Fárin, son of Hárin and uncle to Thorin and Dis frantically made ready any Longbeard who took refuge in his mountain and wanted to return home. The list was sitting on his desk, but he memorized the family units. Seven thousand dwarves made his hall and he only had room for two thousand. Now the ones who remained and were in physical shape wanted to go home, although many of their children who were born and raised in the White Mountains considered it home. When the arguments broke out, he called them all into his large auditorium and made the decree. "Go an see the wonders of Erebor. If ye still want ta return, I will be coming this way from delivering my ordered lasses for King Thorin ta make his wife. I remember when my sister made the long journey, an we returned with riches that made this mountain ah haven for our stranded Longbeard brethren an ah valuable trading partner with Gondor an Rohan. I would see this mountain place another queen on the throne. Besides, we need ta see for ourselves this famed Arkenstone. I hereby order all able ta make the trek ta get ready as we are leaving in ah few days. It will take three months of steady walking ta get there, an if we don't want another clan ta beat us, we must leave in ah few days." He hurried off; busier than he had been in decades.

Five days later he was ready to leave within two days. He let his mind wander back as he hustled through the halls. The mountain hadn't seen so much activity since Thrór descended on him. He would never forget a warrior running through the halls and pushing aside anyone not moving fast enough until he screeched to a halt at the market booth where his lord was speaking with a vendor.

"Lord Fárin, ye'll never believe what I'm about ta tell ye, but in the distance is thousands of dwarves an they are coming this way."

He remembered his face draining of all color and in what seemed like a great distance, the vendor asking if he was well. He took off running to the entrance and the doors were open and his warriors crowded into it and looking in the distance. He pushed through to the front and moaned, "It canna be. Quick, send riders an bring the leaders ta me."

He watched as four rams tore off the mountain and one was ridden and the other three on leads. Soon they came racing back and his heart stopped. The painfully thin Thráin slid off one and turned to help his father off another. He strained to recognize the other two and then placed Gróin and his younger brother, Fundin.

He remembered rushing to them with arms open wide. As he hugged Thráin he then heard a heartbroken explanation and apology. "Ah dragon came an took the mountain. We lost ten thousand good souls an I hate ta tell ye, but Lis is among the dead, an I'm so sorry I lived." He saw Thráin's tears and pulled the skeletal body to him for another hug.

His under lords were questioning the others and already making ready for a group that outnumbered the inhabitants of his realm.

His halls became packed with dwarves and his supplies wouldn't last long feeding so many, so it was with mixed feelings when Thráin told him they were moving the healthiest north to Dunland and a mine the king of Rohan told him about. Fárin agreed to take two thousand of the weakest and oldest. That number dwindled to the thousand that now lived in his halls from that time. The pregnant dams and those with babies stayed. Over the years, some left to join their clan and some came here where conditions were better.

Fárin stopped his rapid strides when he heard one of his lords hailing.

"My lord, Fárin, I have my family ready ta depart, an we are beside ourselves ta see Erebor. I'm sure when your nephew, Thorin, sees my granddaughter; his eyes will never stray ta another lass again."

Fárin, with will, stopped himself from laughing, because he knew Lord Hepti, one of his eldest chief advisors was serious and proud of his only female offspring from his three sons. "We have ah far piece ta go an better hope Thorin hasn't found ah mate yet or our trip will be for naught," he advised.

"When is our caravan leaving?" the old dwarf thundered. "I'll not let one of those other lords get his blood into the Durin line when I've got the prettiest an feistiest lass in all the clans."

"In ah couple days, Hepti, in ah couple days," Fárin replied and hurried to meet with his son, Gárin, who was ruling the White Mountains while he was at Erebor. As he bustled down a long hallway to the side entrance of the mountain and their stables, he reflected a time long ago when he was a young, strong dwarrow and his spindly little sister, Lis, was chosen as next in line to go before the mighty Durin's as a bride for Prince Thráin. The wizard arrived on their doorstep out of the blue saying he would lead them on the long journey. He had to admit, it was the trip of a lifetime and his sister thrived in the fresh air. Other than being chased by elves, the wizard kept all that would harass them away. He wished Gandalf would ride into his mountain this day and repeat the process. That he didn't weighed heavily on Fárin. The meddling wizard usually knew events of importance in advance and intervened lest fate take a turn Mahal didn't plan.

Over a hundred and fifty years away from Erebor and on nights when he found sleep slow in coming, he would let his mind wander back through the opulent halls and chambers his sister would spend the rest of her life in. There was so much gold in the rock, a small light illuminated a room in the Durin's chambers. He got to see it all; the bedchamber Thráin and Lis would call their own and several more for when they added dwarflings. He knew his own dwarflings would never be raised surrounded by a surfeit of wealth, but was happy for his sister.

