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Chapter 3

Dis was surprised to find her brother sitting in a chair in the corner of the room of the dwarrowdam's room. She had practically shoved him into his room in the early hours of that morning. His elbows rested on his knees as he leaned forward, his eyes firmly fixed on the their unconscious guest, his face slightly contorted in what seemed to be a blend of confusion and discomfort.

"Brother. You should be resting." She admonished softly as she stood beside him, startling him back to reality.

He grunted and rubbed his face wearily. "I couldn't sleep."

She frowned in concern. "Something disturbs you … about her?"

"It's hard to explain Dis."

"You can't seem to keep your eyes off her." She tried to not sound like she was accusing him. She couldn't help but wince at her tone. "I heard she held a knife to your throat."

"She was badly injured and confused. She was just trying to defend herself." Came his quick response. "She didn't hurt me … obviously."

She followed his gaze to her face. She was strikingly beautiful and ethereal. Her skin was extremely pale against the mottled purple and green bruising that was scattered about her diamond shaped face and neck. Her hair was the color of the palest gold, glowing faintly in the light of the fireplace. It was long and thick, curly and wild against the pillowcase and bedding, surrounding her head like a halo. Her lips were full and bow shaped, their shade hard to determine due to the cuts that spit both her upper and lower lip.

"Ive never seen a dwarrowdam of her coloring, or of the features she bares." Dis thought aloud, trying to draw her brother out. She had never seen him act like this before. It was unsettling, feeling the nervous energy emanating from him.

"Dis…" he started, but his voice failed him, as if he was struggling to find the right words to say.

She knelt next to her brother, grabbed his hand and looked up at him encouragingly.

Thorin looked at his sisters hand that was firmly clasped in his. He breathed in deeply and managed to look her in the eyes. They were tumultuous with an emotion she rarely saw.

"I felt the pull Dis. When I looked into her eyes. Just like Amad described when she met Adad." His voice was low and gravelly. "I've never felt this before, with anyone."

Her eyes widened. "Are you certain?" She breathed. Thorin sighed and nodded. His whole demeanor exhausted and defeated. "Yes. Unfortunately."

Dis scoffed, despite the situation she wanted to smack him. "Unfortunate? You stubborn ass, if you truly felt the pull then that means she's…"

"Don't." He ground out, suddenly standing up feeling the need for distance.

"Thorin, you can't avoid this. If she truly is, you will need to face it."

"Not a word to anyone." He hissed, his anger scantily covering the cold dread that had been slowly filling him the moment his eyes locked on hers. "Until we know more about her, you are the only one trusted with this. Not even Balin or Dwalin are to know."

Dis stood slowly to face her brother. "You have my word." She reached out and put a comforting hand on his harm. "We can't assume the worst without knowing more. Don't overwhelm yourself with burdens that do not yet exist."

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The strong scent of wintergreen and lavender overwhelmed her groggy senses as she slowly came to. She blinked, willing her sight to focus as she gingerly tested her sore limbs. She hissed as she pulled herself up against the headboard of the small bed. Her ribs were definitely bruised. Her right shoulder throbbed dully. "Great." She huffed in exasperation.

This wouldn't do. She can't stay in this weakened state. She scanned the room quickly as she pulled the covers up and swung her legs over the side. The walls were a dark green stone, marbled with veins of black and white. She cursed to herself when she realized there were no windows. Breathing in, she pushed herself up onto her wobbly legs. She pushed herself through the initial pain, breathing steadily as she willed her body to cooperate. Gradually the pain subsided enough for her to move about tenderly. She found her clothes folded nearby on a table with her leather and fur boots resting at the foot of her bed. Her armor and weapons were nowhere to be seen. She groaned. "Figures."

