Frerin- 10
Fien- 8
Gideon- 5.5
Fali- 4
Kien- 7.5
Tauris- 5
Orian- 5.8 ish
Vesper- 3.5
"Gideon!" His name was shouted, in the estactically high-pitched squeal of delight that could only come from Fali. Then his bedroom door was thrown open, with a loud bang.
"Gideon, wake up! Wake up!" She chimed in the doorway.
Gideon groaned, burying his face into his pillow. His internal clock informed him it was early.
"I said: wake up!" Fali was bouncing off the walls in excitement it seemed. He hadn't seen her this happy since the Yuletide, when she'd received a little wooden blade all her own and an embroidery basket. He then heard her running to come and jump upon his half- slumbering form. Instinctively he curled into a ball, protecting all the more sensitive places of himself from her roughly landing elbows and knees.
She pounced upon him. "Wake up!"
Suddenly Frerin and Fien were joining her. "Wake up, little brother."
"C'mon Gideon, out of bed."
"It's too early…" Gideon muttered, peering up at their blond heads.
"But Gideon, there's a surprise in the kitchen!" Fali smiled brightly.
Given how happy Fien and Frerin looked as well, he knew it had to be true. "What is it?" He asked.
"Come see! Come see!" Fali pulled him out of the warm blankets and into the early morning chill. The sharp change made him snap fully awake. Fali had a firm grip on his arm and Frerin and Fien were likewise herding him out of his bedroom, and thus he was pushed and pulled down the hall and into the warmer, more open, kitchen.
Orian was sitting at their kitchen table, and beside him was…
"Vesper." Gideon realised it was her.
The young girl turned her head and smiled at him over her breakfast. "Hello, Gideon." She grinned.
"Vesper's staying with us for a while!" Orian smiled.
"Are Ander and Varis here too?" Gideon asked.
"For right now…" Orian answered for his cousin as she ate. "They have business to attend to so Vesper will be staying for a little longer."
"Isn't that lovely?" Hana, Orian's mother, appeared. "We'll have to go and tell Kien and Tauris later this morning."
Fali and Fien were cheering, and joining their friends at the table. Gideon was happy too, but he felt something different about this visit, as it was so unexpected. A look in the direction of Frerin confirmed it. His brother had a more serious look on his face. Was something wrong?
"Frerin, is something the matter?" He whispered.
Frerin shook off the concerned look and smiled. "Nothing you should worry over." He nodded. "Have some breakfast, before it gets cold."
He seated himself between Vesper and his sister and grabbed some eggs and bacon before they were all consumed. Frerin joined them, filling his plate quickly, eating his morning meal even more quickly, and then dashing off down to one of the rooms in the back of their house, their Adad's private office.
Gideon excused him, and then tip toed after him. "Frerin, what are you doing?"
His brother turned to him, with a finger pressed to his lips. "Shh! Be quiet." He shushed him.
Gideon silenced himself, but came closer all the same. Frerin had his ear carefully pressed up against the doorway. "Go back Gideon…this isn't for children."
"But you're still a child too…" Gideon added. Frerin was quite a few years than him, but he was still what most dwarves would consider a child. "I don't think you should be listening in." It was surprising to see Frerin doing anything someone would judge as wrong. He was the one that rarely made mistakes.
Frerin sighed, softly, so the adults on the other side of the door would not hear him. "I think something's happening in the South." He admitted.
"Like what?" Gideon asked, his stomach tightening in nervousness.
"I don't know. I hope someone isn't fighting against Varis." Frerin fretted.
"What are they saying inside?"
"I can't hear them talking when you're talking too."
Gideon silenced himself. "Can you hear them now?" He whispered most quietly after a few minutes.
Frerin nodded, kneeling there for a moment. When the moment was done he got up in a fluid, quiet motion and grabbed Gideon, pulling him back to their rooms.
"Is everything alright?" Gideon asked.
