettes around twenty minutes to come close enough. After a while, the company had stopped and take their stances for the gang was clearly running towards them with bad intentions. They were a bunch of men with faces shadowed by their capes. Without a doubt, they were taller than the members of the company but their gestures weren't as balanced as Men's would be. They must be a couple of bandits, probably willing to rob them.

"Stop!" their leader shouted across with a rough accent. It was meaningless though, for the company was already immobile. Five wild men aligned in front of them threateningly. They were now just a couple feet away and by the help of full moon, Fai could see how they looked.

They had long, matted hair and beards intertwined, leaving nothing else but pairs of eyes to see. Their brows were furrowed and the expression on their faces were nothing but vicious. The language they used while speaking to each other was strange to the company's ears.

"Weapons down," their leader ordered. "And give us what you carry."

Thorin laughed condescendingly, and took a step forward. He was acting like the height difference was no trouble in his eyes. What he knew about ill-natured people was that if you show any sign of weakness, they would get worse. Not breaking the gaze between him and the gang leader, he held onto his sword even tighter.

"We are outnumbered, but you are weaker than us. Give us what we want, so we don't have to wash our blades with your worthless Dwarven blood."

His insult sparked Dwalin, as he growled something in Khuzdul inaudibly and darted forward, leaving Fai exposed to the eyes of the gang. She felt Fili and Kili getting immediately closer to her but it wasn't enough to hide her. Something was not right, for Dwalin had stopped halfway through. He was stumped by the wild men's reaction; a complete nothing. The Gang was paying attention to only one thing. Their eyes were nailed on only one thing. If they were looking vicious before, then there was no word to describe the expression on their faces when they noticed that thing.

That thing-

Fai.

"Chief." the man on the Leader's right spat out, pointing Fai with his thick, dirty index finger. "The woman. Calenardhonen!" His voice was shaky with rage.

Calenardhon, Fai tried to remember. Thinking wasn't easy when she was as frightened as she was then. But being the loyal reader she was, she somehow managed to pull the words out of the folds of her mind. It was what Rohan once called. The word Rohan wasn't in use by the time they were in. Linking the word with the hatred in their voice was much more easier, for she had been busy with revisioning all the books in her head for the past hour.

Dunlendings.

The Wildmen of Dunland. Driven away from their lands by Eorl, the Rohirrim King who earned their bitter hatred and enmity. They were known by this deep hatred towards Rohirrim and Fai remembered The Lord of the Rings, and how Sauron used their anger in his favor. Two questions were still dwelling on Fai's mind: What were they doing far from their land, and why were they looking at Fai like she was Eorl herself.

Then, it struck her.

The people of Rohan were tall, fair, pale, and mostly had blue eyes and blond hair which they wore long and braided.

Her golden hair was shining bright under the moonlight.

She gulped in fear as she tried to work out the possibility in her head. She was blonde indeed, and in the dark, her grey eyes could easily be mistaken for electric blue. but what about her height? She was either an inch taller or as tall as Kili, the tallest Dwarf of the company.

"Not a woman." their Leader bursted. "The filth is not of full age." She thought his anger was so intense that it was making the air heavy around him. It was weird to be in the center of all the wild hatred. No one had ever looked at her the way those men did before. She shivered under her cloak and felt Fili's hood brushing against her, as Kili to her left looked like he could shoot out the arrow he was keeping ready in any minute now. She didn't know if the company had figured out what was going on. Had they any knowledge on the Dunlendings?

"Give us the girl and be on your way." the Leader hissed, stepping forward.

"You wish." Kili bellowed and all hell broke lose. Fai heard the arrow he had shot splitting the air in two. Yet, it couldn't find its place as the Dunlending leader protected himself with his shield. Kili immediately mounted another one but Fai couldn't tell where he shot him for the Dwarrows formed a tight circle around her. She knew if the circle were to give way, the Wildmen of the Dunland would kill her in a blink of an eye.

She could see the heads of the Dunlandings, for they are much taller then the Dwarrows. They were really good at fighting. Even though they were outnumbered, they were defending themselves succesfully, not a single one of them had fallen. The battlecries echoed in the air, along with the sound of axes crashing against shields and swords.

