Of The Earth And Starlight (A The Hobbit/Kili fanfiction)

Many Meetings and Strange Introductions

Emeril

The beautiful dwarf stared at me for a moment, registering in his head what I had said before he smiled kindly to me and nodded.

"That's a beautiful name," he commented sweetly. I felt my cheeks flush slightly at his compliment and I grinned.

"Thank you," I replied.

I did not know why I told him my name, I did not understand what was happening. Only a few minutes ago we were stood facing each other, bows aimed and ready to fire and now I was joining him in his return back to his camp, where the remainder of his company waited, however they did not wait for me and I was nervous of what their reactions would be. Dwarves and Elves did not have the brightest of backgrounds, or so my mother had told me, and it was largely both parties to blame for that. She had told me of how King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm had denied the Dwarves help when they needed it most after Smaug stole their city, however dwarves I knew bore long and viscious grudges, and the one I was about to meet had more reason than most to hate elves, for he had experienced Thranduil's abandonment first hand and I did not expect him to show me anymore courtesy than he would the Elven king.

"My name is Kili," the Dwarf annouced after a moment of silence, as if realising that he hadn't yet introduced himself. I smiled to myself as I already knew who this stranger was.

"I know," I said casually.

"How?" he questioned, curiosity filling his soft voice and he shot me a puzzled glance whilst reafirming his grip on his wood pile as one piece had started to slip off of the top.

"Your brother called you by your name when you were talking to Bofur about the missing ponies. And then Thorin said it a couple of times when he was telling you to collect the firewood." I explained. A smirk grew across the Dwarf's lips and he let out a hearty laugh.

"So you really have been watching us." he chuckled lightly.

By now I could hear quite clearly the sounds of Dwarvish laughter. It wofted and floated through the deepening wood, carried along by the gentle breeze that fluttered through the trees, rustling the leaves and creaking the branches. I glanced at Kili out of the corner of my eye and I could see that his eyes were fixated ahead, a smile on his face and so I guessed that we were close indeed to the camp, close enough that the Dwarf could hear the sounds of his comrades, even with his own limited hearing.

It was about a minute later when I could see the first shadow in the distance, a sign that the camp was very close now. The chatter from the Dwarves was incredibly loud as well and I guessed that they were no more than about fifty feet in front of us. Kili tapped my shoulder and motioned silently for me to follow him. He led me to a thick oak that was to his right, where he stopped, turned and addressed me in a hushed manner.

"Thorin and many of the other Dwarves do not like Elves at all, they may not be as welcoming as I was. You need to stay behind me as we enter so I can introduce you and keep you safe." The look in Kili's eyes showed a fierce protectiveness that warmed me, however I was also a little put out by his insinuation that I could not protect myself.

"Kili, I can take care of myself," I said, reaching one arm behind me and lightly tapping my bow that I had strapped to my back. "I'm as twice as fast as most of the Dwarves in your company and I rarely miss my aim. I'll be fine."

"I'm sure you will be, however I would appreciate it if you didn't go killing my companions. They may be a little apprehensive at first but I'm sure I can talk them around to the idea of letting you stay with us. Just don't say anything to aggrevate them." Kili said. I thought about arguing back, assuring him that I could defend myself however I decided against it. Kili was right afterall, violence, whilst satisfying, rarely solved any matter, and I knew that if I planned to stay with this company, no matter for how long, then harming any one of them would not help me. I nodded in agreement and Kili, taking one last glance at me, wandered back onto the path that we had been following and pushed his way on, glancing back every few feet to make sure that I was behind him and still following.