I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reull Tolkien, and without his genius, this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

Please review! I love getting them-they keep me encouraged! J

All that day, Cirashala would pick up pinecones and stash them in her pack, trying to be discreet. She still had trouble keeping up, but whenever she would lag behind she would sprint for a bit and catch up. She suspiciously thought that a few of the dwarves had started keeping a slightly slower pace in addition to Bilbo, namely the two young heirs and Bombur. She really hoped that wouldn't get them in trouble.

It also proved a bit of a problem that Fili and Kili kept glancing back at her, because she risked them seeing her pick up the pinecones. She managed to be discreet though.

At midday, they stopped for a rest, with Cirashala stumbling her way toward the end of the group as usual. Her feet had at least five blisters each, and they were really beginning to hurt. She refused to mention it through, feeling it to be rather insignificant and feared that the dwarves would just laugh at her for complaining about something so trivial. She still was very weak and had a lack of energy, but all it took was the thought of wargs on their tail to make her be able to continue to move her feet.

One foot in front of the other, she thought to herself. Just keep going like that, and don't think about when the next rest is.

They had continued on through the forest easily enough afterward, and the tall pines rustled slightly in the breeze. Her clothes remained damp throughout the day, and she wrinkled her nose whenever the slight breeze wafted the dank smell toward her face.

Finally, Thorin called a halt for the night. They had reached the edge of the forest, and though most of the dwarves would prefer to make camp in a cave or something, they all agreed that the tree line provided better cover than none. They were now in the foothills of the Misty Mountains, and the cold air coursing down from their peaks was sure to be very cold in the night. It would be much warmer to camp among the trees, which provided a break from the wind.

She took her pack off, before sitting next to the tree she had been leaning up against since she had stumbled into camp. Resisting the urge to take her boots off to inspect the blisters (and see if there was any way she could cushion them more and still allow her feet to fit into them), she leaned her head back and sipped slowly but consistently from her water skin. She had been doing so all day, determined to gain as much strength as she could as quickly as she could.

She glanced down at the slightly bulging pack at her side, shaking her head in wonder at how much heavier the pinecones seemed to get with each mile she walked. She hoped the prank was worth it. She had her misgivings about pranking Thorin's nephew, but one whiff from her rank tunic or throb of her sore nose dismissed them.

She just had to figure out how to get to Fili's bedroll for a few minutes without him (or any of the others) realizing it.

XXX

Bombur decided to make a stew with some of the salted meat, since Kili had not killed anything for supper today. Unfortunately, dwarves were not the quietest when tramping their heavy bodies and boots through the brush, and whatever game they did see that day had fled before it was in range of Kili's bow.

The lad had had to go hunt down several arrows that had missed their too far away quarries, until Thorin ordered him to only shoot something in range to stop the delays. Since nothing had been in range, they had to suffice with their food supplies.

Cirashala approached the cook cautiously, but Bombur saw her hands filled with a bundle wrapped in a large handkerchief and greeted her with a smile.

"Got more things for supper, lass?" he asked her, and she nodded hesitantly.

"Um, well, I—I don't know if dwarves would like them," she said nervously, before producing a few handfuls of wild raspberries that she had picked as they passed by some berry bushes. She bit her lip and looked at the cook.

"Well," he said, glancing around camp quickly. "Perhaps they wouldn't mind them stewed and spread over cram to go along with the stew." She visibly let out the breath she had been holding, and Bombur realized how nervous she had been. He realized that she had fallen asleep before she could eat the delicious supper the night before, and hadn't seen how welcome her addition of cattails had been among the dwarves.

"Might even make the darn things palatable," Bilbo added as he approached the two. Bombur chuckled.

"Now, see Bilbo, you just need to get some stronger teeth. Cram really isn't all that bad," the dwarf grinned, a sly twinkle sparkling under his bushy eyebrows. Bilbo rolled his eyes.

"It's like chewing a dog's bone," the hobbit replied, grimacing slightly before pointing at the dwarf. "I will grow stronger teeth when you decide to stop eating!" Bombur's eyes widened in horror, and several members of the company laughed uproariously at the comical expression on the cook's face.

"Bombur stop eating! There's something I would never bet on!" Bofur gasped between guffaws.

"I don't think that's even possible!" Fili added, looking at his heartily agreeing brother.

Cirashala's mouth twitched, before a shadow fell over her eyes. She wordlessly grabbed a smaller pot and put the raspberries in it, adding a little bit of water before mixing it up and setting it next to the fire.

"D-do you have any sugar at all, Mister Bombur?" she asked quietly.

