Disclaimer: I don't own any familiar characters, and or anything pertaining to the world of the Hobbit. All, but my ocs, are owned by J.R.R Tolkien (who probably hates us for doing this to his work).

Chapter 6

Balin had sent out a raven to Dale, inquiring about any missing girls. Thorin had grumbled through the whole thing that they should have just woke her up, sent her to packing to Dale. Kili insisted the girl was of no threat, and that she had been through so much. Which brought about the question of what had exactly happened to the girl. She didn't look like she came from any wealth or high-status family. Her clothes said that much. Thorin knew all the families in the valley and had never seen the girl before. Kili and Fili didn't recognize her from Dale, but it was a growing city new people came every day. They spent the rest of the day locked away in Thorin's study trying to decide how to proceed with the girl.

"We shall leave this matter for the morning." Thorin decided, realizing the sun had vanished and the moon had claimed the sky. He bid a good night to Balin and Dwalin, who bowed to their friend. Kili and Fili inched toward the door, hoping their uncle wouldn't notice them.

"You two stay here," Thorin called to Fili and Kili before they could slip from the room. Fili and Kili turned to face their uncle, listening as Balin closed the door sealing their fate.

Thorin paced behind his desk, his face hard trying to find the right words. "What you two did today was incredibly reckless even for you two."

Thorin paused, Fili opened his mouth, but Thorin held up a hand silencing him. "I got word from Lord Armus that you refused his advice and went into wilds without any guards."

"Uncle we've made the trip hundreds of time, no harm came to us," Fili argued.

Thorin slammed his fist into his desk, "You will be king one day, Fili. When will you learn you are not always right!"

Fili stepped back his head falling. He and Thorin had this talk quite a lot; he wanted to prove to his uncle that he was worthy of behind his heir. Fili had taken on every project Thorin had asked him too, pushed himself beyond his limits to gain Thorin's approval. Yet nothing seemed to work.

"Un-" Kili began.

"You are right, we acted on an impulse, and it will not happen again." Fili ended. Fili felt his brother's stare but did not meet it.

Thorin grunted nodding his head."See that it does not."

Fili bowed his head turning to leave the room. Kili heard the door shut behind him, and stared at his uncle, "Would you have left her there to die then." Kili wondered aloud.

"I would not have allowed her to come into Erebor. I would have brought her to the healer in the valley, with her own kind." Thorin spat.

Kili shook his head, "With her own kind, Uncle." He said wearily.

"She would have died if we had brought her to them, she needed Oin's help." Thorin sat at his desk resting his head in his hands.

"Kili go," his uncle asked tiredly.

Kili leaned into his uncle's desk. "You taught us true warriors save people, no matter their race. You taught us that."

With that Kili left the room. Thorin sighed loudly, leaning his head against his chair. He needed a drink.

Fili was tired; he wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed under his furs. Tomorrow would be filled with days locked away in the council chamber. Fili dragged his feet along the hall, heading to his apartment. He sighed running his fingers through his hair, images of the girl filled his mind.

He opened his door feeling a gentle breeze flow from his apartment. His eyebrows furrowed, had he left his balcony open? His hand found its way to the dagger strapped to his rib. He slipped in through the door, the blue light of the night sky leaking through the gaping glass door.

He gripped the dagger, his eyes searching the room for any threats. His eyes caught a shadowy figure standing in the doorway of his balcony. His stomach lurched, he was ready to pounce. Though a moment passed and the character didn't move. Fili stood up cautiously taking steps toward the shadow. As he crept closer he could make out the features of the intruder. They were tall, almost as tall as he was. His eyes saw familiar the short cropped hair and an oversized shirt. What was she going out of bed? He wondered to himself. He saw her legs wobbled underneath her; her hands tightened their grip around the railing. Fili stood behind here, unsure how to approach her. The girl turned her head, the light of the moon glowing against her skin. Her eyes looked sad, staring out to the valley below he thought for a moment that she might jump. Not wanting her to do anything rash, he cleared his throat. The girl stiffened turning over her shoulder to face him. She looked much different wake then she did asleep. Her eyes were the color of steel in the forge below them. They were full and filled with panic. Like a wild animal begin hunting. Fili raised a hand and opened his mouth when he felt the blow of her fist connecting with his face.

The world around him spun, stumbling back Fili hit the ground hard his cane clattering beside him. Fili let out a yell; his hand covered his face. The girl stood there, shocked by her own actions before taking off into a full sprint. Fili scrambled to his feet, trying to follow her as she dashed from his apartment. But the girl was fast.

A group of guards rushed to his room, Fili pointed to the blur of blonde hair disappearing around the corner of the royal balcony.

