It wasn't the smartest thing Brili had ever done, but she had run out of options.

She jumped off her branch and onto the closest, also the smallest, troll's head, ripping her knife down his cheek as she scaled his face. He squealed like a piglet and began to flail in a desperate attempt to knock her off him. One of his fingers managed to graze her face, only, with his size and brute strength, it felt more like she'd been punched square in the nose. Her mask flew off her head as her neck went careening backward with an unsettling clicking sound.

Mahal, that hurt. It was a miracle her nose wasn't smashed.

With her uninjured hand gripping the troll's meaty earlobe to keep herself from being thrown off, she gingerly pat her throbbing nose. Mercifully, everything felt like it was still in place despite the pulsing feeling radiating from it. The two other trolls turned towards the commotion just as she'd planned…

Only, she didn't have a plan in place now that she'd gathered all of their attention.

"The dawn will take you all," a commanding, familiar voice intoned loudly, sparing Brili the trouble of thinking on her feet.

The next moments were all a blur. First, there was a cracking sound that Brili was sure she'd heard before as a child. The unmistakable sound of stone giving way and breaking apart after the constant assault of pickaxes. That distinct sound was all but ingrained in the mind of every dwarf, no matter where they hailed from. But there was no mine near her, so she could only imagine why she could hear the familiar crack of breaking stone.

Next came the sun, warming her cheeks for the first time in weeks. The moment that the first rays of sunlight graced Brili was the exact moment that the troll she was perched on screeched deafeningly in her ear. In a final desperate attempt to protect himself from the inevitable, he threw his arm up to shield his face. When his shoulder suddenly shifted, Brili lost her already precarious grip and was thrown backward, where her head smacked part of the wooden spit that was roasting her compatriots.

She finally understood the phrase "seeing stars" after that.

She lay on her back, eyes closed, where she had fallen for a moment to try and get her bearings around the dizziness. The world around her was being swallowed up by a distant buzzing sound, the troll's screeching and the company cheering muffled by the ringing in her ears. She was relieved that the wizard had come to save them; she wasn't sure how long she'd have been able to fight them off.

Perhaps trying to take on three trolls with only a knife hadn't been a good idea. It would be best not to tell Aragorn about this little venture… He would put her through an unimaginably tedious training exercise over this, without a doubt.

Brili shook her head with a groan, thinking worriedly about how lightheaded she was feeling, as Bilbo hopped to her side, still in his bag. "My goodness! Are you all right?"

"Mmm? Oh, yeah, I'm all right. Thanks."

She'd barely been able to process his question. That wasn't good… She began to assess her body for any severe injuries. So far, her limbs felt okay… She was a bit stiff but could still feel them, which was a good sign. The most serious injuries were almost always the ones you can't feel right away.

"I think you've hit your head," Bilbo warned, his expression falling as he watched her shift to stand. "You shouldn't try to get up—"

She shouldn't have stood up that quickly. A wave of dizziness washed over her, and she wobbled dangerously on her feet, the heel of her hand rubbing her eye. Why was it wet and sticky? Ah, blood... She'd cut her hand pretty badly while trying to escape her bindings.

"Y-you're bleeding!" Bilbo was still bound in a sack, so he could only hop after her while she stumbled a couple of steps towards the newly statued trolls. "You should really sit down!"

"Not m'head that's bleeding," she said. Funny, why did her tongue feel like it was a stiff block of iron? Her limbs felt like they were filled with air. "Hand."

"That the wizard's apprentice talking down there?" a voice that filled her up with a surge of anger, Bofur, called down to the pair. "Good work down there, lass."

"Bug off, y'twit," she darkly grumbled as she swayed again.

Her legs felt like they were going to give any moment. If it weren't for Bilbo beside her, she'd have hit the ground again. She leaned into him, letting her head loll onto his shoulder with a loud whoosh of air.

"G-Gandalf," the hobbit called out, his head darting around frantically as he used his body to support her the best he could without the use of his arms. "I really think you should have a nice sit down over here."

"Can't."

She would have liked to explain to Bilbo why she didn't have the luxury of sitting down, but the thought had even escaped her. She knew she had to leave this campsite as quickly as possible. It was getting difficult to focus, though. Her head felt so heavy, and she was so tired suddenly…

"Gandalf! Your ranger's hurt! She needs help!"

