Hello, people of the world! This is a short story from Kira's POV; this happens when she's fifteen, so the other works relating to her come after this one. I just haven't posted them in chronological order; sorry about that. But I hope you enjoy nonetheless! Thanks for reading! :)


"Kili!" I called pleadingly, jumping up try and grab the rope swing. Kili had it in his hand above me and was purposefully dangling it just out of my reach. "Let me up!"

He laughed and yanked the rope up yet again. Every time I was close to grabbing it, he would leer and raise it higher. I glared at him as he stared down at me from his and Fili's clubhouse. While Fili was nice and let me come up, Kili always claimed it as his and Fili's—not as mine or my sister's.

"Fili!" I shouted. "Tell him to let me up!"

Fili was atop the roof of the clubhouse, a telescope to his eye. He was looking for any Dwarf refugees coming to the Blue Mountains, at Uncle Thorin's request.

In truth, Thorin wasn't really my uncle; he was my godfather. But he always told me that he was as good as my father, and I as good as his daughter. Though I was glad for it, I thought calling him "father" was strange. So I called him "Uncle," just like Fili and Kili.

Meanwhile, those two were Thorin's actual nephews. But Kili treated me like that annoying little sister he couldn't stand, which was just wonderful, seeing how well he and Fira had gotten along before she ran away…

My face fell. That had been only a year ago.

I was brought out of my thoughts by another of Kili's laughs. "What's the password?"

"I'm going to get Uncle, I will!"

"Kili!" shouted Fili, not bothering to look at him. "Let Kira up, don't be rude."

I smirked as Kili scowled. But knowing better than to disobey his older brother, Kili let the rope drop. I smiled as I finally got hold of it—the coarse rope always gave me blisters, but knowing that I was allowed up made the pain tolerable.

It took me a couple of minutes to climb the rope. Kili used the time to shoot whatever he could my way. "Why are we letting her up again? She can't even climb the rope! I personally don't think weak little girls should be allowed up here… Kira, can you get any slower?"

After I was up, I shot Kili a look. In response, he just grinned.

"You're so mean," I pouted. "Why are you so mean? You used to be nice."

Kili laughed. "You haven't always been nice to me. Remember last week? I came into your room without knocking and you threw a knife past my ear!"

"That was an accident!" I wailed. "I apologized!"

"Yeah, after a fair amount of blubbering."

"I could've killed you!"

"But you didn't, and I'm never letting you live that down."

"Kili!" barked Fili again. We instantly shut up, knowing that Fili wouldn't be happy if we continued distracting him from his mission. He was always striving to make Uncle proud. "Come here."

Kili shot me an ugly look that said, Look what trouble you've given me now. But I watched with grim satisfaction as Kili swung himself up onto the roof.

Fili looked at him for a minute and then said, "Look out of the telescope and tell me what you see."

I grew confused. Kili wasn't in trouble?

Kili, looking rather smug about being asked for his opinion, took the telescope and allowed Fili to direct it to where he had been looking. For a moment, there was silence as Kili observed whatever it was through the telescope. But then he lowered it, swallowed, and nodded.

"That's what I thought," grumbled Fili, looking out of the device again.

"What is it?" I asked plaintively, struggling to swing onto the roof. It took me a couple tries, but eventually I was up there with them.

Neither of them responded, however.

I tried not to stamp my foot. They never trusted me with anything, and I was always trying to be decent to Kili, and nice to Fili…

Just then, there was a familiar voice from below. "What do you see, Fili?"

I grinned. "Uncle!" I cried, leaning out over the edge of the roof so he could see me.

Uncle Thorin smiled in reply. "I'm assuming Kili isn't up there with you, Kira?"

"No, he's here," I said promisingly, shooting Kili a justified smirk.

Uncle chuckled a little and prompted, "And his older brother?"

Fili appeared next to me, the telescope in hand. But he was frowning as he said, "Thorin, I haven't seen any more refugees… but I saw an Orc!"

Uncle Thorin scowled. "An Orc?"

"Yes, a scout! I gave the telescope to Kili to ask him if he saw it, and he did!"

Now Uncle laughed. "Fili, if you wanted a solid opinion, you should've asked Kira. You know how your brother gets."

"Hey!" shouted Kili behind me.

Uncle Thorin ignored him—Fili, his eyes becoming wider, exclaimed, "No, Uncle, I really saw it! It had a telescope like ours and everything, it disappeared behind the giant fist-shaped rock to the north!"

I glanced at Fili. He certainly looked unnerved.

