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 Reuel 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

The rain continued in a steady downpour, getting heavier. Puddles began to form on the ground, and soon the pair found themselves sloshing and tripping through mud and water.

Kili's boots quickly became covered in mud, losing what traction they had to begin with. The young dwarf suddenly tripped, not having seen a submerged root and landing forcefully on his hands and knees, muddy water splashing in his face. Spitting water out of his mouth, he glanced behind him just in time to see Cirashala fall as well.

Good thing she landed on her left side, the young dwarf thought to himself as she pushed herself up to a sitting position with her good arm. At least she didn't dislodge the set bones.

The young woman looked at Kili with a defeated expression, wiping the back of her slightly muddy hand across her eyes.

"Kili, we have to stop," she said, blinking water out of her eyes again. "We can't keep going in this storm." The young dwarf nodded.

Pushing himself up to his knees with a wince, he carefully turned toward her. Reaching a hand out, he gently grasped her forearm, pulling her upright with him as best he could.

"We need to find shelter," he agreed, spitting out a lock of hair that had ended up in his mouth due to the wind.

The young dwarf glanced around quickly, squinting through the rain pelting his face. The dwarf knew that to continue on could be dangerous, and saw the wisdom in finding suitable shelter-and quickly.

The dark eyes searched until they landed on a very large fallen log. The log was obviously very old, being nearly four feet in diameter, but what struck the archer is that the end appeared to be hollow. As he held his hand over his keen eyes in a vain attempt to shield them from the rain, he was even more certain that he was correct. Turning toward the young woman, his hand moved down to grasp hers.

"Come on," he said, gesturing towards the tree. "I think I found shelter."

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Cirashala forced her eyes open as Kili began to lead her, not wishing to trip again. It did little to improve her sight with the rain blowing in her eyes, but at least she had a vague idea of where she was going.

They reached the downed log, and Kili knelt down to glance inside.

"It seems to be hollow for quite a ways back," he said as he looked up at her, the young dwarf's voice loud in an attempt to be heard over the storm. "I think we can fit." Cirashala nodded, crouching down.

The young dwarf moved aside, gesturing for her to enter first. The young woman understood, and quickly moved forward to crawl into the tree. The young archer's eyes did not miss her white knuckled grip as she held her left arm tightly around herself, nor did he miss the fact that her face was quite pale and her jaw clenched. He wasn't sure if it was from pain or cold, but he guessed it to be a bit of both.

As soon as she was far enough inside the log that him being behind her wouldn't be awkward, the young dwarf entered as well. They both shuffled until they were sitting down side by side, their backs against one side of the log as their feet rested on the other side. They would not be able to stretch out to sleep, but the inside of the old tree was at least relatively dry.

Cirashala shifted slightly as she tried to get comfortable, the pressure from leaning her back against the tree causing pain. Straightening her arm to do so, she immediately felt her hand land in very familiar sticky threads. Recoiling in horror, the young woman immediately jumped backwards with a loud yelp, running into the young prince.

"Cirashala, what's wrong?" a startled Kili asked, hand immediately going to his knife. His hand stilled when he caught sight of her hand in the dim light, the spider webs hanging from it answering his question.

"Get it off!" Cirashala cried, shaking her hand rapidly. "Get it—" The young dwarf cut her off.

"Cirashala, calm down!" Kili reached up and gently grasped her wrist, pulling it in front of him and swiping off the sticky threads. "It's just a spider's web." He continued to pull them off her hand, glancing at her in slight confusion.

As soon as he was done, she pulled her hand away, laying it in her lap. Kili could see her cheeks flushing in embarrassment as she turned her head away, the young woman refusing to look at him. He noticed that she didn't move any nearer toward the place where the web had been, and recognition dawned in his eyes. The young prince sighed.

"You don't like spiders, do you?" he said quietly. Cirashala didn't answer, but as a spider crawled on the wall opposite them, the young woman quickly raised a black boot and smashed it forcefully. Silence filled the air, the only sound being the rain falling and the retreating thunder. The young dwarf sighed again, arms up on his knees as he watched the rain fall into the puddles on the ground.

"Some spiders can kill you," she whispered after a long moment, her voice barely audible even as the flush in her cheeks deepened. The young dwarf glanced in her direction, noticing that she still refused to look at him.