"Is… Is that…"

Kili…

That voice was also familiar... But, unlike Bofur's, it left her with a lump in her throat rather than filling her with actionable fury. Oh, yes, that was why she'd needed to get away from here. Gandalf interceded before she could look up to see her brother staring right at her.

"Mmm, yes, I see what you mean," the wizard said, crouching down to her level, a wrinkled hand reaching out to steady her as she wobbled. "She does look quite unwell."

"My head's fine." She waved Gandalf's hand away with her palm out to show him her bleeding wound. It was her hand that was bleeding, not her face. "Blood's from my hand. See?"

She really felt like she was going to throw up. She didn't have time for that now…

But what was she so worried about in the first place?

Perhaps Bilbo was right. Maybe she should sit down for a moment…

But wasn't there something she had to talk to the wizard about? Oh! There was! Their contract.

"Really, I insist…" Bilbo pleaded, looking at her desperately as Gandalf began to undo his bindings. "You hit your head quite hard back there."

"Wizard," she drawled, sucking in a deep breath to keep herself upright, "we need t'go over my contract. I can't escort you to… Rivendell. I've got to go now."

Why was she talking so funny? Really… Something was definitely wrong. She'd need to be checked out as soon as she got home. Yet another trip to the healing ward would be in order…

Gandalf looked rather bemused as he looked at her. "I really think it best that you remain here. I believe someone here would be quite happy to see you right now."

It sounded like a great idea, but her gut soured when he'd said that. No, she would rather not remain here. She'd better find Borias and get moving… Only where did she leave him? She shook her head, but that only served to unsteady her further, and this time, it came with slight echoes of pain. She'd be feeling that later; she knew that much.

"No, sorry. But I'll be taking my… Taking my…"

What was she taking?

"Brili?" There was that lump in her throat again. "Brili… Is that? What are you doing here?"

Oh, shit, that's why she needed to get away from here…

Dumbly, she shook her head, but it was too late. Kili had already been released from his bindings and was striding towards her. Her stomach roiled again, and she didn't try to stop the inevitable this time. Holding one hand in front of her to ward off her oncoming brother, she dropped to her knees and retched into the dirt.

The good news was that she hadn't been eating much lately, so there wasn't much to come up.

A scuffed pair of boots stopped before her blurry vision, but she only dared to look up as high as his knees. Across the campsite, she could see Fili and Thorin staring intently at her as Balin hastily tried to undo her uncle's bindings. Before the unfortunate reality of her situation could sink in, Kili crouched down so that he was the only thing in her line of sight, stepping in a puddle of her vomit like it wasn't even there.

"It's really you." Kili laughed in disbelief before he yanked her into a fierce, rib-cracking hug that did absolutely nothing to help Brili's spinning head. "I-I thought I'd never see you again."

Looking over his shoulder, she saw Thorin had been set free, and he was quickly trying to untie Fili's bindings.

This was a literal nightmare… Brili couldn't imagine a worse scenario...

Her pony. She had to call for her pony. Borias would take her back home. Weakly, becoming increasingly aware of the pain on her palm from when she'd sliced herself, she pushed against Kili's chest, where he'd squashed her against him.

He pulled back but kept his arms around her shoulders. "What's the matter? Are you hurt? Wait! Is that blood?"

She weakly shook her head. This was all becoming too much.

"Brili!"

Before she'd even had the chance to register his voice, Fili had pushed Kili aside and barreled into her with a loud thump. She had to suck in a deep, steadying breath and close her eyes for fear of vomiting on her eldest brother's shoulder. Her head was positively spinning at this point. Perhaps she'd already been knocked unconscious and was now dreaming.

Yes, she would like to pretend this was just a bad dream for a while.

Her shoulder, where Fili's head was buried, felt warm and, surprisingly, damp, his breathing deep and heavy. Funny, if she didn't know any better, she'd think he was crying, but that wasn't possible. Fili hadn't cried in front of her since they were dwarflings, and Mum had tanned their hides for flooding the kitchens the night of Kili's birthday. And even that time, it had really been only a few begrudging sniffles and not real tears.

If she thought he was crying, then there must be something wrong with her head after all.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, squeezing her tighter. "I never should have stopped looking for you. I'm so sorry."

Why was he saying that? She'd never wanted them to look for her in the first place.