He became acquainted with the taciturn one eyed dwarf who seemed impervious to the riches that was his. That Lis adored this mutilated prince was enough to form an alliance with him when his father, Lord Hárin, passed into the Halls of Mahal ten years after the wedding. When a ragged band of dwarves arrived in his halls, he remembered Thráin's tears as he informed them of the loss of Lis and later met the dwarflings of his sister when they passed through his home as exiles. His impression of young Thorin was of a recalcitrant youth who fought the world. He saw a more stable warrior when they met again to fight at Azanulbizar and his opinion of the lad greatly improved. He hoped the king was son to the father, whom he admired with reverence akin to Mahal. When he saw Thráin's work ethic and leadership; first in Erebor as prince and then when his father wandered in madness, and heard his story of losing his eye; he knew his sister found a special Durin and was surprised he wasn't the reincarnated one.

He strode outside into bright sunlight that was warming the slopes and noted with satisfaction grass was already two inches high where sun warmed the soil. Gárin was overseeing the animals they would take and personally examining the shoes of the ponies. Fárin waited for him to finish the last animal before moving into his line of sight. He motioned for his son to walk with him, and away from eavesdropping ears spoke softly, "What do ye think we'll find at Erebor, son?"

Sensing his father wished truth, he spoke what was on his mind. "All I know of my first cousin, Thorin, we learned at the battle. He was well respected among the Blue Mountain clan an doted on his father an grandfather. I think we should try an place ah queen from the White Mountains once again in the bedchamber of ah Durin. Ye always told stories of being treated like royalty at Erebor for providing the future queen."

"Not to mention the large amount of gold an gems we carted back ta the mountain that made us the envy of all clans. Yer grandfather's standing among the clans greatly improved an they came from afar ta trade with us an meet the family who married into ah line so refined that their offspring were better warriors, smarter an prettier."

"I think we have the dwarrowlass ta do just that," Gárin added, picking up on his father's desire not return empty handed and carry back the same honor as his father.

"Do ye think Hepti's grandlass, Arli, is the one for Thorin?" Fárin pressed. The last thing he wanted was to be made a fool of by one of his under lords.

"I think she is ah beauty an ye know she turns heads of all young dwarrow here. She is spirited an smart. I don't know if Thorin is of ah temperament ta settle her down. He will have ah big kingdom ta oversee." Seeing his father's frown, he gamely finished, "Who knows, he might like her spirit."

"As leader, it is my duty ta sell our greatest product, an that would be Hepti's grandlass. Are these ponies sound enough ta tackle the journey?"

Gárin nodded. "They'll make fine pack animals for the supplies an riders. The goats are ready, as are the sheep. Ye should have plenty of food on the hoof."

"Good. I know those in Thorin's Hall are still being supplemented by the elves an will have ta hunt an dry meat. That will take time."

"But won't taking the Longbeards of Erebor home slow us to ah crawl. For all we know, Lord Gróin ordered all available lasses ta leave immediately."

Fárin walked quietly beside his eldest son for a spell, thinking his carefully crafted plans over. His son's advice had merit. "I can't ride off an leave them after getting their hopes up. They would have gone without me an I wouldn't want ta face Thorin should he ever hear I even considered such action. Nay, we will go as planned. I checked the routes an with these fine animals carrying most of the burden, have decided ta tackle Redhorn Pass instead of riding through Rohan an up the Wold. Rohan is longer an easier with early spring providing lush grass for the animals, but I aim ta get these dwarves home an our lass ta Thorin first. Besides, other than the pass, I expect this side of the mountains is safer."

"Wish I was going with ye," Gárin complained.

"I'll take yer brother. Who knows, maybe he'll catch the eye of some of those lasses for when he is old enough ta wed. Ye already have ah fine wife."

Arli looked at her pony in distrust and turned on her parents, "You don't expect me to ride this animal?"

"Mount up, lass," Fárin ordered. He overheard the disbelief in her tone and was sure he would have words with her father before reaching the Anduin.

Teki, her father hurried to help her mount as the lord was riding away and he wanted them to be in the lead party.

Her mother was assisted by their son, Eki, and they were off, ponies cantering to catch up.

"Your beard is crooked!" Vali, her mother admonished.

"I can't help it. Are we going to ride this fast all the way?" Arli wailed, both hands gripping the reins in a death hold.

"Ye'll get the hang of the pony," her brother teased.

Teki pushed his pony to the side of Lord Fárin. "My lord, ah word?"

Fárin nodded and thus encouraged the younger dwarf pushed to his side, grunting an apology for displacing Fárin's youngest son, Dárin. "Ye know yer nephew better than me. I only met him in passing during the war. Do ye think he is too old for my daughter?"