"Aye, some can," he said quietly, looking back at the smashed carcass of the spider in front of them. "But you can kill them easily. They're much smaller than you are, and it would take nothing to stomp on them." A slight huff from beside him caused his gaze to turn back toward the young woman with a slightly bewildered expression.

"You've obviously never heard of Ungoliant," she replied, looking up at him. The blank look she received in return confirmed her statement. Cirashala sighed.

"When Eru sang Middle-earth into being, the Valar joined him in song," she began, recalling the tales in the Silmarillion she had read about the creation of Arda. "Yavanna's song created the woods and the trees. Aulë's song, whom you call Mahal, created the gems beneath the mountains. Ulmo's song became the sea, and so on and so forth. But there was one Vala who did not want to sing his song. He wished to rule, and he wished to destroy that which Eru and the other Valar brought into being.

"His name was Melkor, and he wrought destruction within Arda, singing dischord where there should be harmony, and ugliness where there should have been beauty. His malice filled words created chasms within valleys, and scars within mountains. But there were other things he did too- he distorted the creatures that the other Vala sang into being, mutilating some of the first elves into orcs, some ents into trolls, and so on. He didn't have the power to create-only to destroy." She paused to take a breath, noticing that Kili's expression was one of deep curiosity as he quietly listened to the tale.

"Valinor, or Aman, is where most of the Valar live," she continued. At Kili's look of slight confusion, she clarified. "You might have heard of it as the Undying Lands. That is where the elves who sail from the Grey Havens go." Recognition dawned in the young dwarf's eyes, and he nodded, the Grey Havens being near Thorin's Halls in Ered Luin. She continued on with her tale.

"In Valinor, before the Sun and Moon came to be, there were two giant trees. One was filled with silver leaves- that tree lit up at night. The other had golden leaves- that tree lit up in daytime. And it was with the light of these two trees that Valinor was lit.

There was an elven smith who lived there long ago by the name of Feänor. He was rumored to be the greatest elven smith that ever lived. He managed to capture the light of these two trees into three gems, and he called them Silmarils." Kili's eyes again widened in recognition, and Cirashala had no doubt that the young dwarf had heard of these famous gems.

"You have heard of them?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Aye," he replied, the tone of his voice clearly revealing how interested he was in her tale. "Every dwarf has. They were supposed to be more beautiful than even the Arkenstone." She nodded.

"Well, Melkor also learned of these gems, and he desired them for himself," she continued, noticing Kili shift slightly so that his arms rested on his knees. The young dwarf rested his head on his arms, wide brown eyes not leaving her face as she spoke.

She continued her tale of how Ungoliant, the giant spider, had ripped apart the two trees, and had aided Melkor in stealing the Silmarils, prompting Feänor and his sons to seek revenge and leave Valinor to chase after him.

"How do you know all this?" the young dwarf asked as she paused again, his brown eyes looking up at her with barely masked childlike curiosity. She shrugged slightly, wincing at the movement.

"I have lived in a lot of different places," she said quietly, trying to be careful about her words so she didn't lie. "I have picked up the tales here and there." He nodded, satisfied. The wind shifted direction slightly, blowing a cold draft into the log, and Cirashala shivered, wrapping her left arm about her.

Kili looked at her for a moment, before sitting up and attempting to shrug out of his coat. Cirashala's eyes widened slightly, and she looked at him with slight confusion.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Kili glanced up at her quickly, then back down as he freed one arm.

"You're cold," he said simply, pulling his other arm out of his thick coat. Her eyes widened as he moved to set it over her.

"B-b-but—" She stammered, face flushing slightly as he reached over her, tucking the edge of it behind her arm. "I-it's all right, I-I'm not…b-but what-what about you?" Kili looked up, and she was slightly startled at the protective expression in his dark eyes.

"I am not the one who's shivering," he replied firmly, sitting back down next to her. Her eyes followed him, blue orbs still wide as the stunned young woman tried to find words.

"B-but you're sick," she replied after a moment. "You're coughing—"

"I said I am fine!" the young dwarf snapped. Kili mentally cursed himself as she shrank back from him slightly, and he sighed.

"I'm fine," he repeated, more gently. "It's nothing." The young dwarf refused to look at her, and Cirashala's expression grew concerned as he suddenly coughed again. The young prince tried to hold himself back at first, but after a moment of attempted stifling the cough racked his form, causing his shoulders to shake.

