Kala was walking around town. Just getting a feel of what it was like. She was new here but was a very traumatized dwarfling. Kala had chose not to speak after a horrible life with bandits. She was still healing of course. The big whipping scars on her back didn't hurt that much but there were times when she would wince every now and then. She looked around at the area in some kind of awe but her eyes still showed fear. It had been that way for her for a very long time.

Just when she was about to turn into a corner, she heard a sound making her jump and look around behind her. Some sounds really get to her and this one was more like a boot walking making her pale slightly. Kala backed up a little bit while looking around not seeing who made the sound. Without seeing the older dwarf prince Kili, Kala took off running afraid. It was a normal thing for Kala with the harsh life she had already gone through. She whimpered a little bit as she kept running. She was barefoot having no shoes yet or really any belongings at all. She was living with dwarven merchants at the time who were nice to her but she didn't speak. Just did as told when they asked her and they were working on getting her toys and things as well.

Kala ran into an alleyway and slid down against a wall whimpering slightly. Her breathing was fast which was her fear showing up. The footsteps got closer and her breathing went faster. "Go away" Kala said in fear and moving more against the wall. She didn't know that Kili wouldn't hurt her just yet.

Kíli had just spent what had felt like an endless amount of time spent pouring over dusty tomes with Pód, trying to memorise the three acceptable ways greet visiting diplomats (Kíli had never realised that meeting new people could be so complicated or involve so much bowing and thinly veiled threats) and what to say when someone proposed (apparently “Thank you, you are very kind” was not the correct reply). Anyway, Kíli had just spent an incredibly long time being stuttered and blushed at by Pód and he was looking forward to spending to well-earned time in the carpenter’s workshop working on his new bow. His good mood, which was getting better the closer he got to the carpenter’s, was only slightly marred by the fact that he hadn’t been able to shake his tail and Pód, who was being quite for once in his life, was tripping quietly along next to him.

Kíli was doing what he wished he could do whenever his tutor started talking and was ignoring him.

The young prince was walking down the corridor a sedate pace, humming slightly, when a movement up ahead caught his eye. It was only a flash but it looked as though someone had darted away in to the shadows. Strange… Who’d run when they heard footsteps approaching? It looked extremely guilty… No innocent would run if they heard someone coming towards them.

Kíli quickened his steps, completely forgetting about Pód who nearly tripped over his own feet at the change of pace, in order to follow the person who seemed to be intent on running away from him. Whoever, or whatever, it was they were very small and didn’t seem to be all that threatening but Kíli couldn’t take chances; it never did to be complacent when it came to the security and protect of the mountain.

The small figure darted down an alleyway and Kíli began to jog slightly, it wouldn’t do to let a suspicious character escape.

Rounding the corner he came to a stop (nearly getting knocked over by Pód in the process). It wasn’t a goblin or some other evil creature who’d found its way into the mountain. It wasn’t a threat at all. It was a child. A child telling him to go away. A very frightened child.

Kíli came closer and knelt down in front of her. Reaching out to touch her but stopping short.

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Sorry about the Princess Diaries references, I couldn't resist

Kala backed up seeing the young prince Kili. She wasn't a threat. Of course she wasn't. Kala was only a young dwarfling. She looked no older than 21 which was a 10 year old human. She was trembling, whimpering, her eyes wide with fear, plus she had backed away from the prince. All those signs that she was showing was signs of her being traumatized. She looked up at the prince not saying a word as she trembled not quite trusting him as she whimpered in fear.

She leaned up against the wall in the back of the alley still looking at the prince with fear and slid down on the floor shaking with fear and the fact that she was freezing. There were many scars all over on her body. Mostly the scars were on her back. Her feet had many scrapes on them at the moment and was bleeding since some of the scars had expanded causing them to open up. Usually no dwarfling would run away in fear like that but that was a different case if the child was traumatized.

