Author's (semi-important) note: So! There's been a little bit of confusion over my use of the word 'Dwarve' as opposed to Dwarf in every chapter. I did a little bit of research and found this quote by Tolkien (courtesy of .uk) "In English, the only correct plural of 'dwarf' is 'dwarfs' and the adjective is 'dwarfish'. In this story 'dwarves' and 'dwarvish' are used, but only when speaking of the ancient people to whom Thorin Oakenshield and his companions belonged." I've also seen this affirmed in my physical copy of the Lord of the Ring book, in the ending notes written by Tolkien himself.

This is a bit controversial understandably and I've seen some disagreement on forums and blogs. But for continuity sake, and the fact that I'm trying to mirror the writing style of the Hobbit as best as I can, I will continue to use the word 'Dwarve' to refer to Nadi and her folk. I'm open for input though!

This story moves back and forward in time. This chapter is a glimpse into the past.

X

"Kili! Here! Catch!"

The young raven-haired Dwarve turned and quickly caught the hilt of an inbound dagger. Nadi ran to him and took the dagger from his hands, giggling at his clumsy attempt at catching the object. Suddenly a rush of laughter escaped her lips and she threw her head back, howling.

"And what do you find so amusing, starlight?" He asked. Though he knew that her answer would be at his expense, he could not stop the smile from spreading across his lips. Nadi's smile was legendary. Its geniality and grandness could set a whole room giggling. "Once," Kili liked to tell the male Dwarves his age, "she even made a smile light upon the lips of an Elven guard!"

Whether or not that was actually true, Kili didn't know. But he had always hoped that news of his fable-spinning would reach her ears by outside means. Such flattery seemed more genuine that way.

As she stood before him braying with her hands thrust upon her hips, he exhaled a small, disbelieving laugh.

" Your face ," she said and attempted to mimic his expression from the moment that he captured the dagger, but she fell into another fit of laughter and bent forward at the waist. "Oh, do not look so sour. It's an improvement, really !"

"Yes, of course you would find my parted lips and wriggling tongue extraordinary."

"Don't you know it." She circled behind him and adjusted the straps on his shoulders. All around them, Dwarves were preparing their armor and portioning out their rations. A band of Trolls had been spotted wandering the hills nearby. Kili, along with his brother, and a few others of their kin had taken it upon themselves to attack them.

"By my beard, your portioning hasn't gotten any better." She stuck a hand into his pack and, tongue between her teeth, began to shift things about blindly. "Have I taught you nothing in the woods?"

"Nothing that'd be of use against Trolls. Unless you think I should perhaps court them to death with my - will you stop digging around?!"

"Be silent! Or be still! Or perhaps be better at choosing what to pack!"

The Dwarves surrounding them glanced their way with many a snicker and chuckle. Fili, in particular, seemed the most amused by the couples' tousling and fussing. He caught his brother's eye and, with a wink and a smile, turned away to resume his packing.

Nadi had finally managed to tease out an armful of things that she thought quite unnecessary for a Troll hunting expedition.

"A jar of jam?" She said incredulously. Kili snatched the small glass jar from her hands and stuffed it triumphantly beneath his vest.

"There are some things that I want with me at all times. Dina's jam, your sweet voice-"

" No! Stop it! Step back! Mind your hands before I cut them off."

"Nadi, why do you insist on torturing this poor, innocent Dwarve? And I do not need this-" As if by magic, he twirled her blade between his fingers so that it looked as if it were being pulled by an invisible string. She placed the flat of her palm against the blade and pushed it against his chest.

"Take it -"

"I do not need it -"

"You may not, but I would be happier if-"

"I can manage with my bow-"

"But at close range-"

"I have my own-"

"I know, but-"

The sound of someone clearing their throat reached them both at once. They turned, hands held aloft between them, to find Fili standing a few paces away from them. "Are you ready, brother?"

"Yes, of course."

