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 had slowed to a slight drizzle by midnight, the light drops making very little sound on the damp forest floor. Kili glanced outside their improvised shelter, noticing the clouds part slightly to reveal a nearly full moon to the south of them. Cirashala whimpered in her sleep next to him, shuffling slightly.

After she had told him that he had a good heart and didn't deserve to die, she had moved her hand away from his chest and tugged her hood over her hair, before curling up under his coat as best she could on her side at the bottom of their shelter and closing her eyes.

The astonished young dwarf hadn't said a word as she had done so, too dumbfounded by her declaration. He had watched with wide eyes as her breaths soon evened out, in stark contrast to his own fast beating heart and seeming inability to breathe. She had fallen asleep fairly quickly, likely due to her sheer exhaustion, but it hadn't been fully restful. It had taken him quite a while before his heart finally slowed and his ability to breathe was restored.

The young archer glanced over to her, the young woman's face illuminated by the just waning moon as her hood had slipped sometime during the night. She mumbled slightly in her sleep, her words incoherent as her broken hand rested next to her cheek. The young archer's eyes were drawn to her mouth as she whimpered again, noticing how the moonlight made her lips slightly darker in contrast to her pale face.

In the dim light her hair also looked dark, the shorter curls in front of her ears that he had left out of her braids a stark contrast to her pale cheeks. The shadows created by the curls gave the slight illusion of a wispy beard on her jaw line, much like young dwarf maids had when they reached their coming of age years.

Her brow furrowed as she whimpered again, and the young dwarf frowned. He removed his glove and brought his left hand up, before hesitating as it hovered over her face. Taking as deep a breath as his injured ribs would allow, the young dwarf reached down and began to gently brush his trembling knuckles over her forehead, hoping the action would calm her, his elder brother having done the same whenever he had nightmares as a child.

Her face immediately began to relax, and the young dwarf watched as the tension visibly left her shoulders. He continued to gently caress her forehead and temple, torn between wanting to calm her and not wishing to violate her by brushing her cheek again.

"Why couldn't you have been a dwarf maid?" he whispered without thinking, his voice barely audible. His eyes widened and he felt his cheeks turn crimson as the sudden realization of what he had said hit him, his heart beating rapidly.

He withdrew his hand quickly, before grasping the edge of his coat, swallowing heavily as he stared down in his lap. He glanced at her briefly, brow furrowing in slight confusion. That strange feeling in his stomach returned, and his gaze returned to his lap, confused thoughts swirling in his head.

She doesn't need to be a dwarf maid, the young archer thought to himself. I-I'm friends with Bilbo, and he isn't a dwarf.

But Bilbo didn't make him feel that strange feeling like Cirashala did. And, while he was protective of Bilbo, the hobbit being inexperienced in battle, the young prince did not deny that his protective instinct for the young woman was stronger. He glanced nervously at her again as a thought entered his head.

Thorin didn't object to his friendship with Bilbo. Granted, Thorin had never had unpleasant experiences with hobbits before like he had with humans, but he had said nothing when Kili had befriended him. Thorin's words and accusations back after the orcs attacked her in the mountains during the thunderstorm came back to him, and Kili's eyes widened slightly as he remembered the way Thorin had spat the word friendship, clearly insinuating something else entirely.

A-am I….beginning to care for her?

XXX

The company was completely and utterly bored out of their minds. As the group of dwarves tried to find anything to occupy them in an attempt to remain sane, Oin watched over his two charges with a concerned eye.

There was very little to occupy the group in the eagles' home, the stone eyrie being completely inaccessible except by flying and containing little more than the branches and twigs used to comprise the owner's nests and what few belongings the dwarves had managed to save from the goblin's prying claws.

Bofur had spotted a sturdy twig a little more than finger's width, and had set about carving himself a new flute. He wasn't sure if he could manage a tune in his grief, but it gave the miner something to occupy his melancholic thoughts and overcome his boredom.