She felt a hand gripping her wrist tightly, so thight that she winced in pain for his fist was clenched around her wound from the cuffs.

"Come, we'll shift away." Kili whispered as he tugged her arm, gesturing her towards the tiny gap between Bofur and Oin's legs. Fai pulled the cape of her cloak over her golden hair and they got onto their knees. They had just crawled out of the circle when she bit her tongue to held back her scream over the head of a Dunlanding falling right beside her. Trying not to look at it, she kept crawling forward.

One man down.

"She's running!" screamed one of the men, yet he couldn't manage to overcome the barrier of the Dwarrows. Looking back for a second, she saw Bilbo trying to stab the wild men in their knees.

"Run!" Kili shouted in unison with the rest of the company, and got onto his feet, quickly finding her hand and pulling her up in hurry. She didn't know how far they had gotten when the sharp pain in her upper leg stopped the time.

"Son of a-"

Her curse dissolved into a scream and she saw the worry in Kili's eyes. Without having time to linger, they had to keep running but with that leg, her pace had fairly slowed down. She was falling behind. Feeling the cold metal buried deep down on her skin, she couldn't dare to look at it. She was now literally dragged by Kili, who was running a few steps further. Every step was a nightmare, as her muscles tensed and loosened, she felt the knife penetrating her leg even further. Just a quick glance over her cloak was enough for her to see the crimson colour of the blood invading the fabric.

Lately, she had seen of her own blood much more than she would like to.

Fai squeezed the brown headed Dwarf's hand in pain as he forced her to run faster. How the Dunlanding had managed to throw a knife that far, she wondered. Kili turned his head to held her gaze for a second, and after ignoring her for almost a week, it was the first time he sounded compassionate.

"I know." he begged, his glance was so intense that despite all the rush, she felt she had missed that. "Just keep running. It will be over soon."

There they were in another life and death situation and there Fai was, melting over his affection. She got so furious with herself that she wanted to pull the knife out, only to stab herself once more. Something was definitely wrong with her. Realizing in the middle of a battle how much she had missed talking to him could not be considered normal in any way. And there was one more thing; it was terrible that it always costed her a fatal wound to have his attention.

Running faster made her sight went dark out of pain, she was nearly unconscious. She couldn't tell where were they headed anymore, she just focused on putting a foot in front of the other. After a while she felt most of her weight getting supported by Kili. He was constantly mumbling things every now and then to relieve her, but Fai was hearing none of it.

She felt her vision coming back when Kili seated her on the ground and her back met the cold surface of a rock. How far they had come? Where were they and how was the others? Where was the others? Fai knew none. Her right leg was laid straight on the soil while she had to keep the other one bent, for the knife was still in its place. Kili knelt right beside her and tucked her hair behind her ear. With her pale face, scattered hair and the laces of her cloak nearly untied, she was a complete mess.

"Get it out, Kili. Please get that thing out!"

Her begging voice made Kili's heart sink, he could imagine the amount of pain she was in. Also, he was angry again. Angry at all the nonsense that happened to her. What on Arda could five wild men want from her? What would they had to do with her, did they know her? And why did she, for the sake of the migthy Mahal, why did she have to always, always get hurt? One might think that thirteen Dwarrows would be more than enough to protect a girl, but no, Fai was always ending up injured.

"If there was a way to go back to the night I came to you in Rivendell, I swear, Fai, I would be begging for you to stay there."

Fai opened her eyes to meet his gaze and surprised at how close his face was standing in front of hers. Trying not to blush she tried to straighten her back a little, only to wince in pain. She was panting, wanted the knife out more than anything. But she figured Kili could never bear to pull the knife out.

"Do you know why those man wanted me?" she asked, trying to get her mind away from the knife. Her voice was making clear that she knew and Kili shook his head in surprise. He was thinking that it would remain a mistery forever, and even if she knew, he thought she would never tell. She wasn't fond of telling him things.

"They were the Wildmen of the Dunland. Do you know anything about them?" she asked again, looking right into his eyes. He was having hard time focusing on her words because of the pain in her voice. After figuring what he had been asked, he answered with a shy smile.