"Yes." Frerin smiled, relieved. "Well, mostly. It isn't the nymphs that are fighting with themselves. There's a group of Men, and they've entered their territory. Varis is going to lead some soldiers to get them off their land before their numbers grow too much." He then snickered. "She's pretty confident of it all. Ander just wanted Vesper out of the way for precautions sake. They're bickering about whether or not Vesper needed to stay here, because Varis was sure that she could stay back at camp with the smithees."
Gideon breathed his own sigh of relief. It wasn't as bad of news as he had first thought. Varis may have been a tough individual, but she was smart eough to know when danger was real, and if she had been sure that Vesper could have stayed behind, there was very little to be wooried about.
He then smiled, because having Vesper here in Erebor meant everything was going to be better. The days were brighter, they were permitted to stay up longer, he would have her company on the outside…this was brilliant!
The door opened and his parents emerged with Varis, Ander, and Ori. "How long is Vesper staying with us?" Gideon asked.
"A fortnight at the most." Varis replied. "Though I doubt it will be a full two weeks."
Gideon didn't care if it was only two days, Vesper was visiting and for this short time everything under the mountain was going to be better.
"She's quite anxious to spare." Varis said. "I've been teaching her."
Gideon flinched a little. He had improved some with his extra practise (and dear Mahal he found it tiring) but he still wasn't as good as Fien or Kien or Frerin. Perhaps it was because he had not been able to convince himself that he truly enjoyed fighting, or that he could be good at it.
But if Vesper wanted to spar he would. He faced Fali and when they were being light hearted he was quite capable of forgetting his struggles and having fun with the activity. It wouldn't be so different.
Frerin grinned. "We'll definetly spar…and we'll spend the whole afternoon outside the mountain!" Gideon grew excited at that idea, he enjoyed the outdoor world.
"We'll certainly have a good time, won't we?" Their mother replied.
"Oh, Mother do you really need to come?" Fien asked.
Their mother feigned hurt feelings. "What?! You don't want me to come with you?"
"I can watch over them well enough." Frerin said.
She smiled, though a bit sadly. "Oh dear…you don't need me anymore."
Fali of course rushed right over and enveloped their mother's waist in a strong embrace. "Don't listen to them, I still need you."
Their mother laughed. "Thank goodness for that."
"So can we go alone?" Frerin asked. Amad often let Frerin venture off on his own, and she'd allow Fien, so long as his destination wasn't too far away or if he went with Kien or Frerin. Gideon wasn't sure of what she'd think of letting them all go, given that Fali and Vesper were coming along.
Amad appeared to still be thinking it over, but before she could reach an answer Adad smiled and said "I don't see why not."
They all cheered. Amad flinched at their enthusiasm the tiniest bit, her mind probably reeling with the hundred things that could go wrong. She gave their Adad the smallest glare, but then smiled and agreed that they may, so long as they were careful when they were outside the mountain.
After that everyone was racing to finish breakfast and find training blades. Fien was sent to go fetch their cousins and the three of them came back in such a mad rush they all toppled inside, tripping over each other and laughing.
Before they could take off out the door Amad was sure to speak with Fali. "You promise you'll be good for your borthers?" She asked.
"Yes, Amad."
"And you'll listen to Frerin?"
"Yes, Amad."
"Good." There was a warm smile from their mother. "Now, go have fun, and see if you can find something new for your box."
Fali was grinning ear to ear as she kissed Amad goodbye and then rushed over to their father to do the same.
Then they were off and Gideon found himself among friends, rushing down the halls so fast that the people seemed to be nothing but sheer blurs to his vision.
They raced out into an empty spot of the training grounds, claiming it as their own. "Let's split into teams." Frerin suggested. "That way everyone can go at once."
"We'll be a team!" Fien and Kien nodded, gluing themselves to eachother's sides already.
"Four teams of two? Or two of four?" Orian asked.
"Two of four." Tauris said. "Otherwise there are too many opponents."
"Fali, you and Orian will be with Fien and Kien…" Frerin said.
