Silent Ones :The Khazâds Tales

Dawlin's Tale

Disclaimer: Yah, don't own the characters, Tolkien, The Hobbit or anything else under copyright; otherwise, I wouldn't be rubbing pennies and bribing tooth fairies to make a living. The storyline is mine though, enjoy!

It was in the city of Dale when Dwalin first glimpsed them, a shadowed figure blending into the hustle and bustle of the famous market place. Glinting from one alleyway to the next, Dwalin would have never spotted the person if he hadn't almost run him/her over while chasing the infamous Star Thief.

Properly sized and cloaked in a material much like the Lorien leaf-eaters used, at first sight he mistook it for a Khazâd, perhaps even a stripling, but a fleeting glance back revealed bootless feet. Then, in one blink of his eyes, the being was already gone.

So surprised, he tripped over his own two feet while careening around a corner of an alleyway, having forgone his curiosity in place of his assigned duty. The Thief did come first on his list of priorities for the day, despite the odd pang of longing he felt at leaving the oddity. Still, in the space of one-foot fall and an embarrassing self-entanglement of his own limbs and gear, he'd lost both the oddity and the thief.

Aulë save him from the wrath of the Imperial Head Guard, it was not his day. He'd much rather chase his princely charge Thorin, cousin and friend, out of trouble than chase the slippery Star Thief. Why again, did they have Dwalin chasing a stripling who had been looking for five-fingered discounts? Oh yah, they called it training.

It was his unfortunate luck that his day of guard training in the city was the same day the Star Thief caused trouble. The same day the Calamity attacked. The same day Hellfire rained down on Dale and Erebor.

It was in the after mass, amiss the chaos and destruction the dragon left that he even thought of the figure again. Guiding and cajoaling the grieving into a marching migration away from the desolation, he caught a glimpse of the cloaked figure flitting around the city of Dale. A lone book and chest in hand, the figure went from person to person, who was dead or appeared dead, collecting a keepsake and writing something down along the way.

Years later, on a trip through the Forest River around Esgaroth, heading to the Iron Hills, he encountered a very odd tree. Hanging from the branches were token of all shapes and sizes: many were family beads on metal strings, some were medallions, and others were random objects. The most puzzling things thou, were the dull gemstone jewelry that sang to his stone senses something he had never heard of in stone lore. For all that the silvers, golds, and even a few hints of mirthil sang to him, the jewels they cradled were cloudily and lack luster. They were silent as the death of, he assumed, their previous owner, who was residing in Mandos Halls. There also, around the base of the tree, were natural looking carvings of every name that had fallen in Dale and Erebor, many he never knew or recognized, but none that was foreign, not man or Khazâd. Who were the dead ones that owned the odd jewelry?

The men, Dwalin was escorting, claimed the tree had sprouted on the eve of Erebor's downfall. It was not the only tree like it, they claimed, and every person who tried to take from the trees scattered across Middle Earth, planted at lost kingdoms or tragic battles, was never seen again. Such tall tales the race of Men had!

Yet, on the night he made it to the Iron Hills, he found a courting bead hanging from his axe. A strange glass bead with curious flowers, surrounding a feather that looked like a quill, a book, and the Westron letters of "Labingi". He was not surprised that his Ze's courting bead was gone the next morning after he'd switched the strange bead with his Intended's.

It even made Dwalin a little happy, shown in his own gruff and grumpy way, that his little Ze seemed to know when Dwalin needed them most. A calming balm at his side when no one was looking. He catch glimpses of his Ze with others while he wandered middle earth, playing mercenary or blacksmith.

However, every time Dwalin asked for them to remove that cloak his little Ze always pointed to some point in the distance. A place Dwalin always assumed pointed towards home. Odd, that he always ended up at Khagolabbad, and the only times and place his little one pointed East. If only his little Ze would speak instead of giving confusing directions. Words were so much easier to understand than pointed fingers.

Notes:

Khagolabbad = The Blue Mountain

Dwalin's One I tried to reflect characteristics of Ori since they are a popular pairing.

stripling- is Tolkien's word for Dwarf Children/ Young Adults. Dwarfling is a word used only in fandoms.

The glass beads do have a meaning. The flowers are the individuals characteristics, I just don't know a thing about flower meanings and language. Hence, why I haven't listed specific flowers. While, the objects and names reflect the hobbit's family. Which family do you guy's think Dwalin's Hobbit came from? It should be fairly easy for you guys to find. :D

I like comments and speculations, so please share the love! Who should I do next?