"Follow that girl, don't let her escape." Fili cried as loud as he could. The guards clambered over on another following the direction the girl had gone in.

Fili felt the heat pulsing under his right eye. He had merely tried to help the girl, and in turn, she punched him. He had run after his guards who had pursued the wild girl. He watched from the royal balcony as she ran full speed down the steep steps if he hadn't been so anger Fili might have found her ability to outrun his guards impressive. But right now it only rubbed salt into his wound. She had been severely hurt, or at least he thought she had been, how could she be running with such ease. Had his uncle been right? Fili sorely hoped that wasn't the case. Thorin wouldn't trust his judgment for months after this incident. Fili let out a groan.

A scream caught his attention, watching as the girl misstepped. Her foot stepping off the path, her body lurched forward. His gut clenched, Fili couldn't bring himself to watch the girl fall to her death despite what she had just done. He swirled his head away from the scene; there was nothing for a moment glancing back to the spot where the girl had fallen from. There he found Dwalin pulling her up by the arm. The girl stared up at the Captain as her feet touched the solid ground before crumbling into Dwalin's arms.

"Fili," a familiar voice called behind him. Kili pulled his bed robes tightly around him running over to his brother, having heard the news of his attack he had come as fast as he could. Anxiety flushing through him seeing Fili standing and looking quite alive.

"What happened?" Kili asked his breath still trying to catch up with him. His eyebrows knitted together following his brother's intense stare. Below them, Kili watched as Dwalin carried a girl across one of the bridges, a group of guards following close behind their captain. Kili turned to his brother; he was taken off guard by the pink bruise taking form under Fili's eye and cheek. Without a word Fili stalked back to his room, Kili could feel the anger radiating off of him. He followed cautiously at a distance. Kili had been on the other side of Fili's wrath more than once; he knew to keep his distance and to keep sharp objects away from his brother's reach.

Reaching his room, Fili sat in one of the chairs by his heart and began a small fire in the hearth. Kili sat on the fireplace ledge watching as his brother picked up his cane, fiddling with the end of it. Fili rarely needed it these days, nor did he want it. Kili knew it made him feel weak; he had tried to reassure his brother that no one looked down upon him for needing it. But nothing stopped his brother when he had made up his mind; he was like their uncle in that respective.

"What happened?" Kili gently repeated his question, hoping to get out an answer out of Fili this time.

Fili mumbled something under his breath that Kili could not make out. Kili made a face leaning closer to hear his brother.

"What?"

"The girl punched me in the face." Fili snapped pushing himself from his seat, turning his back on Kili.

Kili's face was blank as he tried to process what Fili just said. He blinked a few times before he let out a burst of laughter. He held his side as his face crinkled. Fili glared at his brother over his shoulder, rolling his eyes. He knew his brother would react like a fool. Kili slapped his knee, a tear glided down his face. Fili tossed his cane at his brother's face, slumping into one of the chairs surrounding his table. The cane hit Kili in the chest but didn't stop him from doubling over with laughter. In the midst of his brother's hearty laugh, his door flew open his mother, Dis, and Thorin busting through. His mother yelped coming to her oldest son's side.

"Fili, I just heard you were attacked!" Dis cried sinking to her knees in front of her son, her fingers combining over every inch of his face.

Dis was a loving mother and cared deeply for her two sons. Since their father's death, she had become more protective over them. Though they were both past maturity and skilled warriors she still felt the need to protect them. Nearly losing both of them, and her brother had been hard for her and held the three of them as tightly as she could now. Even if sometimes they wished for air to breathe. Dis let out a gasp running her fingers over the now growing bruise that marked the side of Fili's face. He let out a yelp holding a hand over the bruised spot.

"Amad," Fili yelped like a child. Thorin hovered over his mother's shoulder, his dark eyes narrowed.

"Fili what happened," Thorin demanded staring at the pink bruise. It was Kili who gained his mother and uncle's attention when he was sent into another fit of giggles.

"Kili this is no laughing matter," His mother barked at her youngest son. Fili sighed as Kili calmed his laughter, a grin still resides on his face.

"The girl punched me," He said pathetically. Kili let a laugh slip as Thorin's hand connected with the back of his head finally shutting him up.

"Girl, what girl?" Dis looked back at her brother with concern. Thorin's face morphed with anger; his fist clenched with a sudden burst of rage.

"We found a human girl on our way home from Dale, she was dying so we brought her back to Erebor so Oin could heal her," Kili admitted to his mother moving to stand beside his brother.

