I'm sorry for the long wait everyone- I think this might be the norm for a while. But the good news is is that I think this chapter might have been worth it.

Possibly.

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Hobbit. Yadda Yadda Yadda. Thank you.

Thank you to all my reviewers, followers, and favoriters (favoriters? Methinks I made up a word...). I really appreciate you sticking by me for this!

"His name is Agnar."

It was only a few hours from dawn and the night was oppressively silent as Nori and the twins sat huddled in the shadows next to the ore smith. While Nori was dressed in several layers, including a few knit pieces that Ori had made (well, tried to make- they were full of holes), he was thankful that the building broke the breeze that had begun to pick up. He wasn't sure how the two girls in front of him could be warm- they were dressed in light skins and a few furs. Then again, they were used to the northern climate and perhaps thought that this was a balmy summer night.

"That's an unfortunate name- the nicknames alone must be torture." Lila (or Leena, Nori was unable to tell the two apart in the dark) commented as the other snickered.

"I doubt that is really a problem for him as one of the perks of being the head of the Guilds is that you can assassinate anyone at will." Nori was going for a dramatic declaration, in the hopes that it would cause the girls to take Agnar seriously.

It worked, for a moment.

"Alright, so we'll categorize 'nicknames' as a weakness and 'Guilds leader' as a potential strength. That still doesn't help us keep Ariya safe."

Nori buried his face in his hands and counted to ten. "'Guilds leader' is not a potential strength, it is a definite strength. He controls all of the thieves, assassins, and mercenaries within the Iron Hills, which, I assure you, is a large number. He's the one that recruited me, back when I was only a few years older than Ori."

"You worked for him?!" one twin exclaimed while the other remained silent; Nori could sense the tension emanating from her body though. "We didn't realize you were that close to the situation when we asked you for help. I knew this was a bad idea. If you even think about betraying us-"

"You are not the ones that I intended to betray on this journey." Nori held up his hands in a placating motion. "I have no love for Agnar but I did require his assistance to help keep me and my brothers alive. Trust me, my loyalty is with the Durins and your sister."

The silence after his declaration was near deafening and Nori was sure that they were somehow communicating with each other. After a few more minutes of silence, they apparently reached a decision.

"Very well. We will hold you to that."

Nori nodded, having no doubts that they would.

"So,' the other twin began, 'now that we've got that cleared up, tell us why you think he did this."

Nori snorted. "He did it for the same reason he does anything else: money. And I don't think that he actually completed the job. In fact, I believe that his aim was to kill the king and not just cause truoble for him, which means that he is most likely still in the area."

"But how could he and his dwarves get in and out of the settlement? Surely the gatemaster would have noticed."

"Aye, you're right, the gatekeeper would have noticed."

His statement was met with silence once more as the girls digested what he had just said. However, unlike last time, it was quickly broken.

"The mines. They found, or created, an entrance to the abandoned mines, didn't they?"

When Ariya opened her eyes, it was still dark out. The dying fire threw the room into distorted shadows and hardly affected the cool spring air. A large arm, muscled from years of working in the forges of Men, was resting around her waist and holding her against a strong dwarven chest. She quickly realized that she would be unable to shift without jostling Thorin awake.

This meant, of course, that she was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to move and shift unhindered. The room became stuffy and seemed to close in around her and all she could think about was the fact that she needed fresh air and open, uninterrupted spaces. Slowly, she attempted to inch out of Thorin's strong grasp. If she had been more aware of her surroundings and not so focused on her desire to be outside, Ariya would have realized that Thorin's breaths were not as deep as they had been a few moments before. She also would have realized how easily she was escaping.

As it was, Ariya noticed neither of these things and so crawled very slowly out of the makeshift bed of furs. Standing up gracefully, she looked around the room. She immediately eliminated the main door, not trusting the hinges not to squeek and announce her departure; that only left the window. Crossing the room quickly and on silent feet, Ariya peered outside. The window, she was grateful to notice, opened to a small roof which was in fact the overhang to the ground level entrance. It was large enough for three dwarves of Dwalin's size to sit comfortably and wasn't so tall as to cause her severe harm if she did fall off.

Making her decision, Ariya slowly undid the window hatches and pushed it open. She was instantly greeted by the crisp spring air and eagerly clambered out the window. She settled herself in the center of the roof and wrapped her arms around her knees, pulling them to her chest.

"Can't sleep?"

