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Dwalin would have never believed that he would fall for an elf. But there he was, you laying next to him in their bed, his arms around your waist as your chest rose and fell with your breathing. Admiring your beauty, he moved a piece of hair out of your face and slid a gentle hand on the small scar on your pointed ear, the only injury you had sustained in the battle for the mountain. He still wondered how you had managed to get out of the battle with such little injuries. But it wasn't your skills in battle or the fiery temper that made Dwalin fall for you. It was something much more delicate, much purer; your determination to help others.
- - - -
It hadn't been long after you had joined the company and it showed. Every single dwarf was leering at you, but you didn't let it bother you. They would warm-up for you. Hopefully. They were chatting amongst themselves, sharpening their weapons and sharing stories, as you sat further away on a log, legs neatly folded and arms crossed atop them, listening to the sounds of nature around you. One sound was bugging you, it sounded like an orc, or rather multiple, were laughing nearby, but you couldn't hear properly over the voices of the dwarves.
Only once the orc laughter was mixed with panicked tweeting of a sparrow, you knew you had to act.
"Shh." You shushed the dwarves, who twitched as they hadn't remembered you, and then looked annoyed. You stood up, walking towards where you thought the sound was coming from, and stopped.
"Lass, what are you-"
"Shhhh." You shushed again and closed your eyes. There it was again. A panicked tweet and a rumbling orc laugh followed it. Anger flared inside you. Valar help those creatures if they were torturing an innocent sparrow for their own fun. You opened your eyes and started walking slowly in the direction where the sounds were coming from, and after a moment, a few of the dwarves followed.
It didn't take you long to find the orcs, and they were poking a clearly injured sparrow with their swords, laughing every time it tried to take flight. You grabbed the handle of your sword but waited for the dwarves to make a plan. You were angry, not reckless, or stupid enough to storm into battle without a plan. Even if there were only four of them. Fights could go terribly wrong if you allowed emotions to take over.
"Fili, Kili, you take that side. Y/N and I will take the other. Nori, you stay here and make sure they don't get to camp if they get past us. We attach at my signal." Dwalin ordered, but before anyone could go, I whispered an addition.
"And try and not to trample the poor sparrow, please?" They gave you weird looks but nodded.
Sneaking around the orcs camp, you shivered every time the poor bird tweeted in fear and you hoped you would attach before they killed it.
"How did you know they were here?" Dwalin asked you with a low voice, and you gave him a gentle smile.
"I heard them, master dwarf." He looked at you funny for a moment but then he grabbed one of his axes and you slid your sword out of its scabbard.
"Khazad abod amuriz!" (Dwarves strike the earth; a battle cry) Dwalin stormed into battle and you followed, taking the first orc that you came across down with a single blow and when you turned, the other three were already laying on the ground, dead.
You sheathed your sword and hurried to the bird that was still tweeting pitifully on the ground, its wing looking bent and clearly broken. You kneeled down and made a bowl out of your hands, encouraging the bird to climb on them. It did, and you picked it up with gentle hands and lifted it to your eyes to get a better look.
"Lle nim tad-dal. (You frail being). What have they done to you?" You spoke gently, and it tweeted an answer to you, ruffling its feathers lightly, probably realizing that it wasn't in danger anymore.
"Let's get you fixed up." You started walking to camp, and the dwarves followed you, perplexed by your odd behavior.
"What do you have there?" The leader of the company asked you, and you opened the cup you had made of your arms to show him the bird. He scoffed.
"A bird." You rolled your eyes.
"It's a sparrow. You wouldn't be rolling your eyes if it was a raven." You knew the importance of ravens to the dwarves, and Thorin gave you a surprised look as he realized what you had just said. You sat down on a log and crushed a single leaf of athelas into the water and applied the mixture on the wing before you started singing an elven healing song softly. The dwarves watched with round eyes as you kept singing, and the bird stopped tweeting and just sat still, laying its head on your hand and falling asleep.
It took you a moment, but you were certain that the bird would be alright, so you opened your hands.
"Go on, little one." You encouraged it as it ruffled its wings to see if there was any more pain. When there wasn't, it spread its wings and took flight, staying fluttering next to your ear for a moment and singing a short song before it flew off into the forest.
"Would it just have been easier to let it out of its misery rather than healing it?" Oin asked you and you nodded.
"Yes, it would have been. But I believe that every animal is worth saving because when we start sorting things we will and will not save, where we will draw the line?" The dwarves were quiet, and you hummed, hearing a sparrow singing somewhere in the forest.
"And sparrows have a special meaning to my family. My father used to tell me a tale about our ancestors who fought in a great battle. He was spent, his armor torn and an orc was standing above him, ready to deliver the death blow. But then, for some reason, a sparrow had strayed into the battlefield and decided to drop an acorn into the armor of the orc. It got so confused that it gave my ancestor time to gather his strength and kill the orc, and the battle was won." You smiled at the stunned faces of the dwarves.
"That's why my family name means "for sparrows" in ancient elvish. As our family would not be here if it wasn't for that sparrow." You yawned as you finished the tale, and you walked back to your bedroll, leaving the dwarves to mutter among themselves.
- - - -
You stirred next to Dwalin, who was brought back to the present at the sound of your voice.
"Morning." Your voice was still hazy from sleep and he kissed your nose.
"Morning, sparrow." You smiled at the nickname and pulled the covers over the two you more, shifting closer to Dwalin and drifting off back to sleep. Dwalin smiled and closed his eyes as well, and soon, a dark veil of sleep covered his mind as well.