Hobbit 1. The Princess of the South

Daughter of a Southern King

Inspired by this quote by Richard Armitage during a interview with

Hoping to beef up Thorin's emotional arc, Armitage discussed with Boyens the addition of backstory elements that would reveal that the dwarf prince lost a loved one. "_A princess or someone he was betrothed to_," as Armitage describes it. "It was never something they were going to explore but I did keep it in my head that perhaps _he was once in love, and it ended with Smaug_."

* * *

Two dire wolves crouched outside the open gates of Erebor peering in, one white one black but both large and fearsome in battle and loyalty. Strapped upon their backs were odd leather saddles, one man stood with them, his skin like copper and his hair straight and black. The white dire looked to the south toward the ruins of dale whimpering softly before gazing back inside, the ears of the black dire twitched for their perked position.

Inside though was what they were focused on, a tawny figure slinking amongst the blackened halls of the once beautiful halls of Erebor. The smell of smoke and burnt flesh was polluted the air and puddles of melted gold dotted the floor gleaming and shining in the flickering light of burning torches. Large tawny paws placed themselves delicately upon the gold riddled floors trying not to disturb anything that make a sound. A rosy nose owed by a tawny feline face sniffed the charred remains of a once living dwarf. He raised his head and opened his mouth sucking in air allowing his inner scent glands to taste the air. When he closed his mouth he looked to his back where a man sat with a cat skull for a helm attached to a spotted fur coat that belonged to a smaller cousin of the feline below him. The large cat chuffed softly, she was nearby.

"Spartan where is she." The cat continued forward placing his paws intricately on the ground as if he were stalking prey, trying not to touch anything that may distract the dragon's attention from his hunt outdoors. If the man was not on his back you would say he belonged in the great halls of Erebor with his tawny goat, golden eyes and pearl white canines and obsidian claws. But he did not. No he belong to the woman the now lay before him under a large stone bench; face down her arms covering her head of sandy blond hair singed black at the ends, she wore a once white clothing that had become frayed and charred by her attempt to escape the dragons flames.

He nudged her with his nose and chuffed as the man on his back leap down carefully and padded his way to her. The woman's hands relaxed from their fisted position and she took in a shaky breath. The man knelt beside the toothed cat as the woman moved her arms from around her head to reveal an exotic yet dark site, a dwarf with chocolate brown eyes, an elegant nose, full lips and no beard; but her face was covered with soot and fear. They had found her…

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I know its a short and odd start but this story is of how she came to be in the north

Please review and let me know what you think!


	2. Stuff of legends

Daughter of a Southern King

Inspired by this quote by Richard Armitage during a interview with

Hoping to beef up Thorin's emotional arc, Armitage discussed with Boyens the addition of backstory elements that would reveal that the dwarf prince lost a loved one. "_A princess or someone he was betrothed to_," as Armitage describes it. "It was never something they were going to explore but I did keep it in my head that perhaps _he was once in love, and it ended with Smaug_."

* * *

It had been three months since she left the Arkine Desert when she came upon a sight she had only heard of in stories from traveling merchants of the north. A lone mountain pierced the sky like a rose's thorn piercing delicate skin greeted her eyes from her rocky perch. The Lonely Mountain as it was called. A home to dwarves of the north it was said. Well, she'll be the judge of that.

Her name was Eria Orenda Speartooth and she was a dwarf of the south, she had sand brown hair braided with golden beads and brightly coloured feathers, chocolate brown eyes, an elegant nose and full rosy lips and no beard; like her mother. Eria was as an exotic site in her kingdom, as her mother was. Dwarf woman of the south grew shorter beards and less hair on their bodies unlike the dwarf women Eria had heard in the stories the merchants told.

Eria wore clothing unseen to this new world she entered but common in most dwarf women in the south. It was white, fitted and easy to move in; something the women of her mother's clan preferred above all. A royal blue sash was wrapped around Eria's waist covered by a thick leather belt and a baldric and leather vambraces adorned both forearms etched with the crests of her father's house. Eria's thick leather boots were made for moving without being heard. Eria fisted her gloved hands as she surveyed the landscape searching for the easiest route down.

A feline moan came from behind her; Eria smiled as she turned to face her massive feline companion, a massive tawny cat sat on his haunches panting heavily, two fifteen inch canines protruded from the upper jaw of his large brown striped tawny head that was attached to his muscular body by a thick neck. The cat's paws were bigger than any wargs or wolves and held retractable lethal black claws. His tail was long and striped like his face where his tawny coat was dappled with brown rosettes. He was much larger than warg or dire wolf ever known to man, elf or dwarf. In the south they called his kind the Saber-Tooth Tiger, a most revered and dangerous yet magnificent animal.

Many say Eria was insane for choosing such a ferocious and dangerous battle companion, but he was not without his flaws and his advantages. For below him lay the corpse of a warg, mangled and bloody, he had this one sided game he played with wargs "cat and mouse" it was a hate and fear relationship between two species. Every time he saw smelt or heard one he would kill it, mark his territory or roar and every time the wargs would run with their tails between their legs as fast as they could and for most, it wasn't fast enough. This warg was one of the unfortunate few. He had even dragged the body for a few miles only dropping it when he was hungry, thirsty, or giving himself a bath. The carcass was beginning to reek of rot and decay. A few times the wind would pick up the smell and she would almost retch from his back. But today was different; he didn't seem to into it anymore as if he were bored of the body which made her breathe a sigh of relief. That was until his black ears perked up that her relief turned into sour grimace.

"Spartan we are NOT bringing that… thing, with us any further!" Eria protested and before she had even finished Spartan had picked it up in his mouth and carried it over to the cliff edge. He looked at her mischievously and chuffed. She glared at the cat "Drop it!" she demanded and so he did and down and down it went hitting every rock and bolder on the way down, the sounds of bones breaking and tearing flesh against stone echoed through the mountain range. When the corpse tumbled to a stop its spine had twisted twice around, its jaw was set at an awkward angle with its neck snapped back and its legs a broken and lacerated mess. The site made Eria's mouth drop and Spartan moan as if say 'you said drop it'.

Eria shook her head and walk to pick up her pack and Spartan's riding harness and what was left of their food supply. As she lifted the bag the weight of it made her sigh. "Not much left for me to eat Spartan, looks like we better start moving a little faster and that means no killing wargs, understood." Spartan groaned and softly bumped his head against her back. Eria smiled leaned against him. "I'm tired too, boy." She sighed and turned around to his shoulder and swung the harness onto his back fastening it under his ribs and around the front where his neck met his chest. She tied her packs to the harness back before hoisting herself on "alright let's be off." Spartan leapt from the cliff to a rock a ten feet down and jumped to the next and so on. When they got to the bottom of the mountain Spartan sniffed the mangled and contorted carcass of the warg before pacing toward the lone mountain.

On the way Eria and Spartan only stopped for food, water and sleep and the landscape changed from its rocky mountains to thick forest to grassy prairies. It took them a whole month till they saw large doors between two statues on a flat part of the southern face of the mountain. It was something that she recognized something familiar, something only dwarves would have the talent of doing. "Well would you look at that, the legends that Halldor spoke of maybe be true after all! Come on lets go." she laughed excitedly as Spartan leapt from his pace into a lope. As Spartan ran Eria saw a city not far off the base of the mountain.

It took them half a week to finally make out the intricate details of the city and the mountain door and no sooner too, Eria had all but finished her provisions and Spartan had become tired from the run. They stopped at a large bolder shaded by two large oak trees close to the side of road and rested. The city was only about half a day's walk away now and rest was something they greatly needed. Eria opened her pack and laid out her fur blanket while Spartan hopped on top of the bolder and scouted for prey. A herd of large goats to the east caught his attention. Tonight he would hunt.

That night Eria sat close to the fire waiting for Spartan's return from hunting, she snuggled into her fur pelt; it had been given to her by a dear friend. Its yellow fur was dotted by black rosettes, jaguar fur; it was warm from the fire but not warm enough. It was cold at night in the north much colder than the southern nights that she was use to and stranger, for no jungle sounds surrounded her, no hoots and screeches from the night creatures in the trees warning all below of predators nearby.

Eria watched the city and mountain over the light of the fire when a sudden movement brought her attention to edge of the fires light. She grabbed the hilt of her sword and was about to act when a grey fox stepped in to the flickering light with its nose to the ground searching for food. Eria slowly reached for her pack in search of any bits of food she could share with the small creature. She held out her hand to the fox with what food she had found. The fox stared at Eria's hand cautiously at first but his sense of smell got the better of him and he began to eat from her hand.

It was only then when the grey fox was licking her hand clean and the fire was now only red embers that a roar ripped through the night scaring the fox, who ran back into the darkness and awakening everything miles around including the city and mountain. She watched through the trees as torches were lit and people gathered along the walls to try to see where the roar had originated.