"What do you need sugar for?" the dwarf asked. Cirashala averted her eyes and looked down at the ground, picking at the dirt. She didn't answer for a moment, and Bombur's brows furrowed together.

"Lass?" he asked quietly. She looked up with a sad expression, and he could tell she blinked tears out of the corner of her eyes.

"I used to stew berries," she whispered. "They were too tart straight, so I would add some sugar. My-my daughters loved them." She swallowed hard and closed her eyes, obviously fighting the urge to cry, and the round dwarf looked at her with a sympathetic expression.

He knew loss as well. Many dwarves had lost family members in his lifetime-first when the dragon attacked Erebor, then he saw families broken further when their husbands, sons, and brothers did not return from the Battle of Azanulbizar, his own father being one of them. He was no stranger to grief. He could not imagine what he would feel if one of his own children were to die so young. She looked so young herself, undoubtedly her children must have been mere babes, if not little more than that.

He silently rifled through his pack, before producing a small tin of sugar. He handed it to her, and gave her a small smile.

"Mind you don't use too much, lass," he warned, speaking gently. "That's all the sugar we've got."

She nodded, and sprinkled a small amount of sugar on the berries, which had just begun to steam.

XXX

The stewed raspberries had been a hit, and several of the dwarves came back for seconds as they spread them over the cram. She had just sat off to the side, nibbling slowly at her supper and nodding to those who thanked her for the fruit spread.

Kili had to be told by Bofur that he had had enough raspberries when he came back for the third time. They had been absolutely delicious, and he had always had an incorrigible sweet tooth. He had chuckled when the hobbit's eyes had lit up after his first taste of the cram with the warm raspberries spread on top, and for the first time when eating cram, Bilbo actually seemed eager to eat it.

They must be palatable for him now, he thought to himself, shaking his head. Inwardly, he heartily agreed with the hobbit when it came to the hard biscuits. They were ridiculously hard to chew, and rather bland at that.

He glanced over at the young woman out of the corner of his eye, who was eating off to the side. She looked up, and he quickly glanced back down at his bowl, hoping she hadn't noticed. Fili had been saying something to him, but his thoughts drowned out his brother.

Fili had said she was old enough to have had two children, but she barely looked like she was of age. Of course, he didn't know what age was considered their majority regarding humans, nor did he know at what age they married.

They must marry very young, he thought. At least, the women do.

He had seen the shadow flit across her face before she told Bombur about making berries for her children. He vaguely remembered when his father died, and how empty he had felt inside. But, Uncle Thorin had become a very prominent figure in their life, and though he was not their father, Kili had often felt as such. He knew Thorin tried to be a father figure to him and his brother, though he admittedly wasn't always very good at it.

Fili had taken their father's death very hard, and for the first time in his young life Kili had been the one comforting his elder brother. His mother has refused to eat or sleep for nearly a week before Thorin and Oin had convinced her to eat, and Oin had given her a sleeping draught. She had been a mere ghost of a shell for months afterward, until Thorin, along with Balin's help, had convinced her that she still had two young boys that loved her and needed her.

Kili marveled at how, a mere week after her family's death, Cirashala seemed to be able to fight to continue on, though her grief still pained her. Though she was far meeker than any dwarf woman he had ever seen, he could see a quiet strength within her at her sheer ability to be able to put other's needs before her own, and a stubbornness and determination that she would not be left behind.

He wondered if her nightmare the night previous hadn't been about the warg attack at all, but rather if she was just simply grieving over her family. Durin only knows at how many nights he and Fili had cried over the loss of their father, and Dis her husband. Even now, so many years afterward, Kili could still occasionally see the ghost of a shadow enter his mother's eyes when she beheld her eldest, who had inherited his father's golden locks. Though Fili did resemble Thorin in many ways, his golden colored hair had definitely come from their Firebeard father.

"Kili? I asked you a question," Fili's voice cut through his thoughts, and he nodded absentmindedly while muttering in agreement, not knowing what his brother had even said. Fili looked sidelong at him, confusion in his face.

"Kili, I asked you how long did you think that Bombur could go without food," Fili said slowly, eyes searching his now flushing brother's face.

"Oh, um, less than a day," he muttered. A few dwarves chuckled, and Bombur protested indignantly in the background. Kili glanced at his brother, who still looked at him in slight worry, but Kili smiled at him and winked, hoping it would put his brother at ease.

Fili shrugged, dismissing his brother's distraction, before heading off into the bushes to take care of his business before it was time to sleep.