Bifur had sat by his cousin, fiddling with a toy he had made some time ago that had somehow missed the goblin's search. It was a wooden eagle, and when he pulled the thin wires downward and then up the wooden wings flapped. The older dwarf was quiet as usual, but he perceived far more than the others gave him credit for.

Having lost what remained of his family save his two cousins in an orc raid, the older dwarf had taken to toymaking, appreciating the simplicity and joy of children's faces as they admired his creations. His injury had taken some time to heal, but it had brought him the chance to listen rather than speak for a change.

He had been quite the talker before his injury, often being told outright to shut up long before he was ready to be done, but the chance to listen had changed his perspective. He had learned the value of perception, and had begun to watch people and, for the first time, truly began to hear them. It was difficult, because there were times where he wasn't fully aware of things, but when he was aware he was very aware.

He had seen and heard what had happened to the young princes and Cirashala in the goblin tunnels, and his heart turned toward the grieving young heir, compassion in his gaze. As the clang of Dwalin's axes sounded in the background, the old warrior training with Gloin, the toymaker stood up, making his way over to the wounded members of their company.

XXX

Thorin looked up as the toymaker approached, despair in his eyes. Bifur knelt down beside Fili, and before Thorin knew what was happening, the quiet dwarf began to rub the golden mane, speaking gently.

Thorin's knowledge of ancient Khuzdul was sparse at best, but from what he could discern, Bifur was telling Fili a story about a young dwarf lad who was absolutely fascinated with eagles. He looked at the toymaker curiously as his marvelous tale unraveled.

XXX

There once was a young dwarf lad who was a little different from his kin. While the dwarves around him longed for gold and jewels, he was fascinated by eagles.

He would chafe in the forge, longing for the moment when his lessons were over and he was free to go outside. He would run through the streets of the dwarf city, weaving in and out of grownups going about their business. They would watch after him, chuckling, but had they understood where he was going they may not have been so amused.

For he would go outside and climb tall trees, looking up into the bright blue sky and watching out for the most majestic of all creatures. From great heights he would see them soar, their feathers fluttering in the gentle breeze. Their strong wings would fly higher and higher, the hunter looking for his prey. But they were never close enough for him to see them well.

One day, the lad ventured near a lake high in the mountain where he lived. He had just told his father that he would rather be a toymaker than a smith, but his father wouldn't listen, not deeming toymaking to be a worthy trade for a dwarf. They had argued, and the lad had gone outside in tears.

His head had been perched on his knees as he sobbed, when the cry of an eagle sounded near him. Looking up, the boy's eyes widened as an eagle delved down to the lake right in front of him. The majestic bird was even more beautiful up close as it landed in the water, plucking a silvery fish straight from the lake.

The bird had risen up again, before landing on a rock near the young dwarf. The lad was terrified to move lest he startle the bird. The sharp beak reached down and began to pluck the meat off the fish, eating its proudly acquired prey. After the fish was half eaten, the lad shifted, his hand suddenly shifting some pebbles near him. His breath caught in his throat as the great bird stopped eating his kill and looked directly at him. Neither moved for a moment, before the bird resumed eating.

The lad was so enamored by the beautiful creature that he didn't hear some bandits approaching until he felt rough hands on his arms. The boy screamed loudly, the human bandits easily lifting him up into the air. But the lad was too far away for the grownup dwarves to hear him, and the bandits began to carry him away. The lad cried, tears streaming down his cheeks in his fear.

The eagle had flown upwards at the lad's first scream, but as the bandits began to carry him off, the boy pleaded to the eagle to help him, it being the only living thing nearby other than him and the bandits. The child didn't believe that the eagle would even understand him, but something within him told him to try.

Suddenly, the men began to shout. The frightened lad opened his eyes, only to watch astonished as the very eagle he had seen began diving at the men. The golden bird had clawed at their eyes, their faces, anywhere it could reach. The confused men shouted, dropping the lad as they tried to shield their heads from the angry bird.