But Uncle Thorin apparently thought that Fili and Kili were just playing another one of their jokes. He frowned and said, "Fili, I have no interest in whatever stories you're making up. Have you seen any refugees heading this way?"

Fili heard Uncle's tone and knew that if he said anything else about the Orc, he would get in trouble. So Fili sighed, looked through the telescope again, and said, "There's a family of four coming in from the west. There's a Dwarf with a baby, and a girl of sixteen or so."

Kili glanced at his brother sideways when he heard that last.

I tried not to roll my eyes—like he actually cared about any of the girls he spoke to. They just made him feel important.

Woe to any girl who fell in love with that thing.

Uncle Thorin smiled a little. "Thank you, Fili. Kira, perhaps you could come down to meet them? You may help show them around."

But I knew what was underneath that message. He was thinking that maybe I could make a friend!

I frowned. I didn't have many friends… before last year, my sister, Fili, and Kili were all the friends I needed. But then Fira ran away to avoid marrying Gzachman, prince of the Iron Hills. Because of that, Fili was no longer the Dwarf he used to be; he almost never smiled now. And Kili had changed too. Though he once doted on me, now he was rude and cold… he didn't smile at me like he used to. Whenever I talked to him now, he would stiffen, clench his fists, and not look at me.

At least I had Graithon.

Graithon. I smiled, knowing that in only a month, I would go to the Mortal village where I spent my childhood, and I would run away with him.

This thought was what propelled me to say, "Yes, Uncle!" I shimmied down the rope, but not before hearing Kili and Fili mutter something to one another.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say it had to do with the Orc they saw…

But I followed Uncle out to the front gate, where we waited for the family to arrive. Once they did, I showed them around, but it was clear from the start that the Dwarvish girl my age disdained me and everything about me, most likely because I was the adopted daughter of Thorin, and because I was supposed to be a peasant girl like herself, had fate been crueler.


That night, I tossed and turned uneasily in my bed. The stone walls were host to cascading shadows of the eerie moonlight. And in the darkness, I couldn't help but think about the Orc spy that Fili and Kili saw.

If Kili only had seen it, I wouldn't be worrying. But the fact that Fili noted it too made me uncomfortable.

Just then, there was a large clang outside my door.

I jolted in surprise and heard a hiss, a whisper.

"Kili, for Durin's sake, we're supposed to be sneaking out, not waking up Kira!"

"Oh, so what if dropped my bow? She's a heavy sleeper anyway."

I frowned. They were sneaking out? I immediately chucked the blankets away and hustled to grab my white shirt, my black pants, and my boots. Their whispers had faded by the time I'd seized my knife and my sword. Determined not to lose them, however, I pelted after them.

It took only a minute to see the lantern ahead and hear their whispers again. I started to run after them, waiting until I was only a few feet away before hissing, "Fili, Kili!"

There was the sharp sound of two swords being drawn, and I stopped dead in my tracks, realizing they were pointed towards me.

"Whoa!" I gasped, holding my hands up.

Fili looked shocked; his sword lowered slightly. "Kira! What are you doing here?!"

"I could ask you the same question," I retorted. "And I'd appreciate it if you could lower those, please." I nodded towards the swords pointed in my direction.

Fili sheepishly sheathed his sword, but if anything, Kili pointed his a little higher, towards my throat. "Go away, Kira," he snarled. "We've got enough to worry about without a little girl tailing after us."

I frowned. "I'm not a little girl. I'm almost sixteen, almost your age! I know you're sneaking out to hunt that Orc you saw earlier, and I'm coming with you. I've been training for five years—"

"Five regular years, Kira," interjected Fili gently. "Not five Dwarvish years. There's a large difference."

I huffed and said, "Yes, that's true, but it's still five years more experience than I might've had otherwise."

"But this could be dangerous," replied Fili, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Whatever we might be facing tonight could be more than you can handle. You need to stay here and be safe."

"And let my only two friends risk their lives to see if there's an Orc encampment nearby?" I questioned, cocking my head sideways.

Kili threw his hands in the air, his sword barely missing my nose. "For Durin's sake, Kira, we aren't your friends, and we're going to do this alone! You're only fifteen, and you're a girl, with at least three years less experience than me, much less the five years less experience than Fili. You aren't equal to us, so you can't come."

I tried not to let it show, but that hurt. I'd thought Fili and Kili were my friends. Were they not my friends anymore?

If anything, though, this proclamation made me that more insistent upon going. "If you don't let me come with you, I'll get Uncle."

Kili snorted. "Go ahead. We'll be long gone by the time he gets here."