"A human girl?" Dis said she caught in disbelief. Feeling a sense of pride for her sons bloom in her heart, they had saved someone, not of their own kin, even if they had ended up punching Fili in the face. However, the thought a stranger in their home was not something that set well with her.

"I told you no good would come of this," Thorin scolded pointing at the boys sternly. Dis rolled her eyes at her brother's dramatics.

"How did it happen Fili," Dis asked gently moving about her son's apartment. Dis found a small cloth, going to his water basin soaking it with fresh water and running back to her son's seat instructing him to place it over his eye.

"I came back from Thorin's study, I was going to bed when I saw my balcony doors open," he continued," and the girl was just standing there."Looking over his shoulder, the image of the girl under the moonlight burned in his brain. She had seemed so tired, so sad. A part of him felt for her, felt like he could feel her pain echoing in his room.

Thorin stood straight up at the new development. "How did the girl get in here?" Thorin questioned anger biting in his voice. Fili had no idea; it wasn't like he had let the girl into his room. The royal wing was guarded heavily; it was a mystery that eluded him just as it did his uncle.

"I haven't the slightest idea uncle," Fili replied. "The girl was just there; she looked so sad I thought she was going to jump from the balcony." Dis looked at Fili disheartened. "I came up to her, and I tried to talk to her, but she turned and punched me before running out of the door. That's when I called for the guards." Kili held back a snicker imagining the tiny girl connecting her fist into his brother's face but felt the sharp glare of his mother brushing it off by clearing his throat

Dis dropped her glare as she stood up, her hand playing with the bead at the end of her hair. "The poor girl," she said leaving the three men staggering.

Fili and Thorin raised their eyebrows starting at Dis like she had lost her head. "Dis!" Thorin yelled.

"Amad how could you say that she attacked me," Fili said slightly hurt by his mother's betrayal. Dis narrowed her Durin blue eyes, her hand on her hips. "The child woke up in a strange place with no one beside her, of course, the poor thing was scared. If someone, who I didn't know, came up behind me I would have done the same thing." Dis explained, much to her son and brother's displeasure.

"She has no right to punch him, Dis. He is the prince of Erebor." Thorin spoke.

Dis scoffed, rolling her eyes at her brother. "She didn't know; the girl was defending herself. Thorin, don't be so hard on her."

Fili didn't meet his mother's gaze. He hated to admit it, but his mother was right; this had been his fault. He had never stopped to think the girl would be scared of Erebor, it was his home, and to him, it was a perfectly safe place. But to her, this human girl, this place was foreign and scary. Fili sighed running his fingers through his golden hair, "Amad is right, uncle. I shouldn't have approached her in such a way." Fili sounded defeated, his mother smiled brightly at her son's confession.

"Nevertheless she punched a prince of Erebor, she must face the council." Dis groaned "No, no the girl did nothing wrong. Let her heal, and then we shall send her on her way." Dis agreed. Thorin stood facing his sister, and Dis sent him a challenging look. Kili, now devoid of any laughter, curled back into his seat at the sight of the two siblings. Dis and Thorin shared many things; raven black hair, Durin blue eyes, a loyal heart. But shared an unbudging sense of pride. Whenever they fought the whole mountain would shake, and no one, not even those in the company, would dare go near the siblings. To be this close to one of their fights, was far more dangerous than any battle the fiercest warrior would ever see.

"The girl will not go before the council, Thorin. And that is final!"

"I am the king, and what I say goes!"

"You may be a king, but I am your sister. Listen to me for once."

"I will not be-"

"Thorin!"

"Dis!"

Kili quickly interrupted the impending fight he looked to his brother for help. Fili stood, wedging himself between the siblings, "In the morning the girl can explain herself to us, seeing she has done no damage we could decide what to do with her then."

Fili recommended, the storm clouds lifting from his mother's eyes as she lowered her head. Thorin rubbed his hand over his beard, nodding his head. "We'll wait for Oin, and see if he has any information on the girl."

Magdalen felt like she was in the middle of the ocean, in a sinking boat. The water flushing around, swallowing her whole. Consuming her into the black water. Flashes of her body running down long winding hallways, punching a man in the face, and nearly falling to her death rushed back to her in the dark. Spots of light dotted the void around her, the heat of her aching body brought her back to reality. Tears welled in her eyes, the world around her burned with blurred lights and colors. Her hands hummed with nervous energy, her lung shrunk as the air left her body. Her chest burned, and her body throbbed. A whimper slipped from her as she drew into herself, her arms wrapped around her sore knees.

A thick, calloused hand came into her focus, in it was an egg shelled color handkerchief. "There you are Lassie, dry those tears. No sense in seeing such a lovely little bird as you cry." The voice spoke gently; Magdalen snatched the outstretched cloth careful not to touch the bare skin. She pressed the handkerchief to her flushed cheeks, patting away the tears. Her eyes rested on the familiar wool blanket slowly reaching the face of the handkerchief owner.

