"This is so uncalled for, let me go!" you yelled through gag in your mouth. A sharp pain shot through your back in response. Your limbs were bound and you were laid across the back of a black horse behind one of your abducters.

"For the love of God, why did we have to steal the talkative dwarf?" The hooded rider to your left grumbled.

"Because Daorel, the line of Durin is fond of this one. They'll pay a handsome price to get her back." You heard the man that struck you explain. You laughed spitefully, "As if they would bend to the likes of you, you'll be dead before you see a single coin." Your muffled comment earned you another strike, this one to the back of your head.

"You're very confident for someone in your position," Daorel sneered, "if you were smart you would watch yourself."

"Well atleast I still have my honor, which is more than the two of you can say." You shot back, "There's no honor in attacking a person while they're unarmed."

Daorel scoffed, "What do you mean unarmed? You had a club for crying out loud. You nearly took Armron's head off."

You snorted, "That wasn't a club. It just was a stray branch I grabbed when he tried gagging me." You lifted your head to try to look over at Armron, "How's the finger by the way? Still attached?"

"You keep laughing, we never said we'd give you back whole. I'll take a hand as compensation." Armron threatened, right before bringing his good fist down on the back of your head. You saw stars and tasted blood. You twisted your face into a scowl that you hoped looked braver than it felt. You silently prayed that the rest of the company would wake soon and come looking for you.

*****

"Kili slow down, you can't track her while running so quickly." Fili pleaded, grabbing Kili by the shoulder, "You don't even know which direction she left in."

"But I do Fili, look!" Kili exclaimed, picking up something shiny, "It's one Y/N's beads. She must have taken it out when she was grabbed. It's the only explanation!"

"I'll admit that it's strange, but it also could have come loose while she was helping Bifur collect firewood last night. The girl certainly has enough beads in her hair to not notice that one fell out." Fili countered, still not wanting to think the worse, "I'm not saying we should stop looking, but unless we find another one nearby we may have to write the bead off as a coincidence."

Kili shook his head, "Why must you always try to rationalize everything that happens?"

Fili snorted, "For the same reason you always think with your heart, somebody's got to make you see a different point of view."

The Durin boys continued to search the path for any sign of your presence.

A couple hundred yards away they saw it, laying in the middle of the path atop the browning leaves.

A single copper bead.

*****

Being thrown onto the back of the horse gave you easy access to your hair and more importantly to the beads fastened on the ends of your long braids. With your hands still bound in front of you, taking out the beads was no simple task. You prayed to Mahal that they wouldn't notice the undone braids. You had already taken out several of the beads that held together the more intricate braids. You didn't risk the larger ones for fear they would notice and change course. Or worse.

As you tried to undo the latest braid something glimmering caught your attention. It's was a small emerald hairpin that was fastened into your hair by three thin prongs. You slipped it free from your hair with a small grunt. You silently cursed yourself and quickly tucked the pin out of sight between your bound wrists. Armron looked over his shoulder at you with distaste, "I thought you were going to be a good girl and stay quiet." You glared up at him, "All I did was grunt, it's not like I'm riding in the most comfortable position. I can barely breathe."

"Not my problem." He said as he turned his attention back to the path ahead.

With both of their attentions back on the path, you quietly set to work at tearing through your cloth restraint with the sharp little hairpin.

Minutes past and you had almost ripped through the last handful of threads when Armron stopped the horse at a crossroad, muttering something about checking for a landmark. He dismounted, kicking you in the face in the process. He let out a sadistic laugh and offered an insincere apology. Anger clouded your mind and you spat at him, the bloody saliva splattering across the front of his grimy coat. He ripped you off the back of the horse by your collar and threw you to the ground without letting go. He smacked you, his ring splitting open your lower lip, but you grin triumphantly. His look of confusion turned to rage as you ripped through the last of your hand restraints and snatched the dagger from his belt. You held the dagger to his neck as you ordered, "The feet restraints, undo them. Now." He knelt down slowly, careful of the blade still at his throat. Daorel's hood fell as he jumped from his horse to reveal a grungy mop of greasy black hair similar to Armron's. 

"Don't come any closer or I will kill him." You warned, pressing the edge of the blade harder against Armron's neck. Drops of red bubbled over the edge of the blade and he cried out, "Do as she says, Daorel!"

"I'd listen to him if I were you." You suggested grimacing, "I'd rather not kill anyone today."

****

Screams filled the air, and sent the Durin brothers tearing down the dirt path towards the sound.

"Was that Y/N?!" Fili asked, looking to Kili who shook his head. He looked certain of it when he said, "Those were men screaming." Fili unsheathed his swords as they drew nearer to the source of the screaming, "Who ever it is in trouble, come on! They sound close."

Suddenly, the screams stopped all together. Fili and Kili stopped in their tracks at the sight of someone slowly limping towards them with two black horses in tow.

Fili gasped, "Is that..." Kili lowered his weapon and sprinted the distance between you.

Kili rained down on you with a flurry of questions, "What the hell happened, Y/N? Are you okay? Who's blood is that? Are you injured?"

You took hold of his hand, squeezing it gently as you sighed, "I'm okay, Kili, I swear. It's not my blood."

"Y/N, I'm glad to see you're alright. What the hell happened?" Fili asked when the three of you met back up.

"Some lowlifes abducted me when I went to go relieve myself this morning. They had a ridiculous idea that the line of Durin would have paid a king's ransom to see that I was returned in one piece. They didn't really have it all planned out." You explained as you dabbed at the blood on your swollen lip with your ripped sleeve, "Mahal, I hope I don't look as insane as I think I do right now."

"You look like you went a round or two with a warg." Fili joked.

You snorted, "I feel like I went for three,"  You placed the hand that still held the reins against your tender ribs, "it was certainly a hell of a way to start the day."

"Why don't we ride the rest of the way back to camp so you can rest for a bit?" Kili suggested with a gentle squeeze of your hand.

"Okay, who did you want to ride with?" You asked, passing one of the reigns to Fili. Fili chuckled to himself as he mounted the horse before deciding for you, "I think he should ride with you, Y/N. No offense, but you don't look too good. We wouldn't want you to fall off the horse now would we?" Kili's cheeks reddened slightly but he nodded in agreement, "He's right. Would that be alright with you, Y/N?"

You felt your own cheeks heat up as you nodded. Kili carefully helped you into the saddle before climbing on behind you. He hesitated before looping his arms around you to take the reigns, his warm chest pressed against your back.

"Sorry" you whispered and leaned forward on the saddle.

You watched Kili's grip tighten on the reigns as he quickly said, "No, it's all right. I didn't mind," he paused for a second before quietly adding, "I was actually going to suggest that you lean back and try to get some rest while you can. I won't mind it if you do." You heard Fili mutter something under his breath that sounded like, "We know you wouldn't mind."

You hesitated for only a moment before leaning back until you were flush against him. "What did you mean when you said you knew he wouldn't mind?" You asked, your curiosity getting the better of you. Fili laughed at your question.

Kíli glared at his brother, "This isn't really the time or place, brother," he warned.

Fíli raised a hand in defense, "What? I meant nothing by it," he glanced at your hair and smirked, "But I will say this, you would definitely have a willing volunteer to help you with your hair if you wished for it. He's even got your beads in his pocket."

You turned in the saddle to look at Kíli, grabbing his thigh on accident to steady yourself as you were jostled by the horse, "Is he telling the truth?" You asked, quickly letting go of his leg.

"Well, I do have the beads you dropped." He admitted with a deep blushing mirroring your own. He took a deep breath before leaning in close and whispered, "And as for the hair braiding...I'm at your service."