The Woodland Realm was beautiful, just as beautiful (if not, more than) Rivendell was. Kali appreciated the sheer naturality of the entire Realm, however not under these circumstances. The queasiness in the pit of her stomach worsened with every yard she moved, making her feel ready to vomit on Bifur walking ahead of her. The invisible fist tightened on her heart, labouring her breathing with every step she took closer to the heart of the Woodland Realm.

 They were all lead through a labyrinth of bridges (all without hand railings) and down a level where the Company were all thrown into holding cells. Kali's was right between two, though she knew not who were inside. Balin was across the way. 

 "This is not the end of it!" Dwalin barked as he was closed in a cell, "You hear me?!"

 "Let us out of here!" Gloin had begun throwing himself against the wrought-iron cell door.

 Dori angrily shook off the elf who was leading him into his own cell, "Get off me!"

 Kili was across the way with Balin. He was being led by the she-elf, who held open the cell door for him. Kali watched as he entered willingly, "Aren't you going to search me? I could have anything down my trousers."

The nerve that kid has! Kali bared her teeth and growled. The growl soon diminished into a loud, singular bark of a laugh when the elf responded lightly, "Or nothing." and closed the barred door in Kili's face.

 The following silence gave Kali the ability to listen to Legolas speak with her, "I Nogoth amman e tîr gin? Tauriel?" 

So her name is Tauriel, "Ú-dangada?"

 Kali rolled her eyes, despite the hurt she felt inside. Who can say? It's very obvious he's smitten with you, you halfwit.

 Tauriel looked to the side, away from Legolas, in an attempt to hide her smile, "E orchal be Nogoth."

As am I, though I do not see you ogling in my direction. Kali stepped backwards. After a moment of pacing the cell like a caged animal, she slumped against the wall. No matter how hard she tried she could not drown out the elves, "Pedithig?"

 Legolas addressed her in a sharp tone, "Orchal eb vui, mal uvanui en." 

 Kali couldn't help but snicker at the sidelong insult hurtled at Kili. As the cell hadn't drowned out the elves it hadn't drowned out the dwarves throwing themselves against the doors. From where she sat, Kali could see Balin. He was leaning against the wall by his door, "Leave it! There's no way out. This is no orc dungeon; these are the halls of the Woodland Realm. No one leaves here but by the king's consent."

Unless, of course, you have special connections. As if on cue, a fair haired elf wrenched open the door Kali was behind, "You've been requested to join the King."

I should have known. Kali stood and went willingly. As she stepped from her cell, Kili threw himself flush against his cell door, "Where were you taking her?! Release her this instant-!" his tone was still angry, and sounded even more so as his speech slurred into iffy Khuzdul even Kali couldn't understand coherently.

 Kali ignored him, but instead paid more attention to Fili, who was doing the same as his brother, "Kali!"

 "Fili, calm yourself," she grabbed his hands as she passed, fleetingly, before they slipped from hers, "I will find a way to set you all free, I promise." The elf pressed his hand to the small of her back and ushered her along with surprising gentleness. She asked why and he replied, "You are a lady and deserve to be treated as such, even if you are a dwarf."

 She smiled over her shoulder at him, "Thank you."

 After a brief moment of inclined walking through the intricate halls until she was standing before the throne of the Elven King Thranduil. He had a crown of crimson leaves and spiked wood set atop his head. He was dressed in flowing, silver robes that complimented the blonde hair on his head greatly. 

 This king was a great contrast to the King standing grumpily next to her, covered in spiderwebs and fur and leather of all sorts. At her arrival, Thorin's arms uncrossed, "Miss Silverarm?"

 Kali's frantic heart skipped a beat at the sound his voice, and began thumping even harder. Any harder and it will break from my rib cage, "Thorin," she addressed shortly and looked at Thranduil, "You requested me?"

 "Her? What do you want with her?" Thorin took a step forward, his voice having a hint of protectiveness.

 Thranduil waved a hand, "It is no concern of you right now, dwarf," his tone was cool. Then he turned and smiled at Kali, "I'd like to take a moment and welcome you again to my Realm."