As his cough subsided, Kili felt a hand rest on his knee. Looking up hesitantly, he saw her concerned expression. The young dwarf averted his eyes, shutting them as he sighed.

"You're not invincible, you know," she said quietly, causing the young dwarf to raise his head up slightly, though he still didn't look at her. "It's all right. It's not your fault that you might be catching a cold." The young dwarf swallowed heavily, fiddling with the edge of the Oakenshield beside him.

"Thorin never got sick," he said, almost inaudibly. "He-he never…" He saw Cirashala shake her head out of the corner of his eye, and immediately looked at her defensively.

"I am sure he was at some point or another," she said quietly, raising an eyebrow slightly. "He probably just didn't want you to know about it." The young archer shook his head.

"No, I am sure he never was," Kili said quietly, but she could hear some doubt in his voice. The young dwarf jumped slightly as she moved the edge of the coat over his legs as well.

"You're cold too," she admonished gently, causing the young dwarf to look up at her in surprise as she scooted right up next to him so the coat could cover them both. "I can feel it radiating off you." The young archer's eyes widened slightly, before his gaze dropped back down to his lap.

"Why are you doing this?" he whispered. Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Because you're cold," she replied, bewilderment in her voice. "I just said that." Kili shook his head.

"That's not what I meant," he replied, looking up at her hesitantly. "Why are you helping me-a dwarf? Why-why didn't you…let me go?" She looked at him in confusion for a moment, before recognition dawned in her eyes.

He's talking about the goblin tunnels, she realized. When I refused to let him fall to his death.

"Because you have a good heart," she said simply. Kili's brow furrowed slightly, and she sighed.

"Every race has their good hearts and their bad hearts," she explained. "It doesn't matter if you are an elf, a dwarf, a man, or a hobbit. There is good and evil to be found within every race. That's why I don't judge someone based on what they are- I judge someone based on who they are, and whether or not they have a good heart."

Kili looked at her in slight surprise, and Cirashala reasoned that, having Thorin for an uncle, he had likely grown up around a lot of suspicion, if not outright racism, at least where elves were concerned. And from what little she had deduced based on observation, the suspicion had likely extended toward humans too.

"B-but you…you could have died," he whispered, "And you still didn't let go." She sighed, before turning towards him. Before the young dwarf knew what was happening, she had the palm of her hand pressed up against his chest, right over his rapidly beating heart. The young prince froze, glancing down at her hand, then back up at her face, cheeks flushing as he swallowed heavily. Cirashala locked eyes with his, blue eyes meeting brown, her gaze dead serious.

"You have a good heart, Kili son of Dis," she said softly. "You do not deserve to die."

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A response to guest reviewer Ri-chan: It is completely all right! :D I understand life for sure! I am feeling a bit better today, which I was very thankful for :D Thank you for the well wishes, and I hope you enjoyed your two chapters!

A response to guest reviewer Kaia- Thank you :)

A response to guest reviewer Guest: Here you go :)

A response to reviewer Auth: It's perfectly all right! I understand not wanting to receive random PM's. To be honest I have probably only gotten two or three since I have been on FF, and they were story related. But whatever works for you :) Thank you :D Yeah- he's not feeling well, and he has a few lessons to learn about being a leader. I really and truly believe that Bilbo follows Thorin as king by choice. He doesn't have to submit to his authority any more than what is stated in the contract, and yet he goes above and beyond the terms of his contract repeatedly. In fact, Erebor would have never been reclaimed had it not been for Bilbo's actions BEFORE they ever even reached the mountain, let alone gotten in! I believe that in order for a story to be believable as Middle-earth it has to have the bones of Middle-earth behind it. Those are the "rules" I was talking about. There are very certain things that make Middle-earth what it is, and when they are ignored then it becomes nothing more than a role playing scenario in our world that just happens to look like ME. It isn't believable as Tolkien's ME at all. That's why I really believe that the basic rules have to be followed in order for the story to work in that world. You are very welcome :) I enjoy writing it (even if I don't always have the time due to little ones!) I wouldn't worry about the story ending anytime soon- we haven't even gotten to Beorn's house yet ;) I am quite certain that, had this been an actual novel, there would have been far longer (and thus far less) chapters than this FF. But since my best chapters are written all at once instead of over days, it ended up having a lot of chapters. There will probably several more months of this story yet (possibly even over a year, if there's something I need to wait for There and Back Again for, but hopefully not). ;)

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- you guys are the best ever! :D :D :D