When he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by pitch black darkness.

'Where am I?'

He struggled to move but he found that he couldn't.

A sense of fear and dread filled him. This couldn't be happening.

First the Wargs and then the wizard and now this?!

What was going on?

He panicked and began to struggle harder but couldn't budge even a inch.

"Sanûrzud."

A deep voice whispered to him.

He stilled at the voice.

Why did it sound so familiar to him?

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Again the voice spoke, but louder this time.

"Sanûrzud."

He was confused by the word.

"What? What does that mean!?"

There was a loud crack and bright light filled his eyes and he found himself standing on the edge of a cliff.

And then in another flash the ground beneath him crumbled and he was falling.

A scream ripped from his throat until all of a sudden he stopped.

"I've got you. Hold on."

It was the same voice from before.

Relief flooded his being.

"Thank you. Oh thank you."

He looked up into the bluest eyes he had ever seen.

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

He jolted out of bed in a cold sweat grabbing his chest in pain.

'What was that? Who was that?'

He had never seen such blue eyes ever.

And he didn't know why his heart hurt at the thought of them.

"Sanûrzud."

He never noticed the being of light fading into the stone behind him.

The door to his room bangs open and a very tall figure hurries in.

It is not until the figure steps into the candlelight that he sees their face.

It was the wizard.

"Bilbo! Are you alright?"

He looks up at him with confusion in his eyes.

"I'm sorry but why-ever do you keep calling me Bilbo?"

Gandalf shook his head, closing his eyes in sorrow.

'Then it is as I feared. I should not have left.' He thought to himself.

He hissed in pain as the pressure upon his hands had built to a painful level.

When he looked down he found that his hands were bound in thick bandages.

He lifted them and placed them in his lap to ease the pressure.

The wizard knelt down beside him and placed a hand on the hobbit's shoulder.

"You have hurt your hands but they will be right as rain in no time. For you are under the care of the finest Dwarvish healer here in the East."

"Dwarves? Whatever are Dwarves?"

Gandalf gave a quick nod, his mind was made up.

"You, my boy, will know when you see one."

He stood up quickly and turned to leave the room, but stopped when a small voice called out to him.

"Wait! Where are you going? You can't just leave me here!"

Gandalf turned back to look at him, a small smile on his face.

"Do not worry. You are safe, my boy, no harm will come to you here. I assure you. I must go speak to someone about your condition."

"Alright, but don't be gone too long. This place frightens me."

Gandalf nodded again before he left the room closing the door gently behind him.

"Oh, my dear Bilbo. What has happened to you?"

/ ~ / ~ / ~ /

"You don't know how lucky you are that I still have these."

Nori stated, handing a bundle of clothes to Thorin and to Kili as soon as he entered the room.

It had been easy enough for Dwalin and Ori to find him as Ori had memorized every single one of his hiding spots. Much to Nori's displeasure and Dwalin's delight.

He seemed to not be fazed at all by the fact that he was talking to two dwarves that had once been dead.

Ori looked at his older brother in confusion.

"Why do you still have them?"

Nori had the good sense to look a little sheepish. He scratched his head before replying.

"Well, ya see. I was planning on going back one of these days if-"

"If Dori threw you out again?"

Nori shrugged.

"It was only a fall-back. Good thing I didn't because our great and not-so dead leader and his equally not-so dead nephew need them now. Just don't ruin them, alright? Never know when I'll be needing to escape."

He directed that last bit at the two.

Thorin nodded.

"You have my thanks, Nori, son of Zori. As well as all of you. I could not have done this without any of you."

Kili nodded in agreement.

Nori shook his head.

"Now that is something you are going to have to stop doing. The Faceless don't 'thank' people or even apologize as well. What you need to get used to doing is being rude and pushy. Should be quite easy for ya, seeing as yer both royalty and all that. Ow! What was that for?"

He looked at his brother who was currently glaring at him.

"Now who's being rude?"

The thief crossed his arms.

"If they're going to dress the part, they might as well act it too. They're trying to disguise themselves, Ori, not play dress up."

Dwalin groaned in frustration and put a hand on Ori's shoulder.

"As much as I am going to regret saying this. He's right, Ori."

Thorin nodded.

"I agree. Now we need to come up with a name for my new persona."

Nori perked up at that.

"Easy enough. Azanul."

The four turned to look at the thief.

He shrugged.

"What? One of the dwarves I met was named Azanul. It means 'Of the Shadows.' I thought it would fit the situation as it were. And don't bother with trying to come up with a father's name for ya either, they use their mother's instead."

Ori laughed.

Dwalin shook his head in amusement, a small smile on his lips.

Thorin nodded in agreement.

"It will work perfectly."

"Now we need a name for Kili. Does it have to be similar? To show that they come from the same family?"

Ori asked his brother.

"No, so it doesn't matter what you choose for Kili."

This time the name came from an unlikely source.

"Kheluz."

They all turned to look at Fili in surprise.

Kili smiled at his brother. "Strength?"

The golden-haired dwarf nodded.

"You have always been strong Kili even if you think otherwise."

Kili inhaled sharply before speaking, his voice thick with emotion.

"Thanks Fee."

"Anytime Kee."

Thorin smiled at his nephews before he turned to Nori.

"You said that they only use their mother's name for their forebear title, correct?"

Nori nodded.

"Yeah. They were founded by a dwarrowdam so they do that in honor of her memory."

Thorin smirked.

"Then Azanul and Kheluz, sons of Ranul it is."

The smile slipped from Dwalin's face at that name, replacing it with one of with shock.

"Ranul?! Are you so sure you should be using a name from your family line?"

"Ranul is my great-grandmother on my mother's side. No one will pay attention to it."

Nori rubbed his hands together with barely contained glee.

"Now then, lets get you two ready."

Thorin and Kili shared a look, both swallowing in trepidation.

What were they getting themselves into?