He pulled away, wiping his eyes discreetly before looking at her. Her brothers were crouched before her, the vision of relief and joy. Brili knew that she should say something to them… anything…

"I'm gonna pass out…" she said stupidly, words slurring.

When Fili opened his mouth to answer, concern lacing his expression, the darkness creeping in on the edge of her vision finally took over.

Well, she'd wanted a good nap anyway.

~o~

Mahal, her head hurt.

She couldn't even pinpoint where it hurt; her whole skull was throbbing. She could feel the pain pulsating in time with her heartbeat. Just what the hell had happened to her? She remembered that she'd cleaned herself off in the pond… Spoken to Bilbo… Taken a nap… But after the nap, things were kind of… hazy...

It almost felt like she was trying to remember a song or a poem, and the words were escaping her memory, just out of reach...

Almost like if she reached out, she could grab the missing pieces and force them back into place…

As her eyes fluttered open, she realized she'd extended her arm to block the sunlight from glaring directly into her eyes. She was lying supine on what felt like the ground—if the rock under her ass was any indication—with several questionable aches and pains. Okay, why was she lying on the ground like this?

Was that a bandage on her hand? She hadn't put that there.

"She's awake!" someone announced, and she could hear feet shuffling closer to her.

Fili's face entered her line of sight, and her headache was the least of her worries for one fleetingly blessed moment until she tried to scramble backward away from him at least. The second she had moved, the pain reverberated in her skull and down her spine. Her retreat was halted by her grabbing her head with a soft cry and someone placing their hands on her shoulders.

"Hey," a familiar voice soothed, rubbing her shoulders with their thumbs, "take a second, okay? You fainted back there."

Kili?

She wasn't sure why she even questioned it. She knew it was Kili. Immediately, the dam made up of her foggy memory was obliterated, and her memories from earlier came flooding in. The trolls, she'd tried to attack them. They had captured her at one point. Her mask was knocked off when she was trying to fight them.

After weeks of travel and avoiding suspicion, it was all ruined and with only a day left until she got to go home.

Just what the fuck had she done to piss off her ancestors this much?

Fili's face filled her vision again as he lifted her chin to face him with one hand and peeled back her eyelid. He had no expression on his face that she could read. He was purely assessing her condition. Brili's eyes began to water as he continued his inspection.

"She's coming around," he said matter-of-factly. "Go get Thorin."

"I'm not leaving—"

Fili cut him off with a warning tone that reminded Brili uncomfortably of their mother. "Now."

Kili wrinkled his nose at Fili before directing his attention to Brili, squeezing her shoulders as if to confirm that she was really there. "I'll be right back."

The moment he was gone, she slumped forward into her knees. With her luck, her uncle would find some horrible way to punish her before splitting up some of the company to bring her back to Ered Luin. She'd never get to return home at this rate… Well, she supposed that might depend on who he assembled to escort her. If he selected Bombur, then she would actually take those odds. On the other hand, if he chose Dwalin, she might as well throw herself off a cliff. No one escaped Dwalin; he'd send her back home in pieces before he let her get away...

There was a snapping sound near her right ear, and she batted it away instinctively.

"Bri, I need to see if you're hurt. Oin says that you are likely concussed." Fili stopped snapping by her ear and tilted her chin back up. "Look here and follow my finger, okay?"

No, she would rather keep her eyes closed; thank you very much. Rather than listening to Fili's instructions, she took a deep breath in her nose, chewing nervously on her lower lip. She had to escape this mess before anyone figured out where she lived. If she could just get to her feet and find her pony, then they wouldn't stand a chance of catching up to her.

"Oh! Good, she's waking up now," Bilbo's relieved voice called out somewhere to her left. "You gave us all quite a fright, you know."

She forced her eyes open, ignoring another wave of nausea, to look at the hobbit as he approached her. "Where's Borias?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

Of course, none of them knew her pony's name, did they? "My pony, Borias. I left him by the pond."

Bilbo looked extraordinarily proud of himself. "Ah! Yes, don't you worry! I went back for him, and he's having a lovely time grazing with Myrtle."

Good, all she had to do was sort out how to stand up. Then she'd be able to make a clean break of it...

This may be a good thing. Her brothers would know she was alive and could happily move on while she lived in peace. She kept her gaze on Bilbo as she held a hand out to him, wordlessly asking him to help her to her feet. Her hand was rather rudely knocked back down.