"How come I don't get to choose?" Fali asked.
"I'm only organizing it so we're evenly matched." Frerin answered.
"What's so bad about our team anyway?" Fien demanded of her.
"I wanted to fight against you." Fali stuck out her tongue.
"Enough of that." Frerin said, and Fali listened, as she had promised. "Then that makes the second team Gideon, Vesper, Tauris and myself."
"How will we know who wins?" Kien asked.
"We each try to safe guard something of ours." Frerin answered. "And try to take it from the team."
"Like what?" Fali asked.
Frerin looked around them for items of the same size to use as the precious items they would be protecting. They unfortunately had not brought anything with them. He sighed, and then removed his shoes. "I guess we'll have to use these." He sighed.
"Your boots?" Fien asked.
"Sure…it's not like we have to use diamonds Fien."
"Well, personally I don't find your shoes very worthy of a treasure." Fien replied, causing a small wave of laughter.
"Just use your imagination." Frerin replied, tossing one to the opposite team. "Hide it somewhere, and we'll do the same and then we'll spar as look for them and try to stop each other from finding them."
He then motioned for the others to follow him as they sough out a decent hiding place.
"Where should we hide it?" Gideon could hear Kien ask.
"Let's bury it the sand!" Fien whispered back.
"Oh, brilliant! They'll never find it."
"Hide it somewhere above ground please!" Frerin shouted bact at them, also catching the conversation.
Fien sighed, heavily. "Well, it was a good idea…"
Frerin decided to stash away the boot in one of the arrays of rock that jutted up from the sand. It was a good hiding place, given the number of these rocks toward the one end of the pit.
Fien and the others hid their respective boot (and they hoped they had hidden it above the ground as they had been told to) and then everyone met up in the middle, forming two lines. Gideon was placed opposite of Fali. "On the count of three?" Frerin asked, and was met with a nod from each of them. "One…two…"
It was in these fleeting seconds that Gideon realised that they would be charging straight at each other and he may very well be knocked to the ground if he didn't rush to meet his little sister in a spar.
"Three!" Frerin shouted, and they raced toward each other, training blades raised and with smiles on their faces. Gideon was prepared in time for fali, so when she crashed into him, he merely reeled back a step, instead of falling over altogether. Fali then pushed against him, and he held her off. He could see similar spars between the others, everyone holding their own. Frerin had his bare feet securely in the sand.
Eventually the line they had formed broke about, when Kien managed to get the advantage over Tauris long enough to escape, and start running off to find Frerin left boot. This changed tactics significantly. Tauris began to chase him, and Frerin gave Fien a little shove, enough to race off to help his teammate. Vesper and Orian's fight dissolved and they took off in the chase.
Gideon wanted to do the same, but Fali was simply not letting him leave. He continued to block her attacks. "Fali, quit it!" He said, as she went on.
When she did not he was forced to step aside quickly as she changed stances, and dive into the fray. This caused Fali to lose her balance, as she had intended for Gideon to be there to meet with her blade, and now he wasn't, so the momentum propelled her forward and she stumbled down into the sand. "Gideon!" She said when she got back to her feet.
"I'm sorry!" Gideon shouted back at her.
He raced off to search for Frerin's right boot. There wasn't as many rocks to hid it in on the opposite end of the grounds. He hoped this would give him better luck. He checked behind the first few formations and didn't see it.
Then the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up and he quickly spun around to stop Orian from beating him. "Hello." Orian was smiling, friendly enough. Gideon didn't mind sparring with him, he didn't treat spars so seriously. "It's good to see you're having fun." Orian continued, trying (again without success) another offensive move against him.
Gideon nodded.
"You're pretty good." Orian said.
"Thank you." Gideon nodded. "I've been practicing."
"Really? No wonder." Orian chatted freely. Unfortunatly, with his mind being elsewhere, he didn't notice Vesper advancing on the two of them, and she caught him in the shoulder, with a wicked and happy smile.