Before she could respond, Kili slipped the dagger face-down in her belt and moved out of reach. "Please, Nadi, I must go," he cried dramatically, "Take it! And have no fear, my lady, I will be back in time for you to throw more daggers my way. "

Seemingly defeated, she embraced both Dwarves and bid them strength and courage. Nadi watched as the band of Dwarves slowly retreated from view. One hand stroked the finely manicured beard on her chin (not as long as she would have liked, but she was trying,) while the other cut lazily back and forth through the air in a parting wave. She had wanted nothing more than to have gone with them, and indeed they made it clear that, if circumstances had been more in her family's favor, she was more than welcome to come along. But her mother's eldest brother - and the only remaining member of her house aside from her - had fallen ill in his old age. She knew that the hour of his parting was soon coming and it was a weight that she would have to bear on her own. But damn it all, the excitement of cleaving down Trolls with the brothers Fili and Kili was exactly what she needed to rid herself of her agonizing restlessness. She placed her hands in her pockets, still smiling. She had seen the wink that Fili had cast her over his shoulder when Kili had turned away. There was to be one thing that worked out in her favor that day.

X

"Kili, stop," Fili said. The younger Dwarve came to a halt and turned to face his brother. As the other Dwarves passed them on the murky trail, Fili reached in his pocket and made a show of fishing around for something buried deep. "Ah, here it is. It seems as if it had fallen in my pocket when Nadi bid me goodbye earlier."

Surprised and hot with embarrassment, Kili watched as Fili pulled Nadi's blade from his inner pocket.

"She said you can lose your head," he said as he handed the blade over to Kili, "but try to use this to protect the other parts."

X

Iree hated Dwarves. To her, the only good Dwarve was a dead one, impaled upon a stick. Many nights she woke in a fright, having dreamt of their grimy hands and hairy faces hovering above her. It was during these nights that she roamed her small cottage in the woods, crying out for the children that had been taken from her by the ugly Dwarven beasts. It was true that, while they had only taken one of them, the other had survived. But choices had to be made: sacrifice for the sake of vengeance.

At first, she had plotted out all of the terrible ways in which she'd inflict torture upon their kind. Her home was strewn with hastily sketched depictions of Dwarves decapitated or torn to pieces by her dogs. But in the end, it wouldn't be physical torture that she inflicted upon them. No, it would have to be much worse. Naturally gifted in the workings of magic, Iree had turned her attention to the darker arts. She could poison the body of those who she deemed murderers, but she could poison the mind, too.

Day after day she plotted. She paced. She dreamed of getting her hands on Dwarven flesh so that she could destroy it from the inside out. Her hands had begun to shake in rage at the very thought of them.

So she had traveled to Erebor, guided by the directions of apprehensive travelers and their tall tales of the Dwarven Folk. But upon seeing the fortitude that was the mountain, and the surrounding city of Dale she realized that she would have to wait until the right opportunity found her, even if it took years. She was, after all, a woman bereft facing a multitude within a stronghold.

Daily her hatred grew, darker her practices became.

Until one day, fortune walked freely into her garden.

X

Days had gone by since the passing of her mother's brother. Nadi knew that it was to come, and yet the arrival of his death had weakened her soul greatly. Though no one spoke it, all who lived and worked around the mountain understood the implication of his passing. Men and women from Dale had expressed their condolences, and even a band of Elves had come down to the mountain to offer her kind words and offerings. She was a strong Dwarve: she did not cry and accepted their displays of sorrow with the grace expected of her. All things come to pass, child. Even the greatest of mountains will have to fall one day. But only from their rubble will even greater mountains rise, Nain had told her and she had accepted his words before the House of Durin with a bowed head.

Now, out in the woods and far from Erebor, she felt her spirit rise again. The woods had been her reprieve from her chambers laden with sorrow. Indeed, since she was a young Dwarve she had sought out the awe and freedom that they offered to her. Breathing heavily, she scrunched her fist and allowed the sound and smell of the ancient trees to uplift her. Her closest kin had departed, yet she remained. As did the rest who resided in Erebor.