 Kali became even more paranoid. He's planning something in that pixie-head of his, I just know it, "King?"

Thranduil ignored her and looked at Thorin, "As my previous bargain states, I will free you under certain conditions."

 "I am listening," Thorin crossed his arms once again: a sign of defensiveness.

 "If you return to me what is rightfully mine," Thranduil stepped closer to the two dwarves.

 Thorin turned away and took a couple steps, "A favour for a favour."

 "You have my word," Kali disliked the glint that was in the Elvenking's eyes, "One king to another."

 Thorin stopped dead in his tracks, a sign Kali knew wasn't good, "I would not trust Thranduil, the great king, to honor his word should the end of all days be upon us!" he spun on his heel, shouting now, as he pointed at Thranduil, "You lack all honor! I've seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people and the inferno that destroyed us!" Thorin grit his teeth, "Imrid amrad ursul!" he spat out finally.

 Thranduil surged forward, leaning to be eye to eye with Thorin, "Do not talk to me of dragon fire. I know its wrath and ruin. I have faced the great serpents of the north," as he spoke the left half of his face began melting away, showing signs of severe burning. His eye was completely white. When Kali gasped he pulled back, "Ah. I'd almost forgotten about our guest."

 "Why am I here, King?" Kali ground her teeth together, hating the title she was forced to call him.

 "To make a point," he looked at Thorin, "As I'd been saying before, I want returned to me what is mine-"

 "And as I was saying before," Thorin growled, "You will not be getting your starlight gems as long as I live!"

 "The gems are not all I request," Thranduil dropped his cold gaze on Kali, "I want the girl as well."

 Thorin's brow furrowed and he looked quickly at kali before turning his hard glare upon Thranduil, "What do you want with her?"

 Thranduil sneered, "The peredhil hasn't told you, has she," he shook his head, raking his gaze over her, "Stunning beauty on such a short body... what a shame..."

 "Told me what?" Thorin rounded on Kali, ignoring Thranduil's off-kilter comment, "Of what does he speak?"

 Kali swallowed, her throat suddenly very dry, "Surely you'd have seen how I look- th-the way I fight-" she stammered, "Thorin, the way I speak sometimes-"

 "Tell me what the elf speaks of, Miss Silverarm," Thorin snapped.

 "Thorin-" Kali was shaking and it was visible to Thorin and Thranduil, "Thorin I-I swear I was going to tell you-"

 "Tell me what?!"

 Kali's pulse was loud in her ears, making her head spin worse than when she'd been lost in Mirkwood. The dizziness delayed her answer and Thranduil sighed, speaking to the guard elf by the stairs, "Go fetch the Head Guard."

  Hearing this and the fading steps of the elf made an answer blurt from Kali's lips without her consent, "I'm half elf!"

 Thorin tensed up, a clear sign that he was very very angry. He struggled to keep his voice even, "And you decided to keep this information from me all this time?!"

 "You never asked," Kali countered, her voice as frantic as her heart, "I was going to tell you-"

 "When?" Thorin barked, stepping closer, "When were you planning on revealing this information? After you had betrothed one of my nephews and tainted the blood of the Line of Durin?!"

 Kali sucked in a breath, feeling as if she'd been knocked in the stomach by the butt of an axehead swung my a goblin, "You cannot possibly think that either of them would want anything to do with me now, let alone after they find out what I am."

 "Whether they do or not," Thorin challenged, "No kin of mine will be associated with the likes of you."

 "You hadn't seemed to have a problem back in Erebor!" Kali snapped.

 "I had a problem then," Thorin was seething now that his past, his home, was mentioned, "And I've a problem now. You will not be returning to Erebor ever again, Kali Silverarm!"

 Kali was becoming angry as well, "I will return to that Mountain if it kills me, Thorin Oakenshield! Those are the halls my mother walked. Surely you have to honour that."

 "I do not have to honour anything about your family," Thorin seemed to have cooled down a bit, "Especially your mother because she created you."

 There that feeling was: being hit in the gut with the back end of an axe. This time, however, Kali wished it was the sharp end.