Thorin's deep rumble startled Ariya and she realized that she must not have been as cautious as she had thought. Turning her head, she looked at Thorin, who was standing at the window, his hands resting lightly on the bottom sill.

"I felt... overwhelmed in there." She answered slowly before turning back to gaze out across the roofs. Thorin made a sound of understanding, which was followed by a slight grunt of discomfort and a muttered phrase in Khazdul. Ariya turned around to see what was happening and was rewarded with the sight of Thorin trying to get his frame through the window to join her on the roof. She couldn't help herself and started quietly laughing at the position Thorin managed to get himself into.

"If you get stuck, I'm calling Dwalin to get you out." She declared through her chuckles, knowing how much the dwarf would love to see Thorin in this position. Thorin was not amused by her teasing, and he glowered at her for a moment before continuing. Carefully, he was able to pull himself through the window and gingerly placed his weight on the roof. Once he determined that it would bear his body with ease, he lowered himself next to Ariya and leaned back on his hands.

"Did you want to talk about it?"

Ariya smiled wryly at the dwarf-king seated next to her. "Do you really want to listen to my thoughts this early in the morning?" Thorin snorted softly in amusement. "Honestly, I'm used to being asleep at this time, but I find that I'd rather be out here with you. So yes, I do."

Ariya gave Thorin a sideways glance before staring back out across the settlement. "My first night at Erebor was the first time I'd ever attempted to sleep inside something… hand-made. I'd never been inside a building before, and the only shelter my clan and I used was our cave. The mouth of it was gigantic and you never felt like you were really inside; I could always turn my head and see the pine forest that stretched south of us and the mountain chain to our west. The opening faced away from the northern wind, so we were never cold and natural pillars supported the ceiling and managed to give me and the other children places to hide and run around." Ariya paused and turned back to Thorin. "I suppose that after growing up and living so freely, I felt trapped in that room tonight." She finished softly, slightly embarrassed. "And... I'm worried that I'll never get used to it."

Thorin exhaled slowly at her admission and brought his forehead down until it touched hers.

"I can help with that." His voice was hushed, a quiet rumble that she felt down to her bones.

"How?" Her response was just as quiet and it was then that she realized how close he was to her. His breath mingled with hers on every exhale and for a moment, she pretended that it was just her and Thorin in the world, nothing else.

In response, Thorin tilted his head ever-so-slowly and rubbed the tip of his nose against hers, as if asking for permission. She gave it to him by lifting her chin up until her lips were a hairsbreadth away from his. There she paused and waited as her heart hammered so hard in her chest that she was sure all of Ered Luin could hear it. She could feel his breath ghosting over her face and it was almost too much for her to bear.

"Please…" she breathed, not wanting to break the moment by speaking but needing him to understand how he was affecting her.

At her whispered plea, Thorin closed the gap between them. It was slow and sweet, a gentle press of lips, as if he were worried that more would shatter her.

Ariya clutched his arms, grounding herself as his lips moved against hers. He tasted like the metal and earth that he often worked with and she could sense his power, tightly leashed and restrained, in the tension of his arms and shoulders as she ran her hands over them. Part of her desperately wanted him to release that power, to consume her entirely right there on the roof with only the night sky as a witness. But the rational side of her knew that neither one of them was prepared for that tonight. Instead, she continued to hold on to him and refused to ask for more. Eventually, Thorin pulled away to press his forehead against hers. Both of them were breathing heavily and Ariya couldn't help but smile.

"Well,' she whispered cheekily, 'I guess you were right for once."

Thorin cocked his head to the side in a silent question. Ariya smiled more broadly. "You really can help with that." Thorin chuckled and answered with a "of course I'm right" before pulling her beside him as he laid back onto the roof. This time Ariya didn't feel trapped lying with Thorin's arm around her. Instead, she felt freer than she had in a long time.

She quickly fell asleep with her head pillowed on Thorin's chest and a smile gracing her lips.

When Ariya woke up next, it was to find herself still tucked into Thorin's side on the roof. The sun was now just cresting the horizon, which was painted in bright pinks, oranges and faint purples. Birds were just starting to wake up and beginning to sing their 'good mornings' to the world. She could see a few bands of dwarves heading to the mountain face, picks and mattocks slung over their shoulders. Apparently she had woken up at the changing of the mining shifts and she idly wondered if any of them could see their king sleeping on the roof. She smiled at the stories that the sight would inspire.

