'I see tracks!'

The young dwarf-prince turned his head, to look at Dwalin. Once the bald warrior had yelled at Kíli for shooting his daughter - Fíli still needed to progress that piece of information - Bilbo had dashed off after his friend. Worried for the ferian.

Fíli himself had followed the hobbit, having grown close to the ferian as well. But as he had rounded the corner, he had found no trace of the she-wolf. But luckily the sand held a clear set of footprints of Frêllian, showing him she hadn't climbed up the walls.

With heavy footsteps, Dwalin hurried over to the prince, kneeling down as well. His fingers gently traced over the prints, before looking at his fingers. Fresh blood!

'This is no good,' Dwalin muttered in anger. 'She is losing a lot of blood thanks to that idiotic brother of yours.'

Fíli remained silent, his eyes trailing over to his brother. The poor lad was still pale from the outburst Dwalin had given him. Though Fíli suspected Kíli's paleness could also be partly blamed by the guilt he felt. He had honestly thought Frêllian was about to attack him, so he had fired an arrow at her.

Well, luckily she got hit in the shoulder! If his brother had hit her elsewhere, she might not be walking around anymore. Well, running, Fíli guessed by the distance between her footsteps. But the point was, she was still able to move around, which was probably a good thing. His eyes trailed over to the angered dwarf for a moment. It seemed Dwalin had calmed down a bit, but just a few moments before he had been blinded by rage.

'Aye, she's losing a lot of blood, brother,' Balin said, placing a hand on Dwalin's shoulder. 'So we better hurry up and find her.'

Nodding, Dwalin stood up, following the tracks. Not that it is hard to figure out which way she had run off too. There was only one path, and that was between two tall cliffs. Fíli took this as a sign to continue the search party as well and being younger he quickly moved passed Dwalin. The dwarf becoming more and more pale with each passing puddle of blood. Not that the puddles are big, but eventually she was going to bleed out if nothing was done about it.

Then Fíli suddenly halted, scanning the area. No! This couldn't be! There must be an explanation! He frantically looked around, before turning to face Dwalin.

'Her prints end here, Dwalin,' Fíli informed him, horrified of his discovery.

But Dwalin shook his head, pointing at a different set of footprints.

'No, she's shifted. She must have had trouble walking in her wolf-form.'

Shifted? Taking a closer inspection on the new set of prints, Fíli could tell it was human like, though small, like a child. He scanned the horizon for any trace of movement. Or a ferian.

'And look!' Bilbo pointed at something in the distance. 'There's the arrow! She must have pulled it out.'

Rushing over to the arrow on the ground, Fíli inspected it. The arrow was intact, but how had she been able to pull it out? True, she had shifted, but the young dwarf had no idea what a ferian looked like when shifted. With Frêllian being the first ferian he had ever encountered, he had a big surprise when they had been attacked by full-blooded ferian and their size!

'She must have bandaged up her arm, for the bleeding has stopped from this point.'

Looking over at his brother, Fíli noticed the pool of blood right in front of him, changing into drops op blood. But with each step he took towards Kíli, the drops became less and less, until they had indeed stopped.

'Well, at least that's one thing less we have to worry about,' Dwalin grumbled, pushing Fíli and Kíli out of his way. 'But I promise you, Thorin. If my daughter is dead because of him,' at this he pointed at Kíli, 'you'll lose an heir!'

Next to him, Kíli shuttered at the threat, making sure to keep a safe distance from the angry dwarf. Though Fíli kept close to Dwalin, carefully tracking the ferian while taking in his surroundings as well. He was even beginning to speed up, feeling a mixture of worry for his friend and anxiety for seeing a ferian in her true for for the first time.

A loud battle cry echoed through the air, causing Dwalin to look up for a moment. But then his attention was drawn back at slaying orcs. It seemed the ferien had arrived and not a moment too soon! They were losing the battle!

He slammed his axe into the skull off an orc, and then another. And as he was preparing to lift his axe for another blow, a grey flash stroke down the orc.

'Thanks,' Dwalin grumbled as the ferian lifted up its head. 'I must have missed that ugly brute.'

If he had glared at the ferian, it quickly disappeared. Letting his mouth drop as he stared at the warrior in front of him.

'Oh I know you had it covered,' she said, wiping her mouth. 'But this one here, well. I just didn't like his face so I wanted to rearrange it.'

He quickly looked over her shoulder only to look at the female in front of him again in shock.

'Besides,' she continued, trusting her sword into an orc behind him. 'You look like you could use some rest.'

She winked at him, before rushing off, leaving a flabbergasted Dwalin behind.

'I've found another set of tracks!'

Dwalin quickly snapped out of his thoughts as he hurried over to the fair-haired prince. To his horror, he saw Fíli was right. There were indeed more footprints coming from the rocks, leading up to Frêllian's. He counted the different sets, counting at least four, following the path Frêllian had taken. Large and canine-like.

