Grumpy shivered in the cold. He was tied up and shirtless in the snow, and he could hear the fire roaring inside the giant forge Emil had lit. He couldn't focus enough to use his magic no matter how much he tried, and he knew that Emil was going to draw this out. He wondered vaguely how many brands he could take before he passed out. A shudder raced up his body and he swallowed. He was so cold that maybe he'd freeze to death before the branding iron was hot enough. He could only hope.
Emil came outside, as he'd done every couple minutes. His very presence kept Grumpy too scared to use his magic, a fact which Emil knew from years of experience. He leaned against the building and grinned at Grumpy.
"How are you doing, Ivan? Excited?"
"Bite me, jackass," Grumpy spat, and he renewed his struggles to get out of the ropes.
"You just never learn, do you?" Emil said in a low voice, and he stalked forward. "I'll just have to teach you again, dirt-eater."
The yell echoed through the woods, and Diligent froze. They were close to the forges now, and that was the first sign of life.
"Was that Grumpy?" Belligerent asked.
"Maybe," Diligent said. "We'll surround the forges. Split off and wait for the signal."
Instantly, the Dwarfs obeyed, and Diligent continued forward alone. He could hear more shouts and yelps, and he was sure it was Grumpy now. Whatever was happening was not good, and Diligent began to grow concerned as he heard a man laugh.
"Learn your lesson yet, tunnel-rat? You wait right there. I'll show you which one I picked especially for you."
Diligent peeked out, and he froze at what he saw. Grumpy was beaten and bruised, blood running from several gashes. He had not expected this to happen when he'd thrown him out. The man from the inn came striding out with a branding iron in his fist. The end was red-hot, and Diligent watched Grumpy push himself up, panic in his eyes. As he did, Diligent caught sight of a scar on his left shoulder, and in a flash he understood what that man was planning to do. He let out a whistle as the man reached out for Grumpy, and the clan jumped out and barreled straight for him. Grumpy twisted and scrabbled away from the branding iron, high-pitched whines coming from his throat as he tried to run. Diligent hurried over and grabbed him, but Grumpy gave a frightened cry and kicked him away.
The human was running away by the time Diligent scrambled to his feet again, but nobody went after him. They were all too busy staring at Grumpy, who looked half frozen and half dead. Diligent shrugged out of his coat. Grumpy whimpered, his eyes like a caged animal. There was pounding feet and Doc burst into the clearing. He took one look around then headed for the group. Diligent reached out so he could pull Doc close and explain what happened, but Doc was having none of it.
"What did you do to him?!" he roared, and he popped his uncle in the face.
Diligent yelped and stumbled backward as the cousins reeled back in shock. "Ow! Doc, I'm trying to help!"
"No, sir, you're not!" Doc spat. "And if this is how you're going to feet, ah, beat, ah, street, ugh! Never mind! Just leave us alone!"
Doc ripped the coat out of Diligent's hands and turned to wrap Grumpy in it. Grumpy didn't really react for a moment before he looked up and held up his bound hands. That gave Doc pause.
"Wait, why is he tied up? And where are his clothes?" Sneezy demanded.
Diligent sighed. "If you would just listen you would know that a human did this."
"Yeah, but why start the forges?" Belligerent asked, and he leaned down to pick up the hot branding iron. "And why threaten him with this?"
Grumpy's brothers looked at the iron and suddenly looked as ill as Bashful had at the inn. Only Bashful wasn't with them.
"Emil," Sleepy hissed between his teeth.
"That bastard just don't know when to quit!" Sneezy spat.
"Did he burn him?" Doc asked frantically.
"No," Diligent said, rubbing his eye. "But we need to stop talkin' and get that Dwarf home. He's too cold." Diligent turned to Dopey. "You run as fast as you can and have your grandmama draw a bath for him. And tell her to send the kids to the Stonerungs. We have clan business to attend to."
Dopey saluted then turned and bounded away. Doc knelt down and frowned at the ropes binding Grumpy's wrists and ankles. "We need to putt, uh, cut these. He might be able to walk."
Belligerent grabbed a sharp tool and helped Doc to cut the ropes. It was obvious that Grumpy was in shock as his eyes were glazed and he didn't look at anybody. Doc wrapped him snugly in Diligent's coat then glanced at the forge. "That needs shut down, Uncle."
"And your cousins can take care of that. Let's move," Diligent ordered.
So Doc and Sneezy supported Grumpy between them as they headed home. Grumpy was shivering as Diligent led them inside. Rationality leaped up at the sight of the beaten Dwarf and he ran for the kit. Honesty and the rest of the womenfolk stopped what they were doing as they came in. Dopey hurried up the stairs and made several gestures.
"Good lad," Diligent said. "Doc, you and Sneezy go warm him up and tend to him. I'm gonna talk with Mama."
