Fili was waiting in their room, pacing the floor and passing the pearl from hand to hand as he thought. When Kili entered, he stopped and turned.

"You were long gone, brother," he said.

"It is a long walk to the town and back again," Kili said. "I thought it good to learn where Betta stays so that we may send for her… once we've decided on our course."

Fili nodded. "Decided. Yes," he said, scratching at his bearded chin. "Now we've come to the point. We've already pledged to go with the woman, and we cannot break our given word." He had been struggling to come up with the best way to explain this to Thorin; a Dwarf's honor was as dear to him as his kin, yet there was a chance that Thorin would not hold a hand-shake deal with a strange, human woman very highly.

"I do not think that she would hold us to our word, if it came to that," Kili said.

"You don't?"

Kili sat down on the edge of his cot. "She seemed eager to have us gone," he said. "I don't know what you said to anger her, but it did. She bid me tell you that I do not trust her, and that you do not trust her, and that she believes that you are using her. She would rather follow her map alone."

"And so, she does not trust us," Fili said, laughing and shaking his head. "It is good that I kept this, then." He held up the pearl. Kili frowned at the sea-jewel, a pretty thing that seemed more trouble than it was worth.

"That may be a part of her anger, as well," Kili said quietly.

His brother did not hear him. "Do you truly not trust her, Kili, as she says?" Fili asked.

Kili shrugged his shoulders. "I did not when I left her, but I have thought long on it…"

"That is not your strongest skill," Fili said, smiling.

"It is a wonder that Thorin thinks that you are the diplomat between us," Kili said. "But you interrupt me. I did not trust Betta this morning, but I find that I begin to trust her now, at least more than I did before. That pearl you hold would seem to prove her tale."

Fili sat down on his cot across from his brother. "You are still eager for this journey, then?"

"We've a map and a treasure to find, what Dwarf would turn down such an offer?"

"Indeed," Fili said, "what Dwarf would." He frowned down at the pearl in his hand. It seemed to glow with a dark light of its own. "No," he said, shaking his head. "I do not trust the woman, but I do not mistrust her either. Like you, I begin to find myself believing her absurd story, and now all that need be decided is how to break the news to Thorin. This was all done to convince him, after all."

Fili stared down at his hands, thinking hard on it. Kili waited, but his brother was silent. He did not understand Fili's reluctance; if all they asked was to ride out to Evendim and back again, Thorin would hardly refuse them. With a map and treasure, Kili thought their path was very clear.

"There is something else that is bothering you, brother," he said. "Out with it. Are you still worried about playing this trick on our uncle? Are you still eager to go?"

"I am determined to go," Fili said. "I am only thinking how best to bring it up to Thorin. A year ago, he may not have stopped us from riding to Hithaeglir if we'd asked, but now is not a year ago. He has kept very close since he began brooding and making his plans. He will not be so quick to have us ride into the wild with a stranger.

"Our given word to the woman should play to his honor, and this is proof enough of a treasure," he said, holding up the pearl, "so that should answer any question he has about profit. He will object to the danger of it, for he still thinks that we are children." He sighed. "If our mother were here to speak to him on our behalf…"

Kili pursed his lips and looked away. Fili regretted voicing his thoughts aloud. Both brothers had difficulty speaking even to each other of their mother. Her passing was a grief to them and especially to Thorin, her brother, and the wound of her death was slow to heal.

"Do you really think that he will try to take Erebor?" Kili asked. "It would take an army of Dwarves to even attempt the dragon."

"Balin does not think that an army will come," Fili said, "but our uncle will try to convince them."

"If Dain refuses, then we need to be there! Thorin will need all the loyal dwarves he can get. He will need his family to stand with him." Kili stood up again and crossed the room. He took an arrow from his quiver that hung on the wall and tested the sight of it. "When will we speak with our uncle?" he asked. "It must be soon."

