Dwarves, Dragons and Darkness

by FoundersDaughter

What would have happened on the quest if Thorin had had another sibling? Would it have changed the outcome if they demanded to join? What if that sibling, a sister, had the ability to control magic beyond even what the Elves remembered? This story is mainly rated M for language and possible fight scenes later. Also HP will not happen until later and will only be small mentions.

18. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: No I do not own anything here that you recognise.

A/N: Sorry that it took a while, I've been away and ill and Kíli just wouldn't come to me the little shit! However I do have the next chapter and 3/4 of the following one done :)

There will be some swearing in this one, hope you enjoy :D

Chapter 17

Kíli POV

I groaned as we slowed to a stop just underneath the rocky outcrop that Bilbo had scaled to see where the orcs were. It had taken us almost a week to slowly make our way down the great hunk of rock the eagles had left us on, our pace slow as we all healed from any wounds we had sustained in the goblins caves and for Uncle after them, it had taken us another three weeks just to reach here. I looked over at him now and found him watching the top of the outcrop, where you could just about see Bilbo's feet dangling off the side. I rolled my eyes, Uncle could be so obvious sometimes. Aunty came and stood next to me and curled her fingers around my wrist. "Are you alright mizimith?" She whispered into my ear and I nodded, smiling up at her.

She smiled back and a bumped her forehead against mine, "Good." I looked around as we all waited for Bilbo to come back down to tell us what he could see. We looked around as he scrambled down the side of the rocks, "Well?" Gandalf asked before he could even reach the bottom, Bilbo held up a finger to catch his breath, "The good news is there at least two leagues or more over on the other side of the valley." Everyone gave out a cheer, Bilbo shook his head, "No, that's not the worst of it." Dwalin stepped forward, "They saw you?" Bilbo paused and shook his head, "No, no they didn't see me."

Everyone sighed in relief, well I think Aunty's was in annoyance as they weren't letting Bilbo speak. "See? What did I tell you?" Gandalf was saying. Bilbo groaned, "Would you just listen! I am trying to tell you there is something else out there." Everyone froze and Ariana shook her head, "What did it look like? Like a bear?" Gandalf asked suddenly and Bilbo paused and nodded, "Yes like a bear, but much bigger." Gandalf nodded, looking around. A howl rang through the air, "We are being hunted. Run." I lurched forward as Ariana tugged on my wrist pushing me in front of her, I stumbled as Fíli bumped into me not five steps later.

We ran down the side of the mountain, darting through the trees, hearing the howls getting nearer. Fíli, Ori and I were in the middle of the company, ahead of ran Gandalf, Bilbo, Uncle, Dwalin and Nori, with everyone else behind us. As we cleared the trees Gandalf yelled back, "Quickly make for the house." I tried to suck in a deep breath, trying to breath after running so far in such a short distance. I stumbled and looked up again as Bombur of all dwarves ran past us and into the courtyard even before Gandalf, crashing into the doors.

We were all scrambling to get it open as the great bear-like beast crashed through the treeline and we all tumbled into the hall, forcing the doors closed just as the beast thumped into the door. "Dori!" Uncle yelled and Dori lent his strength to closing the door. "What in Mahal's name was that?" Bofur puffed out and we all turned to look at Gandalf, "That was our host." We all stared in shock for a moment before looking back at the door, Dori tugging Ori away from the door. "Come away from there, it's obvious he's under some kind of dark magic." Gandalf scoffed and Aunty sighed, "He is under no influence other than his own. Now it's best we get some sleep, we will be safe here for the night." I watched as Aunty moved towards Gandalf.

I kept close to Fíli, but listened in. "You are hiding something Mithrandir." She said and he looked round at her, "Yes, well. Our host is not overly fond of Dwarves." She sighed, shaking her head before coming over to join us. Uncle had already laid out their bedrolls next to our, making sure the Aunty was in the middle, with me on one side and him on the other. She smiled and shook her head, kicking off her boots and stripping down to her breeches and a thin under shirt. "Namanith, that shirt looks familiar." Uncle said and she shrugged, "Does it nadad? Imagine that." She said, chuckling as she settled on to her bedroll, lying on her front with her head resting on her crossed arms.