"I remember Balin mentioning them once or twice, but.."

Fai chuckled at his reaction and gave him a little poke on his shoulder. "You were the worst student of his, weren't you?"

His smile got wider. He didn't know how she had him smiling at her, where did all his anger go? For five days, he had done his best to ignore her. He took a beating when she lied to him, and he didn't understand why she did, or why he cared so much. Staying away from her had been hard, but undoubtedly relieving. He didn't have to see her wounds up close, thus he didn't have to deal with the mixed emotions they brought. Also, being angry with her was easier than what he was feeling now; a constant, inexplicable urge to make her feel better. To take away her pain. To make her laugh. To make her open up.

Unaware of the thoughts haunting him, Fai started to explain. "They had driven away from their home by a king named Eorl. He was the king of the Roh- uhm.. Calenardhon. So they hate him and all of his Kin. They thought I was one of them, cause see, I have blond hair. They have blond hair. And blue eyes."

"Your eyes are silver." Kili interrupted, and immediately turned bright red by revealing how much he had paid attention to the color of her eyes. "I mean.. Aren't they gray or something?"

His attempt of faking a careless attitude was not enough the let him off the hook, for Fai caught on the hint instantly. But seeing how shy he suddenly got, she decided to let that one slip by. "Yeah, but they probably couldn't tell that in the dark. So, they wanted to kill me. Well, maybe a bit torture first."

Kili clenched his fists in anger and tried to look away from the knife buried in her leg. He had to keep a lid on his temper, it was one of the rare moments they could talk properly, and he didn't want to ruin it. Seriously though, why was it so hard for them to talk? Since he met her, they were either fighting with each other or running from the danger. Fixating his eyes on hers, he then sighed.

"So, you aren't from Calenardhon. At least now I know one thing about you."

Are you kidding me, Fai thought. After a week of not caring the slightest about her, was he really doing that? "What is wrong with you Kili?" she huffed. "I know something is really bugging you." She couldn't hold it in any longer for it had been one weird, frustrating week. What was it that he wanted from her, why his behaviour was this unbalanced all the time? A moment he was carrying her in his arms, doing more than he should to protect her and then there he was the other moment, acting as if even the rocks on the road were more interesting than her.

"Why did you lie to me?" he backfired, sounding just as angry as her. But even before all of the words had left his mouth, he got mortified. He didn't mean to say those words out loud, even though they had been basically eating him alive. He should never have said that. Rapidly shaking his head from sides to sides in disbelieve, he tried to cover himself up but Fai interrupted.

"What do you mean lying?" She said, uttering the words very slowly, nearly spelling them out in rage. "How do you know I lied, and if I did, when did I? Kili, you barely even talk to me."

There was a hint of pain in her voice, but Kili couldn't dare to address it to their not talking, for there was a damn knife in her leg. Yet, he couldn't help but wonder if. Standing up, he took a few steps back and started walking back and forth. There was no way around it, no, he couldn't thought of anything that would save him. Why did he have to burst out and make things even weirder between them? And there blew up their decent conversation, burning in flames and turning into a fight as always. Was there really no way for them to get along?

Knowing he must eventually give an answer, he cut his pacing short and went back to Fai. Her face looked paler than before, so in that moment nothing else mattered. He sat his legs crossed beside her, parallel to her streched out leg. Sighing troubledly, he talked, this time with a defeated voice, his eyes avoided hers.

"I heard you in talking to Ori in the abandoned barn that night."

"You what?" she squeaked with her eyes twice the size. Kili immediately raised his arms, palms facing Fai as he wanted to defend himself.

"Don't blame me, okay, I just wasn't sleeping! What was I supposed to do then, punch myself to sleep? I have never intended to eavesdrop, you were loud enough for me to hear. You told Ori how you felt about the company and how you remembered things. Now how come your answer is 'uuuhm, not really, no' when I ask you the same question?"

It was a total outburst that Kili didn't even paused to breathe in between sentences. His chest were rapidly going up and down when he finally stopped talking, leaving a stunned, petrified Fai.

So that was the reason making Kili mad. That was why he avoided her for days, why he barely even said a word. She didn't know what to say for it was totally out of the blue. Her worst fear had gotten true; more and more questions, coming from the one certain Dwarf she knew how to talk to the least.