"Didn't you hear me?" Fili huffed, tapping her forehead lightly with his knuckles. "Oin says that you have a concussion. You can check on your pony afterward, but you need to rest right now."

She'd been doing her level best not to speak to him this whole time but, thanks to her aching head, her resolve quickly ran out. She rounded on him and snapped, "I don't want to rest."

He leaned back more out of surprise than any actual fear. Funny, now that they knew who she was, Brili had lost that edge of distance she'd created for herself. Now, practically nose to nose with her eldest brother, she felt more vulnerable and afraid than ever on this assignment. She wasn't afraid when the trolls had her in their grips. She wasn't afraid when she'd attacked them a second time. But, right now, she was absolutely terrified. Unable to keep her mask of bravado any longer, her eyes began to water dangerously, and her lip began to tremble under her teeth.

She would really just like to slap him and then run away. Instead, with one desperate sniffle that valiantly tried to keep the whole thing at bay, she started to cry.

She wept for her compromised freedom, she wept because she'd missed her family all this time. She wept because, even with Fili sitting so close to her, she could not allow herself to reach out and hold him. He was her brother, and she'd missed him so much when she'd left home. If she reached out now, there was a good chance she wouldn't let go until it was too late for her. She heard Fili sigh and felt his warmth scoot closer to her.

Before she could tell him off, he'd wrapped his arms tightly around her shoulders. It did nothing to stem the flow of tears dripping down her chin and nose. (Not that Fili had expected it would, but it didn't feel right for him to sit there and do nothing while his little sister cried like that.) She would regret this hug so much later; she just knew it.

"Shh," Fili hushed quietly, pulling her closer to him so he could support most of her body weight. "It's all right, Bri. You're okay."

No, no, she really wasn't okay.

"Uncle's coming, he's just been scouting out a troll… Why is she crying?"

When Kili spoke, it felt like the last thread of dignity that was keeping her from truly losing it snapped. She had to muffle a loud sob into Fili's shoulder, gripping his tunic like a shield. She wanted to shout at them and tell them to go away, but her mastery of linguistics seemed to be reduced to blubbering. And since she could not protest, Kili had quickly joined the pair, slipping his arms around her midsection since Fili's were wrapped over her shoulders. After some time and uncomfortable squeezing, her brothers doing their utmost to try and soothe her crying, she'd managed to wind herself down to a few uncomfortable, heaving sniffles.

Once they finally let her go, she leaned back into the dirt and swiped her arm over her sopping face.

"What is the meaning of all of this?" a gruff voice demanded as Thorin joined the fray. Well, that's done it. If Thorin was there, she didn't stand a chance to see herself off. "Is this related to her head injury? One of you two go get Oin."

She waved a hand defensively in front of her face. This had nothing to do with hitting her head, although she wished it had. Unfortunately, she was just suffering from the overwhelming emotion she'd been smothering in their presence for several weeks.

A loud hiccup. "No. M'f-fine," Brili forced out, trying to control her breathing back down to some semblance of normal.

"You certainly don't appear fine," Thorin replied sharply.

"Nuh-uh, I am," she insisted, holding her hand out in the air and fixing Bilbo—bless him for remaining in the same spot throughout that whole thing—with another watery look. "C-could you please help me up, B-Bilbo?"

She'd really not want to deal with any more physical contact from her family if she could avoid it. It was not Bilbo's hand that grasped her own and tugged. It was Thorin's. She was pulled into another firm embrace for the third time in however many minutes that she'd been conscious. Fortunately, she'd just cried herself out at this point and did nothing more than lean against her uncle and snuffle. Underneath the overwhelming scent of troll, she could make out the scent of pipe tobacco, fire smoke, and fresh air.

It smelled like her childhood, the life she'd been so desperate to escape.

When Thorin pulled away, Oin practically shoved a cup of camomile tea into her hands with a murmured, "Drink up, lass, it'll help settle you."

"Ah, yes," Gandalf piped up, smiling at her fondly with an expression too innocent to be genuine, "I always find that a nice cup of tea does wonders for the nerves.

"Gandalf," she sighed with relief, nearly dropping her tea, but Thorin's hand on her wrist kept it from tipping, "You're here."

"Did you assume I'd left?"