Uncle chuckled and pulled out his thick silver comb and began to undo the braid that Aunty had put her hair in that morning, brushing it all out and gently taking out all the small braids in her hair and handing her the beads from the bottoms. She sighed in content as Uncle began to brush her hair out, almost absently as he talked to her. "When you left us to go with grandfather to Moria, I came down the stairs the morning after being cleared by the doctor and Dis and Britta were sat at the table waiting for me to come down. I was trying really hard to pull my hair back into some kind of braid." She said softly, but I could hear that everyone was listening.

I settled down and lent against Fíli as we listened to her story. Uncle hummed and continued to brush out her hair. "Dis looked up and began to laugh, told me that I was getting as bad as you with my mane of hair. She teased that I was just as bad as you were with my hair, that I could braid others hair no problem, but when it came to my own hair, I was useless. I had always wondered why you looked like you been dragged through a hedge backwards." I chuckled as Uncle tapped the top of her head lightly with the comb. She chuckled and blew a strand of hair out of her eyes, "I don't think I had ever realised how difficult it is to braid your own hair when it reaches well past your ass."

Several people chuckled as Uncle paused in his hair brushing, "Namanith I would complain at your language, but it has always been worse than most miners." Uncle said shaking his head and Bofur exclaimed, "Oi, yer 'ighness, I'm feckin' offended. Nothin' bloody wrong with us miners an' our language." Aunty laughed from her position and moved to sit up, turning to face Bofur and the others and Uncle just shook his head, continuing to brush out the snarls. "Too right, Bofur my lovely." Aunty said winking over at him, "'Sides if you think miners have the worst language nadad, you've never listened to Dwalin, Frerin and yourself while your on the training grounds. I swear that's where I picked it all up." She said poking Uncle and he grunted, "I'll have you know my language is upstanding." Uncle muttered and Dwalin, seemed to choke on thin air.

I looked up at Fíli and he nodded, clearly this was going to get interesting. "Right so it wasn't you that I was fightin' that time after Ariana arrived? Ya know the time when ye called me, what was it? Oh tha's right 'a feckin' pansy assed, tree shagging bastard son of a troll'." Dwalin looked over at Uncle, who stared back at him and looked like he was about to murder him. The tension broke when Aunty began to laugh, "That's what you were saying? You told me it was constructive criticism." She smacked Uncle on the leg and leaned back, her arms stretched out behind her, holding her up and her legs stretched out in front of her. He simply smiled down at her, tugging on her hair before placing the comb aside, then re-braiding all the individual braids.

She smiled up at him and shifted, so she was sat behind him, brushing out his hair, unbraiding then re-braiding the different parts. I started as Fee tugged lightly on the now messy braid that Aunty had put in my hair ages ago. Fee went to reach for the comb we shared and I yelped, diving in behind Aunty and hiding under her hair. She laughed, the vibration of it tickling my cheek. "Come now mizimith surely your nadad isn't that scary?" She said, brushing a hand over my back. I looked up at her, "He pulls it out. I have little of it as it is." I grumbled and she shook her head, "Here you deal with your nadad's hair and I'll do your, hmm?" I groaned but moved so I was behind Fee.

Fee purred softly as I began to comb through his hair, for some reason he had always liked having it touched and played with. I hated it, washing it was enough of an effort. I tried not to flinch when Aunty touched my hair, none of the dwarves I had grown up with realised that my head seemed to be sensitive, pulling too much hurt. Aunty simply hummed and slid her fingers through it first, gently teasing the snarls out. I relaxed slightly when I realised that she was going to be gentle, unlike amad and both my uncles, Fee tried but after a while he soon forgot to be careful and ended up tugging to hard. I barely registered when Aunty's fingers became the comb as I was trying to untangle a huge snarl in Fee's thick mane of hair, a little jealous that there was so much of it.