Spartan returned to the bolder moments after when the touches were put out and people had gone back to bed, dragging a half-eaten goat by its neck in his blood stained jaws, he walked past a sleeping Eria and dropped the carcass and began to give himself a bath. After Spartan finished giving himself a tongue bath he stood up and stretched with a yawn before ambling over to Eria. Spartan gently rubbed his head against her back and curled up around her sleeping form and chuffed when Eria woke and buried her head in the thick fur of his neck, she brought her knees up close to her body and tightened the fur pelt around her. Eria was almost asleep when felt his right foreleg move from its position beneath him to gently drape over her and protect her from the cold northern night. She felt Spartan sigh as he relaxed and fell asleep soon after.

_For tomorrow was only half a day's walk away._

* * *

Orenda means "Great Spirit, Supernatural Power" in Iroquois

When it comes to Spartan, I like to think he looks like the saber-tooth tiger from 10000 BC except with a more tiger like body and much bigger.

As for Eria's beardless face, it will be explained further in the story; as for her name Eria… well I got that inspiration from the song Eria by Two Steps From Hell. And think of her outfit like that of Assassins Creed's Revelations outfit that Ezio wears.

Please review!


	3. Northern Princess

Daughter of a Southern King

Inspired by this quote by Richard Armitage during a interview with

Hoping to beef up Thorin's emotional arc, Armitage discussed with Boyens the addition of backstory elements that would reveal that the dwarf prince lost a loved one. "_A princess or someone he was betrothed to_," as Armitage describes it. "It was never something they were going to explore but I did keep it in my head that perhaps _he was once in love, and it ended with Smaug_."

* * *

They woke at first light to see the fox had returned and was feasting on the half eaten remains of Spartan's kill. Spartan barely even noticed him when he picked up the carcass while Eria packed her things. She shouldered the leather bags and patted Spartan's neck. Today she would walk, the city wasn't that far and her legs could use a bit of stretching of their own.

They were about three quarters of the way to the city when guards began to notice them or Eria at least. Spartan's coat blended in with the environment easily and could not be seen from afar even with his immense size and giant teeth that were sunk into the flesh of the kill he carried with him. Eria stopped and looked to Spartan "stay here," she said before noticing that the fox had trailed behind picking up pieces of the carcass that had fallen off the carcass. Spartan dropped the carcass in a thicket of long grass off the side of the road and began finishing the meal giving no acknowledgement to the canine that joined him. Eria stood and watched for a moment as the skittish fox relaxed around the tiger and began to enjoy the meal Spartan was willing to share. She chuckled to herself before heading off to the city.

As Eria neared two armoured guards that stood at the entrance looked her over for a moment whispering amongst each other before she came to a stop in front of them. "Who seeks to enter the great city Dale?" the younger of the two guards asked from his post.

"My name is Eria Speartooth and I have come to visit a friend." Eria lied as she brushed her hair back behind her large dwarf ears. She watched the guard's convers and looked to the door in the mountain. "Mind me asking, what is beyond those doors?" the guards looked at her surprised and confused.

"Why that's Erebor. Have you not heard of it, the great dwarf city where Thror King under the Mountain sits?" the men seemed confounded as Eria shrugged and said that she was not from around here. "Can you believe it Tegan, a dwarf that doesn't know of Erebor?"

"Aye, a beardless dwarf at that, you don't see that every day and those feathers, I never have I seen such colourful things and in hair no less. But how can we be certain she is a dwarf, she's too beautiful though she is small and her ears are quite large." The elder guard named Tegan replied leaving Eria a little shocked yet flattered. "Are you a dwarf and if you're not from Middle Earth, wherever have you come from?" Well that was a stupid question.

"Are you a man?" Eria shot back with a smirk as she folded her arms over her chest, Tegan gave her stern look. The younger guard beside him snickered and said something along the lines of 'height' and 'attitude'. "I am a dwarf of the far south beyond the Arkine Desert."

"The Arkine," The younger man gasped. "I heard that place is treacherous and hotter than the forges of Erebor." She watched the guards look at her in amazement. "Then again that merchant Halldor tells tales of the south and brings those unusual red fruits that my wife loves. What did he call them, pa-pum-poom?" Eria suggested 'pomegranates'. "Yes those. You know of them?"

"Yes of course they are my father's favorite fruit and Halldor is a good family friend of ours. I look forward to seeing him now that I know he travels here as well." She replied with a smile that soon faded at the thought of her father. "Now will you please let me pass? I have important business to attend to with my friend."

The men looked at her and nodded before stepping aside. "Have good day milady." The young guard said as Tegan bid her goodbye. As she walked past them she heard a few comments fly between them that made her slightly flush.

As Eria entered the city Dale it caught her breathe, the beauty of the city was astonishing yet a little less than what she was use to. The buildings within Dale were amazing, yet slightly familiar, the reminded her of her mother's clans city. Stone walls great for climbing and slanting roofs of clay shingles, some round and others the traditional design as common here as in the south. The ground was covered in pale cobblestone and trees and flowers grew in expertly place patches of dirt and surrounded by small stone walls, wooden benches were place along the roads and walkways for people to sit and relax.

As Eria moved through town admiring the architecture the questions of northern dwarves were answered when she caught glimpses of them throughout the city. That's also when she notice that some people had started to whisper and look in her direction. Most of them seem to be curious, but her eyes soon landed on a group of dwarf women looking her. They whispered amongst themselves and their eyes wandered over her as if they were picking her apart. Eria raised an eyebrow before moving on but soon noticed the dwarf men watching her with smirks on their faces as they leaned to talk to others around them and nodding in her direction. Men, no matter what the race they were all the same.

Soon Eria came to the center of the city where a large stone gazebo with golden bugle horns reaching toward the sky. More dwarves gathered here, some conversing amongst themselves and men, others selling jewelry, trinkets, and relics, even clothing and food. Merchants set up shop along the outer walls of the city center, one such shop in particular caught her eye. As Eria advanced on the rickety shop she saw various amounts of fruits native to her homeland such as pomegranate, banana, guava and mango and so on. Eria picked up a lemon and looked at it curiously; how Halldor got these here without having them rot she did not know.

"My, my, my, if it isn't Eria daughter of Kane, I have not seen you since my last visit to Trojanheim two years ago." A bald man with green eyes, a sharp jaw and a crooked nose greeted her. "When I had overheard a dwarf trekked up from the south when I passed through Meldaria, I not once assumed it to be you, my dear. Your father must be concerned."

"Oh Halldor, my father seemed to be more engrossed in his gold and jewels then I when I left. I highly doubt he even noticed." She said hotly as she looked at the fruit in her hand. "And I greatly doubt my stepmother has said anything, she's probably happy I'm gone."

"Don't say that, my dear. Your father must notice you were gone, the kingdom would be at a loss without you and I have no reservation your uncle may have said something or other to him about your disappearance." Halldor assured her as he filled a basket with fruit and vegetables. He looked up at her through aged eyes and smiled, Eria smiled back sadly. "Now I know someone who has been dying to see you. Bring this basket to the Spotted Cat Inn and I will see you for dinner." Eria quirked an eyebrow before he shooed her off after giving her directions.

Eria followed Halldor's directions to the inn when another dwarf stepped out in front of her resulting in them crashing to the ground and some of the fruit flying out of the basket. Eria looked up at the other dwarf to find it to be a woman. She had long strawberry blond hair that was braided down her back to keep it out of her face and a young blond beard, her nose was a bit more feminine then the dwarves she seen earlier and her eyes were a beautiful grey. She wore a sky blue dress with golden lining and jewels adorned her wrists and hung from gold chains around her neck.

"Sorry about that, I ought to watch where I am going." Eria apologised as she helped the other dwarf woman up before picking up the straying fruit.

"It's alright; it happens I am rather clumsy myself." She replied as she helped Eria gather the fruit and only when they had returned them to the basket did she introduce herself. "I am Dis," She gave a slight curtsy "Daughter of Thrain, son of Thror King under the Mountain." A princess, Eria thought to herself.

"And I am Eria Speartooth, daughter of Kane King of Trojanheim, the Dwarf Kingdom of the Far South." she curtsied deeply. "It is an honour to meet the princess of the king that rules these lands."

"Land, more like just the mountain. You said you were a dwarf of the south," Dis said taking in Eria's appearance with curiosity "I have only heard such things in tales and stories of old; I thought them to be myths, legends." Dis looked at her closely, "you have no beard and you are beautiful unlike most dwarf women."

"I thought the same for northern dwarves and now here I am talking to one. As for my lack of beard it is very rare quality I assure you, even in the south women have beards and look like men all except for their bodies but even you are very lovely from the other dwarves I have seen." She explained as Dis blushed before looking around to see her directions being carried away by the wind. "Say I would love to talk more but it seemed to have lost my directions to the wind."

"Oh yes I would love to hear more about dwarves in the south as I bet you would of the north. Where bouts are you head." Dis asked curiously as she dusted off her dress.

"To the Spotted Cat Inn, apparently there is someone who wishes to see me." She replied as Dis began to walk in a different direction then she was before, Eria walked in step with her as they headed down the street at a leisurely pace "but as I was saying before, dwarves of the south are a bit different than the north what I have seen so far. Well the women are." Dis looked at her curiously and nodded for her to continue.