"Female, you never woke up this early in the mountain." Thorin sleepily grumbled next to her as she shifted around in an attempt to continue watching the miners. "Yes I did; I just never got the joy of disturbing you while doing it." came her cheeky reply as she twisted back to grin at him. Thorin just groaned and rubbed his face with the hand that wasn't currently trying to pull her back into his side. Ariya allowed herself to be steered down until her head rested on his chest, where she started to idly play with the loose threads on his shirt again.

"You're going to unravel my shirt one of these days and then you'll be sorry. Unless of course your goal is to keep me shirtless, which in that case, wouldn't it be easier to simply ask me to remove it?" Ariya laughed at Thorin's teasing and lightly smacked him on the chest.

"I do believe it's time to get up and give me that tour now." She declared before scrambling up and over Thorin and through the window, disappearing from sight.

Thorin groaned and stretched, muttering about how certain skin-changers would be the death of him. He took a moment to breathe in the cool morning air and admire the sunrise before turning over and crawling to the window himself. Attempting to climb back through the window was almost as annoying as it had been last night, and he prayed to Mahal that none of his people were up early enough to catch sight of him.

Unfortunately, Ariya was there and poorly attempting to hide her smile at his predicament. Righting himself after once more having awkwardly shoved his body through the small space, Thorin brushed off his shoulders and mock glared at the grinning red head.

"You're enjoying yourself I see. Waking up a dwarf king at the crack of dawn and then making fun of his misfortune at not being able to fit gracefully through the window. Whatever shall I do with you?"

"I am terribly sorry Your Majesty. I didn't mean to appear so rude." Ariya's apology and attempt at appearing contrite would have been believable, had she not immediately burst into giggles.

"Oh, I think you did female. Come here!" Thorin playfully growled, lunging at her. Ariya let out a peal of laughter as she darted towards the main door and out into the hallway. Thorin grinned as he chased after her.

It only took him a few minutes to effectively trap her in a dead end hallway. Ariya stood at the end of it, pressed against the wall and laughing as Thorin strode towards her.

"Caught you, my naughty wolf. Now, I ask again- whatever shall I do with you?" He pitched his voice deeper and took hold of her upper arms, making sure to keep his grip loose enough so she could pull away if she wanted to.

Ariya rested her hands on his waist and leaned closer towards Thorin, looking up at him through her lashes. "I have no idea my King. Hopefully its something I enjoy."

Thorin let out a predatory growl before slamming his lips down upon hers and pressing her back into the wall. He placed his thigh between her legs and brought one hand down to wrap her left leg around his waist while the other moved up to brace her neck. Ariya moaned into the kiss and wrapped both her hands into Thorin's hair, scratching his scalp. Thorin was so lost in the feel of her against him and the taste of her mouth that he almost missed the quiet "Ahem" from behind them.

Pulling away and placing Ariya behind him, Thorin turned to see Balin standing at the end of the corridor with both eyebrows raised.

"I am very happy for you Thorin. I truly am." Balin stated, his hands clasped behind his back.

"But?" Thorin asked haughtily, attempting to feel more like a king and not a naughty dwarfling with his hand in the biscuit jar.

"But... perhaps the hallway is not the best place to conduct such activities. If I were any older, I'm afraid my heart may have given out at the sight of you two."

Ariya snickered from behind Thorin. "Our apologies Balin. We will keep better control over ourselves."

Balin smiled kindly at her. "I am not complaining at the fact that you two seem happy. And I am glad that you are well enough for such activities Mi'lady; I have worried about you these past few decades. Perhaps, however, for the sake of all parties involved you could keep the suggestive acts in public to a minimum."

Thorin sighed. "Yes Balin. We will keep your advice in mind."

"That is all I can ask. Now, if you'll excuse me, some of us still consider this bedtime." And with one last pointed look at the couple before him, Balin left.

"Almost 100 years old and he still makes me feel like a naughty dwarfling." Thorin shook his head as he turned back to Ariya.

"It could be worse." She placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "You could be a skin-changer and feel like a naughty dwarfling. Now, on top of being embarrassed by being caught, I'm confused as to which species I am." Thorin chuckled at her. "You're right you silly thing, I could have to deal with that."

Ariya smiled and grabbed his hand. "You're the silly thing. I thought you were talking me to breakfast!"

"Funny, I thought I was taking you on a tour." Thorin teased as Ariya lead him down the hallway.

