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

Cirashala awakened to someone gently shaking her shoulder. She groaned, throwing the blanket over her head. It cannot possibly be morning yet. She was used to waking up tired, but not this tired.

"Cirashala?" she heard Fili's muffled voice through the blanket, "It is time for our watch." Stifling another groan, she sighed heavily, before moving the blanket off her head. She sat up with a wince, rubbing her bleary eyes. She looked at a fuzzy Fili, catching the golden hair, and realized that he was alone.

"Where's Kili?" she asked, voice heavy with sleep. Fili glanced over his shoulder, and Cirashala followed his gaze to see the dark haired dwarf sleeping soundly. She looked back at Fili.

"W-would you wake him?" she asked, eyes dropping toward the ground. "I…I am not sure…" she trailed off, hoping that Fili would understand what she was trying to say.

I still feel too embarrassed to talk to him.

Fili shook his head, sighing.

"Apparently the idiot stayed up until Thorin's watch, so Thorin told him to go to bed," Fili replied. "It's just us on this watch now." He saw her relax, and watched as relief flooded her face. He didn't blame her. He could well imagine the awkwardness that would be between the two of them after her unexpected request earlier that evening, and was rather relieved himself that he wouldn't be stuck in the middle of it for two hours.

Thorin had awakened him for his watch and informed him that Kili would not be sitting watch with him, and also informing the young heir that he was permitting them to train Cirashala with her weapons. He was surprised but thankful that Thorin had agreed, and admired the way his brother had managed to catch Thorin in a good mood for the request. Kili had gotten himself into enough pranks and mischief over the years to know when was and wasn't a good time to ask his uncle for things.

Cirashala stumbled out of her bedroll, before glancing around camp, seemingly unsure of what to do. She reached behind her and donned her quiver, though Fili noticed that she winced a bit as she reached it over her head. She grabbed her sword and attached the scabbard to her belt, and followed Fili over to the rock where Kili had sat earlier. The two sat down side by side, and Fili drew one of his knives and a whetstone and began to sharpen it as he gazed out to the open plain in front of them.

"My lord?" she asked hesitantly. "What….what exactly am I supposed to do? I have never been on watch before." She bit her lip as she waited for a response.

Biting her lip must be a nervous habit, Fili noted. He smiled at her reassuringly, figuring that women among traveling humans most likely did not take watches in lieu of the men either. It was much the same with dwarves as well, if not more so, given that women amongst their people were so rare.

"First off, you may call me Fili," he said quietly, hands not ceasing in their task, "I understand you are trying to be polite and proper, or might be saying it out of fear of offending us otherwise. But, if you call us what you have been, it might draw too much attention to our heritage. If an enemy heard you say it, it could endanger us." Her eyes widened, and she looked down at the ground, cheeks flushing.

"I-I'm sorry," she whispered. "I-is that why none of you refer to Thorin as…." She trailed off, not wanting to use the title King, but Fili understood what she had been about to say, and nodded.

"Aye," he replied lowly so only Cirashala could hear him, "And why we call him by name rather than uncle. He knows that there are some, both friends and enemies, that might recognize him like you did, but as Kili and I were born long after….well, after the events that we are trying to reconcile, not many outside of our people know our relation to him. He told us on this journey to not refer to him as such for that reason. Though I admit I am rather impressed that you figured it out, given how secretive we have tried to be about it. But" he looked at her pointedly, "you must tell no one."

She nodded, and they sat in quiet silence for a while. She alternated between listening and watching the perimeter around camp and Fili's hands moving the whetstone in a circular motion on his blades, before glancing at the dying fire.

"The fire is going out," she said softly to no one in particular. Fili nodded.

"Another part of watch is to make sure to keep the fire lit," he said, "Unless there is a need to hide." She nodded, hearing the instruction in his tone, before getting up. She went over to the woodpile, before selecting a few small sticks and a couple of larger logs. She was very familiar with camp fires, and knew that the small sticks would be needed to burn quickly and get the fire re-started, and the larger logs, once caught fire, would be warmer and burn for longer.

She placed the two logs on the fire, with the sticks and twigs around and on top of them, and crouched down and blew on the coals. The twigs and tinder ignited, and she glanced around the camp. She started, seeing something in the shadows, and slowly added a couple more sticks to the blaze, using the chance to discreetly shield her eyes from the light of the flames. Her eyes widened as she saw a few pairs of eyes glow in the dark shadows outside the firelight, before disappearing quickly.