Kala didn't move from her spot, afraid that if she moved, the prince would grab her and start beating her. That was the biggest fear. She had a harsh life living with bandits who had tortured her to the extent that caused her to be so frightened by even the slightest bit of noise. The footsteps was one of the main ones she really reacted to. It was also why she ran away when she heard the footsteps approaching fearing it was bandits coming to get her again. She curled up in a ball still looking up at the young prince not saying a single word.

The youngling was trembling, whimpering, and Kili watched, perplexed, as she slid down the wall and crumpled into a small, shaking ball. She seemed scared.

Kíli, worried that he was the cause of her fear, backed away slightly (nearly tripping over Pód, whose existence he had completely forgotten about, in the process) and took the time to examine her instead. She was small, even for a dwarfling, and had a fragile look about her that was made all the more apparent by her wide, fearful blue eyes.

Kíli wondered if the fear in her eyes as she looked at him had anything to do with the scars. He’d missed them at first, he hadn’t been looking for anything like them, but, when he’d looked closer he could see them. They peaked out from underneath her clothing and gave her feet a strange look, as though they’d been tattooed red. Some of them were still bleeding.

It was all very strange and that was no mistake. Kíli couldn’t for the life of him think of a reason that such a young dwarfling could have ended up in such a state; he couldn’t understand why someone hadn’t reported the child to his uncle; he could work out why anyone would let her wander round looking like she did and why no one had at least tried to take care of her.

All these questions buzzed around his head and there was a large part of him that begged him to just open his mouth and let them all pour out…. But he couldn’t do that; the child was scared enough as it was and Kíli didn’t think the situation would get any better if he started lobbing questions at her.

No, this situation called for a bit more tact.

Backing up even more (and almost tripping over Pód once again) Kíli settled himself down on the ground, crossing his legs so that he could sit comfortably on the stone
floor. Carefully, making sure not to make any sudden movements that could startle the young one, he drew a small block of wood from one of his pockets. He’d been meaning to keep it for when he was bored but it seemed like he’d found a more worthy use for it.

Making sure not to make eye contact with the girl, the young prince drew out his knife and, so that she didn’t misunderstand the gesture, set to work immediately, digging it in to the wood and carving off the first strip. He didn’t know what he was making, perhaps it wasn’t going to be anything, but he hoped that his actions would be interesting enough and calming enough to keep the dwarfling from running away again.

Kala flinched slightly at the knife but soon saw he was using it to carve wood. She got a little bit curious of it though wondering what he was doing. She started to calm herself down once she finally realized that the older dwarf male wouldn't hurt her. She guessed that he wasn't a bandit but she wanted to make sure.

"You aren't a bandit" Kala questioned to him. That would explain all the scars on her body and why she was so frightened. She started to calm her breathing but winced every now and then when she felt pain from her many scars all over her small frame. Kala was a dwarfling, she just happened to be smaller than most and that wasn't a big problem. She slowly got out of her ball and slowly moved closer to the prince, her curiousity getting the better of her when she saw he was carving from the wood.

Kala continued to watch him and didn't get too close in fear he might try to scare her away. So far he hadn't done anything of the sort. She saw some kindness in her which she liked but that didn't mean she was going to trust him right away. That usually ended up taking some time for her to trust someone ever since the harsh life with the bandits and she was still slowly healing. She remained where she was but she was closer to the dwarf starting to calm down a little bit.

Kíli sat carving his little figurine, concentrating as a rough form began to appear in the wood in his hands. He still wasn’t quite sure what it was he was making but, just like the little figurine was slowly and surely forming in his hand, an idea was slowly forming in his head. He supposed that if the dwarfling didn’t want it he could always give it to Fee.

As he concentrated on the piece of wood in his hand and the delicate, ever so delicate movements of his knife Kíli was constantly aware of the girl crouched some way away from him. She’d flinched when he had pulled out the knife but she seemed to have been able to calm herself down. She seemed to be making to speak. Carefully, so as not to mess up his work in progress and so as not to accidently hurt himself, Kíli slowed the motions of his knife so as to be able to focus more fully on the dwarfling.

