Do You Wanna Be My Friend?

Chapter 5: Bonding

Thorin took Alyss outside, he didn't want to awake Dis by returning Alyss to their room so he found it best that he take her out and have her do what she planned. He had tried to tell her that he didn't mind the gifts but she saw through his lies. It amazed him that she could do that, he never met a child that could see the truth through one's eyes; there was a great deal more to Alyss that he had thought.

"How come you don't like elves?" Alyss asked as they headed to the river not far from the settlement gates.

"All dwarves are not fond of elves Alyss." he explained, "And elves are not fond of us."

"Why?" She knew people could hate each other for no reason at all but she highly doubt that the dwarves and elves were like that.

"It's just how we are." he stated a bit harshly, he didn't intend on sounding so angry but his hate for the elves was so deep that it just slipped. "We cannot trust one another."

Alyss stared down at the elvish gifts, she wasn't sure about there not being a real reason for their dislike but she knew better than to press on. She would only end up upsetting Thorin and that was what she was trying not to do.

"What were you talking about earlier?" he asked softly, "You asked me not to hate you like your father had, why would anyone hate you Alyss?"

Alyss slouched her small shoulders, she hadn't meant to let that secret slip but she was afraid. She didn't want pity she only wanted to remain in their golden grace. "Lots of people hate me; daddy, my brothers, other kids, they all hate me."

Thorin was a bit shocked, he had heard of people who would abuse children but he hardly ever heard of family who did not love their own. Dwarves loved their children, it was rare for there to be females among them and even more so for them to want children so their young were always cherished. "What could you have done to make them hate you, you are a spirited girl who is full of life."

Alyss shrugged, according to the society that she was from she was a lowly being. It was true that she was spoiled and even she saw it but treating her like she had no heart was not fair, she had one she just wasn't always sure on how to use it. "I'm not a lady."

Thorin didn't understand that, dwarvish women were not expected to always be refine and feminine. Many of their crafts were done by their men just as much they were done by women, not even Dis, who was a princess, was taught to be elegant at all times. "Is that a problem?"

"They don't like me cause I'm different, different is bad." she explained, they had just arrived at the river and Alyss found that she wasn't sure on what to do.

"Different isn't bad." Thorin told her, kneeling beside the small brunette child, "Different isn't good nor is it bad, how you choose to make it is how it is."

Alyss looked up at Thorin, she didn't understand his logic but she was smart enough to understand that he did not disapprove of her personality. "I guess..."

Thorin saw the sadness in her, just because she understood his logic did not mean she believed him, and he felt the need to coddle the girl. How was it anyone else would have been deemed immediately weak by him but this child struck him differently. He was truly close to believing that Mahal had sent her to them.

"Do I throw them?" she asked timidly, "Or will it not get carried away?"

Thorin held out his hand and asked her to give them to him, "I know how to get rid of them." he took the gift, not bothering to hide the disgust as the elvish metal touched his palms, and stomped on them before gathering the remains to throw away.

"Did you really have to stomp on them?" Alyss asked as she watched the remains float away. Sure, they hated elves but stomping on their creations, that seemed to be a bit much in her books.

Thorin shrugged, "I'm sure elves would do the same to our great works if they could." Thorin could see the confusion and concern in her brown eyes but found it best to not tell her, he wanted her innocence to remain intact just a bit longer.

"Thorin? Alyss?" Dis's voice came softly behind them, she was dressed with the boys still in the nightshirts attached at her heels. "What are you two doing here at such an hour?"

Thorin smiled, Alyss had taken him seriously when he said no one was to know about her gifts from the elves so Dis was not aware of the elvish jewelery. "Alyss couldn't sleep so I thought she'd like to take a walk, maybe it would tire her out."

Suddenly the boys rushed over to Alyss and hugged her, "We thought something bad happened to her!"

Alyss gave a loud squeak when they gave her a particular tight squeeze, "Can't..breathe!" she wanted to push them off but she hadn't the heart to reject their affection. It wasn't something she was use to and she wanted to savor it.

"Sorry Alyss." Fili apologized as he and Kili released her from their death hold, "We didn't mean to hurt you."

Alyss shook her head, "It is okay."

Dis glanced at the three children and then at her brother before nodding, "Let us make our way back home. It's late and tomorrow is a big day for the entire settlement."

Suddenly Thorin's face fell noticeably and even Alyss caught the tension that was flowing through the air. She wanted to know what was happening tomorrow but the darkness she saw on Thorin's face frightened her enough to keep quiet.