Doc and Sneezy carried Grumpy downstairs and into the washroom. Diligent sat down and placed a hand over his tender eye. The door suddenly banged open and Bashful was there. He doubled over and clutched at a stitch in his side.
"Emil ain't there!" he wheezed.
"You knew about Emil?" Sleepy demanded.
"I've been tryin' to find you!" Bashful gasped. "Did you find him?"
"Doc finally stopped bein' pulled in two directions and took us to the forge. We got there after everything happened," Sleepy said grimly.
"Well, what did happen?" Honesty asked.
"Some human took him there and was gonna brand him again," Diligent said.
Honesty turned to peer at Diligent. "What do you mean, again?"
Diligent shrugged. "He has a burn scar on his shoulder."
Honesty turned and stamped down the stairs, calling for Doc. There was a tense silence before Honesty clumped up the stairs and looked around. "I want to speak with that man. And you boys are gonna bring him to me. Go. Now."
Sleepy, Happy, Dopey, and Bashful hurried to their room. As closest-of-kin, Grumpy's brothers had to be the ones to retrieve Emil according to the laws, so they most certainly would. By the time Grumpy was led back up the stairs, his brothers were raring to go, except for Doc, who didn't want to leave Grumpy alone.
"He won't be alone," Honesty said sternly. "I want to talk to that man, so you get after him and bring him back here."
Doc touched Grumpy gently. There was a long pause before Grumpy looked up. "Do you want us to stow, um, go after him?"
Grumpy blinked slowly then held up his hands. Green sparks exploded around Doc, who gave a fierce yell before stumbling back. After a moment of dazed head-shaking, Doc stood up.
"Let's go then."
"What did he do?" Diligent demanded, shocked.
"He bade, ah, made sure I can find that bastard," Doc hissed. He paused then hugged Grumpy. "We'll be back soon."
Grumpy shrugged a little and watched as they threw on their coats and shrugged on small packs. He couldn't speak or he'd tell his brothers how scared he was. He didn't want to be left alone with these Dwarfs. Half of them hated him, and none of them understood. But he wanted revenge on Emil too badly to make them stay. Because Emil had shown him a few things he'd stolen while waiting for the iron to get hot, and he had to get them back.
"Be safe," Charming said as Doc hugged Grumpy again. Grumpy didn't move.
"We'll try," Happy promised. "But that human ain't so safe."
Everybody glanced at the battered and bruised Grumpy then turned back. Honesty clumped over and wrapped an arm around him. "Go on. We've got him."
His brothers nodded then left. Grumpy became aware that he was alone with Dwarfs who might legitimately want to kill him, and he shivered. Then he turned to Honesty and made a writing gesture.
"Need to write something?" Honesty asked.
Grumpy nodded.
"This way."
She led him over to a desk, and he sat down and pulled out a quill and uncorked the ink. Then he began to write a letter to Snow informing her of what was going on. While he did that, the others began talking in low voices. They couldn't believe what had happened. Then Diligent noticed Belligerent had stopped talking. He was staring at Grumpy's bare back.
"What happened?" he asked softly, and everybody turned to see the whip scars and the brand on his left shoulder.
Grumpy didn't notice their gazes as he finished and sealed the letter with magic then stood up. He went over to the window and pushed it open, whistling. A big black raven fluttered over and croaked. Grumpy shook his head and made a vague gesture then pointed to the name he'd scrawled. The raven dipped its head then took the letter in its beak and fluttered out the window. Grumpy shut the window and then finally became aware of the eyes as he turned around. He was alone with Dwarfs, and suddenly all the stories Calida had pounded into his head came rushing in. He stiffened and didn't move.
"You all done there?" Honesty asked.
Grumpy nodded once, keeping a wary eye on all of them. There were so many cousins! Panic clutched at him, and he turned and began to hurry toward the one room in the house he felt safe in.
"Hold on now," Diligent ordered. "You need to eat."
Grumpy didn't listen, needing to get away from the Dwarfs, just for awhile. He was so scared, and he needed to be alone. He couldn't break down in front of them.
"Hey!" Belligerent said, stepping in front of him. "Say something."
Grumpy didn't stop walking as he threw out his hand. A sheet of silver appeared right in front of Belligerent, who reared back in shock.
"What?!" he yelped.
Grumpy disappeared into it, and the sheet vanished as he cut off the spell. He took in a shaky breath then hurried over to Doc's bed and crawled into it. He hadn't been so lonely in so many years, and he buried his face in his knees and cried, wrapping Doc's blanket around his shoulders. He was so tired, and he really didn't want food. He was as safe as he could be. Honesty was the only one able to get into the room, so he eventually wriggled to lay down.
As he closed his tired eyes and fell into a fretful sleep, he hoped his brothers wouldn't take too long. He wanted them back already.