"Dwarf women in the south grow shorter and smaller beards then the dwarves here, though my mother's lineage is one of the three houses to grow no beards in my kingdom. It is said that long ago one of my mother's ancestors was from a completely different race of dwarf that grew little hair and are now long since gone. They called them the Siren Clan for not only did they lack hair they also were said to be quite exotic looking."

"Wow that is remarkable, so why do women grow less hair in south than here in the north." Dis asked as they stopped in front of a beautifully decorated building with a sign that read 'Spotted Cat' not only in the common tongue but in Khuzdul as well. "Here we are. Tell me, Eria how long do you plan on residing in Dale."

"Whoa, one question at a time; firstly, it's quite hot in the south, far hotter than here, we wear much less clothing then I've had to here, heck I can sleep nude with the windows open at night and the breeze blowing in and still be sweating buckets." Eria laughed as they entered the inn. "As for my stay, I will be here until I must leave, which will not be for a while, so you can ask me anything and I will answer."

Eria looked around the lobby. The dark wooden walls were covered with colourful tapestries; one such tapestry depicted a jaguar hunting a four point buck, a lioness skin rug adorned the middle of the dark wood floor. A small potted lemon tree was by a crackling fire within a simple stone fireplace on the left wall, in front of it sat two chairs and a small table. The front desk stretched half way across the room near the back. A stairway led up to a second floor and a hallway opened up beside it showing two rows of doors, lanterns decorated the walls and the air smelt spicy and fruity all at once.

Dis looked at the tapestry of the jaguar. "I have never been in here before." She said in wonder as her eyes moved from one scene to the next.

"It reminds me of home." Eria said as she walked up beside Dis. Dis looked at her questionably. "The smell reminds me of home and this tapestry is from my homeland." Dis asked why it was here. "It was given to a friend; he had once seen a jaguar hunt a buck during his stay and wished to show his wife what he saw when he visited us, so we made this for him to give to her. I never thought I'd see it again."

"It's beautiful." Dis stared in awe at the as she looked at the gold and black thread that made up the jaguar as it went from slinking through long colourful grass to crouching to leaping and finally landing on the copper threaded buck to bringing it down to the colourful ground as even more colourful birds left the green trees and dragging its prey up into a tree.

"Some people who come in ask if the dwarves of Erebor created such a masterpiece." Said a voice said behind them. They both turned to see an elderly lady with grey hair and ice blue eyes wearing a yellow skirt and a green tunic. Eria recognised her immediately as Astrid the wife of the merchant Halldor. "And I tell them that it comes from a place beyond your wildest dreams." She smiled at Dis then turned to Eria. "then again in my wildest dreams you are still a child."

"Astrid." Eria's smile spread from ear to ear as she walked up to her and pulled the elderly women into a warm embrace. "I remember when you would come down to Trojanheim with Halldor; you use to tell me stories of your ventures every night before bed. It's wonderful to see you again, it's been so long." When they pulled away Astrid bowed to both of them and after taking the basket asked if they wished for some tea or ale. They both chose tea.

"Now Dis I warn you, this tea is from the south so it's very sweet, something Eria is used to." Astrid said as her let the dwarves take their cups. Eria add a touch of cream before sipping at golden tea. The sweet, smooth, hot taste of honey and lemons of the green tea touched her tongue and she melted into her seat as she smiled at Astrid. They both heard Dis gasp and looked over to her, Dis' hand was over her mouth and she stared at the cup.

"I have never tasted anything so sweet in my life." Eria smiled at Astrid as Dis took another eager sip of her tea.

"I think we got her hooked." Aria said as she winked at Astrid whose shoulders shook with silent laughter.

It was late afternoon when their tea was finished and Dis had asked her questions of Trojanheim that they moved back into the lobby where Dis went back to admiring the tapestry. Astrid and Eria talked about vacant rooms. "Eria, do you still have that sabre-tooth tiger of yours that Halldor keeps chatting about?" This caught Dis' attention and Eria off guard.

"A saber-tooth tiger, what in Durin's name is that?" she inquired. Eria looked in between the dwarf and human and sighed.

"Aye, I do and I'd have to show you," She said "For I fear that you would not accept the truth even if I told it to you." Just then they heard warg bellows from outside. "But it seems like the entire city is going to see him faster than I intended." The dwarf and human looked at her curiously.

Horns bellowed and guards ran past them to the south of the city when they left the inn. "Come one!" Eria said and grabbed Dis' hand and ran after them. Dis didn't realise what was happening until she found herself at the edge of the city and began to protest and say they should go into the mountain. "You may go but I'm staying and fighting."

"Fighting, why would you ever want to fight?" Dis shouted as she looked between Erebor and the large pack of wargs and orcs standing on the opposing hill and began to tug at Eria's arm.

Eria smirked, oh how different their cultures were. "Dis, in the south if a woman can't fight with our men on the battlefield then we'll fight behind enemy lines. Half the women in the south are trained assassins. My mother's clan in particular were trained to be master of the art and I have followed in her footsteps and even won a bet with my father to let me fight on the battlefront and I'm not about to give up my culture just because you kingdom doesn't let women fight."

Now Dis looked at her in utter shock, speechless; well almost. Dis raised her chin and glared at Eria. "Well I'm heading into Erebor to stay safe with the other dwarf women of the north, and I hope you survive because those are Gundabag wargs, they will tear you apart." She snapped spun on her heels ran through the city. The insult in her voice made Eria feel guilty that she had just upset the princess of Erebor; this was not good, she was hoping to make a friend and now it could be over. She watched as Dis raced toward the mountain.

Eria sighed and looked toward where she had left Spartan to see him standing on the road watching the unsuspecting wargs. It made her smirk at the thought of the wargs getting a gruesome surprise. "And that's a saber-tooth tiger, every wargs worst nightmare." She whispered to herself smirking before noting something moving in the corner of her eye. She looked to see what it was only to see small figure running through the grass towards Dale, a child.

_Oh no._

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Alrighty peoples tell me what yea think or if I need to work on or change anything.

Ps I gave Dis blond hair because Fili has blond hair, but she has the same colour eyes as Thorin and of course beard trouble like Kili.


	4. A Beauty in Battle

Daughter of a Southern King

Inspired by this quote by Richard Armitage during an interview with

Hoping to beef up Thorin's emotional arc, Armitage discussed with Boyens the addition of backstory elements that would reveal that the dwarf prince lost a loved one. "A princess or someone he was betrothed to," as Armitage describes it. "It was never something they were going to explore but I did keep it in my head that perhaps he was once in love, and it ended with Smaug."

* * *

Eria looked from the child to Spartan who was still watching at the wargs at the top of the hill and to the child once more. Eria closed her eyes as the wind rushed passed her in the opposing direction of the wargs; they were up wind and didn't smell the little human running toward the city of Dale, that was until it changed direction. A warg howled and Eria's eyes shot open as she watched as the dark figure of a warg begin to chase after the human child, Eria raced down . She heard shouting from the archers that lined the walls as a warg race down the hill after the child and the only thing she thought, was that Spartan would do what he was trained to.

Eria ran passed the human; a boy no older than 8 short years, and drew her sword the sun catching on it black obsidian blade. She let out a battle cry as the warg changed its sights from the child to her, it picked up speed and leapt at her only to be slammed into by a massive tawny body whose two large canines sunk into the flesh of the wargs neck and crushed it spine in its jaws. Spartan snarled as he pulled his sabres out of the wargs neck and spun on his haunches and let out a monstrous roar; that would make even the thunder gods proud and Eria covering her ears, as more wargs and their riders race down the hill, some wargs ran off track as if trying to run away but was straightened by their orc riders.

Eria took her chance to look for the boy to see him disappear behind a battalion of spear and swordsmen marching their way towards them as archers to aim from the wall behind. And that's when something else caught her eye, the doors of the mountain had opened and an army of dwarves were racing out to meet them and the blue fabric of Dis' dress running for the doors. A moan sounded behind Eria and she spun around to lock eyes with Spartan who panted with anticipation of the oncoming battle, Eria smirked and ran to a crouching Spartan hauling herself up onto his back as he stood glad that she had kept the riding harness on overnight in case she needed a quick getaway but never expected a battle.

Spartan let out another roar and sprang forward into a run as Eria dug her hands into the fur of his neck. Digging his claws into the ground to help propel him forward at a faster pace she could hear the wiz of arrow above as they arched their way through the sky over them toward the approaching wargs. She watched as wargs and orcs fell victim to the rain of arrows and tumbled and slid, yelped and cried falling to the ground in heaps of pain and death. The next wargs went as unfortunate as one leapt at Spartan only to have one of Eria's throwing knives lodge itself in the wargs skull and hit the ground behind them.

An orc rider was Spartans next target as he leapt onto a bolder and launched himself into the air over a horde of wargs and onto the orc and his mount, sinking his teeth into the orc and crushing the warg with the weight of his landing. Eria leapt off his back and turned just in time to slice an orc in half, her volcanic glass blade cutting through flesh and bone with tremendous ease. Dark blood splattered he face as the halves of the body withered and fell to the ground. Eria's eyes then fell on an orc heading toward her at a rapid pace swing a mace above his head. The orc was almost double her size, but like her uncle said the big they are the harder they fall. Eria race toward the orc and dove between its legs turned and brought her blade down across the back of his knees; a howl of pain escaped his mouth before she thrust her sword in through the base of the orcs skull and out his mouth.