"Yes," Fárin replied evenly. "He will have ta take ah younger lass ta provide ah Durin. Besides, any closer ta his age is wed. I wouldn't worry about Thorin looking for ah real wife outside his duties in the bedchamber. He has his kin for companionship. Yer lass, if chosen will have little contact with him. Why they might not even share the same rooms."

"Ye got the notes from the ravens. Any hint ta Thorin's mindset?"

"As in what?" Fárin asked perplexed at the question.

"Well…..ye know…what his grandfather had. Ye know…gold sickness." Teki stuttered out his primary concern.

Fárin grinned at him. "Balin wrote the notes, an no, he didn't mention ah lass for ah crazy king."

The dark haired dwarf laughed with the lord and relaxed slightly. "It must have been some note for five ravens ta bring it."

Fárin nodded. "Aye, I was shocked ta say the least. I am sure I will be called ta explain myself for not sending an army ta help with the mountain or battle that followed."

Done getting anything else from the lord, Teki melded back into the pack until riding beside his wife. He leaned close to her and murmured, "If Thorin is affected, Fárin is keeping the knowledge close ta his chest."

Fili marched cockily into the elven compound. He banged on the door of a great hall which was promptly opened by a tall elf wearing a long grey robe making him appear even taller. "I'm here to see Lord's Elladan and Elrohir."

The elf looked at his attire. "I haven't seen such fine clothes on a dwarf in a hundred years." He stepped back and Fili marched into the halls of the elves at the Refuge of Edhelion. Harps and flutes grew louder as they strode the long hall and into a circular room with a round fire pit in the center and comfortable benches with thick cushions lining the outside of the room with its many windows to catch the sun every hour. The twins were playing flutes and Fili's keen hearing picked up one was playing a different timbre. When spying Fili, they stopped.

"Don't let me interrupt. I haven't heard prissy elven music since the camp outside Dale and your father's halls," Fili jested.

"I knew we should have given you to the goblins," Elrohir rejoined just as lightheartedly.

Joking over, Fili got down to business. "I am sent from Gróin."

He didn't get another word out when both fluidly stood. "If you insist on giving messages from head dwarf, we should find an area where the elves here can't blackmail your neighbors. Can't trust elves," Elladan humorously stated and led the way to a room.

"This is our sleeping area," Elrohir explained.

Fili looked around and addressed them. "Can't you each rate a room of your own?"

"We still bunk together. We tried to separate a few times, but habits from the womb cannot be broken easily," Elrohir patiently explained. "Sit," he motioned to a chair and took another one.

Elladan threw himself on a bed, but not before grabbing the pillow from its twin and propping his head and shoulders up. "I suppose if one of us marries, it will get crowded in the marriage bedchamber, but Adar won't allow us to wed beneath our station, so for now we bunk together."

"I have Kili as my bunkmate, but we don't have a choice. I didn't come here to complain about Kili. He is the greatest brother a dwarf could have and he is still struggling."

"When our naneth sailed, Adar barely made the trip home. He said later he has no memories of returning to Imladris. The pain in his fëa was raw and radiating. Daernaneth used her….um…her special powers and kept his pain from turning into rage. While she was concentrating on him, we slipped away under a full moon and hunted orcs."

Fili listened to the story Elladan was telling. "Kili wants revenge against the Easterlings and that robed wizard. What if he gets back to the mountain and then takes off after them?" Suddenly having Kili return didn't look like a wise decision.

Elrohir had an idea. "What if we tell Kili of our kills? Many times we returned home wounded and raging that our bodies failed us."

"We can tell him of the numbers we killed and it isn't a drop to the numbers of orcs who breathe. It took over four hundred years, but we finally realize the battle isn't ours alone, but everyone's. When the final push against Sauron comes, it will be all races working together."

"So you don't hunt now?" Fili asked.

Elrohir looked like the typical elf that couldn't be read. "We killed all who harmed our naneth we could find and many who weren't there. No orcs come out of Moria now and the goblins have retreated deep in the mine. We've walked through it looking and all is quiet."

"So we can move back in?" Fili inquired with hope.

"No, I wouldn't do that just yet. Evil lurks in the lowest part of a nature we've never seen."

Fili wasn't sure what they meant so got on with his message. "There was ah meeting last night of the lords and we don't have enough food to get all of us to Erebor. Lord Gróin is wondering if he could impose on you two to go to the Havens and make a deal with Lord Círdan for food an more animals for packing it. If we could get tall horses, we will find a way to reach our supplies."

"Do you have a number of travelers?" Elladan asked.

A nod was their first answer. "Aye, we have ah thousand going this year and the exiled families drew lots for ah year. It will take five years to safely get us all over the Misty Mountains."

