"Almost... there..." Fili stretched as tall as he could. He couldn't quite reach the arrow.

"C'mon, Fee- it's so close! Just stretch up and grab it!" Kili said as he looked on from a distance. His brother was balanced precariously atop a wooden stool, desperately searching for the arrow that was somewhere on top of the cupboard.

"It's not that easy, Kee!"

"Sure it is. Just reach up and grab it! It's not that hard- put some effort in it."

Fili sighed. "I wouldn't have to put any effort in if you hadn't shot it up here in the first place! You're lucky it only bounced off the wall- if you had pierced a hole in the wall, mum would have been furious! Mum would absolutely explode if she knew you'd been practicing archery in the house."

"Yeah, and that's why I don't plan to tell her." Kili retorted. "Besides, I wasn't practicing archery. It was an accident that I shot it up there."

"Sure it was. Now... how close am I?"

Kili stood on the table, and was just able to see the top of the cupboard. "A little more to the left... no, the right... wait- which way is left?" Kili asked. Fili groaned. He felt his hand catch on something.

"Is this it?"

"Yeah!"

He grabbed the arrow, and handed it down to his brother who was waiting expectantly below him.

"You owe me."

"Thanks Fee!" Kili hugged him around the legs. Fili let go to hug him back, and lost his balance. Kili leapt backwards, out of the way. Fili grasped desperately at the cupboard, trying to grab anything, anything to steady himself. He managed to grab hold of a wooden box before he crashed to the ground, taking the box with him.

"Ouch."

"You ok?"

"Yeah."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's fine." Fili propped himself up to a sitting position. His every move hurt. He looked up at the cupboard. There didn't appear to be any damage. Everything seemed to be in order.

"Fee- the box! It's broken!" Kili gasped. Apparently, Fili had spoken too soon- something was damaged. And by the looks of things, it was damaged beyond repair.

The box Fili had grabbed lay bent and smashed on the floor behind them. There were papers strewn around it, and a wrapped bundle. Fili felt a rush of feelings- anger, despair, worry, guilt- but suddenly, something drowned them out. Kili's laughter. He had walked over to the wreckage and picked up a paper.

"What is it?"

"A drawing of mum when she was younger. She looks ridiculous!" Kili laughed.

"Kee! That's hardly how you should talk about your mother!" Fili was appalled, but curiosity got the better of him. "Hey- let me see."

The drawing was indeed comical, and obviously intended to be so. Right- now that the fun was over, Fili thought that they should put everything away, and wait for Dis to come back from the village meeting. They would have to explain what happened once she got back. Before Fili could voice his plan to his brother, Kili had begun to go through more of the papers.

"Kee, we shouldn't-"

"How cool is this? This is all mum's old stuff! Please can we look through them?"

Fili glanced at the sky outside. It was still bright and sunny. Dis had said she wouldn't be back until nightfall.

"Fine."

Fili readjusted his stance. They were both sitting on the cold stone floor of the kitchen, going through papers that belonged to their mother, Fili slowly starting to bruise and in intense pain- yet somehow, Fili felt perfectly happy.

"So what is all this stuff?"

"Certificates, mostly. Who would have thought mum was such a perfect child?" Kili mused.

"Here- that one looks different." Fili pointed to a lined piece of paper that sat a bit away from him. Kili picked it up and skim read it.

"It's a diary entry."

"Just one entry?"

"Yup." Kili continued to read. "Huh? This doesn't make any sense..."

"What? What does it say?"

Kili cleared his throat, and began to read.
"Dear Diary.

I finally did it. I conquered my fears, and I am so happy. Sure, some were shocked (to say the least), and no one really expected it- people have always thought I'm a good, quiet girl. I proved them all wrong. Okay, so some feel robbed, but I feel great- and I have this sword to prove it."

Kili looked up from reading, and stared confusedly at Fili, who returned his perplexed gaze.

"What sword? Mum doesn't have a sword. Ladies don't carry swords." Fili said. Kili nodded in agreement.

"Something isn't right."

"Hey- what's in that bundle?" Fili pointed to the wrapped item, which Kili hastily proceeded to open.

They both gasped sharply.

It was an sword, in prime condition, jewelled and gilded and carved. The blade was of fine silver, surely elvish, and was decorated with swirling, twisting carvings. The hilt was made of gold, with small diamonds beset in the rim. This was the most beautiful- and expensive- sword either of the boys had ever laid eyes on.

"How did mum come by this? Surely she wouldn't have bought it- even the prince's sister wouldn't spend that much money on a sword that they would never use."

"If she didn't buy it..." Kili stared intently at the sword, then at Fili. "She must have stolen it."

"Kili. That's ridiculous. Why would mum, descendent of kings, ever feel the need to steal? Besides- we hardly know enough to assume that."

"Oh, but we do! Look- it says right here- some feel robbed. She wrote it herself!"

Fili wished he could argue, but the proof was right there in his mother's curling handwriting.

"Well... what do we do? Do we report it?"