Thranduil looked at Thorin, "Do we have a deal?"

 "No," Thorin grunted, "We have no deal."

 Thranduil's original plan, apparently, had not worked and he growled, "I warned your grandfather of what his greed would summon, but he would not listen." he began stepping back up to the seat of his large, flamboyant throne, "You are just like him."

 The guard had come back with the Head and Thranduil motioned at the one to take Thorin back to the dungeons. Thorin shook off the elf for a brief moment, "I am not just like him, for he would not make such a deal with an elf. I will, though."

 "What deal?" Thranduil narrowed his eyes as he sat down, "You'd just said I shall never have my gems as long as you live."

 "You may not have your gems," Thorin backed away from the throne, back towards the guard who would take him to the cells, "But you may keep the girl."

 Thranduil crossed his legs, clearly not happy with what Thorin had said, "Very well. Stay here if you will, and rot. A hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf. I am patient. I can wait."

 Kali stepped to the top of the three steps that led down from the Throne-Platform they'd been standing on, leaning in, "Thorin Oakenshield," she shouted out in one last attempt to vent her feelings, however feeble the attempt may have been, "Ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!"

 The Head guard beside her snorted and ever so slowly, Kali turned her glare upon him, "Is there something funny, elf?"

 The slender, dark haired man beside her shook his head, "Only what you yell to your superiors, is all."

 "I speak to whomever I wish however I wish," Kali glanced at him from the corner of her eye. He was all legs, dressed in a dark green set of robes that were patterned with light green lines. The design looked like the veins of a leaf. Although elves are known to have fair coloured hair, this elf's hair was black as night. The hair went to his mid-back, two long braids framing his creamy-complexioned face. There was hair still pulled back from there, weaving lightly on both sides back to join a singular fishtail braid that was tied at the base of his neck. The rest of the braid free-flowed with no structure at all, "You're hair looks like a queen's hairstyle," Kali added dryly.

 "I style my hair this way because of my late sister," he half turned to look at her, "You and her would have gotten along great."

 "I don't care," Kali looked at the intricate branches and leaves above and began pacing, "I want nothing to do with you or your kin. Elves are-"

 "Miss Silverarm, I suggest that you do not finish that sentence," he warned.

 "Shut up, Celedir," Kali snapped.

 "That is no way to speak to your father," he replied just as angrily.

 Kali crossed her arms, stopping for a brief second before starting her pacing once more, "So now you take responsibility for me? You seem to be a hundred-eighty-nine years late for that!"

"Kali-"

 "I wish not to hear it," Kali turned and rounded on the King, who was seated smugly in his throne, "You're not half as clever as you think you are, Thranduil!" now she was not in the mood to continue referring to him as 'King'.

 Thranduil smirked down at her, "Oh, but this still makes me thrice as clever as you."

"You were using me as leverage against my own kin!" Kali accused, striding across the space between her and his throne, "That is low, Thranduil! Even for elven standards."

 Thranduil seemed entirely unfazed by her words. He waved his hand, "Celedir, take her away."

 "Where?" Celedir hadn't moved. He needed clarification before taking Kali anywhere.

 "To the dungeons with the rest," Thranduil stated, "If she wishes to be a dwarf, then treat her as such. The dwarves are trespassers in my Realm," he added after the two were a little ways away, "Celedir, make sure she does not escape this time."

 Celedir pressed his hand into her spine, hurrying Kali along and the gesture was not a kind one like the other elf had used, "You should not have come here, Kali."

 "Stop, acting as if you care for me, Celedir," Kali dug her heels into the stone flooring, slowing down a considerable amount, "You stopped caring the moment you left mother."

 "If I'd have known she was with child I'd have never left Nituri," Celedir replied, his voice very hushed, "I loved her."

 "Then you should have stayed away from her from the start."

 "Are you saying you wish to never have been born?" he asked.

 "It would have saved everyone the trouble of having to bear my existence," Kali mumbled as they neared the cells, fearing for the Company's reactions should they find out what she was.