"Most are walking, correct?" Elrohir asked.

"Of course. Only the elderly are riding and we have rounded up thirty wagons for them and those with small dwarflings or pregnant dams. We don't have the right animals to pull that many wagons, or warriors to keep us safe," Fili lamented. "Some of the wagons came from men and are tall."

"Let us think on it, Fili. I don't want to get your hopes up if we can't deliver anything. If we come up dry, what is the option to feed you on the road?" Elrohir asked and saw his brother swing his long legs off the bed and sit up.

"We will do a large hunt and kill as much elk and deer as possible and dry the meat. Each able body will pack as much as they can carry. On the way, we can also hunt and fish. Also, I plan on stopping in the Shire and see if the hobbits will part with potatoes and carrots."

"How much food will one dwarf eat from here to Erebor," Elladan inquired and his brother could read his mind without trying.

'You are thinking of moving them all at once, aren't you?' Elrohir slipped the question silently to his brother.

'If we don't, you know Adar will insist we play babysitter for five years.' Elladan looked to be in thought, but Fili had been around them enough to know they were talking to each other.

'Did we have something else planned?'

"Come on, guys, you can talk in front of me," Fili complained, "and I don't have a clue how much one dwarf could eat going that far. That kind of calculating is for elves, not dwarves."

"Alright," Elladan agreed. "We were trying to figure how to move all at once in one trip. That's why we need food numbers."

Fili thought fast. "It would depend on how many days it took. I don't have an accurate accounting because the Great Eagles flew us over the Anduin and dropped us in the foothills near Beorn's home. They took an easy week off our trip."

"Then add it on," Elladan encouraged. "Also you made good time on ponies. Triple the days for a foot journey. How long were you on the road to Imladris from here?"

"Thorin rode us hard from the Shire. We were separated until meeting at Bilbo's home. Kili and I were buying ponies for the journey, as was Dwalin. Balin was on ah trip to the White Mountains and gone for two years. He had to hustle to make it in time. The others made their way on foot from Thorin's Hall and Bifor, Bofur and Bombur were making ah last delivery of iron works to a community of men north of Bree. Thorin had to come north to Thorin's Halls for ah meeting of the clan leaders. That's where the ravens knew to go when they were sent out to all the clans and they regathered for Thorin to listen to the ravens talk to him and deliver messages." Fili paused to think. "It took us five weeks on horseback. Just out of curiosity, how long does it take you to make ah trip from Rivendell to Mithlond?"

The twins exchanged amused looks and Elladan motioned for Elrohir to answer. "If we are alone and push our horses, we can make the trip in ten days."

"How far did we go from the Shire to your home?" Fili was curious. He knew Thorin knew, but didn't think it important to ask. He was just happy to be on the journey.

"To the Shire; about six hundred miles as the ravens would fly. By road, seven hundred. And another two hundred to here or one fifty to the Havens. Our horses are made for running, as are those of the messengers we use. We ride a hundred miles a day in optimal conditions and fifty if we have to scout."

"We didn't do that good." Fili was impressed.

"You made not quite twenty miles a day. That's a good stretch of the ponies' legs," Elrohir pointed out. "On foot with stops for whatever, expect ten to fifteen miles a day, so you'll reach the Misty Mountains in around two and a half months. I know Adar has a place where you can camp for a week or more before tackling the mountains. It is an old left over area when the armies amassed for various wars going back to the Second Age. You can wash clothing, cook, bake and relax."

"I'm glad Thorin's not with us. He would insist on avoiding the elves and push us into the mountains."

"I think Thorin of old is slowly letting go of his hatred. You must remember he was but a dwarfling when he lost his home and mother."

Fili slowly nodded he understood. "If all go at once, how will we take enough food?"

"Leave that to us, but be prepared to pay a hefty price. Also don't think Thranduil will let that many go through his realm for a mere sum of two for one on wine and a paltry fee of sixty pounds of gold, or your hostile attacker will be none other than King Thranduil. Can you talk to ravens?"

Fili looked surprised. "I think so. I never tried, but understood Roäc when he brought a message from Dáin."

"If we succeed in our plans, you will have to inform King Thráin and have him make arrangements with Thranduil for such a large group."

"What do I tell Gróin?"

"I suggest telling him to have his hunters go south of the Havens about a hundred miles and there they will find plenty of game. Tell him to hunt for five thousand dwarves. We will meet with Lord Círdan and see what help they can give."

Fili stood indicating he was done. "Sounds like just the thing Kili needs to pull him out of his deep depression."

They escorted him to the main door and Elladan's final tidings for him and his brother was, "The star will shine brighter upon our next meeting, Lord Fili. Tonight we ride to the Havens."