When she pulled her sword free she turned to see a warg had her in its sights. As it neared another orc tried to have a swing at her, she ducked the blow and swiped her foot out catching his ankles and he fell to the ground where she unleashed a blade hidden in her left vambrace into his throat just as the warg was on top of her. She swung around from her spot on the ground and thrust the obsidian sword into the wargs open mouth. The warg tumbled on top of her and jerked as the sword cut through flesh and bone to its hilt and knocking her to the ground. Eria stared into the wargs open mouth in complete shock as the wargs mouth twitched around her arm that held the sword in place its blood staining her clothing a dark crimson red. The blade struck through and through its black tip glinting red in the sun as it protruded out of the wargs skull.

Eria tried with all her strength to push the dying warg off her, "Spartan," she called as she struggled and looked around to see him preoccupied with five other wargs. She looked back at the warg on top of her and tugged on her sword to dislodge it from the wargs skull only to be drenched in more dark blood as it slid out, only then did she notice two orcs were advancing, one with a sword the other with a club with three what looked to be nails protruding from the top. "Spartan, Spartan!" she called franticly as she fought to escape the dead weight of the beast on top of her. Eria reached for a throwing knife on her belt and tried to throw it as best she could from her position under the warg, but the knife missed and embed itself into a completely different orc behind them. The orcs faces contorted into a gruesome smirk as they came closer but were ambushed when three dwarves rounded the wargs body and charged the orcs.

When the three dwarves had cut down the orcs, they barreled into the wargs body on top of Eria, finally free she stood up with the help of one of the three dwarves. He had greying light auburn hair with a long light auburn beard that frayed out at the ends and dark brown eyes. "You alright there lad," He asked as he helped her to her feet.

"I am fine," Eria responded as she wiped some blood off her face with her less blood soaked sleeve and looked at the three dwarves staring at her "What?"

"What are you doing on the battle field, woman." The second dwarf with a black Mohawk and a great black beard and brown eyes demanded as he eyed her clothing and sword "much less lacking a shield."

The third took a step forward, his grey eyes raked over her before looking into hers. "He's right, a woman should not be fighting." he scolded her. Eria quirked an eyebrow, excuse me.

"A southern woman does what southern woman wants, northerner." Eria retorted as she stepped up to him, they were mere inches apart she could feel his breath on her face as he; only an inch taller then she, looked warningly into her eyes chocolate. A movement behind the dwarf caught her eye. "Look out," she yelled; they three turned spun around in time see a warg and rider bearing down on the four dwarves.

They all readied the weapons and were about to meet the beast head on when a feline snarl vibrated through the air above them Spartan landed feet away from them. Letting out another rumbling snarl Spartan leapt forward and claws extended and threw down his left paw on top of the wargs head and swung the other at the rider on its back sending him flying through the air and landing thirty feet away. Burying his teeth into the wargs back and tossing it in the opposite direction. Eria smirked at Spartan as he turned towards them, the three men stood with their weapons ready to defend themselves and each other if Spartan attacked.

"Good boy." She praised as the three looked at her in surprise, but her smirk soon turned into a grimace when she saw an orc leap at the toothed cat from behind. Racing forward with a roar Spartan sensed her aggression to something behind him, whipping around and roared as the orc arched his mace toward his head. Eria ran up Spartan's back and curved her blade through air and blocked the blow making her tumble to the ground and the orc miss his shot, luckily her training taught her how to land on her feet as she brought her sword upward to sliced through the orc open from groin to rib cage. The orcs intestines poured out of the orc as he fell to his knees and Eria cleaved the orc head clean off his shoulders its body jerking as blood flowed from its jugular vein and covered its dark body in red. She looked at Spartan then at the dwarves to find them busy and took her chance to move away from them. Says a woman can't fight. Eria looked to Spartan and smile. "You ready to dance, big guy?"

Spartan chuffed and leapt into a quarrel of orcs men and dwarves with Eria at his heels and began to fight as a cohesive unit killing every orc and warg that challenged them head on and always looking out and protecting the other.

After a few long hours of battle, it was over. A blood and gore stained Eria walked through the corpses of mainly wargs and orcs. Some if not most of the dead were killed by the lethal force that was Spartan; who walked in stride her. He would veer of and chase vultures as they landed to feast on the bodies like a kitten chasing a piece of yarn. Vultures and ravens circled above waiting for the chance to dig their beaks into the flesh of the dead while it was still hot but rats had already started to gnaw on the deceased bodies, from where she stood there were a lot more orcs then she had expected, the hills had been hiding the massive amounts of wargs and orcs that know la at their feet.

Eria pushed the tip of her sword into the abdomen of an orc only to have liquid spew onto her already blood and dirt covered clothing; the smell was the worst of it. It made her want to vomit and Eria hopped over a few bodies to get away from the stench. That was until she heard someone shouting at her; she spun around to hind the dwarf men she had confronted with during battle. "Yes."

"My grandfather wishes to speak with you." The grey eyed one requested as he eyed Spartan curiously as he chased vultures off the carcasses a fair distance away. Eria looked him over and noted the some small familiarities between him and the dwarf princess she had met earlier.

"Why would he want to speak to me?" she asked as she got a closed look at him, he was tall for a dwarf maybe a few inches taller than her, he had long wavy black hair and brushy eyebrows, his black beard was braided and a bone bead with intricate engravings at the end kept the hair from straying. He had an aristocratic nose and a pair of thin yet full lips, to say the least he was, handsome. But what stood out to her was the remarkable resembles between his and Dis' eyes.

"Must I repeat myself women, the King requests your audience." He stated as he gripped the pommel of his sword, the dwarven warrior with the unique hair to his left folded his muscular arms and glared at her the dwarf to his right only sighed. Oh that's why, he's a prince.

"Your Dis' brother aren't you, you have the same eyes." Eria smirked as they obviously seemed stunned at her sudden assumption. "Come on Spartan, we've got a king to meet." She called as she walked past the prince toward the bridge that led to the mountain doors before stopping and turning to the three dwarves. "By the way my name is Eria, mind if you gave me yours?"

"My name is Thorin and these are my cousins Balin and Dwalin." He introduced gesturing first to himself then to the greying dwarf and to the other and began to walk toward the Gates of Erebor. Dwalin looked at her disapprovingly and followed behind the prince. Balin hung back and smiled warmly at her and motioned for her to walk with him, Eria smiled back and complied falling in step with him.

"Nice to meet you lass, mind me asking where you learned to fight." He asked his brown eyes sparkling with curiosity.

"My mother's clan, all women in her clan are trained to be assassins." Eria responded smiling, a chuffing was heard behind them and the turned to see that Spartan was now a proud owner of a new warg carcass. She groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Spartan would you get rid of that thing I don't think they'll let you bring it into the mountain."

"Spartan; you know this beast?" Balin gaped at the monstrous cat that stood in front of them with a warg half dragging on the ground. Spartan looked at Balin and growled. Well as best as he could with a warg in his mouth. Balin blanched and took a few steps back grabbing the hilt of his sword in case he needed to defend himself.

"Know; he is my war companion and best friend, but do not call him a beast, he's a saber tooth tiger so you either call him so or by his name; Spartan." Eria corrected and scratched Spartan behind the ears causing him to chuff and lean into her touch, lowering his head to give her better access. "But he's friendly and very protective over me and his food. Never touch or go near his food or while he's eating, he becomes very dangerous even more so if he feels that either him or I are threatened."

Balin looked in between the two and nodded. He would not want to fight the creature that he watched destroy five wargs at once, one right after the other. He looked to his brother and saw they were waiting for them at the bridge. "Well, we better get a move on we do not need the king waiting any longer then he has to." Eria nodded and walked beside him with Spartan following close behind who thankfully deposited the warg when they reached the bridge. Dwalin eyed watched him as he walked to the water's edge. Spartan searched the water before crouching and lapping up the cold clear liquid.

"Spartan, it would be nice if you could swim across so I do not have to scrub you clean." Eria giggled as Spartan gave her a playful look before leaping into the water with a splash and paddling leisurely to the other side as the four dwarves walked along the bridge. A small crowd gathered at the other side and watched as Spartan suddenly found interest in trying to catch a fish. He jumped through the water after it and then dove after the fish, coming up and shaking his head of water before giving chase after yet another. Eria heard some of the group chuckling when they reached the other side. "Spartan, come!"

The toothed cat looked up at Eria and bounded through the water, walking up the bank the group of dwarves at the top moved to let him pass, curious and cautious all at once, that was until Spartan shook himself. Millions droplets of water flew from his tawny coat and flew everywhere. All the dwarves; including Eria, groaned at their now wet attire and Spartan of course chuffed. Thorin and Dwalin glared at Spartan then at Eria who shrugged. Balin only chuckled and motioned Eria to continue walking.