XXX

Cirashala saw Fili head out, and eyed his bedroll as several of the dwarves once again crowded around for some of the raspberry spread. She glanced to the side, and saw Thorin and Dwalin in discussion as they faced away from camp out onto the open plain.

Realizing that this was her only chance to execute her plan, she slipped backwards into the brush, where she had set her pack behind a tree. She pulled her hood up, hoping that the cover of night would aid her in her plan, and opened her pack.

Piling all the pinecones in her spare tunic to aid in carrying them, she fastened her pack before stealing around the perimeter of camp. She went from tree to tree as silently as she could, hoping that none of the dwarves would see her and mistake her for anything again. She definitely did not want a repeat of the terrifying event the night before.

She crept up behind Fili's bedroll, which had already been laid out, the head of it propped up against a fallen log. There was a very small boulder between his bedroll and the fire, and she hoped that the two items would aid in concealing her. She took a quick glance, before sliding over the log and dropping down into a small ball next to his bedroll.

She quickly picked up the folded blanket, before emptying her "carrying case" of pinecones under it. She ran her hands over it, smoothing them out into an even layer, when a shadow fell across the blanket. She gasped, and looked up into the startled face of Kili, who looked between her and the pinecones under her hand-and his brother's blanket.

Oh, I knew this was a bad idea, she thought, her eyes widening in panic. Thorin is really going to be pissed at me now.

XXX

Kili stared down at the frozen young woman for half a second, not saying a word, before his head snapped up at the sound of rustling bushes. He quickly bent down next to her and pulled Fili's blanket over the "mattress" she had given him, before looking up at her.

"Go," he whispered, "Hurry. He's coming back." She looked wide eyed at him, and he gently pushed her towards the log.

"Go!" he whispered again, more urgency in his voice as he glanced behind her, and then at the still distracted company behind him, now arguing about who got the last bit of the berry spread. She scrambled over the log, before creeping quickly around the tree line.

She had just sat down on her own bedroll when Fili came back into camp. He walked over to the fire, and groaned when he found that Nori had managed to nick the last bit of spread as Gloin and Bombur had argued over who would get it. She glanced nervously at Kili on the log by the fire, who subtly winked at her before glancing at Fili then back at her and shaking his head ever so slightly.

Don't look at him, or he will know you did it, his gaze seemed to say, and she nodded slightly before continuing to eat.

Fili turned around and headed grumpily back to his bedroll. Cirashala stared intently into her bowl, still nibbling at it and trying not to appear too obvious as she glanced discreetly at the blond dwarf as he approached the bedroll, grumbling. He flopped onto it with a loud crunch, and his eyes widened comically before he jumped up with a loud cry.

"Oi!" he cried, rubbing his backside, before yanking the blanket back. "Who put pinecones under my bedroll?!"

The dwarves began laughing, and Kili snorted before dissolving in giggles as he almost fell off the log he was perched on in his laughter. Cirashala merely looked down into her bowl, seeming to ignore the whole charade, though Kili did notice her eyebrows rise slightly. Fili glared at his brother, and their eyes met, Kili's face bearing a wide grin. Fili's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Kili!" he shouted, before he ran towards him. Kili jumped up and used the log he had been perched on to jump over a ducking Ori. Fili chased his brother about camp, dodging and jumping over people as Kili ran around the fire to try and get away from him. Even Cirashala ducked as Kili jumped over her with his long legs, forcing Fili to go around her for fear of kicking her with his shorter legs if he should try to jump over her.

The two ended up meeting in the open area in front of Cirashala as Kili tripped on a rock and Fili tackled him from behind. They landed in a heap and began to wrestle, Kili laughing and Fili yelling as he tried to pin him. The others took bets on who would win, and Thorin and Balin returned from scouting to see Fili just pinning Kili, the younger cursing as he tried to release the elder's hold, but to no avail.

"Teaches you to put pinecones in my bed!" Fili said, smirking from his perch atop his brother.

"Get off me!" Kili growled, "You have a bony arse!" Fili just wiggled his hips and made himself more comfortable, eliciting more growls from the brother below him.

"Give up," Fili said simply, raising his eyebrow. Kili struggled for a few more moments, before ceasing suddenly and just laid there, panting.

"Fine, you win," he muttered, glaring at Fili. The elder smirked, before getting off him and standing up. He held out a hand to his brother, and Kili took it. Fili tugged Kili up, and as he stood Kili let out a hiss, grasping his arm. Fili's eyes went wide, but before he could speak Thorin walked up to the two, glaring sternly at his nephews.