Then, there had been the matter of the missing Dwarves who had gone out to eliminate the pack of Trolls roaming near their homeland. Kili had been with them, as had Fili, and the rest of the Dwarves that she held near to her heart.

Suddenly from behind her, there came a deep, guttural growl. She spun around, just in time to see the bushes behind her wave wildly and fall still. She listened with a battering heart to a silence that was oppressive, devoid of the usual chirpings and chatterings of the wood. She smelled him before she saw him: a large black bear crouching just beyond the berry bush.

" Mahal, " she whispered and closed her eyes briefly, just enough to steady her nerves. She could hear the heavy, open-mouthed breathing of the black bear. The fetid stink of rotten meat reached her nose. Slowly, her hands snaked towards her sword's hilt. Then, thinking twice, she reached to her other side for her dagger. " Mahal, protect me and guide my hand…aiiiieeee !"

She roared and the bear came crashing through the bush, its beady eyes alight with rage and its wide snout wet with spittle. She steadied herself low on bent knees, distributing her weight evenly between her feet, and let it tackle her to the ground. She knew that she had to keep her wits about her and plan every move to the mere second, despite the chaotic fury of the raging beast.

She had already thought to clap her dagger upright in her left hand. As she fell, she thrust the back of her right forearm between her and the bear, anticipating its upwards attack. She screamed in pain as his claws swiped her arm but this, too, she had anticipated.

" When you are attacked and you have nothing to shield you from those who wish to do you harm, use the back of your arm as a defense, like so-" in the memory, she held her arm up between her and Kili, the back of her forearm facing him. "It is better to be injured there, as your inner arm is much more vulnerable and likely to bleed faster."

Teeth bared in pain, she reached around the heaving animal's neck and dealt it a blow to the side of its neck with her armed hand. Then, as the bear jerked up and roared in surprise, she quickly lifted herself at her waist, flicked her wrist so that the dagger turned upright, and dealt it a fatal blow deep beneath the chin. With her injured unarmed hand still held before her, she scooted backward and rushed to her feet.

" Aaaaagh !" She screamed. The bear huffed, its fur matted dark and purple, but it was standing its ground. Again, she closed her eyes. She raised both arms beside her and screamed as loud as she could, waking animals for miles with the resounding sound of her rage. The bear, frightened, turned tail and flung its heaving mass through the bushes. She watched, panting, as its movements faded farther and farther away. When she was sure that it had put enough distance between it and herself she paused and looked down at her bleeding forearm. Quickly, she tore a large strip of fabric from her coat and wrapped it tightly along her torn skin. It would be days until she reached Erebor again. She realized that it would be quicker to make for the villages in the opposite direction on her map. If she hurried, she could make it before nightfall. Teeth grit and arm pulsing in pain, she shouldered her bags and walked on.

The moon had not yet begun to rise when she reached a lone cottage. The garden before it was filled with poisonous plants. She recognized them by their bright colors and waxy leaves. Odd that one should tend such a space, she thought to herself as she trudged on, careful not to step on any of the vines that trailed along her path. But she had no choice. Her body had grown heavy and her eyes begged to close at every step. She raised a fist and knocked heavily against the rotted wood door.

"Nadi," she breathed painfully as the door opened. "At your service."

The face that peered down upon her was not kind, nor was it particularly pretty. The scowl that twisted the lips was full of hatred and disgust. Then suddenly it changed and the woman smiled crookedly.

"Oh, you poor little Dwarf, what happened? No matter, let us see what we can do for you." The woman opened the door wider and gestured with a wrinkled arm towards the interior of the cottage. "I'm Iree," she said, closing the door behind her with a firm crunch. "I am delighted that you found me."

X

Ending Note:

Double chapter update tonight! Be ready for chapter four in a few minutes.