It was now that Eria realised where she was. She stood in awe as her eyes moved over the giant stone dwarves that kneeled at the mountains face on either side of a great stone fortress carved into the mountain. Eria's eyes roamed the many stories of the gate in awe at its monstrous size and its simple yet elaborate architecture. "Amazing is it not," She turned to see Dis walking up to her. "Look I'm sorry for the way I acted earlier it was wrong of me to assume you culture was anything like mine."

"It's alright, there are something's that even I would expect from you that is common in my homeland and may not be here." Eria replied and smiled at Dis and she smiled back then looked at Spartan curiously and opened her mouth to speak till she saw Eria nodded and stared at him in wonder. "Say, did you speak to your grandfather bout my being a princess."

"Only after the battle, he saw you fighting and after was confronted by my elder brother; Thorin," Dis motioned for Eria to follow her as she walked toward another group of dwarves. A crown prince, well what do you know? She nodded for Dis to continue, "He appeared upset that you were fighting; that is when I told my grandfather of you and how you claimed that you desired to fight. My father told us that every culture is different; we don't always do the same thing or go by the similar rulings and traditions. After my grandfather ordered Thorin to find you and bring you back to him. I apologise for my assumptions I pray to Aule that you forgive me."

Eria looked at Dis in confusion and curiosity, who's Aule. "No need for apologies, it was a simple misunderstanding." Dis did not seem to notice her confusion as they reached the gathering but were welcomed with the heads of spears pointing at Spartan who snarled in protest. Eria turned to him and patted his neck calming him down to low grumbles.

"Lay down your arms men." A dwarf with silver grey hair and grey eyes ordered as he pushed through the defending dwarves. His great grey beard was layered with interlocking metal pieces that hung at the ends of each, his beard was braided in various areas and two braids framed his face. "That is an order." He shouted and the dwarves reluctantly raised their spear heads to the sky and let the butts thump the ground. "You must be Eria daughter of Kane King of Trojanheim; my grandchildren have spoken to me of you."

"Aye, I am Eria." She was about to curtsy when the king raised his hand with a smile. Thror's eyes moved to Spartan curiously who looked back at him. "This is Spartan my war companion and best friend; we of the south call his kind in the common tongue the saber tooth tiger or Speartooth. Through I assure you he is quite friendly." As Eria finished Spartan nudged Thror with his snout which mad the dwarves behind him shuffle with uneasiness.

"Never have I seen such a creature as large and lethal, he is absolutely massive. My son had told he has never seen an animal so intent on killing every warg and orc in his sights. He is a master piece." Thror mused as he stroked Spartan's forehead. "And yet here he is calm and kind."

"Indeed, he is." Eria ran her fingers through Spartan's tawny fur. Spartan chuffed happy for the attention, the king laughed heartily and with a final pat on the head turned to Eria.

"As for you child, I have heard as much about you as my granddaughter has told me and I have become more than a little intrigued. I have never met a southern dwarf, any of us for that matter and I would like to know more, especially from their princess." Thror avowed and clapped a hand on Eria's shoulder. "Come we must feast."

"Feast, oh I apologize but I cannot, for I am joining family friends for supper, I have not seen Halldor in two years and his wife Astrid quite a bit longer." The crowd mumbled about Eria refusal to the king's offer but Thror only smiled and nodded.

"Ah the traveling merchant is a friend to us as well, they shall come to." Thror chuckled and clapped a hand on her shoulder, "Now let us talk about the south my dear." Eria smile and was about to walk with the king when she felt Spartan nudge her. She turned to him and watched as he sniffed her clothing soon realising that she was covered in filth and in need for a bath.

"King Thror, I would love to but if I may excuse myself for a time I must change. I rather not put shame to my family by wearing nothing but battle soiled clothing." Eria said as she looked over her attire before meeting the king's eye, he let out a hearty laugh and held his armoured arms out wide.

"Don't we all," he laughed placing his hands on Eria's shoulders and squeezed reassuringly, "take as long as you need and when you are ready come to the gate and my granddaughter will be waiting for you inside to escort to the dining hall." With that he let go of Eria's shoulder and scratched Spartan between the ears. "What does he eat my dear?"

"In the south I usually let him hunt on his own but on occasion we will bring down two full grown water buffalo for him to eat, raw of course he won't eat it any other way." Thror hummed and thought for a moment stroking Spartan's striped cheeks.

"Right then, I will send a group of hunters out whilst or cooks prepare supper and we will see you then." Thror said and patted Spartan, smiling at Eria. Eria smiled back and bowed her head thanking the king. Dis approached Eria and discussed meeting at the gate before dinner, two hours was thought to be enough for both of them. When Spartan and Eria left did she notice how late it was, the sun was descending from the sky to the west and painted the sky around it a variety of reds oranges and yellows. Eria loved watching the sunsets and sunrises in the south mixed with its rich ocean air that mixed with the spices the bakers released into the air as they baked though out the night and send their wives or husbands and children out in the morning to sell their hard tasty work and attract customers.

As Eria and Spartan walked to Dale she thought of how the air here seemed dull compared to home and how there was no ocean to look at as it peeked through the cliffs of the jagged mountains. Eria thought of the parrots and lemurs, the jaguars and antelope, the boas and vipers and of course the dire wolves and her friends and family. In all Eria missed home but her father's mind had become sick with the lust for gold and he had begun making irrational decisions and marrying women he thought would help raise his only child but instead help drive him even madder with greed for her benefit. Then Eria thought of her mother, a mother so caring and kind and beautiful that she lost to soon from something so preventable yet unexpected and incurable, Eria missed her mother the most out of all things.

As they entered town they notice the guards stepped aside to let them pass; only giving the slight acknowledgement that a giant cat was walking into the city and not just the guards. Everyone moved out of their way as they walked to the inn only to be stopped by a young blond haired blue eyed boy with his fist on his hips with his chin held high. "You there," he shouted as he pointed at her, Eria looked at Spartan who cocked his head and she asked who the he was causing the human child to blink. "You saved my life remember." He recalled as Eria stared at the two foot child, she let out a chuckle.

"That I did didn't I," she remembered only to have Spartan bump her with his snout, "or rather he did and you're welcome. Now if you excuse us we have somewhere to be, little one." The boy huffed as they walked around him and mumbled under his breath. They made their way through the streets of Dale without any other intrusions till they stopped in front of the inn. Eria turned to Spartan "Wait here."

When Eria enter the inn she was greeted by rather anxious Halldor as he paced the lobby. "Eria!" he hollered when he looked up at the sound of the door opening and pulled her into an embrace. Astrid stood from her chair near the fire place and sigh with what seemed like relief. "You had us worried are you alright?" Halldor asked as he released her.

"Of course, may I ask what has you so worried so much?" Eria inquired as she looked at Astrid and Halldor.

"When you did not return after the battle we thought," Astrid trailed off as she covered her mouth and shut her eyes tightly as if trying to fight back tears. Eria sighed and walked up to her pulling Astrid into a hug.

"I'm alright you see, although a little dirty but no harm has befallen me." Eria assured her and pulled away and Astrid nodded. "I was taken to king Thror and he has requested for us to join him for supper." She said looking between the elderly couple who blinked openly at her.

"Oh my, the King under the Mountain invited us for dinner." Astrid put her hand over her heart and looked to Halldor. "We should get ready, and you need a bath princess you cannot go into the mountain covered in blood and gore. Have you brought any clothing besides those?" Eria nodded and Astrid shooed her down the hall.

"What of Spartan?" Halldor smiled at her question and asked where he was. "He's waiting outside the front door." She yelled to him as Astrid pushed her into a room and closed it behind her.

"Now I have already drawn you a bath thinking you would return quickly after the battle ended, though it might be a little cool now." Astrid said as she started quickly striping Eria of her clothing so much that all Eria could do was allow her body to bend to Astrid's will in order to remove her clothing. "And I; arms up, will do my best to clean these tomorrow; step out, but for now I will soak these," she said as she criticized the stained clothing and looked at Eria. "My word you as sure of you naked self as when you were a child." Eria stood with her arms at her side and smiled proudly "Well what are you waiting for hop in the tub and clean yourself and get ready myself." Astrid commanded and Eria obliged and hopped in the large tube with a splash and got down to business as Astrid left.

After her bath Eria unpacked the one pack she had rarely opened since she left the south. She gingerly opened the pack and pulled out the velvety black material inside, Eria placed it on the bed of her new acquired room of the in that use to be a hall of a sort. Eria's breathe hitched as she ran her fingers over the material before unwrapping it to reveal a Tyrian purple material. She placed her hand softly down on its silky texture and watched how the flickering light of the candles cause the material to shimmer. She gently picked up the material and let spread it out over the bed. Eria took a deep breath and looked at the dress before her; it was of an elegant southern design made for hot weather and special events such as festivals and the meeting of clans and marriages.