She shifted slightly and began to put a few braids in my hair, fastening them with the single clip with the Durin crest on it. She shifted as she finished and pressed a kiss to the side of my temple, "There we go mizimith, all done." I started and Fee turned around to look, staring at the braids. "Aunty how did you manage to get him to sit still?" Fee asked and I frowned, sticking my tongue out at him, I could sit still if I wanted too. "I agree, namanith. It's always been like trying to hold on to a landed fish when doing Kíli's hair." Uncle murmured and I looked up as Aunty shifted next to me. "Did you do it the same way as I did or was it your usual method of comb in and yank until the hair does what you want?" She asked and I flinched remembering when Uncle used to try and do my hair.

Aunty reached over and smacked Uncle, "Clearly it was your usual. Some of us have slightly more sensitivity on our heads, meaning that when you yank it, it really hurts. If you can be gentle with my delicate scalp, try it with others. We're not all as thick skinned on our heads as you, numbskull." Uncle glared over at Aunty and she just smirked, settling in next to him on her bedroll as I finished doing Fee's hair. We all settled down then, Fee curled up next to me with one hand on the dagger under his head and I smirked, some things never changed with him.

Meeting Beorn the next morning was interesting. I hadn't realised that the man was so tall, trying to climb up onto his chairs to sit at the table was difficult, but despite what I had heard Gandalf tell Aunty the night before he was kind to us, giving us food and shelter until we were ready to continue. Flying even that short distance by eagle had granted us a little more time so we had at least two weeks to stay with Beorn and enjoy the free time to finish healing and to refresh ourselves. The garden's around Beorn's house were amazing, the giant bees were a little creepy, but seeing so much life and peace reminded us all of the Shire. Bilbo could often be seen out in the gardens, Aunty generally alongside him, just tending the small flower beds in the sunshine.

It was in the second week of our stay with Beorn that the rains came, when you looked out of the door it was like looking through a waterfall there was so much water. We all stood out on the porch that wrapped itself around Beorn's house, our host sharing some pipeweed with us and we stared out into the rain. I was leaning against Fíli when he tensed, "Did you see that?" He asked and then we all saw the dark shadow that was moving through the deluge, we looked up at Beorn who seemed to be quite content to let whatever it was lurk in the rain. He chuckled at our tense forms, "Your companion, the girl." He rumbled out and I watched uncle become suspicious.

Uncle puffed on his pipe, "What of her?" He asked and Beorn laughed, "You do not understand, that is your companion." We looked closer and the figure stopped simply standing in the rain and began to spin around, long dark hair spraying out as she span. "Namanith, get out of the rain this instant." Uncle yelled out and over the deluge we could hear Aunty laughing as she ran over to us. "Loosen up Nadadugmil, learn to enjoy the little things." She said, leaping up onto the porch and leaning over the railing that was there, plucking his pipe from his hand and taking a long drag.

I smiled as she winked at me and blew out a perfect smoke ring, before handing back the pipe and darting off back into the rain. We all stared as Bilbo chuckled, handed his pipe to Ori and shucked off his waist coat. "What? Do dwarves not dance in the rain?" He laughed before darting out after Aunty and joining her in the little dance she was doing. We all stared for a moment, before Fee and I looked at each other and grinned, dropping our pipes into the little tray and shucking off our furs. We ignored Uncle's glare and ran out into the rain, joining Aunty and Bilbo in the rain.

Aunty giggled as we joined her and hugged us both tightly, "Why are we dancing in the rain, Aunty?" Fee asked and I knew it was difficult for him to leave the serious crown prince up on the porch and simply be my brother again. "For some people small, beautiful events are what life is all about." Bilbo answered as we laughed and spun about in the rain, causing Aunty to nod. "Well said Bilbo my dear. That and when was the last time we got to behave so freely, when was the last time you got to let go like this?" She asked and Fee and I paused, looking at each other and Aunty paused and frowned. "Ugh I do dislike my brother sometimes." She muttered and then looked up, her eyes flashing gold and the rain began to thin out.