'Ferien.' The word had come as a whisper, but hit him like a rock, as his brother inspected them. 'They must have tracked her down!'

'If that's true, then she might be in danger still,' Bilbo concluded as he furrows a brow at the news.

'Then what are we still doing here!'

With that said, Dwalin ran off, following the prints all the way to the cliff. In the distance he saw a settlement, but he didn't care for it. His child was being followed by those monsters and she had no way of defending herself!

'So, you've made it out alive. And your mohawk has survived as well.'

Dwalin quickly turned at the sudden voice. The playfulness of her voice mirroring her smirk as she looked at him. Her light hair and face now spilled with orc -blood, but apparently she didn't care.

'Aye,' Dwalin nodded, running a hand through his hair. 'Wouldn't want to live without it. And what about you, lass? You're here to see a healer as well?'

His eyes travelled down her body, in search of any injury. But to his surprise he didn't find any severe damage. Only a small cut every now and then. When he met her eyes again, she had a twinkle in her eyes. Showing two - very sharp-looking - fangs as she smirked at him, almost challenging. She must have seen his quick bodyscan.

Now that's a woman! A strong and confident warrior and not bad-looking either. Dwalin found himself smirking down at her. A brow cocked and his arms crossed, as he casually leaned against the wall. If it was a challenge she wanted, then a challenge she'll get.

Her smirk widened as she watched him for a moment. But then she answers him.

'Nah, I'm here to check on my people.' She pointed at somewhere to the right. 'But then I saw you coming from your healer and thought I would check if you are alright too.'

'Well, as you can see, I am in perfect health.'

Winching slightly as he moved his arm, Dwalin suppressed the urge to reach for it. The ferian before him has seen the slight twitch of his arm and undoubtedly the winch. For her smirk widened a little as she crossed her arms.

'Except for your arm.' It was not even a question.

'Except for my arm,' Dwalin admitted.

'Lady Cànna, there you are.'

Dwalin looked passed the female's - Cànna apparently - to see another ferian had appeared from one of the healing tents. On his face a scowl as he moved closer to the pain.

'What do you think you are doing,' he scowled at her. 'You need a check-up.'

'I am fine, Cerfén,' Cànna told him, but the ferian would not hear it.

'How do you expect to lead our pack one day, when you will not even see a healer when needed,' Cerfén argued as he grabbed the female by her arm. 'You will come with me now, young lady. No buts.'

Cànna muttered a 'fine' with a sigh as she allowed the male to drag her away. But she turned around for a moment to look at Dwalin.

'Until we meet again,' she said with a wink, before following the ferian to the healing tents.

Flabbergasted, Dwalin watched her leaving form. Had she been... Flirting? With him of all dwarves?

'Don't worry, brother,' Balin said softly as he placed his hand gently on his shoulder. 'The lass is tough, just like her parents.'

Dwalin nodded quietly as he looked at the prints before him. Aye, Frêllian had always been a tough one, but that was back when everything had been as it should have. Peaceful. But from what she had told him, she had had a difficult past. Who knew what had happened to her.

'I don't like this, Balin,' he confessed as he trailed over the form of a print - Frêllian's print. 'They have ambushed her. She has suffered from severe blood loss and probably has little strength left in her. Look here, she has collapsed and from here on, her prints have vanished.'

'Then they must have carried her from this point on,' Balin said as his eyes trailed over the path. 'There might still be hope, for it seems they need her alive.'

But Dwalin had no time to hope. What had hope ever lead him to? The loss of his wife and the kidnapping of his daughter - though he hadn't known it until a couple of months ago. And now he was about to lose his daughter again, right when he had hoped to tell her who he really was.

No, hope wasn't going to get him anywhere! Only action would and that was exactly what he was about to take! Not even caring about the others at the moment, Dwalin brushed his fingers over the hilt of his axe. He would slay them all if that was what it took to get Frêllian back!

'This has been your plan all along, has it not?'

Thorin had made his way up to Dwalin and looked at the scene as well. But it was not Dwalin he was speaking to. Instead, his glare was fixed on the wizard once he had noticed the settlement in the distance.

'You have planned to take us to the enemy.'

'The only ill-will you will find here, if that which you bring yourself,' the wizard stated calmly, as he walked over as well. 'Lord Elrond...'

'How can you say that, wizard,' Dwalin growled dangerously at him. 'My daughter has been taken by our enemy and their tracks lead to the elves. Even the hobbit is smart enough to know that to be a token of ill will!'

Bilbo stammered, not knowing what to say, but Dwalin ignored him. Instead he turned on his heels and quickly followed the tracks in search for his daughter. Thorin called after him, but the dwarf was beyond reason as he ran away.

'Hold on, Frey,' he whispered softly to himself as he quickened his pace. 'I am coming for you!'