Eria flipped the dress over and pulled the dress over her head. She tugged the silky material down it till the waistline; that separated the pleated bodice from the draping skirt stopped, it from going any further. Eria put her arm through the straps; one smaller than the other, the left strap was only an inch thick and the right was thicker and was adorned with silver orchids encrusted with diamonds, the same went for a piece of silver on her waistline just above where her hip began. The hemline of the skirt lightly swept the floor as the train pooled at her feet; she walked around a little missing how the dress felt against her skin and flowed around her.

Eria walked back to the bed and removed the rest velvet bundles from her pack. One contained a necklace with a diamond encrusted pedal hanging off the golden chain, another had jeweled encrusted bracelets, the next a large thick plated collar embedded with sapphires and emeralds, rubies and onyx, Eria looked to Spartan who lay watching her across the room in a boat with its haul cut out and filled with cushion of all sizes and colours. "come on you have to dress up to big guy," she said, Spartan flicked an ear and sighing he stood up and walked over to her stopping three feet way. Eria walked to his shoulder and ran her fingers through his soft thick fur as he crouched down; she placed the collar on his neck, reaching under to grab the other end and clipped them together. "There, now you a handsome royal saber tooth." He looked up at her and licked her chin with his rough tongue.

Eria returned to her velvet covered parcels and opened the last remaining one. Inside was her crown, its thick gold band was polished and molded to look like the mountains of Trojanheim and each mountain had one gemstone the most prominent of the mountains; her home, held the most rarest of diamonds; the red diamond. She placed the crown down on the bed and looked back at the rest of what the package had within it, a hair clip with a white opal orchid attached to either side. Eria picked them up and went to the mirror on the wall and began to brush her hair. "Allow me your majesty." A voice behind her said.

Eria whirled around and found Astrid at the door dressed in a green gown with white sleeves and a pleated skirt. Astrid walked toward her and shooed her hands away from her hair and took the brush from her hands. "Do you have anything warm to put over your dress, princess?" Eria shook her head as she relax as Astrid ran the brush through her hair, it had been a long time since the last time someone had done her hair for her, her mother had been the last. Astrid pulled all her hair back except for her sweeping bangs and twisted the sandy blond hair up against her head and secured it with the clip letting the rest of the hair fall in waves over it in a traditional southern style. "Beautiful." Astrid sighed as she placed her hands on Eria's shoulders.

"Thank you Astrid." She said and walked to the fire place and picked up the fire poker and fished out a piece of charcoal, letting it cool on the cold floor before picking it up and returning to the mirror and running the charcoal around her eyes. "There, almost done." Eria walked to her packs and pulled out a small glass container filled with vanilla beans and orchid pedals. She pulled out the cork and picked out a bean and closing it to return it to the pack. Eria took the bean between her hands and rubbed them together crushing it between her hands and releasing the smell it contained. She rubbed her hands under her arms and where jaw met her neck then washed her hands. "Now I'm done. Let's go."

Eria and Astrid met Halldor in the lobby as Spartan rounded the building outside for he was too large to walk comfortable through the halls; Astrid gave Eria a robe to conceal her body from the cold northern weather. The three of them walked outside to meet Spartan and began to walk to the mountain to meet Dis at the gates.

* * *

The deal with the orchids, they were Eria's mothers and hers favorite flower and Eria's name is the genus for orchids.

As for the style, I tried my best to describe this georgette dress by Amanda Wakeley shop/bridal/lookbook/africa number 9/13; I hope I did a good job. Please let me know.

And finally for Thror's personality, in the movie he kind of made me think that he was very jolly, kind and noble king or to put it simply, he reminded me of Santa Clause. I'm sorry but he did.

So yeah review please and I will get to the dinner part as fast as I can, college taking up a good portion of my time so sorry if the updated are far and in between and I've also might be writing a second story, about a portal between worlds like Narnia and earth where time freezes and so on. So please let me know what you think of my story so far.


	5. The South

Daughter of a Southern King

Inspired by this quote by Richard Armitage during an interview

Hoping to beef up Thorin's emotional arc, Armitage discussed with Boyens the addition of backstory elements that would reveal that the dwarf prince lost a loved one. "A princess or someone he was betrothed to," as Armitage describes it. "It was never something they were going to explore but I did keep it in my head that perhaps he was once in love, and it ended with Smaug."

* * *

Trojanheim, Far South

Within the greatest hall in the heart of Trojanheim sat a dwarf upon a throne of stone once laden gold, silver and gemstones was the Kane the King of the dwarves of Far South. His great red beard was braided and decorated by two engraved bone clasps, one below his chin and the other at the bottom; they held the rarest gemstones, but now lay against his chest loss of colour. He sat with face in his hands with his elbow on his knees; Kane had never thought that he could lose so much in just five short years.

Kane's greatest loss had left him alone and on the verge of a meltdown, his most precious and irreplaceable treasures were gone, his queen; dead, his daughter; Gaia only knows. All the gold in his treasury could not dull the pain of the loss of his most prized possession, his daughter. Not even his new wife Venna and her children could console him, instead Venna had called his little girl a traitor, abandoning her father's kingdom in its time of need. Venna had begged him even tried to trick him into having her eldest son named heir to the throne.

Kane knew a week after Eria had left that she was right about his second wife and how she wanted nothing more than his gold and power. He loathed himself for not seeing it sooner but now he began to notice Venna's constant coming and goings from the treasury and the new items she would return home with to add to its large indefinite amount. He blindly married the dwarven duchess for his daughter to gain a motherly role model after and with Venna's knowledge of raising a young female dwarf, it was no contest.

Kane understood why he hadn't seen it, for when it started he unknowingly succumbed to the lust of gold after his queen, Nemera; had passed and the tears of his daughter brought him out of it. Kane's own father had warned him when Eria was born; the tears of his daughter would be his weakness and his strength and to fear them more than any war or dragon. It hadn't been until Eria was only seven years old Kane felt the sheer power of a daughters tears when she'd come home crying from a day trip to his brothers clan. His queen asked their daughter what was wrong, the guards accompanying Eria spook for the princess of a group of nomads that attacked them on their voyage home. Kane was so outraged he almost led a search party to find and kill the nomad that attacked his little girl but was stopped by the look his assassin wife given him, he knew by the way she looked at him all would be taken care of in the coming night and a heap of scalps at the foot of his throne the next morn.

After Eria had left nine months ago nothing was the same, Kane felt empty and at loss without his little girl, who so willingly left not wanting to fall victim to her father's gold lust any longer. Kane blamed himself for what happened, but it wasn't just him, he heard the dwarves of Far South had their own opinion on the matter and many blamed it on his lust. When an event was held or Kane entered cities his people would whisper and mumble under their breath that it wasn't right, that "if she had a husband it would not of happened", "if he had stopped and killed the sabre tooth cub when he had the chance" and "it was his fault for letting her leave so easily and without notice". Though Kane not known himself of her leaving only thinking she'd gone to his brother's, until Venna had spoken up around dinner one night hearing gossip of Eria and "that mangy feline" crossed the border into the Anzian Grasslands with such smugness and pride that it ignited the desire to hurl his new wife out of the mountain and send her and her sons and daughter whence they came; but for some reason it did not shock him that she left Trojanheim entirely, it was just a matter of where she went.

But what his wife didn't know was that Kane was determined to bring his daughter back and would do anything and everything in his power to do so. One such thing; or rather two were walking into the hall at this very moment; both tall copper skinned and black haired sons of Man, strolled up to where Kane sat on his throne. These men were Natives to this land just like his late wife's ancestors once been.

The tallest of the two men had his hair tied back at the base of his skull and the sides of his scalp were shaved clear of hair, he wore a suede vest, leggings, a breech-cloth and a pair of moccasins, his chest was tattooed with two red bear paws and a bear tooth necklace hung around his neck. The smaller man beside him featured a jaguar skull upon his head with spotted fur attached to the base of the skull, the rosette pelt ran down over his back, the forelegs of the cat draped over his shoulders. His eye's were painted in blue and white paint and a necklace of bones around his neck, this man too was clothed in leggings and a breech cloth.

"Ah Puch, Liwanu; thank you for coming." Kane greeted as he stood from his thrown as the two approached. They almost stood level with the king as they stopped at the foot of the stairs leading up to the thrown.

"Why have you called us here, Kane." The Mohawk man demanded. Kane studied him and inhaled deeply holding back his frustration before answering. Why were these natives always so bold and to the point.

"Liwanu, you and Ah Puch are my daughters greatest friends and I have asked you here for a reason," he pauses as he looked to the jaguar worrior, "For a favour; I want you two to find my daughter and bring her home to me."

* * *

Erebor, Middle Earth

After meeting Dis and her blue eyed, dark haired mother Fifa at the gates, they led the way to the royal dining hall. On their way Fifa listened to all the questions and answers flying between the two young dwarves though she wasn't all that quiet, asking and answering some herself, but what intrigued her most was that this dwarf had no facial hair. Fifa's daughter rambled and fussed over this southern princess much during the time they were preparing for the feast. At first Dis was concerned for the Eria's safety in fighting the orcs, but changed to what they talked about at the inn and the tapestries she described of the jaguar on a hunt and few others with creature unknown to the north. Fifa was intrigued by the dwarf of the south and her culture that seemed so different from theirs, she was especially curious about the cat that padded silently behind them.