He didn’t look at her when she spoke, sure she would skitter back and run away if he made any sudden movements, but he cocked his head to the side at the mention of bandits. Bandits, he supposed that the explained her behaviour even if he didn’t know the full story; bandits never signalled anything good and for a young dwarfling to know about them (and be scared of them) signalled something truly horrific. Not that he had time to dwell on what the truly horrific thing could be, that would have to come later. First he had to gain her trust.

In response to her question Kíli slowly shook his head. He wanted so badly to reassure her that there were no bandits in Erebor but he couldn’t risk breaking the silence that seemed to have lulled her in to a sense of security. Instead he kept his eyes on the wood in his hand and watched as the girl moved closer to look at his carving out of the corner of his eye. He held his hands out a little bit further so she could see what he was doing without obstruction.

Kala slowly started to calm herself down and watched what he was doing with the wood. It was slowly coming into a form of a figurine. She was closer but not too close but close enough to see what he was doing. Kala had gone silent once more since she didn't speak very much. Constantly, she would be reassured that there was no bandits in Erebor but she always feared that they might come back for her. They did try to drown her near the river right outside of Erebor. She was a lucky survivor but not many dwarflings or humans had lived to tell the tale. Kala was one of the lucky ones of course but it could be a long while before it would come to speaking of it.

She sighed in relief when the dwarf prince told her that he wasn't a bandit which was very lucky for her. Very slowly was she starting to trust him. As long as she knew that he wouldn't hurt her, she knew it to be true anyway. Kala only asked cause she wanted to be sure of it. Now she was and continued to watch him carve into the wood. She assumed that the figurine was going to be given to her. She never had a toy before. It was a wooden carving but she never had anything of the sort.

Kíli had been carving for some time, about half an hour he estimated, when he caught a slight movement out of the corner of his eye. Moving slowly, so as not to startle the youngling, he turned his head to look for the source, squinting at the shadows and wondering who on earth thought that lurking in the shadows of the otherwise deserted corridor was a fun pastime. Whoever it was they needed a new hobby. There was another slight movement and Kíli, torn from his thoughts as he so often was, zeroed in on it.

It was Pód.

His tutor, who Kíli had completely forgotten about and who had been following his charge around like a lost puppy since his lessons had ended, was standing off to one side looking as awkward as it was possible for a dwarf to look. Obviously Pód’s inability to have normal interactions with people extended outside of the classroom and wasn’t directed solely at his pupil… Which was a relief, to say the least, because that meant that he was always a stuttering fool and it wasn’t just when he had to teach. While the realisation was, as aforementioned, a relief, it also brought up some questions. Questions like how had Pód been awarded such an honourable position (Kíli believed the official title was “royal tutor” but quite frankly he thought it more of a glorified babysitting job) when he was apparently unable to interact with other living things. Surely uncle Thorin hadn’t thought that it would be a good idea to have an idiot teach an idiot? Surely he valued his nephew’s education at least a little more than that?

Anyway, the point was that the idiot tutor had been standing awkwardly in the shadows for what was probably about half an hour. Half an hour he’d spent staring at Kíli, obviously not knowing what exactly to do with himself. Well, it could have been worse; Pód could have decided he was going to stutter the poor child into submission.

With a small jerk of his head, Kíli indicated that the tutor could go. That his presence wasn’t necessary, wasn’t required, wasn’t wanted.

Pód made a move to go but hesitated, looking at Kíli and then looking back at the girl as though she was suddenly going to pull a knife out from who knows where and jump him. Which, whilst it was perhaps a relatively plausible fear what with the girl looking like she did (although, Kíli felt inclined to disagree, he doubted the dwarfling could hurt a fly), said a lot about what his tutor thought of his ability to defend himself.

A little offended, Kíli jerked his head again, a little bit more violently this time.

He watched as his tutor walked away, waiting for him to disappear from sight before he went back to his carving.

The little Thorin was coming along quite nicely.

Kala had skittered back when Pod scared her but moved back closer once the older dwarf had gone away. She had once again sighed in relief then continued to watch the dwarven prince with the carving. Kala didn't speak for a little bit of course being so scared to do so in the first place. She slowly went a little bit closer to Kili before speaking once more but it came out as a stutter.