"Fili!" she whispered loudly. The dwarf looked back at her, and his eyes widened when he saw what she was doing. She wasn't looking at him, reaching for her bow and nocking an arrow, though she did not draw it. His eyes followed hers, and he got up and slowly but steadily moved until he was crouching beside her, his hands ready to grasp the hilt of his twin falchions.

"What do you see?" he whispered, shading his eyes as well from the light of the fire and peering into the shadows.

"There were three sets of eyes glowing in the trees over there," she replied, completely awake and alert now. "They disappeared quickly, but there is definitely something out there." He continued to look, but the eyes did not reappear.

"Are you sure you saw something?" he asked her, "Firelight, moonlight, and shadows can play tricks on the eyes, especially this late." She nodded.

"Yes, I am sure," she said. Fili looked with narrowed eyes around the perimeter of the camp, before standing and unsheathing his swords.

"I am going to look around the edge of camp," he said quietly, utter seriousness in his tone as he looked her straight in the eye. "I should only be gone for a few minutes at the most. Keep an eye out and an arrow at the ready-if you feel confident you can hit a moving target that isn't one of us. If you see anything strange, or if I am not back in ten minutes, wake Thorin. If the camp is attacked, you shout as loud as you can to wake everyone, and stay near Kili-he will aid you." She nodded.

"What if you get into trouble and yell for help?" she said. Fili looked at her, his expression dead serious.

"If I am attacked and shout for help, you wake up the camp immediately," he instructed, his tone reminiscent of Thorin's as she heard it leaving no room for argument. "Tell them which direction my voice came from, but do not try to come after me by yourself, do you understand?" She nodded, her hand tightening on her bow.

Fili turned, but before he could even move howls sounded around them. Cirashala's eyes widened as Fili whipped his head around.

"Wolves! Wake up!" he cried, and the dwarves immediately stood up, reaching for their weapons. Before they were fully stood up, Cirashala shouted, drawing her bow quickly as it had already been at the ready.

"Fili! Down!" she cried as loud as she could as she loosed the arrow. The dwarf hit the ground, the fletching of the arrow grazing his hair as a snarling heavy weight fell on top of his back.

XXX

He turned quickly, throwing the wolf off his back. He raised his sword, and his eyes widened as he saw a blue fletched arrow imbedded in the wolf's chest. He saw the wolf twitching and growling trying to get at the arrow and sliced its throat, before jumping up and slicing across another wolf that had run in.

Cirashala had tried to shoot at more of the wolves as they had jumped in the circle of firelight, but quickly found that hitting moving targets was not as easy as she had thought. It had been very lucky that she had hit the one that had jumped Fili from behind. She got another wolf in the side, and one in the hind leg, before she dropped her bow and drew her sword.

Kili had gotten next to her, his bow singing as he took down several more wolves, and she covered his back as Fili had told her to do. A wolf approached her, growling as it coiled to spring. She tightened the grip on her sword, and just as the wolf jumped, she thrust it forward, impaling the wolf's throat.

The impact had knocked her into Kili and knocked them both to the ground, Kili's arrow flying into the undergrowth. He scrambled out from underneath her and continued to shoot as she placed both feet on the wolf's shoulders and tried to pry her sword out of where it had lodged in the now dead animal.

As soon as it had begun, it stopped. Twelve wolves lay dead within the firelight, and the company stood in a circle around Fili, Kili, Bilbo, and Cirashala, panting as fifteen pairs of eyes glanced into the dark woods. They stood there for about ten minutes, not hearing any more howls, before they lowered their weapons.

The company grabbed rags to clean the red blood off their weapons, before sheathing them or setting them aside. Thorin sheathed Orcrist, before approaching his two heirs and Cirashala.

XXX

Cirashala could not for the life of her get her sword to come free of her prey, and Kili knelt beside her without a word, prying her fingers off the sword hilt. He grabbed it, and with a sharp tug and a kick to the wolf, wrenched it free. It slid out of the dead wolf with a sickening squelch, and Cirashala had to swallow several times to keep what little of dinner was left in her stomach.

"Thank you, my lo-Kili," she quickly corrected as Kili handed her the bloody sword. Their fingers brushed a bit, and Kili drew his hand back quickly as soon as she got a grip on the sword hilt, blushing slightly.

"I-I should be thanking you," he said quietly, looking up at her. She bit her lip nervously, looking down.

"A-after what I said?" she stammered, "A-about your…your hair, and embarrassing you with my ignorance? Why would you thank me?"

