A Brothers Bond

Chapter I

Two brothers had been born to the Durin Folk, five years between them both, but their bond was strong and they were thick as thieves. They lived in the blue mountains, in a house which had been carved out from the mountain.

Their Uncle Thorin Oakenshield was now King. One boy was named Fili, he had long blonde hair always braided back, he had sapphire blue eyes and was 10 years old.

He had a younger brother named Kili, he had long brown hair which was left loose or tied up in a half up half down style and had warm chocolate brown eyes and was 5 years old.

They liked to cause mischief and play games around the town, with the Dwarf children who were lower than them. But Kili was always mocked because he looked like an elf, and didn't wear braids like the rest of the children, Fili always looked after his brother and defended him but fights always broke out and it was always poor Thorin who had to break up the fights.

One day when they were out hunting they see a long legged strawberry roan, orange maned and tailed fille drinking at the river.

It's mother no where in sight. Kili tried to get her attention. "Kili be careful you know what wild horses are like" his brother warned him.

The fille was intrigued at what he was doing, at first she shied away, but then rested her head onto the palm of his hand. "Do you think mother would be happy if we bought her back as our pet?" Kili asked.

"I don't know, we can try" he answered.

So Fili slowly slipped the rope off his belt and then gently wrapped it around her neck. She reared up and kicked out at first and whinnied for her parents but no mare or stallion showed up. They led the panicking foal back. How naïve they were, they didn't realise that they were bringing a shape shifter back!

As they entered in to the streets with the hooves of the fille clattering on the streets, they drew a lot of attention to themselves. Fili knocked on the door of their home and called their mother. "Mother we have a surprise for you" Fili called.

She came running down the stairs. But when she got there, a fille no longer stood there but it was a girl, with sapphire blue eyes like Fili and the deepest darkest red hair which fell down her back in a sea of curls, her skin was as pale as the ivory white dress she had on and was a year younger than Kili.

"You've bought me a girl!" she exclaimed a bit confused until Kili said.

"No she was a fille" He detested.

"She's a shapeshifter, but I don't understand why she would be abandoned?" Their mother asked herself. "Bring her in quickly, untie that rope from around her neck Fili" their mother ordered.

So the girl gingerly wandered into the well lit cave of a home with a second floor, which had stone steps which spiralled upwards. Their mother Dis gave the girl a bath washing all the dirt off her. In the evening Thorin returned from his work and settling matters of the kingdom.

He walked in and saw Kili and Fili playing on the floor together with their wooden toys, Dis was sitting in the armchair near the fire place, braiding the girls long hair out of her face while she read a book peacefully and patiently. As soon as Kili and Fili realised Thorin walked in the boys leapt off the ground and hugged their uncle, who had long dark hair, a beard and dark eyes.

"How have you boys been, haven't been causing trouble have you?" he asked.

"No" Fili answered.

"But we did bring a shapeshifter home" Kili added, Thorin gazed over to the girl by the fireplace. But then Fili kicked his brother in the shin.

"Ow" Kili cried out. "Uncle Thorin, Fili kicked me!" he whined. Thorin ignored the squabbling brothers and walked over to the shapeshifter which was good timing as Dis was just tying the ends of her braids off. He was intrigued by her, he had never seen a shapeshifter as young as her, he had always seen them older.

"Ohl Thorin you made me jump" Dis told him placing her hand on her heart. "The boys bought her home with them today, do you think we should return her, or take care of her because the boys said her parents weren't around" Dis explained.

"Take her in, she's too young to be out there alone. I don't think I could live with myself if something bad was to happen to her. If there was no parents that means she's been abandoned" he answered.

"I was thinking of calling her Esmerelda" She told him.

"Does she not have a name already?" He quizzed her.

"She hasn't said a word, since the boys bought her back" Dis answered.

"Ohl okay, but I guess that's a very nice name, and as I am guessing she hasn't rejected to it, so I guess that's her name" Thorin agreed.

"Right Kili, Fili, Esmerelda bed" their mother announced. Esmeralda shared a room with Kili but Fili was next door where as Thorins room was downstairs and Dis' was on the second floor but right at the end of the corridor.

Esmerelda had her bed in the corner, Kili had his bed on the other side of the room, but he was afraid of the dark and had a candle burning for most of the night. Esmerelda tried all she could to fall asleep but she couldn't.

So she crept downstairs Thorin was still awake and was sitting in the arm chair. Esmerelda walked into the light from the flickering flames.

"Thorin, I can't sleep can you tell me a story?" she asked sweetly.

"Call me uncle Thorin" he insisted, She nodded.

So he took her on his knee and then told her the story of the Woodland Elves and the legend of Thranduil. It wasn't long till Esmerelda fell asleep on his shoulder, so he picked her up gently and took her back to her room and laid her down in her bed.

Kili was still having his nightmares about the encounter he had with a dragon, as he tossing and turning, he was sweating and his hair stuck to his face and neck. Fili and Kili were both playing in a field on the outskirts of Erebor, they were playing with their wooden swords.

A dragon flew over and landed a few feet away from the boys. Kili being the inquisitive boy he was, he went closer to the dragon. "Kili no stay back, come here" Fili ordered his younger brother.

But the dragon breathed fire towards the boys, Fili pushed his brother to the ground, it burnt Filis arm. He cried in agony.

Kili helped his brother up, and they rushed back calling for Thorin. They found him in the street Kili and Fili rushed to him, he broke down in tears, Thorin carefully helped Fili back to the house. Poor Kili was sobbing behind them. As soon as they got back Dis shouted in hysterics to see her baby boy hurt, and helped Thorin at once to heal his wound, Kili remembered the cries of agony coming from his brother as his burn was healed.

Kili soon woke up shouting Filis name. Esmeralda was woken up by him he looked at her and then at the room, then laid his head back down on the pillow and drifting back off to sleep hopefully not to dream of dragons again.

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