An Unexpected Friendship.

Chapter XVI

"Hercules!" I called.

My Pegasus' head shot up and he trotted over to me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and he rested his head over my shoulder. We were both glad to see each other.

"We managed to heal him and then revive him, using ancient Elven herbs and spells" Taureil explained.

"Tell the company and Kili I will be back in a little while" I said, then mounted my Pegasus and we flew up into the sky, it felt good to be together again, it was like when I first got him and we sealed the bond we had by first flight. Hercules whinnied to me as we flew over the ashes of our once home, I instructed him to fly down and so he did, I dismounted and my boots were soon caked in grey ashes, I walked in the general direction of my burnt out house, as the old timbers were still standing, but the stairs had fallen through and some of my possessions were vaguely recognizable. I saw the small paintings were still preserved so I took them, I dragged my nails along the work surfaces of the kitchen, so many memories but were obliterated by fire.

I wandered around my town a little further I saw my old training field the grass grey with ash, I walked into what was left of our armoury, the shields had shrivelled from the fire, the tavern in ruins all the houses burnt out, i came to the centre of my village where I collapsed to my knees in the rubble and the tears began to cascade down my face until I heard someone moving behind me, so my hand rested on the handle of my sword. "I am no one to be afraid of" The person said. I stood up and turned my head to the side so I could just look over my shoulder, and the person only saw one half of my face.

I didn't recognise the person till I turned around, it was my grandfather as he had escaped the massacre but I didn't know till now. "So you and a dwarf?" he asked sitting down and lighting his pipe.

"Something wrong with that?" I snarled.

"No, but its unusual" He said, I then looked up and noticed he was sat under the tree that I was hung from. "Ohl I see you recognise it" he replied as he noticed I wandered over to it and brushed my fingers against the bark gently. The rope that was shredded by Legolas was still there and blew in the wind. A crystal tear dribbled down my cheek.

"Come with me I have some thing's to give you" he said, so he got up and hobbled to his cottage at the bottom of valley, he had horses grazing all around him, as well as cattle. We walked in and it was warm, so he gestured for me to sit down so I did at the end of the wooden table, he put a black floor length leather coat it had been embroidered with gold thread on the sleeves and the front of the coat, a sword, and a dress on the table and something else I didn't recognise.

"This coat was your fathers and he wanted you to have it, this sword was also your fathers it is made out of the arm bone of an old foe of his, who had sided with the Goblin King and he did kill him, this dress was your mothers and if you do wed the Dwarf please promise me you will wear this" he said holding up the ivory white dress with the gold belt, long sleeves which were like a corsets, and had a bit of a train and there was a veil that went with it.

"One more thing, did your father ever give you the family crest tattoo?" he asked.

"The what?" I quizzed him, so I slipped my coat off and rolled my sleeves up.

"No, go lay down on the bed over there" he told me.

"What?" I panicked.

"Now" he ordered. So I did and I noticed he had a branding iron in the fire. I was beginning to panic, while it heated up he rolled the sleeve of my right arm up. "Now this is going to hurt, but this is how its always been done" he said. "Bite down on to this" he said handing me a bit of wood.

So he took the iron out of the fire, he came over, looked me in the eye and said "ready?" I had no choice but nod. So he laid it on my arm and the searing pain, it hurt as my skin hissed under it, I tried not to scream but it only came out as a mumble, I just stared out at the field with the horses in.

I then felt a pricking sensation of a needle in my arm, and my arm really hurt, my grandfather was dipping the needle in ink and then putting it in my arm. "Nearly done, well you've been the first one who hasn't screamed" he said, then he dabbed my tattoo after.

"You can go as soon as you feel better" he said.

"Thanks" I sighed.

"At least I know you're still alive and now officially apart of the family, if you clash with anymore enemies, they will now know what family you belong to" he explained.

I got up but I was a little wobbly, "I think you need to wait a little while" my grandfather said handing me a cup of water and sitting me back down again.

About an hour later and I was getting ready to leave, so while my grandfather packed my saddle bag, I walked into the spare room and got changed out of my dark brown leather to my black leather corset shirt which had short sleeves and showed off my shoulders meaning my family crest tattoo was shown and I was still a little sore, my trousers and boots were also leather and I wore my fathers coat. I strapped his sword around my waist, then walked out.

My grandfather had already saddled my Pegasus. "Thank you" I said.

"It's okay, now take care" he said and watched me fly into the sky. We flew back to Rivendell my Pegasus landed, his hooves clattering against the cobbled courtyard. She was greeted by Kili he smiled but she couldn't find the emotion to smile back.

He just stared after her, but as she walked in Thorin grabbed her by her arm. "How dare you court my nephew without asking me" he roared.

"Thorin ow let go you're hurting me" I complained.

"I am barely squeezing your arm" he commented. What he didn't realise was that he was squeezing the tattoo on her arm, Kili just ran in, she shrugged Thorins arm off her and she just carried on walking down the hall to her chambers.

Her door was open and Kili walked in. "Where have you been?" he asked.

"Flying" I answered bluntly.

Kili shut my door, as I laid my saddle bag on my chair, I unbuckled my sword, and laid that down but my coat began slipping off my shoulder. "What's that?" Kili asked referring to the tattoo on my shoulder.

"What?" I asked playing dumb.

"That black mark" he said, so I shrugged my coat off.

"It's my family crest everyone in my family had one" I explained, throwing off my boots and sat on my bed with my legs crossed, and Kili joined me. He looked at my tattoo as if he had never seen one before and he was very fascinated by it.

"Abrax I was wondering as you have a lot of weapons and not enough time perhaps I could clean and sharpen your weapons?" he asked me.

"Aw Kili you're so sweet of course" I answered handing him my 2 swords, shriukens, throwing knives, my two daggers my bow and arrows.

"Can you carry all that?" I asked him.

"Fili" he called. Fili came running in and saw Kili with all weapons.

"No you're on your own its your responsibility" Fili said smiling and walking out.

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