"For saving my brother's life," he said, gesturing toward the wolf with the blue arrow in its chest. She followed his gaze, before ducking her head.

"Lucky shot," she whispered. "I nearly hit your brother. And I didn't kill it-he did."

"Aye, I did," Fili said, approaching them. "But only because you wounded it and kept it from mauling my neck." He pulled a rag out of his pack and sat on his bedroll, wiping the blood from his swords as he looked at Cirashala. "And for that, I thank you as well." He shot her a grateful smile.

"You aren't half bad with your bow," Kili said. "You are better than when I first started." Fili snorted.

"The first day you went to the range, you shot Thorin in the arse," he said chuckling, "I am surprised he let you hold a bow after that!" Kili blushed heavily as he shot him a glare.

"That was one time," he muttered, grumbling, before looking up as the person in question approached the three.

"Fili, good work," he said, and Fili shook his head.

"Thank Cirashala. She spotted the wolves before I did," he said. Thorin turned toward her with a surprised look on his face. She ducked her head, biting her lip again.

"I-I saw their eyes glow when I added wood to the fire," she said quietly. "I didn't shoot at them because I was not sure what they were. I am sorry. I should have shot them and raised the alarm right away."

"No, you did rightly," Thorin said, and her head shot up with an astonished look on her face. Thorin nodded at her and continued.

"It is better to know what the enemy is rather than to shoot blindly," he said, "Otherwise you may end up shooting friends instead of foes and forcing them to lie on their stomach for a week." The dwarf king fixed Kili with a glare and an upturned eyebrow. The blushing young dwarf shuffled uncomfortably in his seat a bit, looking somewhat sheepish. Thorin smirked at his nephew, before ordering those not on watch to return to their bedrolls. He turned back to look over his shoulder.

"Fili, Cirashala, wake the person after you. You have done your share of the watch tonight," he said. "And I hope you have learned your lesson about pranks and wrestling with injured brothers." The two nodded, and returned to their bedrolls, though Cirashala highly doubted she would be able to sleep much after the events of the evening.

At least Dwalin and a few of the other dwarves had moved the wolf carcasses far outside of camp where they would not draw other predators near. The audacity of the wolves to attack such a large group, which was very out of character for them, made the dwarves wary of the meat they offered, fearing that the wolves might be rabid. As such, they turned down meat that normally would have been appreciated under other circumstances.

It was so quiet she almost didn't hear it as she passed Thorin on the way to her bedroll, but she later swore that she had heard Thorin mutter under his breath, "My arse still hurts from that blasted arrow wound. At least she has enough sense to tell people to duck when she shoots towards them!"

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In response to guest reviewer Ri-chan- Thank you J I am glad you are liking it- and I hope that I have managed to address your concerns from a few chapters ago-I know my story is a bit of a slow build/slow burn/ etc and it can take a few chapters to have a characterization come out. I feel that Thorin would be a father figure to the two, and when no one else is around, the "king" gives way to the "uncle". He has an image to keep up, after all ;) He is their protector, their guide, their mentor, and their role model (though one can hope their tempers don't quite match up to his! ;P ) and he loves those boys dearly as his own. As for Cirashala, she can be tough, and she has a strength within her, though she does not know it yet. It may not seem that way, but there has only been just over a week since her family, and quite literally her world as she knew it was wiped out. But, as soon as the company encounters an enemy, her fierceness and strength will go to the forefront. She is naturally quiet and reserved (and untrusting), and she does fear Thorin, but it isn't an irrational fear- he has tried to hurt her (though not without cause in his mind), and she knows she mustn't offend those who cannot forgive easily, especially if she wants to stay in the company and "fix" the things she feels she needs to in order to set things right. She is in many ways similar to Bilbo- Gandalf could see his strength beyond his weakness, though he could not see it himself, but the strength he possesses inside comes out when the right "button" is pushed, and he will find that, though he is a simple hobbit, he is far stronger than he could ever know. Tolkien's story was about the ordinary man who became able to do extraordinary things with his inner strength that he did not know he possessed, and I would like my story to reflect that spirit, both with Bilbo and Cirashala as well, while making it realistic (ie she cannot wield weapons she is not trained in, nor is she a kick*** warrior simply because she was not trained as one despite being a technical "sue", but she can pick up new things quickly because she is intelligent and has athletic capability).

Thanks to all who have reviewed, favorited, and followed- you guys are awesome! J J J