She dressed quickly, ignoring the protests of her body. She had to get out of here, wherever here was. She silently approached her door and leaned her ears against it, and only silence greeted her. She gently tested the doorhandles, and silently praised Aule that the door was unlocked. She opened it slowly just enough for her to peer out. Facing away from her stood two dwarves, bent over a table examining something while talking in hushed voices. One was obviously older, his hair pure white and spectacles perched on his nose. His companion was younger, with thick golden hair. He had many warrior braids weaved throughout, and the way he held his shoulders back spoke volumes of his strength.

"I can take two of them." She thought to herself as she quickly formulated a plan of escape. Her eyes fell on a tray close to where her door was, and on its surface were several knifes of various sizes. Her eyes narrowed in determination. Perfect. Subdue the younger, stronger one and use him as leverage against the older one. She would lock them in her room. She silently opened the door enough to squeeze by and sneak towards the knives. She managed to grab the biggest one without a sound and situated it perfectly for the task at hand.

Fili and Oin were lost in their conversation, not suspecting for one moment their guest would be of the mind that she had to escape. They were looking at a map of Middle Earth, quietly talking about the Northern Wastes and possibilities of a Dwarven kingdom thriving without the rest of all dwarven kingdoms knowing. Fili was listening to Oin intently when he suddenly felt a cold thin object against his throat. He watched Oin's eyes widen in horror.

"Easy Lass! Put the knife down now!" Oin pleaded as he watched the female dwarf hold the knife to the prince's throat in fierce determination as she quickly relieved him of the daggers that he had sheathed in his belt.

"Quiet. Do as I ask and no harm will befall you." Her voice was calm as she finished tossing the daggers away from them, then grabbed Fili's shoulder to direct him firmly.

"Into the room I was in. Now." She ordered, gesturing her head towards the room. Oin held his hands up and slowly started walking towards the room. "Lass, our king saved you from the orcs. We mean you no harm." He pleaded.

"I can't take that chance. I don't even know what kingdom this is." She growled.

"You are in Erebor." Fili managed to grit out, angry at himself for being caught unaware. By a female no less. He didn't want to try to overpower her, in fear of hurting her further. "If we had meant you harm you would of woken up in the dungeons not the infirmary."

"Long Beards? Ruled by a Durinson? I can't trust any of you." She spat, her eyes flashing. "Get in the room now!"

Oin quickly stepped into the room, frantically trying to think of a plan to rescue Fili. She brought the prince right to the door jam. "No hard feelings my good dwarrows. I'll take my leave of you now." With surprising quickness she removed the knife from the princes throat and shoved him forcefully into the room, making him stumble into Oin and onto the ground in a heap.

She slammed the door and quickly locked it with the key that had been hanging by the door on the wall, and rushed back towards the daggers she had pulled from her captive. She quickly heard pounding on the door and faint yelling. She smirked, knowing no one outside of the empty infirmary was going to hear them. By the time they did she would be long gone. She scoured the room looking for any of her weapons or armor, only to discover they were not in this room either. She cursed her bad luck. She would just have to make due with what she had, although she was grateful for her leather corset that she had cinched tightly over her white long sleeved. It provided her bruised and battered torso with much needed support.

She opened the main door to the infirmary and peeked out, relieved to find that no one was out. "Now to find my way out, and find Luna." She laid out her goals in her mind. This was going to take all of her stealth training, sneaking out of the Lonely Mountain. She quickly dashed into the shadows along the wall and started walking away from the infirmary and the distant pounding of the door. She heard multiple heavy footsteps ahead and she quickly ducked into an alcove that was ahead of her and watched in dismay as a group of very intimidating dwarves entered the hall, walking with purpose towards the infirmary.

The leader of the group looked familiar; he was very tall and proud both in stance and bearing with curly raven black hair. His face was stoic, jaw firmly set in determination as he listened to the elderly dwarf that kept pace with him with an undivided attention. He was flanked by another tall dwarf who was partially bald, the Khuzdul runes reserved for the greatest warriors tattooed proudly on his scalp. He was heavily armed, his fierce eyes partially hid by bushy eyebrows set in a furrowed brow. A younger version of the leader walked alongside the warrior, armed with a similar dagger to the one she now had possession of. Two guards came to a stop at the end of the adjoining hall that the group had come from and stood at attention, effectively cutting off her clean getaway.