"No! Are you mad, sir?" Kili yelled.

"Did you just call me sir?"

"We can't just report her to the authorities! They'll send her to jail- and trust me, I know how hard a prisoner's life is. I wouldn't want to put my own mother through that."

"You were in prison for a day, Kee, and besides- don't you want justice? If mum has stolen something, doesn't she deserve punishment?"

"Not if it means besmirching the name of Durin! Just think of the uproar it will cause if the King's own sister is accused of stealing. We will bring shame on our name!"

Well, he had a point.

"But still- isn't seeking justice and publicly shaming ourselves better than living with a thief an having the guilt hang over us for years to come?"

"True..." Kili paused, deep in thought. "Then there's only one solution."

"Confront mum, tell her the truth about what we did and ask her about this?"

"No. Run away, change our names and start life in a new country."

"You've got to be joking. Kili, I'm not leaving myself in your hands again when it comes to navigation. Remember the map incident?"

"Oh, c'mon. I got us out, didn't I? And besides- you even said that I was good at geography."

Fili remembered distinctly telling Dis that Kili had a talent with geography, but Dis had said she wouldn't tell Kili, to avoid embarrassment...

And she had lied. If Fili couldn't trust her then, could he trust her now?

Come to think of it, he didn't know much about Dis' youth. She could very well have been a robber, for all Fili knew. Fili gulped.

"Let's pack our things."

The sky was a soft lavender colour when Fili had finished packing. He had packed only the essentials- he didn't want to have to lug around a huge pack when he was on the run. He walked into the kitchen just as Kili was finishing the note they were going to leave in their absence.

"What do you think?" Kili handed him the note.

Dear mum.

We saw the sword- we know the truth. We have run away for your safety and ours.

Until then,

We are yor ever faithful sons,

Fili and Kili. At your service.

" You misspelt 'your'."

"Oh shut up- spelling mistakes make things more personal." Kili grumbled. "All packed."

Fili nodded slowly. "Yeah."

He couldn't believe it. He was leaving his childhood home. He may never see it again.

His mother was a master criminal.

Him and his brother were running away from their own mother's past.

And not once did it seem slightly illogical.

Kili opened the door slowly. A gust of cold air met them. One step out the door was all it would take for them to have officially run away.

"Just out of curiosity- where are we going?"

"To where ever the wind takes us."

"The wind? Why would the wind effect the way we walked? We aren't dragons-"

"Hush, child. Nothing is certain anymore."

Kili was right. Nothing was certain.

"Let's go." Kili stepped out of the door, and motioned for Fili to follow. He set one foot outside.

"Where do you think you're going?" Dis' voice carried from the top of the hill. She was running towards them. Evidently, the meeting must have been disbanded early.

"She's onto us! Run!" Kili bolted into the shadows ahead.

"Kili, no-" Fili yelled after his little brother. Maybe running away was a bad idea.

"GET BACK HERE YOUNG MAN!" Dis yelled.

A muffled voice came from the forest where Kili had disappeared into. "NEVER! YOU'LL NEVER CONVERT ME TO YOUR TREACHEROUS WAYS!"

"My- my treacherous ways? Fili, what is he on about?" Dis stood beside her eldest son.

"There's been... a miscommunication. I hope." Fili said quietly. What was he thinking? This woman wasn't a thief.

"Oh. Do you want to tell me about it inside? It's freezing out here."

"Do you want me to go get Kili?"

"No." Dis decided. "He'll come back. He always does."

"You thought what?" Dis asked.

"That you were a thief." Fili admitted. Kili sat in the chair next to him, sheepishly looking down at his hands.

"What made you think that?"

"The diary- and the sword-" Kili began.

"The sword? I don't- wait. Did you two look into my personal box?"

"It was an accident! Look- it's a long story, but we found the sword, and the diary entry that said you stole it."

"I didn't steal it! I won it in a competition- a sword fighting competition!"

"I didn't know they had sword fighting for girls."

"They don't. I was the only girl to have ever won a competition. That's why everyone was so shocked."

"Prove it!" Kili yelled.

"Sure." Dis pulled a certificate out of the pile, and read:

"This certificate is awarded to Dis Durin for exceptional performance in the art of sword fighting. May she keep this sword as a token to remember this competition by."

She looked up defiantly. "See?"

"Why would they give someone such an expensive sword as a prize?"

"It's not an actual sword- it's a trophy. The jewels are fake. You couldn't actually fight someone with it."

"But- but- you said they were robbed!"

"I said they felt robbed- the other male contestants felt robbed of the prize because I was a girl. Kili, why don't you believe your mother is innocent?"

"I do, I just- I'm sorry, mum, I thought we would have to run away forever, change our names and never look back."

Dis raised an eyebrow.

"Right."

"We have a better explanation than that, don't worry." reassured Fili.

"Good. You can think of it whilst you're in your room. Don't come out unless you are ready to apologise and make up for damaging and going through my personal things." Dis snapped.

The boys exchanged glances, and sighed.

"Yes, mum."