"What in Durin's name were you two thinking?" he growled, "Did you forget your brother was injured?"

"H-he put pinecones under my blanket!" Fili protested, glaring at his younger brother, and sounding rather like a child.

"Did it miss my attention, dear brother, that you had every intention of waking me this morning with a boot full of sludge?" Kili retorted, returning Fili's glare with one of his own.

"You should not have slept in," Fili said simply, raising one eyebrow and crossing his arms.

"But—" Kili said, but Thorin held up his hand and cut him off, glaring at the two.

"Silence!" he said sternly, and both lads looked at him, before looking down at the ground. "Kili, see Oin and make sure you haven't opened your wound. And the both of you will take a double watch tonight. You two should not be so careless. You could have alerted enemies to us with your yelling and bickering!" The two looked at the ground, muttering apologies. Thorin went to turn, when a feminine voice stopped him.

"I put the pinecones under Lord Fili's blanket," Cirashala said, and Fili looked at her in disbelief.

"Y-you?" he asked, dumbfounded. "Why?" She glanced fearfully at Thorin, but he just stood there and look at her, crossing his arms and waiting for his answer. She gulped, and stood up.

"Because of this morning," she replied softly. "It was a stupid and disrespectful thing to do, and I apologize. Please forgive me, my lord. I will not do it again." She bowed at Fili, before turning to Thorin.

"It was my fault they got into a fight," she said, eyes averted. "By all rights, you should give the punishment to me." Thorin didn't say anything for a moment as he looked at her. Fili and Kili's eyes widened, and the words came out in a rush.

"Give the punishment to me," Kili said.

"No, I was the one who tackled Kili and began to wrestle. It should be mine," Fili responded.

"But I helped her with the prank," Kili retorted.

"But your cut wouldn't have gotten aggravated if I hadn't chased you," Fili replied.

"Enough!" Thorin growled, turning and looking at the two, who kept glancing back and forth between their uncle and Cirashala. "All three of you will take a double watch starting at midnight, and if any pranks are pulled in the night you will repeat the same thing tomorrow."

XXX

His tone held a note of finality, and he trudged back to his bedroll, leaving the three back in the cleared area. Cirashala looked at the ground, biting her lip, before looking at Fili, who was giving her a slightly impressed look.

"I'm really sorry, my lord," she said, "Y-you can use my blanket tonight, and I will get all the sharp pinecone pieces out of your blanket." Fili shook his head at her, before glancing at Kili.

"Just how much help from my brother did you have?" he asked. "I could see Kili by the fire for most of the time I was in the bushes, and that was far too many pinecones to have been gathered by camp. I didn't see him picking up pinecones today, and he was with me all day." He looked at her curiously, and she flushed a bit as she lowered her gaze.

"I, um," she said, "I gathered them all day, and put them in my pack. I had just started putting them under the blanket when Lord Kili caught me, and, well….he warned me you were coming back and told me to get back to my bedroll." Fili's eyes widened and his jaw fell open.

"That's it?" he asked, looking at his brother with a look of disbelief. Kili nodded his head.

"I saw you coming back, and just put the blanket back down. The rest was all on her own," he affirmed, and Fili looked back at her with a look of awe.

"I must say, not many people except Kili," here he shot Kili an affectionate glance, "can slip a prank past me so easily. Congratulations, my lady, though I do apologize for the midnight shift. Those are never fun." He bowed to a very surprised Cirashala, before looking back at her with a smirk, his blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

He moved closer to her and leaned in, and she instinctively leaned back. He gave her a slightly surprised look, but whispered with a mock threatening tone, "You know I didn't mean to hit you with the boot, but after tonight, you do realize that you had better keep an eye out."

Her eyes widened, and she had an almost panicked look on her face as she looked between Fili and Kili, stepping back quickly. Kili caught her gaze, and realized that she had completely misinterpreted Fili's statement and tone of voice. He smacked Fili upside the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Fili asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"You might want to be careful about your words brother," Kili said low enough that Cirashala could not make out his words, before glancing at the frightened girl. "Not everyone can understand your tone." Fili looked at Cirashala, and his expression turned apologetic as he caught sight of her genuinely frightened gaze.

"Cirashala, I didn't mean it like that," he began, but she just drew her arms about her and ducked her head.

"I know, my lord," she whispered. "I-I just don't wish to anger Thorin. Not again." She returned to her bedroll, before sitting with her back against the log behind her, drawing her knees up to herself and laying her head down on them. The two brothers shared a glance, before returning to their bedrolls for the night.