Fifa looked back at Spartan who walked contently beside Halldor who listened quietly to the conversations. Many of the dwarves in Erebor stopped to look in either awe at the members of the royal family and at the great cat walking behind them. A few children hid behind their mothers skirts or stopped and stared in complete shock and wonder before running off to tell their parents. One such child braved walking beside Spartan until the toothed cat stopped and looked at him, the dwarfling seemed to freeze in fear as he stared into the golden depths of the tigers eyes. They all stopped and watched Eria approached the child and told him that if he held out his hand for Spartan to sniff he might allow the child to pet him. The dwarfling's eyes lit up with glee and he held out not one but both hands saying "he's so big the more he needs to smell," they all laughed. When the child finished petting Spartan he ran off waving goodbye and went in search of his mother to tell her what he experienced.

Finally they arrived at the royal chambers deep with in the mountain and were met by the men of the royal family. Dis introduced Eria to her brother Frerin a boisterous brunette with only the beginnings of a beard surrounding a toothy grin, Eria laughed at his jokes and stories as they walked to the dinning hall. Within stood a large table that sat low to the ground surrounded by oak chairs engraved with the intricate designs of their clan and a large oak bowl at the foot of the table. The stone table itself was polished just so that it made it look like marble with the added veins of gold that stretched through it. Even the room like the rest of Erebor mimicked the table.

Though the floors were polished rock the walls were covered in rivers of gold, pillars rose from floor to ceiling. Some had been carved to look as if dwarves were guarding the pillars. It amazed Eria at how the dwarves of the north compared so differently to the south, while these dwarves valued their traits in ways of carved stone and rough sharp patterns the south liked to coat theirs in tapestries, enormous banners, scenes painted and engraved on pillars and walls, the dwarves of the south valued colour and the captivating wildlife and scenery that surrounded them in Far South ranging from vibrant blues like that of the parrots and the ocean, reds like the lava from the volcano in which a great white dragon lived to the shimmering silvers of a snow leopard's coat and purples of the orchids her mother cherished so much and so many other vibrant colours. But here it was different, yes they had quite the array of colour yet they weren't as vibrant as they always seemed to cover it with darker or duller colours.

As for the contents of the table was a large amount of food mostly consisting of meat, potatoes, buns, and a surprising mix of fruit from the south. In the wood bowl was a whole large bore ready for some feline jaws to rip into it, which in turn made Spartan nudged Eria's shoulder impatiently leaving a small amount of saliva on her heavy robe. Guards were positioned outside the door to the halls as the dwarves, two humans and a sabre tooth tiger situated themselves around the table resulting in Dis grabbing Eria by the hand and leading her to the seat beside her. Eria looked to Spartan who looked back at her yearningly at his spot before looking down at the bore in the dish groaning.

Halldor move to Eria after helping his wife with her robe and began to help Eria, every dwarf in the room stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Thror, Thrain and Fifa were the first to recover and take their seats, Frerin, Dis and Thorin's gaze lingered before they took their own, Thorin sat beside Frerin and across from Dis whom sat beside Eria. When Eria sat down Dis leaned over and asked where she found such a beautiful colour and why she was in a dress that showed more than Dis would be use too. "In the south its hot so lots of layers of clothing is a disadvantage when it comes to living and this was sewn for me by my mother in our traditional southern fashion; as for the colour it is the royal colour of Trojanheim."

When they settled around the table and praised Aule; Eria gathered it was a god of a sort and this got Eria curious about just how different their two cultures really were as she praised silently to Gaia the Earth Spirit. When they were finished the dwarves reached in and took what they needed and passed what they already had around the table and placed it on their plates, most if not all took meat except Eria, she reached for a guava situated in a bowl in front of her; in the south fruits were always the first to eat, this made Dis watch her as she palmed the fruit before biting into it. Eria leaned back into her chair and savoured the sweet taste that flooded her mouth, looking at Dis she smiled taking a knife and cut out a piece of the fruit offering it to Dis. The northern princess looked at the fruit piece before taking it placing it in her mouth. Dis' eyes lit up and a smile plastered to her face before reaching for her own. It didn't surprise Eria that northern dwarves acquired a big sweet tooth as they did in the south.

As dinner got underway Spartan lifted the boar free from the oak bowl, dragging it till he was behind Eria's seat and began to devour the carcass. The dwarves looked at Spartan and then Eria, a guard moved to try to persuade Spartan to return the boar to the dish only to come hairs breathe away from his swiping claws as the cat let out an angry roar. "Oh i apologize, something you must all know of Spartan, he is very possessive over his food, I advise you should not attempt to acquire him to move or he will believe you are trying to steal his food from him." the guard looked to Eria from his spot on the floor then to Thror who nodded, the guard stood up and scurrying away as fast as he could from Spartan, Thror raised his hand when guards flooded the dining hall and dismissed them.

"I see and so we shall best not to trouble him when he has food." Thror assured as he looked from a snarling Spartan to Eria then to the rest of the table. All the dwarves nodded their heads and Halldor and Astrid looked at each other and smiled. A few moments later after Thror cleared his mouth of food and began digging into another piece. "Tell me; what is the kingdom of south like Eria?"

"It's," Eria paused and smiled as she thought how best to describe such a vastly beautiful but dangerous place, "beautiful, hot, very hot and very different from here. We have different beasts in the south then the north as you can already see" she gestured to Spartan, "and the plants come in all forms and magnitudes from as tall as a small mountain to as tiny as a mouse; many smell like the most beautiful thing you could think of and others can smell like rotting flesh, like here some are in use for healing some others are poisonous; this also goes for the animals in the south."

"The animals?" Frerin asked as he reached for a southern fruit, a dragon fruit.

"Yes, there are many animals; well, snakes and spiders in the south that are poisonous; even frogs, some can merely get you sick while others can make your insides turn to slop or suffocate you. One snake in the south called the Black Viper can kill man, dwarf or elf with in ten minutes after being bitten. And then there are the Terror Birds, the one thing we fear most second only to the Huraconda."

"Terror birds, Huraconda," Dis questioned, "what are they?"

"the Terror Bird is a flightless bird that is as tall as a troll if not taller with a massive beak that can slice a man in two and can out run any horse, and the Huraconda is a giant snake that lives in the Huron Rainforest. The only creature that we know of that can contend with the two them is the sabre tooth tiger and southern dire wolves which are much bigger in the south, as well as the Rhimus a large one horned grass eating brute of a beast that can more than likely flatten an entire army of orcs if it truly wanted to." Eria described as she looked at the dwarves around the table.

"Are you not afraid of theses tigers you speak of and what of the wolves?" Frerin asked as he eyed Spartan's teeth as they tore at the bores flesh. Eria chuckled and shook her head.

"As long as we leave them alone, they leave us alone and the wolves in the south seem to be more cautious and considerate of the Dwarves and Man in the south then I have found they are here. Two of my friends have dire wolves as their companions." Eria explained.

"What of the dwarves in far south, do they have beards like us or are they beardless like you?" Frerin inquired before being verbally reprimanded by his mother who sat beside Dis who gasped at her brothers words before throwing a bone at him as Eria chuckled and the others at the table shook their heads.

"It differs from area of living and social status, few dwarves possess beards as immense as your fathers and Thror's, most have short beards to maintain the heat of the south, large beards maybe a welcome sight here in Middle Earth; in the south its overly hot so as an alternative they pluck fine designs into their beards, and there are more beardless dwarves then dwarves with large beards in the south."

"Why is that?" Thorin asked speaking for the first time at dinner as he looked up from his plate full of food.

"My heritage consists of two bloodlines of very different dwarves, my mother's ancestors were native to the south and they did not grow beards actually they grew very little hair except for a lush amount atop their head. My father's; well, no one really knows where they were from, some stories tell they were from across the sea's others from here in the north but they had beards and my father because he is king keeps his beard long enough to speak volumes but contend with the heat by keeping it in one braid."

"Why is it that you mother's ancestors do not have beards?" Frerin questioned as he dug into a piece of meat.

"My mother's ancestors were known as the Siren Clan and their belief is that it is how Gaia made them." Eria replied and chuckled as Frerin mad a face, "our culture is not only different in looks and life style but in belief's as well; in the south Gaia is the creator, the spirit of the earth, goddess fertility, and comings and goings of seasons, Xiuhcoatl is the destroyer, the turquoise dragon spirit of fire, death, volcanoes and the companion to Gaia, Kumugwe the spirit of the sea and of health and Hathor spirit of love, beauty, music and the great blue sky, they are our main four; earth fire water and air. There are others, lesser gods of our beliefs."

Frerin stared at her before stating, "You do not believe that Aule created us."

"Our beliefs in the far south originate from theSiren Clan and have amalgamated with the Man that live within our kingdoms borders." Eria explained as she reached for a piece of bread, "the Siren bloodline however has been fading but also expanding over time since bearded dwarves arrived in the south, but the strongest bloodlines are with in my mother's home clan of Vanaheim which is home to the most female dwarves as well, its said that half the people in Vanaheim still have pure blood of the Siren Clan, my mother family was said to be one of them."