"Look," she closed her eyes again in pain, without letting her continue, Kili interrupted.

"Don't mind me alright, don't you push yourself. We could do this some other time." He was regretting his decision of letting all out, and im his head there was a party of curses in Khuzdul. His timing was terrible and he really had no idea what got him to push her like that when she was clearly in pain.

"What other time?" she laughed ironically. "Next month perhaps, or the other? When will we have the decency to talk to each other properly again?"

Kili sighed and shrugged, then they both chuckled at the weirdness between them. After everything thay went through, the weirdness was no longer a stranger. In fact, it would be weird if there weren't a weird atmosphere hanging around their conversations.

"I didn't lie to you, alright, not quite.. You just asked the question in the worst time imaginable. How could I tell you about myself with all the lads around us? I told Ori things because I thought all of you were asleep. I usually don't talk about myself and when I do, I need some privacy."

Her eyes searched his for any sign of understanding. Saying those things out loud was one of the hardest things she had done since she began the journey, and thinking about there were things like torment and really annoying wounds on the list, one could tell how big the deal was. Kili nodded in quietly and wanted to slap himself for not thinking of that before. Of course she couldn't tell, it wasn't a thing to share in between a chit chat! What he asked about was serious and deserved some solitude to be unraveled. He looked back in her eyes and felt a warm feeling traveling his body. Even though she hadn't shared anything yet, she was opening up in a way and he liked that feeling. He liked talking about a thing besides wounds and trainings.

"You heard me that night. I had no one till I join your company. See, it doesn't matter where I come from, what matters is that you should know I have no one waiting for me back there. I had no family or friends. Even though you prefer to have me stayed in Rivendell, I couldn't do that. I can't be left behind, for I am kind of.. Bonded with you lads. It's the first time in my life someone actually cares about me, and trust me, it's so hard to let go of something like this."

Her words scratched Kili's heart, he could never imagine how would it be like to have no one. He felt hurt. Hurt in her account, for she had grown up so lonely and didn't know what was it like to have a family. Even though Kili had lost his father, he always had his brother, mother and uncle around. Love and affection were no strangers to him and he didn't know how could someone manage to live without them. There she was, pushing her boundaries to let those words out. Kili wanted to hold her in his arms and apologize for a thousand times for being a gigantic ass that he was. She had told him that it was the first time she had someone, so who was Kili to reduce the number by one? He couldn't bear to think about the days he acted like she didn't exist. He had to be there for her, no matter how hard it was for them to get along. Buried in his own thoughts, Kili didn't know what to say.

So they said nothing, they just sat there quietly, with Fai wincing or moaning in pain every now and then. Talking about her emotions was definitely a new thing and in her heart, she felt kind of happy for not lying to Kili. She found a way out without actually faking a story and she wanted to keep it that way as much as possible. Leaning forward to tuck a strand of golden hair behind her ear again, Kili had finally spoken.

"I don't wanna fight anymore, Fai. We have to find a way to be friends."

.oOo.

E/N: After two weeks of silence, I hope this turned out something good and I really hope that you like it.

An important note about this chapter. :)

Hey there :) I'm glad you took the time the read this. First of all, about the Dunlendings. I wanted to write something different than the typical fanfiction story arc. I wanted to give them a chapter or two before the magestic Azog scene, and I wanted to fill the gap with some original creations of Tolkien. They are a bit far from their home, yeah, but considering they are still in the 3rd age and it's been only 400 years since Eorl kicked them out, i thought it would be tolerable if they wander around the area a bit. They are a bunch of man anyways, and we know how middle-earth is, there is always some people wandering away from home. ;) and their anger is still fresh, so the fight is maybe a bit much, but i hope again, tolerable. :)

And another reason of this chapter that I don't want to steal the role from Bilbo. Azog is his moment and Fai won't be the hero of the day when that moment comes. So I wanted to give her her own chapter for once, where everything is just about her. Remember how she shared the torture scene with Ori, it was intentional because I don't want her to shine so bright and shadow other characters. :)

Hope this clears your mind, thank you so much!