His hair was long and grey and drew down the sides of his long face from his widow's peak. He was an older gentleman; his long grey hair drew down the sides of his long face from his widow's peak. The bottom of his face vanished under his thick bread that reached the top of his broad chest. Two long pieces of hair seemed to grow between his mouth and sizeable angular nose, curling into a braid that reminded her of Pippi Longstocking hair. His colossal nose was framed by two bush eyebrows untamed by tweezers. He wore unique thick grey clothing that reminded her of the art her grandfather drew for her as a child, odd patterns of blue were sown into the bottom of his shirt and sleeves. Around his belly was a black belt holding an assortment of glass bottles and herbs.

"Thank you," Magdalen mustered handing him back the handkerchief; her own voice sounded strange to her as if it didn't belong to her. Her throat felt raw like it hadn't been used in weeks.

The old man reached for her arm, "Hey!" Magdalen squeaked quickly pulling away from her hand. Smashing her back into the head of the bed, her arms pulled around her body.

The man raised his hand slowly, "I mean no harm lass, I just need to check your hand." Magdalen wrapped her other hand around the hand in question, feeling the heat of the swollen skin. Magdalen cleared her throat relaxing into the bed under her. She laid her hand before the man, not meeting his gaze. Sausage finger brushed over her bleeding knuckles.

"That hurts, stop!" She hissed as he applied pressure to the knuckles. He didn't hear her comments or ignored them, and he brought the hand closer to his face before abruptly dropping it. He waddled over to the cabinet, as he walked away she noticed that he was very short for a man. Her eyebrows knitted, she figured in her head that she was probably a head taller than the man. She watched him as the man went about his business, he seemed to be no threat to her. In fact, he reminded Magdalen of her grandfather in many aspects.

"It seems only to be bruised my dear, you are lucky." He said taking a wet cloth cleaning off the blood from her hand, before wrapping it carefully.

"If I may be so bold, what is your name?" He asked rolling the bandage around the palm of her hand. Magdalen tensed debating in her head whether she should give the man her name. He had been kind to her and seemed to be of no threat to her. But he could have helped bring her here, where ever here was.

The man smiled softly, sensing the girl did not trust him not that he blamed her. "My name is Oin, son of Groin." He offered his name as a peace offering. The man puffed his chest in pride as he gave his name, and strange title Magdalen noticed. Oin, what a weird name? Magdalen thought her head began to pound again. The name was foreign, yet oddly familiar like a distant memory trying to find its way home.

"I'm Magdalen Kathan…" Oin tilted his head, digging in the bag on his belt. He brought out a small golden trumpet holding it to his ear.

"Magdalen? I'm sorry my dear; my hearing isn't as good as it uses to be." He bellowed pushing the small trim put closer to her mouth. It wasn't the strangest thing Magdalen had seen in the last couple of hours.

Magdalen grinned leaning into the trumpet, "My name is Magdalen Kathan."

"Ahh," Oin realized, his eyebrow shot up, before once again moving about the room. When he returned to her side, he placed a glass filled with water. "Drink this Miss Magdalen Kathan, you sound like a crow," Oin ordered watching as she brought the glass to her lips. The water felt like paradise as it washed down her dry throat.

Magdalen looked around the room; anxiety filled her mind as questions rolled through her mind. A sharp pain fizzled in her brain; she took a deep breathe closing her eyes. Her eyes felt heavy; her body pressed into the soft mattress. She ran her fingers through her knotted hair, grimacing as she felt the knots.

"Mr. Oin," She shouted, hoping the man would hear her. "Where am I?" Her voice shook, tears once again began to gather in her eyes. She opened her eyes blink away the tears, Oin folded his hands over his stomach standing a respectable distance from the scared girl.

"You are in Erebor." Magdalen stared at the short man. The air around her felt hot and thick all the sudden.

Magdalen slumped into herself staring down at her bandaged hand. How in the world had she gotten here? Erebor, Oin, they sounded so familiar, but she couldn't quite place where she had heard them before. A light bulb went off in her head.

"Middle Earth," She stated aloud, "Aye, Erebor is in Middle Earth," Oin said slowly becoming increasingly worried that she had hit her head too hard.

"Oh my god," Magdalen breathed out a hand clasped over her open mouth. Now she had known she had gone crazy. It all came flooding back to her, Erebor was the kingdom of dwarves from The Hobbit her grandfather's favorite story. He would read it to her and Susan as children, he adored it and loved reading it to his grandchildren.