Celedir, however, hadn't lowered his voice, "You are not a disgrace to anyone, Kali. You are a beautiful young woman that will strive no matter what," he stopped and held open her cell door for her. Kali went inside, her head hung low. Celedir, however, put a finger under her chin and made her look at him, "Your mother would be proud of you. Ánin apsenë."

 He kissed the top of her forehead where her sticky bangs met her hairline, right below the part in her hair and stepped back, closing her inside before walking away. Kali slumped against the stone wall and slid down, curling her knees up to her chest. She wrapped her arms around them and set her chin on the divot between her knees.

 "Kali, who was that?" Kili's tone had a defensive tone to it. "Kali?" Kili's voice echoed through the halls, "Kali, what's wrong?"

"Áva quetë!" Kali snapped, turning her harsh glare upon him, "Úcarnet nin, Kili!!"

 "Kali, you know I cannot speak Khuzdul," Kili said calmly.

 "Pe-channas..." Kali cursed, "Pedin edhellen, as apparently you do not."

 "Kali...?" Kili's tone was soft, "Tell me what's wrong, please. I can tell something bothers you."

 " M'imnu Durin," Kali groaned, "You better believe something bothers me!"

 "Kili," Fili called out, "What have you done now?"

 "I've done absolutely nothing to deserve Miss Silverarm's hostility," Kili fired back, crossing his arms with a huff.

 Kali jumped to her feet. You have eyes for another and you think yourself innocent? she wanted to shout this (and more) at him, but figured it good payback to have him realize his mistake himself.

 "Pay no mind to her," Thorin's voice came from somewhere on Kali's side of the hall, "She is in a sour mood since her secret identity has been revealed."

 "Thorin-" Kali stopped herself, deciding it best if she told the others before Thorin, "I've something to tell you all."

 "Go on, then," Ori urged sweetly, "We'll listen."

 Kali sighed and rested her forehead against the door. The bars were cool on her skin, "I'm a peredhil. Half dwarven only, my other half being of elvish descent. I apologize for not telling any of you sooner, but I thought you'd think ill of me."

 "I think no less of you, laddie," Balin smiled over at her, "You're still apart of this Company and one of my friends."

 The others (save for Thorin and Kili) had said something along the same line of that and, as they trailed off, Kali was reverted into a smiling mess as she conversed quietly with Bifur. That stopped, too, though, when Tauriel returned to stand outside Kili's cell, "The stone in your hand, what is it?"

 "It is a talisman. A powerful spell lies upon it. If any but a dwarf reads the runes on this stone, they will be forever cursed," he held the stone up at the she-elf and she gasped, walking away before retreating when she heard the dwarf's laughter, "Or not, depending on whether you believe that kind of thing. It's just a token. A runestone. My mother gave it to me so I'd remember my promise."

 "What promise?" Tauriel asked gently.

 "That I will come back to her," he smiled, "She worries. She thinks I'm reckless."

"Are you?"

 "Nah," he replied, tossing up the stone. He missed trying to catch it and it bounced from the cell.

 This is where Kali stopped listening to and watching them talk. You are the most reckless dwarf I know and I am acquainted with Odik Greyhand, "Fili?"

 "Kali?" Fili was quick to respond, "What is it?"

 "Have you forgiven yourself yet?" she wondered.

 "Not entirely, no," his voice dropped.

 She smiled into the cell door, "You need to give yourself more credit than you do, Fili. Why don't you?"

 "I hurt you in more ways than I am able to count," she heard him sit down.

 Kali backed from the door and did the same, tucking herself into a dark corner, "It seems as if everyone hurts me..."

 The echo in the cells was too much for a conversation, so to drown out Kili and Tauriel and the banter of the other dwarves Kali pulled free her pipe from inside her coat, glad to have something else to focus on. As she began gently smoking, she begun humming her childhood song softly to herself, eventually lulling herself to sleep (the pipe still hanging from her face).

I'll be homeward

Bound....

Again....  

A/N: [Top Picture] Imagine it pitch black and it's Celedir's hair.

Also, I care not what any fan-translations say, I am using Ish kakhfê ai'd dur rugnu!  as the Khuzdul equivalent of KISS MY ASS!