She shook her head, wincing in pain as her head pounded in protest, turning away from Thorin despite his hand propping her and her drink upright. "No, no. Listen, our contract—"

"Contract?" her brothers and uncle asked simultaneously. Thorin cleared his throat and cast a warning look at her brothers and then the wizard. "What contract? Brili, have you been ensnared by this wizard?"

She ignored him, carefully peeling Thorin's fingers off her wrist, and spoke before Gandalf could answer. "I'm terminating it, understand? Keep your coin, and I'd appreciate your discretion if I may have that in place of formal payment."

As a dwarf, her sentence was practically torture to say. She loved her coin as much as the next dwarf did, and what little allowance she got from working patrol was hardly enough to fill her pockets. (Not to mention she'd wasted a hefty sum in the Shire at that confectionary cart.) Still, she had no choice now. Under no circumstances was she going to remain here.

"But you are already so close to finishing the job," Gandalf argued, his eyes twinkling with poorly disguised mirth. "Wouldn't you prefer to finish your first assignment successfully?"

"Absolutely not," she insisted, wrenching her hand away from Thorin once she'd pried his fingers off her and leaving the tea in his hold. "Thank you for the honor of serving you, but, respectfully, I quit."

She bowed shortly to the wizard and, without daring to look at her uncle or brothers, made several strides towards where the ponies were. Almost immediately, they rounded on Gandalf, demanding more information regarding the nature of their arrangement. None of them bothered to lower their voices. At first, she'd been relieved to notice that no one seemed to be following her and, rather foolishly, believed she'd be able to leave without issue. At least until she got to the ponies and realized that someone had untacked Borias and that her gear was piled up with the rest of the supplies. To make matters even worse, someone had tied her beloved pony to a tree.

The absolute gall of these dwarves.

She rounded on the first poor soul that she could. Dori visibly cringed as she pointed her finger at him. "You. Untie him, right now." She rounded on Ori next. "And you bring me my saddle. Where are my belongings?"

"Now, lass, Oin says that you shouldn't be up n'about like this."

When Bofur spoke to her this time, she had the courage to speak back. Finally, after weeks of holding her tongue, she could give this cad a piece of her mind. She reached into her boot to pull out the knife she'd used to escape the sack she'd been trapped in only a few short hours before. The handle was coated in dried blood, and her palm stung underneath her bandage as she held the blade defensively in front of her.

"If you come any closer to me, then I'll gut you like a fish," she warned venomously, ignoring the surprised look he gave her. When she noticed that Ori and Dori weren't following her demands, she turned on them next. "Unless the two of you want to taste my steel, I suggest you get a move on."

"Brili," Kili warned, standing between her and Bofur, "stop that. Bo's just looking out for you."

She adjusted her grip on her knife and fixed Kili with her best scowl. "I can look out for myself. Go back to your brother and your little quest, Kili."

Her voice cracked when she said his name. Best to not do that again.

"Our brother," he corrected, folding his arms across his chest. "Fi is our brother. Look, can you calm down a second and sit back down. You're pale… I don't think you should be moving around like this."

It seemed that Dori and Ori were going to be absolutely useless, so, with a glare in their direction, she marched over to Borias, who butted his head into her chest as a greeting. She was so disoriented that the action damn near toppled her over. Still, it was the most welcomed interaction she'd experienced since she'd woken up. She nuzzled her pony for a moment to help calm her nerves before she got to work untying him from the tree he had been hitched to.

She didn't feel safe with her back turned to Kili like this... Like he could spring up on her any second…

She wasn't entirely off base feeling that way. Kili spoke right behind her a moment later. "Where are you going? There's nothing out there for miles, and you're hurt."

She'd untied Borias and was about to guide him to her supplies when Thorin's voice boomed out, "Something's coming!"

That "something" barreled past Kili and Brili with a gust of wind.

Brili released her hold on Borias in the confusion to block the dust from her face. Her pony reared back on his hind legs with a frightened whinny. Before Brili could turn around to soothe him, he had bolted in the opposite direction. Unless instructed otherwise, Borias had been trained to return home at the first sign of danger. And now, without Brili to course correct him, he was returning to Rivendell without Brili, leaving her in a cloud of dust and amid a sneezing fit.

Once the dust had settled, both from the air and Brili's nose, she sucked in a deep breath and then bellowed, "Oh, for fuck's sake!"