"Alright, let's go." Thorin agreed as he already left to return home, leaving Dis and children alone. Dis was use to Thorin's attitude but Fili, Kili, and Alyss were not. Alyss especially since she was just brought into their small family.

"Come on little ones." Dis cooed once Thorin was ahead of them, "Let's hurry back home."

"Okay!" the brothers eagerly followed Dis but Alyss followed at a bit of a distance, not far enough to be left behind but just enough to not be directly behind them. She was at a loss and it bothered her, Thorin was acting a bit odd, a complete change from how he was when he and Dis happily accepted her into their little home. Whatever tomorrow was, it was not something good for Thorin.

The morning came rather quickly and Alyss wasn't exactly happy for that. Thorin had spent the morning away from everyone, the boys' lesson had been canceled due to Thorin needing to speak with Balin and Dwalin so they were allowed to spend their day exploring.

"Come on Alyss!" Fili happily chirped as he and Kili led her up some piles of rock. Somehow they convinced Dis to let them take her to a stream near the settlement. "We're almost there!"

Alyss pulled herself up to the top of the pile with the help of Kili, "How come you don't get tired like I do!?"

"We're dwarves Alyss." Kili told her, "We're built to be tough!"

"Uh huh!" Fili added as he hopped down the pile toward the stream, "Uncle says dwarves are made of rock!"

Alyss raised her small eyebrow at the brothers as they went on about some story about how dwarves were made and she was tempted to whack them on the head. Sure, she knew that human's had a story like this for their creation, she only could remember that Eve came from Adam's rib, but she couldn't see dwarves being made from rocks. Then again, people believe some strange things.

"There's the stream!" Kili announced as he and Fili pulled her toward the calm waters. "Mum said we can't swim in it but we play around it."

"Okay!" Alyss hadn't really wanted to swim, water scared her thanks to her brothers horrible shark and water monster stories, but playing near it was okay. Alyss was always careful to tread lightly around water banks so she wasn't worried about tripping into it.

"Hey Alyss?" Kili asked suddenly, neither Alyss nor Fili expected the almost sad tone in the lovable dwarfling's voice. "Uncle said you threw away the elf things last night."

Alyss tilted her head, "Yeah I did."

"Why?"

"What do you mean why?" Alyss glanced over at Fili, he was looking down at the ground. "Thorin said they were bad, I don't want to get in trouble with the other dwarves."

Fili shook his head, "You said you didn't want us to hate you like your Papa does."

Alyss froze, she hadn't expect Thorin to tell them about that. "That-!"

"Uncle didn't tell us that!" Kili added quickly, "We heard you cry!"

Alyss blushed, she was embarrassed to ever cry in front of everyone as she had been told it was a weakness. "I-I um..."

"It's not like it's bad." Fili rushed to her side, "You have to cry every few times or you will hurt yourself."

Alyss stayed quiet, if she talked now she would breakdown like she had last night and if she could avoid it she would.

"Alyss..." Fili saw tears beginning to flow, despite how obviously hard Alyss tried to fight them. She was far more emotionally frail than Thorin had told them and Fili was not use to handling this. Sure, Kili cried a lot when he was a baby but that was out of physical pain and need but this was emotional.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

Fili and Kili heard the the sudden monotone response and felt afraid by it, Alyss has never spoken to them in such a dead voice. They knew they had struck a cord and made mental notes to never do so again.

"Okay, how about we play a game?" Fili suggested, when Kili got upset games were always how anyone could make him feel better. "What do you like to play?"

Alyss thought about that, she didn't want to play a game that still allowed either brother to alone with her. She wanted to play hide-n-seek but that could get her lost in the vast forest. "Lava Monster."

"Huh?"

"I wanna play Lava Monster."

"What's that?" Kili asked, he had never heard of such a game in his life, the name intrigued him though.

"My mommy made it up." Alyss explained, "It's just like tag but instead of being It, you're the Lava Monster. And the ground is lava so you can't touch the ground unless you're the Lava Monster."

"If we can't touch the ground," Kili argued though he really wanted to play the game. "how are we gonna play the game?"

Alyss and Fili looked around for a platform for them to play on, only finding a smooth rock floor near the small waterfall that fed the stream. It was rather large, it spanned out into the the stream and it was high enough for their Lava Monster to still easily grab them. Fili had checked it and deemed it safe enough for them to play on.

"This is where the Lava Monster can't get us." Alyss said as she climbed the rock platform, "But we have to move around, no staying in one spot for too long."

"Okay!" Kili also hopped onto the rock, "But who's the Lava Monster?"

"Fili is!" Alyss chirped happy while running away from Fili, "He's still in the lava!"