Before Fili could reply, there was a knock on the door of their room. An older dwarf, Fror son of Farin, had come with a message from Thorin, summoning them to his hall. The brothers were glad that they had made up their minds; all that was left to do now was to convince their uncle to give the quest his blessing. Kili was optimistic, but Fili believed that convincing Thorin would be the most difficult part of their adventure.

.

Thorin's hall was a great cavern of stone, carved with figures and proud pillars. It was the most complete room in the entire mountain, but it was seldom used for anything grander than a family feast; Thorin was more often at work in the forge side by side with his folk than seated in honor in the great room. Today, the hall was dark and empty, filled with only the dispossessed king and a table full of books, maps and scrolls. A great fireplace stood against the western wall, and a fire had been built to roaring heat, but it did little to cheer the room.

Thorin was bent over his papers, deep in thought, but when his nephews arrived, he left the table and met them in the center of the long hall. Fili and Kili stood uncomfortably to one side while their uncle rested his hand on the mantel of the fireplace, his eyes staring deep into the blaze.

After a few moments, he spoke. "Balin has left us and gone east for a time," he said. "Oin has gone with him, but they will return before the winter is through. We will have much to speak of then, I and those who are loyal to me."

"And us, uncle," Kili said.

Thorin looked up. "You? What have you to say?"

Kili opened his mouth, but Fili gave his brother a sharp look. "I spoke with Balin before he left," Fili admitted. "He said that there is something growing on your mind. Kili and I have seen it as well."

Thorin turned to face his nephews, frowning down at them. He always seemed to be able to make them each feel like young Dwarf boys who'd been caught raiding the sweets basket. "You've been putting your long nose where it doesn't belong," Thorin said. And then he sighed. "But you are right. My thoughts have been dark in recent days." He turned back to the fire.

Kili glanced at his brother, but Fili's look was enough to keep him silent. For now.

"You are both young, but you are my sister-sons, and you have a right to know," Thorin said finally. "I stopped at an inn at Bree on my return from the east. I had words with a particular person who has taken an interest in our family. It was Tharkun who first spoke aloud that which was already in my heart, that a time is coming when we shall retake our ancient home."

Thorin's eyes were alight as he spoke, blazing with a fire as hot as the one on the hearth. "Tharkun, Mithrandir as the Elves call him, promised to come to me when his business elsewhere was done, and then we would speak further on this matter. I hope that Balin will return, and that Gloin should be here as well when he comes. I will need every Dwarf that I can trust for I feel that the time is ripe. If Dain will not be persuaded, then I will go to Erebor alone."

"Not alone," Fili said. "We mean to go with you, uncle."

Thorin was staring into the fire again and it took a moment for him to hear his nephew's words. "You go?" he said, thinking it a joke. He saw Fili's face and Kili's as well, and he laughed. "My lads, you are just the balm for my sore heart. I thank you, but this is not a venture for the young. You know nothing of the world. You do not know what you ask."

"We do," Kili said. "We'll prove it to you!"

Thorin shook his head. Kili looked at Fili; if his brother did not speak up now, than he meant to. Fili knew better than to let Kili try to explain their intentions. He cleared his throat. "Uncle, we have a, ah… we've had an offer… a business proposition of sorts…"

"Of what sort?" Thorin asked absently. He had turned his back and walked back to his table. Fili followed him and now saw that the books were old histories and the papers were maps of Erebor and the lands between, from Ered Luin to the great eastern inland Sea of Rhun.

"A, ah… treasure hunt." Fili felt the absurdity of it even as he said the words.

Thorin looked up. His expression was blank, but Fili knew his uncle well enough to see the doubt in his eyes. Fili took a deep breath and explained. He told his uncle of the woman and her box. He did not say that they had brought Betta into the mountain for the opening of it, but he described the contents, the map and the pearl which he produced as evidence to the truth of it. He told what little Betta had told him, and the less that he knew himself of the ancient wars of Men with Angmar. Thorin took the pearl and looked at it in the light of the fire as his nephew spoke. He had seen the treasure of Erebor and was not so easily impressed by a single sea jewel, no matter how large or of what color.