"Well yes, but every good tour starts with breakfast!"

Thorin and Ariya entered the nearly empty mess hall laughing at one of Ariya's childhood stories. Two blond heads, and one brown pointed one, snapped up from what ever conversation they had been having to take in the strange sight of Thorin in the midst of what could only be described as a "belly laugh". Ariya, of course, was laughing just as hard next to him and both were leaning on each other for support.

"Oh dear sweet Hunter, what is going on here? I will separate the two of you! No one should ever see Thorin laugh that hard. It's disturbing!" Lila called out to her older sister, crossing her arms and attempting to look stern. This had the opposite effect of course, because as soon as Ariya caught sight of her face, she started laughing even harder.

"Wha- why is she laughing? This isn't funny! I'm honestly scarred." Lila sputtered, looking at her twin in fake hurt. "She's obviously lost her mind." Leena stated as seriously as she could while fighting a smile. Nori just looked between the twins, their laughing older sister, and his King who was still chuckling and leading Ariya to the table. Once seated, Ariya seemed to calm down and Thorin deemed it safe to go find them some breakfast.

"What has you in such a good mood this morning? Should you even be awake yet?" Ariya shrugged at Leena's question, shooting her a secretive smile as Lila decided to chime in. "Well, you did sleep for most of your life it seems. But why are you so happy? It's seriously disturbing, not that we mind so much because you should be happy but, do you have to make him all happy and giggly as well?"

Ariya snorted. "Thorin doesn't giggle."

"Yet." Lila muttered blackly. Leena kicked her under the table and Ariya smirked at her before turning her attention to Nori. "I recognize you."

Nori inclined his head to her. "Nori, of the brothers Ri, at your service Mi'lady. Thank you for saving me and my brothers." Ariya smiled at him. "It wasn't a problem Nori. Were you traveling from the Iron Hills?"

"Aye Mi'lady, my family and I lived in Erebor before the dragon came. Then we went to the Iron Hills afterwards. I was just a lad at the time and would often come down to the market with my older brother and parents."

Ariya looked at him with dawning recognition. "You're Nori, the Terrible and Most Frightening, aren't you! Except... didn't you pronounce your name 'Nowi? I used to think that was your name until your mother corrected me." she recounted, laughing.

Nori refused to show his embarrassment. "I did Mi'lady, you remember well."

"Well, who could ever forget the "Tewible and Most Fwightening Nowi'?" Lila's face was split in a devious grin as she, once more, butted into the conversation. Ariya shot her sister a look and Leena snickered into her hand. Nori sniffed and raised a finely braided eyebrow. "I was 7, if you must know, and had a mild speech impediment."

"Oh, don't mind them Nori. Both of them were unable to pronounce their t's for a while. Whenever they would get trapped somewhere, the pack cave would be filled with cries of 'I suck! I suck!'" Ariya sighed wistfully. "If only they still had that problem..." The twins gave their sister affronted and wounded looks, which caused her to start laughing again just as Thorin returned to the table with two trays of food.

"Have you stopped laughing at all since I've been gone?" Thorin looked mildly concerned at the red head seated next to him, who was still chuckling every now and again.

"This, King Thorin, is our sister's usual behavior. She appears serious to outsiders, but around her pack she acts like a crazed... crazed..." While Lila struggled to come up with an adequate word, Leena rolled her eyes. "What my sister means to say is that hearing Ariya laugh all the time is a good thing."

"Yeah, and you better not start giggling too!" Lila shouted at Thorin, who merely scrunched his eyebrows in confusion before reassuring her that Dwarven Kings never giggled. Lila looked somewhat reassured with Thorin's response while her sisters both shook their heads at each other. Nori shared a look with his king and shrugged, showing that he had no idea what was going on either.

Once that was sorted out, the conversation died down as Thorin and Ariya began to eat a breakfast of leftover stew. Ariya once more ate quickly and Thorin wondered if it was a trait she shared with her wolf side. Leena, who must have seen Thorin staring as Ariya ate,answered his unspoken question. "Food gets cold quickly in the North. We've learned to eat it quickly before it freezes." Thorin nodded in understanding before turning back to his meal, missing Ariya's sheepish face and Leena's subsequent wink.

Finally, Thorin finished his meal and got up to clear the dishes when Nori rose as well. "I'll take care of them Mi'lord." Thorin nodded his thanks. "I'm taking Ariya for a tour of the settlement and mines today, in case anyone asks after us. I doubt we'll be finished until lunchtime at the earliest." He explained as he and Ariya stood up from the table.