"Whaaa!" Fili hardly realized that he wasn't on the rock, he knew he should have stayed there instead of climbing down. "No fair!"

"All's fair in love and war!" Alyss sang as she dodged his snatching hand, "Get 'way!"

"What happens if Fili get one of us?" Kili asked as he narrowly missed getting grabbed by his older brother.

"Then that person becomes the Lava Monster," Alyss stated as past Kili, "and they have to switch places."

Fili, having heard that he would be replaced if he grabbed someone, jumped and managed to grab Kili's ankle. "Gotcha!"

"Huh?" Kili looked at Fili and pouted, "Aw, now I have to be the Lava Monster..."

"And good luck!" Fili grinned as they traded places, "Because Alyss is fast and I'm not gonna make it easy for you."

Kili laughed, "We'll see about that Fee!"

They spent the whole morning playing their game, when lunch time rolled around they were sweaty and having giggle fits like mad. It was almost a quite starling sight for Thorin and Dis, seeing the boys this happy was not a rare sight but Alyss's joy was for them.

"How was your morning?" Dis asked once the little ones cleaned up, Fili actually didn't need a quick wash since he had accidentally fell into the stream. Or so Kili claimed when Alyss had asked how Fili fell into the water.

"Fun!" Kili said as he took the bowl of stew from his mother, "Alyss taught us a new game." Kili went on to explain the game and Dis found herself curious to see them play when she could.

"What about you Thorin?" Dis turned her attention to her silently smiling brother, "Was there anything eventful for you this morning?"

Thorin shrugged, "Not exactly eventful, but I had an interesting discussion with someone."

"Who?" Dis had stood from her chair to get more stew for the three starving children.

"A wizard." Everyone froze, Alyss included; what business does a wizard have with dwarves? Thorin especially.

"Why was there a wizard around here?" Dis asked, she had hardly noticed that her sons scooted closer to Alyss.

"Looking for his young charge of course." Thorin nudged his head at Alyss, "Gandalf said he had lost her after a brief scuffle with some goblins."

There was silence throughout the small house, no one knew how to handle the news. Alyss had only been with them for two days, they were already seeing her as family and the boys sure weren't planning on giving her back.

Alyss, who disliked silence greatly, asked softly,"Gandalf wants me back?" she loved the wizard, he was a great man and took care of her but she loved the dwarves too.

"Aye, he does." Thorin confirmed, "He said he had some business to deal with in a near by human town but then he'd come here for you."

Alyss's head dropped, her shoulders slouched, she didn't want to leave the dwarves at all. She like the men and elves but the dwarves, they were wonderful. They were fun to live with and lovable, true Gandalf had once told her the dwarves were stubborn and did not trust easily but they had not shown her that in her brief stay.

"If I go with Gandalf," Alyss mumbled to herself, "he'll send me back home."

Thorin nodded, "That is indeed what he plans."

Alyss sniffled, her home was far away, Gandalf told her it was a part of another world, and she had gotten use to this world. She wanted to stay, she wanted to be with the family that treated like she was their own instead of looking down on her because she was young.

"I don't wanna go back..." she cried, "I wanna stay."

Fili and Kili suddenly enclosed her into a tight hug and glared at their elders. "We're not giving her back!"

"Fili...Kili.." Dis tried to soothe the brothers but would not have any of it. "She has a family who want her back..."

"No!" Kili tried not to cry, he wanted to be strong for Alyss. "We're her family!"

Thorin opened his mouth to say something but Fili cut him off, "We all love her, you felt the pull to her just like we did." Thorin could not argue, they all did feel the strange pull that made them so happily take her in. "We only had her for two days, she's our friend."

Dis looked at Thorin, she could not say she did not already love the child as if she was her own. "Thorin..."

"Gandalf will not return until next month." he said, "When he comes back, we will decide if she should go home or stay here with us."

Fili and Kili hugged Alyss tighter briefly then let her go slowly, "Okay..."

Alyss sniffled a bit more before agreeing to the terms, she herself wasn't sure why she suddenly didn't want to go home. She was so use to the treatment she received from her brothers and father she would have thought she'd go back like always. But then again, she was under the care of a loving family so maybe it because of them she did not want to go back.

"I promise you Alyss," Thorin reached over the table to gently stroke the small girl's cheek, "I do not want to send you back where you are not happy." Alyss smiled at Thorin, he was a better father figure than the man who sired her.

Hello my lovelies! I AM SO SORRY ABOUT NOT POSTING! Again I do not have internet and my mom is away right now so I've been stuck without internet. Luckily my friend let me come over so now I can post your deserved two chapters.