She grit her teeth as she pressed herself closer to the stone wall. "Now what?" She growled to herself.

"Wait … Do you hear that?" The young dark dwarf stopped the group, drawing their attention from the hushed conversation to the faint sound of pounding.

"Its coming from the infirmary!" The leader exclaimed as he broke out into a run. The sound of his voice made a shiver run down her spine. She recognized that voice. He was the one who she had held at knifepoint that night they saved her from the orcs. The bitter taste of doubt and regret overwhelmed her at the realization. Her heart was now beating rapidly. She was on the verge of being recaptured. "Too late to turn back now." She scolded herself mentally. "Got to get out of here now."

She heard shouts coming from the infirmary. Her captives had been released. "Curse it all." She seethed. She started to slink alongside the wall, hoping the guards would leave their post at the sound of the shouting.

"She can't of gotten far!" Her heart seized in her chest, It was now or never. She had to make a break for it!

The guards looked towards their king, and she took advantage of their distraction. It wasn't a matter of being seen now, but of speed. She bolted from her hiding spot and sprinted towards the hall.

"There she is! Wait!"

She didn't wait. Ignoring the pain that was searing up her torso she sprinted down the hall, past the surprised guards and towards the light leading her way out. Her blood was pounding in her ears as she ran, muffling the sounds of the heavy footsteps and shouts that thundered down from behind her. She focused on the feeling of her legs and feet as she ran as fast as she could, schooling her breathing to give her the very will to help her escape.

"How is the lass even runnin?!" Dwalin thundered incredulously as they pursued her.

Thorin was just as shocked. Just this morning she was unconscious and pale, seemingly helpless in the bed from her wounds. And now she was flying down the hall, her hair streaming behind her. "We have to cut her off! Balin! Have the front gates shut! No one enters! No one leaves!"

"It will be done!" Balin broke off from the group and ran as quick as he could towards a shortcut that would take him to the front gate.

As she neared the end of the hall, she realized that she was approaching the main cavern of the mountain kingdom. The main gate was to her right, and several stories down. She was on one of the higher levels that oversaw the entire market that stretched as far as she could see. Impressive stone bridges criss crossed above and below her, and large banners of dark blue velvet displaying the emblem of Durin's crown hung, gently waving in the slight breeze blowing in from the main gate.

She was breathing heavy, determined to not let panic seize her. The market was teeming with dwarves, men and elves alike. If she took the stairs she would be caught for sure.

She looked at the banner that was hanging from the pillar in front of the landing she was trapped on and her eyes followed it down. Within jumping distance, it would take her down to the main level. She would have to jump down onto a roof of a small shop, but it would be better than breaking her leg on a sheer drop onto the stone floor.

It was her only option.

She pulled out the confiscated daggers and gripped them tightly as she looked back at her pursuers briefly before her eyes narrowed in determination, and then turning and jumping onto the landing rail and launching herself towards the banners, daggers outstretched.

"NO! STOP!" She heard a terrified shout boom and echo around her.

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Thorin could of sworn that his heart had stopped cold in his chest when he watched his One throw herself off the landing into the air. He didn't even remember screaming for her stop. He didn't pay attention to the horrified shouts from his nephews and friends as skidded up to the railing and dared to look down. He was stunned to see her sliding down the banners, with Fili's daggers slicing through thick velvet with ease.

"What in Mahal's name!" Oin exclaimed as they all watched in shock.

"There is no way I am following her!" Kili stammered as they watched her descent.

Startled screams and shouts started to echo throughout the market as onlookers watched the bizarre scene unfold before them.