"You'll be staying in the already explored parts of the mines, right?" Leena asked worriedly at the same time Lila asked "Can we come too?" Ariya frowned at both her sisters. "Yes we'll be staying in the explored parts and no Lila, you can't come with us. Don't be ridiculous." Lila responded indignantly. "We just don't want you to wander away and get lost!"

"I'm not a silly pup Lila. I won't be wandering away from Thorin's side. Now, both of you have a good day. It was nice to see you again Nori."

Ariya turned and left the table with Thorin following suit after nodding his farewells to each the twins and Nori.

It had been a wonderful morning. Thorin had showed Ariya the settlement, starting with the living quarters and moving through to the forges. They had then stopped at the Dirty Miner, as Thorin insisted that it was essential to her Ered Luin education. Inside they met Dwalin and Gilni, who both forced them to stay for a drink before heading into the mines. After an hour of talking and listening to stories, which were mainly being told by Dwalin (Gilni would chime in with a story or two, but they were always so obviously exaggerated that Ariya wondered if he did it just to annoy Dwalin or to amuse himself), Thorin excused the two of them and started directing her towards the door. Once outside, he began to explain that only ore was really mined in Ered Luin, and that the mine system was enormous, stretching miles upon miles through the mountain range in an attempt to find something more valuable than the common metal. As such, the dwarves believed that they had only started working about a tenth of what really existed of mine space in the mountains, and had to be extremely cautious of cave-ins and weak walls. Ariya began to feel slightly apprehensive about touring the mines and moved a bit closer to Thorin's side.

Thorin smiled at her, sensing her nervousness. "Don't worry. We won't travel into any of the mines. I just want to take you to the entrance hall where you can see all the mines converge." Ariya returned his smile, feeling better. It took them a few more minutes to reach the mine gates, during which time Thorin explained his hopes for expanding ore production and trading with local man-villages.

Stopping in front of the gates, Ariya couldn't help but compare them to the front gates of Erebor, which had both awed and terrified her when she first saw them. The gates to Ered Luin's mines were much smaller and less ornate and were decorated with the image of two trees. When asked, Thorin explained that they were the carved likeness of the two trees that stood guard outside of Moria's western entrance. Ariya didn't ask for anymore information than that, not wanting to bring up painful memories of that place and ruin the day.

Stepping through the entrance way, Ariya found herself suppressing a shiver at the darkness of the mines, even though a touch hung on every pillar in the hall. It was huge, though smaller in size than the entrance to Erebor, and dwarves were bustling to and fro with wheelbarrows and wagons full of debris and ore. Three rows of pillars ran down the length of the hall, and each pillar looked to be too large for her to even wrap her arms halfway around it. Thorin started walking down the center isle, showing Ariya the mine entrances that dotted each wall. Suddenly, there was a loud rumbling noise and several miners came running out of a mine off to the left, followed by a large cloud of dust. All of the activity in the hall stopped as shouts of "cave in!" echoed around it. Thorin instantly started to take charge.

"You there!" He gestured to one of the dwarves that had run out of the caved mine. "How many are trapped?"

"At least ten Mi'lord!" came the hurried reply. 'We think a support beam gave out!" Thorin nodded. "Very well. We need to set up a chain to remove the rubble. Where is the chief mining engineer?"

"I am here my King." A dirt-covered dwarf whose beard was tucked into his belt walked up to Thorin.

"I need you in the front with me. We shall have to pick the rocks carefully, lest more tumble down and crush those on the other side." The miner nodded as Thorin turned to Ariya at his side. "Why don't you go wait outside for me? I would feel better if you weren't in the mines right now." Ariya gave him a half-hearted smile and leaned up to whisper "I think I would feel better too. Please be careful." Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, Ariya started to walk back towards the entrance. As all the dwarves were watching their king and preparing to help, none saw the dwarf that slipped from the shadows and snuck up behind Ariya before striking her on the head with a rock. Catching her body before it could hit the ground and alert the others, the dwarf quickly hefted her up on his shoulders and carried her down an abandoned mine shaft.

It wasn't until that evening that anyone noticed her missing.

Ahhh I'm sorry. Don't hate me! Love me and review pretty please! :)

Annndd I'm also kinda nervous about those kissing scenes... so feedback would be much appreciated!