The three of us stared at her, "You can control the weather?" I breathed out and she winked, "It takes more concentration than you think, but I can do it. I prefer not to, as what's wrong with a little bad weather? Keeps us on our toes and half the time on the road, when we've had bad weather we've needed to concentrate on keeping moving. Now lets see if we can't get a few more people to loosen up." She said bending down and picking up a huge handful of mud, looking between the three of us and we all began to back away from her. She grinned, pulled her arm back and flung the mud forward. Fee and I braced for the splatter of mud, blinking when it didn't hit us. We looked down in shock to find Bilbo covered in mud, but grinning. "That was a mistake on your part, I'm a hobbit. We do so love playing in the dirt." He teased and picked up his own handful of mud.

Aunty laughed and darted away, Bilbo managing to get her back with the mud. She span and turned to find us still standing there, "Shit, run Kee." Fee muttered and I nodded, darting away, only to feel a handful of mud splatter against my side. I looked around and found Bilbo grinning at me, causing me to smirk and pick up my first handful of mud, "Dear Bilbo you shouldn't have picked the archer." I grinned as he froze before running away and I darted after him, spinning at the last second and hurling the mud at Aunty. She didn't seem to notice as she threw two mud balls, one hitting Fee and we all froze as the other hit Dwalin square in the face. "Oops sorry cousin." She giggled out and he growled, putting his pipe and furs down on the porch.

She bent to pick up more mud as he jumped down the steps and picked his own mud ball up as he landed in a crouch. "Run, ye little rat." She giggled flinging another mud ball at him, before darting off into the rain, which seemed to have gotten slightly heavier again, just enough to blur who we were throwing at. We continued playing in the rain, a few more dwarves joining in as we continued. I could hear Dori muttering with Oín on the porch. "The fools are going to catch their death of cold." I chuckled and threw a mud ball at Nori, darting behind a tree as he turned around looking for me only to end up being tackled into the mud by Bofur.

There was silence as I peeked around the tree trunk to find Uncle stood on the porch steps, his shirt plastered with mud and glaring between Dwalin and Aunty, before smirking and walking calmly down the porch. He picked up two huge handfuls of mud and walked forward, flinging one at Aunty and then running after Dwalin, "Get back here you orc shagging bastard." He yelled out and suddenly he was launching himself at Dwalin and rubbing the huge handful of mud into his face and over his head. He then yelled as Aunty tackled him from the side and stuffed a handful of mud down his shirt. "Love you really big brother." She said quickly before darting off it the rain.

It wasn't until we heard Beorn and Gandalf hysterically laughing on the porch that we paused, the rain having finally stopped. Beorn's garden looked nothing like it had when the rain had started, but the again neither did we. Bilbo and Aunty were leaning over Dwalin and Uncle, clearly having pelted them continuously with mud. None of us down in the garden seemed to have escaped being completely covered in mud, I grinned over at Ori as he appeared from behind a tree, it was good to see him having fun for a change. "There is a river behind the house, you may bathe there." Beorn rumbled out and we all shuffled around the corner, Aunty and Bilbo still giggling like little children as they ran towards the river, walking in with all their clothes on.

It seemed to take forever for the river water to run clean again after we were in it. For once I was glad that I had such short hair and no beard as the mud washed out quickly, Bilbo and I being amongst the first to finish, laying out our breeches and shirt and laying on the rocks surrounding the river as the sun began to shine hotly. I looked over at Aunty and she winked, walking over to lay out her shirt and breeches next to ours. She turned back into the water, dunking her head and scrubbing at her hair. I chuckled as she surfaced and threw the huge weight of it back over the top of her head, showering everyone with water.

Everyone was grumbling and groaning, but Aunty just giggled and squeezed the rest of the water out of her hair, uncaring for her state of undress and that we could see every scar and inking on her body. I remembered then that she had said she had one behind her right ear and as she tried to braid her hair back, I moved to help her, hoping to see it. Sat in the hollow behind her ear were three unfamiliar characters, "Aunty what is this?" I asked softly and she smiled up at me, "Its from a language on my old world called Chinese, they mean faith, hope and love." She said, looking out over the stream. I nodded and finished braiding her hair back.