"W-W-who are y-y-you" Kala asked. She would grow out of the stutter one day. She only did it now from fear but not of Kili anymore. Kala sat with her crossed and her small feet still bleeding a little bit and she winced but ignored the pain that was there on her body. She tried to hide the pain but it was now becoming evident on her face since it did in fact hurt her. Kala continued to watch him waiting for Kili to answer her question about who he was.

The little carving of Thorin was almost completed when the dwarfling, who had startled when Pód had left the two alone together, moved closer to him as he whittled and opened her mouth to speak. Carefully, so as not to startle her, Kíli stopped his carving so as pay more attention to what she was about to say. He didn’t turn his head though, worried she would run if he looked at her, and kept his eyes trained on those of the dwarrow which rested in his hand. It was a little unnerving, like staring into the eyes of his real uncle, and, under his piercing gaze, Kíli couldn’t only hope that he was doing what his uncle would have done in the circumstances, that his bout of maturity would make his uncle proud…. But enough, he shouldn’t be thinking about himself, he should be thinking about the young dwaft crouched at his side, she was the one who needed his help.

Once she had said her piece Kíli thought about keeping his silence, it had worked well so far and she hadn’t fled from him… At the same time, there was a chance that, if he remained silent much longer, she would think that he was never going to answer her and grow bored. If she grew bored she’d no doubt leave and then Kíli wouldn’t be able to help her.

He decided it was time to talk.

“My name is Kíli, young one.” He spoke as softly as he could, barely above a whisper.

"K K Kala" Kala replied back. She watched him carve the figure. "I Is that f for me" Kala asked him. She would be happy if it was. She never had a figure of her own before.

Kala, not a name Kíli had heard before but then, Kíli hadn’t met everyone who lived in Erebor (and he doubted he ever would) so he supposed it was to be expected. He was glad, if a little surprised, that she’d given her name without his prompting. He thought it might be sign that, through his silence, he’d managed to gain her trust somewhat or at least an indication that she’d decided she had no reason to fear him.

The fact that the young dwarf, Kala Kíli corrected himself in his head, had even gone on to ask a question was extremely encouraging. He saw no reason why he shouldn’t reply.

“Yes, Kala, the figurine is indeed for you.” He paused for a second, unsure of whether he should continue speaking or leave it at that. “Do you know who the figurine is?”

Kala simply shook her head when Kili asked her who the figure is. She didn't really know that much. "Sorry I don't know" Kala said. She had been around bandits for quite some time. She was away from dwarves for awhile but it was clear she was starting to trust Kili a little bit at this point. He hadn't made a move to hurt her so she figured that was a good sign.

Kili, although he did his best to hide it, was surprised that the dwarfling didn’t know who Thorin was. as poor and ill-treated as Kala seemed to be Kíli would have thought that anyone who lived in Erebor would have known who his uncle was. After all, because of his uncle that they were able to live in Erebor in the first place; if it hadn’t been for the King Under the Mountain’s great courage and determination Smaug would still have been living in the main hall and picking his teeth with their gold. Kíli had thought that the quest to reclaim Erebor was well on the way to becoming a legend amongst his people but this child’s lack of knowledge seemed to indicate otherwise. Perhaps it was just wishful thinking and bigheadedness on his part.

Anyway, it didn’t matter, what mattered was the dwafling in front of him.

“This is my uncle, the Thorin Oakenshield.” He said softly. “He’s the great King Under the Mountain, the one who reclaimed the mountain from the Great Dragon Smaug, we’re all here because of him.”

Kíli thought about telling her more of what his uncle had done but decided against, another time perhaps when she looked better fed and less scared.
Looking down at the carving in his hands Kíli realised that it was finished. Running his thumbs over the bumps and grooves a few times the check for splinters and finding none, the young prince laid it on his palm and extended his hand towards, making sure that she was the one in control of when she picked up the piece.