"We know that it is unlikely that such a treasure yet exists," Fili said finally. "But it may be that some forgotten people left behind their forgotten wealth when they fled the coming of war. At least, we promised the woman that we would help her seek her family's past."

"She has lost much," Kili added quietly.

Thorin frowned and shook his head. "You promised this woman that you would salvage the pocket change of her long dead family? That seems a sorry sort of errand for an heir of Durin."

"You have denied us hope of a more noble quest," Fili reminded him.

"Ha! So, you would twist your uncle's words to use against him!" Thorin cried. "And where will your treasure hunt take you, pray? What dangers will you face there? Have you given thought to that?"

"We won't go far from the mountain," Kili protested. "A few leagues north, perhaps, into the east of the Hills of Evendim, no farther. Betta is working on translating the map…"

"Betta? A fine name that is, very noble," Thorin laughed. "Could you not even find a Dwarf woman to follow out into the wild? Give your ageing uncle something to hope for!" He sat down with a sigh. "You would go north, you say? That is no great feat. There is little there but rock and stone and cold weather. Even the orcs do not travel far into Arnor beyond the shelter of their mountains, and the barrow wrights of men are of little concern to us."

He turned over a page on the table, his eyes returning to his maps again. "Fine, then," he said at last. "Go to your treasure hunt with your human woman, and by Durin I hope that you learn some lessons from it!"

"If we do this, you will take us with you?" Kili asked. "To Erebor?"

Thorin shook his head, but said, "Should you succeed in this foolishness and return with more than empty hands and cold noses, I will consider the matter again. If not, then it is closed and I will hear nothing more of it.

Thorin sat down and scratched his beard thoughtfully. He rolled the pearl between his thumb and forefinger. "This month is half spent, and Balin will return before the next is through. It is then that I expect Tharkun will arrive, though his plans are seldom known to any but himself, and even there I am not certain. Yes, I will allow you to go on this pleasure march of yours if it will keep you from darkening my doorways and listening at keyholes."

At this, Thorin looked up from under his brow at Fili, but his eyes were sparkling.

"Thank you, uncle," Fili said.

"Thank you," Kili echoed. "We will not return empty handed."

Thorin stood up and handed the pearl back to Fili. He grasped his arm. "Your mother would be proud of the Dwarves you have become," he told them. "I am proud. If there is indeed a treasure in those hills, I have no doubt that the two of you will dig it up."

They spoke a few words more, but Thorin's mind was on his maps, and soon his nephews left him. The conversation had gone much better than Fili had hoped for. They had their uncle's blessing and more hope that Thorin would let them join him in the quest for Erebor. However, they also had less time than Fili would have wanted. They had, at most, eight weeks to travel the hundred or more leagues from the mountain to the icy plains between Emyn Uial and Forochel, and they did not even know to where in that great space they would be going. They would need ponies, certainly, and warm clothing and food stuff. Kili was already making plans for adventure, but Fili was calculating the supplies that they might bring.

"Ah, and I forgot to mention, Betta claims she has nothing warm enough for the journey. She wants time, a few days at least, to prepare," Kili said as they walked through the mountain back to their room.

"We cannot wait a few days," Fili said. "In a few days, Thorin may change his mind. No, we need to leave as soon as things can be made ready. Before the sun sets tomorrow, we should be gone from Ered Luin."

So ends, Chapter 7: In Which I Tweak the Canon. I had to stretch the timeline a little, but it has always seemed strange to me how quickly Quest for Erebor progresses as a setup for The Hobbit when FoTR, which serves a similar purpose (setting up for the War of the Ring), seems to drag with months and even years of inaction. In any case, I apologize for the changes, but I couldn't think of any other way to give our dwarves enough time to have a proper adventure.

If you've made it this far, thank you! You're awesome!

-Paint