"Erebor," Magdalen shouted making the poor man jump. That word felt strange in her mouth. It wasn't something, or rather somewhere she hadn't thought about in a long time.

Oin looked at the girl like she had just shattered into a million pieces, he held his hands out to her hoping she would calm down. Magdalen felt her hands shake violently. No no no no no this wasn't right, none of this was correct. She must have been having a hallucination, from hitting her head. Of course, this all was some wild dream.

"Miss Magdalen are you alright?" Oin inquired the girl looked like she had seen Mahal himself. Magdalen shook her head.

"This is just a dream; you aren't here." She repeated to herself. Her hand clenched around her bloodied sweatshirt, her breathing becoming shallow with every passing second.

"I am very much real thank you very much," Oin stated. Magdalen thought quickly looking down at her bleeding hand. Dreams weren't supposed to feel real, so why did her body ache.

"Oin, please tell me this is just a dream, and I'll wake up in my bed tomorrow." The girl pled with Oin.

A sad look passed over his face. "I'm sorry Miss, this is far from a dream."

"I think I'm going to be sick," Magdalen yelp running over to the bucket she had seen laying in the room. Her stomach cleared itself of what little it had left in it. Oin rubbed her back after she had stopped helping her to bed. He handed her another cup; the mug was filled with a brown liquid that didn't look appealing to her rolling stomach.

"Drink dear, it will help you sleep," Oin said tipping the cup so she would consume the drink. Magdalen blinked a few times, with each one her lids became heavier until sleep finally came for her.

"Sleep now, my dear." Oin whispered bringing the wool blanket to her chin.

"Nothing more than a bruise," Oin patted Fili's bruised cheek, Fili flinched at the contact. Muttering an 'Ouch' as Oin gathered his supplies bag into his satchel.

Thorin watched his nephew's reaction, now for it to reignite his anger. He huffed turning away folding his arms over one another, thinking. It had been bad enough they had thought so carelessly to bring someone unknown to them into their home, but for her to attack his heir made his blood boil.

"What of the girl, Oin?" Thorin spat.

Oin finished tucking away his supplies not meeting his king's stern gaze. "Has she said anything?" Thorin questioned taking strides toward his healer. Oin raised his hand scratching the back of his neck.

"Oin," Thorin warned.

"I believe the girl suffers from a server head wound," he said finally," the lass was able to recall her name, but didn't know where she was." Fili knitted his eyebrows.

Dis shared a look with Thorin. Breaking her eye contact, she took a step toward the healer as he gathered his satchel, placing it over his shoulder. "What is the girl's name Master Oin?" She said gently diverging from her brother's harsh tone.

"She told me her name was from Magdalen," Oin replied.

"Magdalen?" It was Kili who tested the name; it felt strange and foreign in his mouth.

"What kind of name is that?" He questioned. Fili shrugged, Magdalen had been a strange name and was nothing like the names he had heard in Dale or any other City of Man.

Fili turned to Oin, "Did she say anything else." Oin shook his head, his long beard braid bouncing as he did so. "The lass became panicked when I told her she was in Erebor."

"What do you mean panicked," Asked Dis.

"She began to whisper to herself, and then asked me if she was in a dream." He paused remembering the tears well up in her pale blue eyes leaving him with a pang of sadness of his own.

"When I told her that I was real, she began to scream and only calmed when I gave her some Valerian Root tea." Dis tilted her head at Oin's revelation. She saw a moment of guilt flash in her oldest son's eyes as he let his head hang. Thorin pondered Oin words; nothing seemed to be adding up. Oin interrupted his thoughts bowing before the king and princes, kissing Dis's hand.

Thorin called out to Oin and the two guards standing at the door. "In the morning make sure the girl is ready, we will be meeting with her in my study." Oin froze for a moment before nodding in understanding, "I will have her ready in the morning." Oin said before making his leave.

The moon had reached its highest point, and Dis and Thorin had left, knowing tomorrow would be eventful. Leaving Kili and Fili nursing two ale's that Fili had requested soon after Thorin took his leave. The fire slowly began to dim down, Fili watched the flames reach up and dance down. Kili, feeling tired from the day's events, sat up patting his brother's shoulder.

"We did the right thing, Fili," Kili reassured Fili and himself. Fili nodded looking up at his younger brother, "Get some sleep, tomorrow will be a long one." Fili suggested walking Kili to the door. A feeling of dread echoed through him; tomorrow certainly was going to be a long day.

Hope you're all enjoying the story!

Thank you all for the nice comments, this is my first fanfiction. It warms my very cold heart to know that you all actually enjoy it.