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     A scream sounded in the night air, startling Kili and Fili, who were still by the fire. Gandalf looked up and Balin woke, and Bilbo made his way over to Kili and Fili, looking frightened.

     "What was that?" He asked.

     "Orcs." Kili answered.

     Thorin jerked awake as another scream sounded.

     "Orcs?" Bilbo asked.

     "Throat-cutters." Fili said. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."

     "They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep." Kili said. "Quick and quiet: no screams, just lots of blood."

     Kili and Fili looked at each other and burst into laughter when Bilbo turned away in fright. Thorin, slightly angered by his nephew's behavior, stood up and walked over to them.

     "You think that's funny?" He asked. "You think a night-raid by orcs is a joke?"

     "We meant nothing by it." Kili said.

     "No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." And with that, Thorin walked away towards the cliff and looked down at the valley.

     Balin walked over to them.

     "Don't mind him, laddie." He said. "Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs."

     Fili and Kili glanced at each other, a look of guilt on their faces. They should have known better. Thorin was right. It was no laughing matter.

     "We shouldn't have been so foolish as to laugh at something such as this." Fili said. "We may never have been in battle with orcs, but we do know the stories."

     "It was my fault." Kili said. "I laughed first."

     "But I joined in." Fili said. "It was as much my fault as it was yours."

     The two brothers looked at Bilbo. "We're sorry for frightening you, Master Baggins."

     Bilbo gave a curt nod in reply. Kili looked back over at Fili.

     "So you're saying it was my fault, then?" He joked.

     Fili rolled his eyes. "Sure, when you say it was it's fine, but if I do then it's mean."

     Bilbo looked over at Balin. "Why does Thorin hate orcs so much?"

     Balin looked over at him. "That explanation comes with a story."

     "Tell it!" Kili said. "It's been awhile since Fili an I heard a story."

     "I do love a good tale." Bilbo said.

     So then Balin began to tell the story.

     "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first. Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs lead by the most vile of all their race..."

     "Azog the Defiler." Kili said.

     "The Pale Orc." Fili added.

     "The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin." Balin continued. "He began by beheading the King."

     "King Thror." Kili and Fili said in unison.

     Thorin, who had been listening to the whole conversation, smiled to himself. His nephews were the same way they always had been.

     "Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc. He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armor rent..."

     "...Wielding nothing but an oaken shield." Kili said, a hint of admiration in his voice.

     "So that's why you call him Oakenshield." Bilbo said, mostly to himself.

     "Azog the Defiler learned that day-" Balin began, but was interrupted by Kili and Fili.

     "-That the line of Durin would not be so easily broken."

     Balin chuckled before he, once again, continued his story. "Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song, that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived."

     "Then Balin looked up..." Kili began.

     "...and saw Thorin..." Fili said.

     "...the sunlight framing him..."

     "...holding up his oaken branch."

     "And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow." Balin said. "There is one I could call king."

     Thorin turned back around and looked over at Balin, Fili and Kili. All the other Dwarves were now awake and looking at him in awe. He walked over to the fire, where Kili and Fili were.

     "But the Pale Orc." Bilbo said. "What happened to him?"

     "He slunk back into the hole whence he came." Thorin said. "That filth died of his wounds long ago."

     Kili and Fili gazed at the fire as they thought about how majestic their uncle was. Kili wanted to be just like him. He wanted to make Thorin proud. Though laughing about orc raids earlier most likely didn't help at all.

     Everyone had gone back to bed after conversing for awhile. Even Gandalf had fallen asleep by now, as had Balin and Bilbo. Now it was just Thorin Fili and Kili sitting by the fire in silence. Thorin inwardly chuckled, amused by how uncomfortable they seemed to be at the moment. They'd been reprimanded plenty of times, but they never did like it and always felt awkward around Thorin for a little while.

     "Uncle?" Kili finally spoke up.

     "Yes Kili?" Thorin answered.

     "We're sorry about earlier."

     "It was foolish of us to laugh at such things." Fili added. "We shouldn't have been so childish."

     "And you're right." Kili said. "We know nothing of the world. Only what you tell us in stories."

     Thorin smiled at the two. "You'll learn soon enough. And I should have more patience with you. As you said, you only know of the world from the stories I tell."

     Kili and Fili scooted closer to Thorin and gave him a hug and Thorin stiffened.

     "What? Too majestic these days to hug anymore?" Kili joked.

     Thorin smirked and put an arm around each of them. "Majestic? Yes." He replied playfully. "Too majestic to hug my nephews? Never."

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