The lad curled up in fear, covering his own head. But after a moment, he raised it up in confusion. The eagle wasn't attacking him. It was only attacking the bandits. After a moment longer, the men ran away, and the eagle landed on the grass in front of the frightened dwarfling.

The bird looked hard at him, before turning and flying away. The dwarfling watched it go, not knowing why the bird had saved him, but grateful that it had.

Ever since that day, the lad dreamed of what it would be like to be an eagle. He dreamed that one day he could become one, soaring into the air and seeing the whole of Middle-earth from the sky.

And one day, during a quest to reclaim a homeland, the dwarfling's dream came true. He was finally able to feel what it was like to soar in the sky, seeing the world from the eyes of a giant eagle's back.

XXX

Thorin gaped at the toymaker, the story being the longest string of words the old dwarf had ever spoken at one time since the injury that left him only able to speak ancient Khuzdul.

Bifur had not ceased stroking the young prince's hair, but now he moved his hand and pulled the toy out of his tunic. He held it in front of Fili's face, and began to pull the wires, the wooden bird's wings flapping into the sky.

Thorin watched in astonishment as his nephew finally stirred for the first time since he had fallen unconscious. Fili's eyelids fluttered for a moment, before they opened, revealing greenish blue orbs.

And the first thing the young heir saw when he awoke….was an eagle flying into the endless blue sky.

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A response to guest reviewer Ari- I am glad you got excited :) Yeah- I can imagine that Kili probably didn't hear a lot of the elvish history and such growing up ;) Thank you-I am glad you are liking it :D Yes, their relationship is evolving a bit. Cira is becoming more relaxed around him, and trusting him more, and it is allowing their friendship to deepen. He is also getting to know her more as a result, and finding that they have more in common than he realized. I know everyone is excited to see the reunion, and I will get there eventually-I promise :D But there are some things that have to happen during the split that are very important-especially with Kili's character arc and the Thorin/Fili dynamic. So I ask that you all please bear with me :D

A response to guest reviewer Ri-chan: Thank you :) I was hoping it would go over well, especially since that was an important conversation. As to the looking for shelter with the running from the orcs thing, I am not sure if you meant that as a critique or a compliment or just general conversation…if you would be kind enough to clarify that for me in the next chapter review I would appreciate it :D

A response to guest reviewer SMCB: Thank you :) I may, and have seriously considered that. Part of the reason for the high chapter count is that my chapters seem to go better when they are written all at once, and I only have so much time to write. If this were a novel, then it would have MUCH longer chapters and fewer of them. But I will continue to consider it. I might start with a part 2 when I get to 100 chapters…but we will see. I always update when I can :D

A response to guest reviewer Kaia: Thank you! :D As to who will find them first- well, I don't want to spoil too much given some readers can see these responses, but it will be someone you won't expect ;)

A response to reviewer Auth: Thank you! :D It wasn't so much hiding as reasonably dry shelter from the storm. A log with that diameter probably wouldn't provide a lot of concealment. And the log isn't completely hollow- just on the one end, so if they were to be found (which they won't) they would be trapped. I love the Silmarillion, and I think those tales are fantastic, if not tragic. I can also see Kili being both interested in them and not having heard most of them before (with the way his uncle is, and dwarves in general). Yes, that was an important conversation for sure. Kili is already more open-minded than the rest of the company (Fili likely is too), but this will be important in his development and in their relationship development as well. Well, Kili's stomach was churning butterflies too, so you're not alone there ;) Thank you for the compliment! Bilbo is a good hobbit, and a good friend. Which will make it all the more tragic when dragon sickness starts settling in…

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

A response to guest reviewer Kaia: Here you go! I am sorry it has been taking longer to update- life happens, and so does exhaustion! But I hope it was worth the wait :)

Thanks to all who review, favorite, and follow- I couldn't do this without you all! :D :D :D