"Fine, then. If you don't let me come with you, I'll keep raising my voice until I start screaming AND THEN EVERYONE WILL—"

Kili slapped a hand over my mouth and glared at me with loathing.

"All right! You can come! But if you get killed, never say we didn't warn you!"

I smiled and nodded, glad that I had finally earned myself a grudging—if not belittling—place beside the brothers.


Somehow, we managed to make it past the front gate without being detected. The entire refugee camp was silent except for the snores of sleeping Dwarves. Once we were out, we made our way north towards the fist-shaped rock.

"Look," I finally murmured, once we were out on the rocky terrain. "I'm sorry if I'm irritating. It's been a hard adjustment this past year. I've needed you two more than ever, but I guess I've been too annoying and clingy. So if I constantly bother you, I'm sorry."

I looked at Fili out of the corner of my eye and saw him smile. "No, Kira, don't be sorry. We have all changed since… last year. But that doesn't mean it's an excuse for us to be treating you as if you were below us." He laughed a little then added, "I remember when you were the first to be shown the refugees from Kili's telescope. Right, Kili?"

Fili's tone of voice was a bit hard with that last.

Kili glanced down at me, my blue-gray eyes. He stiffened like he normally did, but the smallest hint of a smile came over his face. "I'm not cruel to you because I hate you, Kira."

I snorted. "What, am I Fira's replacement, then?"

He muttered something I couldn't hear, something about my never being able to be a replacement for my sister.

What happiness I'd gained faded. "Well, if you think I'm not as good as Fira was—"

"No, that's not what I meant!" shouted Kili, his eyes betraying surprise and anger, but Fili shut him up before he could continue.

"We're here," hushed Fili, pointing at the fist-shaped rock. Kili and I froze, waiting for him to make the first move… Fili carefully edged around the boulder and glanced down into the valley below.

"Oh, no," sighed Fili. I waited for Kili to take a step forward, but instead, he gestured me to look first. Surprised, I wondered how long this unusual streak of kindness would last.

When Kili didn't immediately step after me, however, I shot him a look. Was he all right? Wondering if maybe he'd forgotten why we were there—I wouldn't have been surprised if that was the case—I whispered, "Come on, Kili!" I grabbed his hand and tugged him along.

I felt his fingers cutting off the circulation to my wrists, but I pulled him forward anyway.

Once I pulled him to Fili, I was able to see into the valley. I cocked my head sideways, a bit confused.

In the valley was a large square foundation that spiraled up into the sky. It blocked practically the whole valley, but there were no Orcs to be seen. It was clear, based on the ancientness of the building, that this thing hadn't been built recently.

"Why 'oh, no?'" I asked Fili. It just looked like a bunch of ruins.

"Because this is the perfect place for Orcs to come," replied Fili. "Uncle scouted this area before he set up the refugee base. He said it was completely deserted, and that no Orc would come to it again. That makes this the perfect place for Orcs to regroup, because it's so unsuspecting…"

I smiled up at Fili and said admiringly, "That's pretty smart."

Fili returned my smile, but when his gaze flicked to Kili, that smile faded. He nodded ever so curtly, so curtly that I almost didn't see it, and focused his gaze on the Orc base again.

I looked at Kili then, who was gazing at his brother with a strange suspicion. When he saw me looking at him, though, that expression vanished, and he said, "I'm surprised the Orcs managed to be smart enough to piece that together."

I grinned up at Kili, determined to get him back for once. I lightly shoved him with my shoulder and replied, "Well, you aren't too much brighter than them yourself, and you would've pieced it together, huh?"

To Fili's and my great surprise, Kili actually chuckled before shaking his head.

Rather relieved that we hadn't started bickering again, Fili took a few steps forward and motioned us after him.

"After you, my Lady," said Kili, bowing mockingly and gesturing me forward once again.

I frowned a little and repeated, "My Lady?"

"Yes," he responded, greatly pleased that I didn't seem to enjoy the new nickname. "After all, should you marry Gzachman one day, you shall inherit the throne, and then we shall be the Dwarves below you."

I raised my head a little. "After Fira left, Uncle called off any sort of engagement. And even if he hadn't, I would have refused to marry Gzachman. I do not love him."

Kili raised an eyebrow. "Surely, though, my Lady, your heart has been won over? You are, after all, marrying age."

I snorted. "I am not worrying over marriage, of all things, at this moment. At any rate, I have refused all of Uncle's suggestions for said matrimony and as kindly as I could rejected all proposals offered to me within the past year. As for my heart, perhaps it has been won over, perhaps it has not been. I leave that to you to figure out."

Without any further conversation, I tiptoed down the slope after Fili.