Orian saw her, and then proceeded to drop his own blade and went on to dramatically pretend to die. Vesper laughed at him. "Get up, get up!" She encouraged him. "You're not actually dead, silly."
"Better run then, before I seek my revenge." Orian warned her. "Three, two…"
They grabbed hold of each other's hands ran off, before Orian could rise and catch them. "Faster!" Gideon urged her.
Vesper was laughing, with her little wooden blade held firmly in her hand. She had inherited a warrior's grip from her mother. She had a keen look in her eyes and she bolted straight over to Kien and practically jumped on him to throw him off balance. The force of her sent Kien nearly tripping over his feet, but he righted himself just in time, being rather quick and light on his feet.
Gideon himself was ploughed into a little roughly by Fien. Not that Fien meant to be rough, of course. Gideon nearly tripped, and would have done so if he had not started running so quickly, so he practically touched down on the sand and dashed away.
He then stood taller and took a stance against his brother. Fien mirrored his actions. They were waiting for who would make the first move, and when Gideon was too busy making sure he didn't let Fien get any closer to him, Fien made the first offense. Gideon blocked him. Fien tried again. Gideon blocked him again.
If he had not been so worried about being overcome, the boy may have noticed that one so rarely got an offensive move against him. His defense was near-impenatrable.
Gideon then decided it was his turn and made a bold swing at Fien. Fien caught his blade and with his stronger arms wrenched it from his hands.
He would need to practise more on his offensive work, he noted, as a small bit of panic rose in him. He scrambled for his blade then, not giving up yet, and eager to protect himself. He clutched at the fallen weapon and swung around, expecting to have been followed, but finding that Fien had not pursued him.
That's when he finally got the idea that Frerin's other boot had to be close by and Fien was probably more concerned with defending it then defeating him.
He was a clever child.
I had to be near him, and Gideon bolted to the closest rocks, checking the pile, seeing nothing and hurrying to the next to search through them. Of course, Fien soon caught on to this and leapt toward him. Gideon raised his blade, prepared for the swings now, and the wood of the blades met in a solid collision, a loud smack alerting everyone of what was happening and capturing their attention. Its volume was so much louder than that of the other playful fighting that it even startled the two of them.
"It had to be around here somewhere!" Gideon called. "Keep looking!"
What followed next was a bit of a scramble. Tauris joined him in the search, against the competition of Fali, Orian had been smart enough to use the little battles occurring on the opposite side to sneak away and search for their boot, but Frerin was there to meet him, and Vesper took up sparring with Kien, because there was no one left.
Gideon continued to look as best he could, given that it was harder to pay attention to hiding places when you also had to defend yourself. He was beginning to doubt he'd ever find it, as the other spars continued around him. Frerin was probably taking it a little easier on Orian, as he was younger and Kien had tackled Vesper to the sand and was now tickiling her sides with hardly any mercy.
He was turning over a flat stone placed upon a few other rocks when he finally lost track of Fien's movements and his brother bested him, causing him to lose his balance and fall onto his rear end. It would have been an embarrassing moment for Gideon, had he not, and completely by chance, seen the boot a few yards over.
"Tauris, over there!" He yelled, pointing toward the fateful hiding place. His cousin was only a few paces away, and his eyes narrowed in on the rock.
Fali put up a good fight, but Tauris was faster, sending her off balance just enough to break away and run straight for Frerin's shoe. There was a great struggle that followed, as she wrestled him to the ground with very little conduct and the two of the grappled for a few minutes, as everyone else tried to keep other opponents away.
It was all a matter of time though. Tauris grabbed the boot and dragged it safely toward his chest. "I got it!" He shouted, and held it up.
The boot was spilling out a little mountain of sand from when he had dragged it. Fali was laughing so hard she forgot to be upset that she and her team had been defeated. In fact, they were all laughing fairly hard as Frerin sighed, with a bemused grin, and took back his shoe.
They were together, and even things like losing could not soil their spirits. Times like these were the happiest they would have in their lives.