She should of known that the daggers were sharp, thus her rapid descent down the banners were a little too quick for her liking. Before she knew it she had sliced completely down the banners and was now free falling down towards a small shop roof. She landed on her feet, but the old shop collapsed on impact and she found herself laying in a ruined heap of old wood and shattered shingles. Thankfully she had fallen on a shop filled with rugs, her fall somewhat padded although her body seized in pain with the shock of the fall, the air completely knocked out her lungs.

She groaned as she tried to push herself up. "Can't stop now you dolt." She chastised herself mentally. Screams and shouts thundered in the enormous cavern around her as all chaos broke loose. She gasped desperately for air, her body fighting to obey her command to get up and run.

Thorin, Dwalin, Fili and Kili practically slid down the stairs. He heard the the shouts of his guards over the panic of the market and the resounding 'BANG' of the gates closing off the outside world.

'She's here somewhere!" He shouted over the din to his nephews and Dwalin. "Fan out and spread the word!"

Bofur and Bifur ran out of their toyshop into the pandemonium of the market. Bifur grunted and signed to his brother, confused and worried.
"I don't know! Lets find the rest of the company!" He shouted.

"Bofur! Bifur! We need you!" Fili ran up to his friends, still trying to regain his breath.

"What is going on?" Bofur took in the prince's bedraggled appearance with concern.

Thorin came running through the crowd that had begun to gather around the collapsed rug shop.

"That lass uncle rescued? She escaped, held me a knifepoint!" Explained quickly as he grabbed his friend's arms. "We are trying to catch her."

It was then that they heard gasps and cries ahead of them, and a dusty, rumpled figure stumbled out of the ruins of the rug shop. Thorin's stormy blue eyes met her turbulent green ones for a split second before she turned and ran away from him.

The dwarf King growled in a renewed fury as he took after her. "Halt! I command you to halt!" He yelled as he weaved in and out of his confused and scared subjects.

"Try to cut her off!" He yelled as they started to gain on her. He still couldn't believe she was still running at the capacity she was, he wasn't even injured and at the peak of physical fitness and he was starting to struggle with keeping up with her pace.

"How is she still running?! Dwarrowdams can't run like this?!" Kili panted as he fought to push himself faster.

"What did you lot do!?" Bofur yelled, still confused about what was happening. Just minutes before he had been working on some of his new toy designs, and now they were chasing this poor female through a crowded market as if she was a wanted fugitive.

"We did nothing!" Fili panted in exasperation.

"Hogs Spit! No lass runs like this for no reason!" Bofur tossed back.

A growl ripped out of Thorin's chest as he pushed himself further, faster, desperate to just make her stop running. He slowly started to gain on her as they began to reach the end of the market and towards the depths of the mountain.

Ahead of them, he saw a line of guards run across and block the way with their massive axes. His relief disappeared as quickly as it appeared as he watched in disbelief as she ran towards the stone wall and picked up speed. Right before she was about to crash into the guard she jumped and ran up the wall with an unbelievable ease, up and over his head to land gracefully on the ground behind the shocked dwarf guards.

As she turned to dart off again, a blur of red hair tackled her to the ground with a loud thud. Tauriel; who had been residing within Erebor as Mirkwood's Emissary, had tackled and pinned the breathless dwarrowdam to the ground with relative ease.

"Oh thank Mahal." Kili heaved as he came to a stop.

Thorin slid to a stop directly in front of the Tauriel and her gasping captive. "Heavens. Above. Woman…" Thorin growled as he breathed heavily, his face dark with anger. "Why. Did. You. Run!?"

Her eyes bore defiantly into his as she struggled to catch her breath. Her nostrils flared in barely contained anger as her body shook with the exertion of her poorly planned and failed escape.

They held each others glares for several moments as everyone around them attempted to catch their breath. "Nothing?" Thorin pressed, his icy tone seemingly making her more defiant.

"Fine." He growled, he gestured for his guards to step forward. "Bind her and bring her to the throne room."

"It shall be done your majesty." Came his guards terse reply.