We went through the remaining days with Beorn on bated breath, Aunty had set right his garden after we had destroyed it in our mud war, not that he had been too upset about it, something about turning over the ground being good for the plants. Whether or not we could make it to Mirkwood in time would depend on Beorn's help and given that he wasn't know to truly like dwarves we were worried that we wouldn't actually make it to Mirkwood. The morning before we wanted to leave Gandalf broached the subject with him as we sat eating breakfast, only Bilbo and Aunty carrying on eating as if this wasn't a big deal.

"I don't like dwarves. They are greedy and blind, blind to the lives of those they deem lesser than themselves." We all stared up at him as he paused and looked out of the window. "But orcs, I hate more. I will help you." Beorn said and we all seemed to sigh in relief at his words. Over the course of the day he gathered us food supplies and water skins, prepared his ponies for us to use and seemed to be speaking a lot more with Gandalf. It would take us around a week to reach Mirkwood, if Balins route was correct, which it most likely was. As we were looking at the ponies, deciding who would ride which one and where in the line they would come, I noticed something. "Aunty there isn't one for you."

My words caused everyone to pause and she smiled at me, whistling sharply. A raven cawed in the nearby tree, before gliding down and resting on her arm. "I would not worry mizimith. Thalion has not let me down before." The raven squawked loudly before jumping down off her arm and transforming into a man. "Aye an' ye can believe I won'. Silly mistress." He muttered out and she smiled at him fondly, flicking his beak like nose. He glared at her, but was smiling softly. "He is a skinchanger?" Beorn asked and Aunty shook her head. "No, I am a humble raven. Mistress saved me an' I have been her servant ever since." The raven said and she nodded, "It is because of my magic that Thalion can change, when he became my familiar he said he would be anything I needed. Most of the time he is my wings."

Beorn nodded and moved about the garden getting the ponies ready, Thalion grinned widely, before changing back into a raven and flying back up to sit in the tree. I stared for a moment then moved back to setting up my pack for the next day. "Magic is an amazing thing." I heard Bilbo remark from beside me and I found myself agreeing. The mood was calm that night as we savoured the last bits of quiet and calm, knowing that the journey to Mirkwood would mean we could be hunted by orcs and faced with Elves at the end.

We said goodbye to Beorn at dawn the following morning and rode off towards Mirkwood. Balin had chosen a rather different route towards the forest than I think Gandalf had wanted, but it was recommended by Beorn to travel paths that were not common. He thought it would help confuse the orcs more, I didn't really think that it would, but it might give us a slight head start. As what had once been the Greenwood loomed, I noticed that many of the older dwarves in our party grew more sombre and that Aunty was quick to glare at the forest on the horizon whenever she looked at it. Clearly there was something in that wood that very few of the elders wanted to see, Uncle especially seemed to be in a fouler mood as we approached the trees. I just hoped that we got through the forest quickly and out the other side in one piece.

A/N: Just a bit of a timescale for everyone (more so for the coming chapters than everything). I realise that it's a lot of time in Mirkwood, but I really wanted directionally challenged dwarves and Ariana being so over trying to get them to listen to her and instead is just waiting for the moment when she can say 'I TOLD YOU!' :)

3 weeks to reach the goblin caves

4 weeks to reach Beorns

2 weeks at Beorns

1 week to reach mirkwood

5 weeks lost in mirkwood

3 weeks in cells in mirkwood

1 week in laketown

1 week to reach the mountain

Next chapter is Legolas :) It is also a reunion for good old Thrandy and Ariana... which goes as you would expect ;) It WILL be up tomorrow as I'm just editing it :) After that is Tauriel which is also nearly finished :)

Also how far would people like me to go past the BOTFA? I can probably go on and on, but having an ending would probably be good ;p