Thror hummed and brushed his hand over his thick silver beard, "Interesting, what this kingdom of Vanaheim is like."

Eria laughed, "Vanaheim is not a kingdom, it is a homeland within Trojanheim; it is made up of nine homelands; Alfheim, Vanaheim, Huron, Giza, Hel (pronunced Heel), Sparta, Jotunheim, Aesir and Urda; my home. Each homeland consists largely of dwarves except Aesir where there are more cities Man than dwarfish clans."

"Nine homelands of dwarves, how could that be possible? Did your forefathers decide this?" Dis asked as she bit into a piece of bread staring at Eria.

Eria cocked an eyebrow at Dis, "No, it was saidthatwhen the bearded dwarves had more knowledge of our land they had broke out into afive year War until Gaia had enough and tasked Xiuhcoatl to create the six rivers that separate the homelands from one another an age ago and choose a dwarf who expressed great courage, heart and wisdom to sit upon a throne on Trojanheim's largest mountain; Urda,as the leader of the nine clans."

"Your home is a land of nine clans and your father is king of them all, do the clans not have kings? Why are there nine clans." Frerin chewed on a piece of bread.

"Why does the north have seven dwarf kingdoms," Eria countered "and no we have chiefs and lords, whereas Jotunheim and Aesir may have a lord; Sparta and Vanaheim have a chief, they are equal in rank to each other. As for the nine, nine was the amount of dwarf groups opposing each other in order to gain the greatest amount of land and where."

Thror sat back in his chair and thought of the information in front of him, he thought of the possibilities that would arise for the dwarves of both north and south and difficulties that could cause war and strife within both kingdoms if one were to offend the other. Thrain too thought through the new information about this southern kingdom, the south's beliefs were completely different from the north's. It made him think and wonder about their laws, values and lifestyles; and these creatures of the south, how much of a threat were they to the southern dwarves surely she could be exaggerating, but if she wasn't what were their defences against them such beasts.

But one such thing stood out in every male dwarfs mind. Why would the southern dwarves allow their women to fight? "Why do women fight in the south, do the dwarves not cherish their women as they do in the north?"

Eria thought how to word her answer as not to offend the northern dwarf culture but her thoughts were interrupted when Halldor answered the young prince Thorin. "The dwarves of the south cherish their women greatly, many believe dwarf women were the first born of Gaia's children and devote great respect and authority to the women. As for fighting, every dwarf is instructedin self-defencewhen young to protect themselves from the beasts and nomads that roam within Trojanheim and the Anzian grasslands, yet more than half of the dwarf women in Trojanheim are trained master assassins and are cherished most, not only for the reason they are women but also of how they perform in action and how they were taught."

"All dwarf women in Trojanheim are trained assassins though only half make a career out of it, the late queen of Trojanheim being one of the best and I have heard stories that her daughter follows silently in her footsteps."Halldor paused looking at Eria from where he sat beside Frerin and it was she who explained why the women fought.

"Two thousand years ago dwarf women were forbidden to fight in battle with their husbands, sons, father and brothers, but that changed when Trojanheim went to war with the nomadic clans of the Anzian Grasslands. The men were out numbered and casualties high, our brothers in arms were becoming tired and frustrated by the on coming attacks that would be thrown at them without warning," she paused to take a bite out of a piece of meat. Eria held up her index finger as Frerin opened his mouth to ask her to continue; only when her mouth was empty did she go on, "A woman from Vanaheim had enough and took a stand; she was the first assassin to ever be, trained by her father and brothers to fight and always away on an adventure of her own. She had the skill to use the environment to her advantage and the knowledge of land that surrounded Trojanheim. So in the dark of the night when all was quiet, she crept behind enemy lines and dispatched and scalped one hundred nomads in their sleep without a sound and returned home unnoticed. She had done that every night until she was caught by on of the guards on watch and dragged to the king who had almost had her hung if she had not kept every single scalp of the enemies she had killed. After that women within Vanaheim begged for her to teach them how to fight in the night to protect their men in the light."

The northern dwarves stared at her. "And the dwarves of Far South allowed this from their women," Thorin objected but was soon shushed by his elders. He leaned be in his chair and picked at his food as he tried to understand the reasoning for women to fight on the battle field and why their dwarf men did nothing to stop it.

"Not then," she answered, "but it did not stop the women from sneaking out when their men were gone to war; to train and in the middle of the night to kill the foes that stole their spouses and childs lives from them. It was only until the nomads attacked one night did the men see who was responsible for the large amount of enemy scalps that would be deposited every morning on the dwarves front lines. After the war the women were confronted by the king and a deal was struck and new laws put in place that allowed women to learn how to fight but only in the art of assassination."

"But why assassins," this time it was Dis who asked as she chewed on a piece of pork.

"Our men still believe us to be like glass vases and that is why we are assassins and why we are trained the way we are. Our training not only prepares us to precise and quick but also to perform as such so we don't get ourselves killed in the process."

"I see, and how on earth do you train?" Frerin this time.

"Well, we use what we got and learn from our mistakes and look to the cat for guidance," all the dwarves looked at her quizzically, "In Trojanheimwe cherish felines and consider them a divine and revered creature."

Thror smiled at Eria as the plates in front of them were removed and the remainder of the food was replaced with dessert pastries and sweets. He saw how Eria's eyes brightened at the sight and laughed and motioned for her to dig in. He watched how she filled her plate and giddily smiled at his giggling granddaughter, Thror smiled as he watched the southern dwarf take a bit of a flaky cream filled pastry and moaned in satisfaction before reaching around the chair and waving in front of Spartan's blood stained face. The giant cat licked the pastry out of Eria's hand and chuffed, moving closer to the table in hopes of getting more from his loving master.

While dessert was being devoured the northern dwarves shared their culture with Eria. They spoke of traditions, beliefs and laws she mentally noted to abide by, what got her most was that it was Thorin who spoke of the laws of women in the north the most and every time he did Dis would secretly kick him under the table and not go unnoticed by the assassin. When Thorin spoke the last law of the northern dwarf women Frerin elbowed him and whispered something in his ear that made Thorin almost leave the table if his father not stopped him. Thrain stole Thorin to the side and spoke with him quietly, the expression on the crown prince's face showed how unhappy he was with his first born.

Eria moved her gaze away from them when Fifa, Astrid, Halldorand Thror began speaking of the festivals they held on Durin's day, a day that was fast approaching in merely a month. Dis looked at Eria hopefully as the wife of the crown prince spoke of the day. "Will you come?" Dis smiled, Eria chuckled and nodded not saying anything for her mouth was full, it was not like she was going anywhere anytime soon.

When Thorin and Thrain returned; the crown prince happily jumped into the conversation while his son was being silently pestered by his brother. But it all ended when the sound of something sharp scraped against stone and Spartan let out a loud moan, they all turn to see what the commotion was about to see a very tired cat stretching his massive body across the floor with his mouth open wide in a monolithic yawn. "I think its time for some much needed rest," Fifa said as she watched almost every dwarf and man yawn in return to Spartans who continued to stretch, moan and claw at the polished floor.

"I agree," Eria yawned, today had a long day and it was more than likely well into the night now. Halldor stood and grabbed for the coats of Eria and his wife, the dwarf king and his family happily escorted their guest out of the mountain and said their goodbyes.

"Eria, would you liked to be shown Erebor tomorrow?" Dis asked.

"I would love too," Eria smiled, "it would be an honour."

"that is wonderful, meet me here at noon and we will have lunch before we head off." Dis said excited that she would show the southern princess her home.

With their goodbyes finished the three left for Dale, when they arrived at the in the man put in sole-charge of the inn greeted them happily. Halldor and Astrid bid Eria good night and turned back to the man behind the bar. Eria walked down the hall to the door that led to her room. When she closed the door behind her she walked to the other side of the room and opened a pair double doors where Spartan was waiting to be let in. As the big toothed cat curled up on top of the large pillows of the large improvised feline bed, Eria undressed and prepared for bed. Slipping under the warm covers she closed her eyes and dreamed of home

* * *

Sorry about this chapter taking forever, but I had trouble with the culture thing plus i started a new job so it got a little crazy for a bit. so here it is.

Oh and thank you to People Person I Am Not for being a Beta to this story, um and i am looking for second so if your a great writer and want to help me, pm me.

I got most of the clan names from norse cosmology. The gods are from different cultures, below is where they are from and what they do.

Gaia – Greek – goddess of earth

Xiuhcoatl – Mayan -was a mythological serpent, the Aztec fire deity, Xiuhcoatl literally translates as "turquoise serpent"; it also carries the symbolic and descriptive meaning, "fire serpent".

Kumugwe – Native American - god of the undersea world revered by theKwakwaka'wakw and Nuxalk indigenous nations. Has the power to see into the future, heal the sick and injured, and bestow powers on those whom he favors.

Hathor – Ancient Egyptian - goddess of music, dance, foreign lands and fertility who helped women in childbirth, as well as the patron goddess of miners and the shy-goddess


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