Here's a little idea that's been stirring in my mind that I just had to get out. I really wanted to give Ori some love as he's so sweet, while at the same time writing something rather unusual. It's not going to be a super long fic, probably only about six chapters. Just to note, this first chapter is a bit of a teaser/prologue. The others happen after a big time jump, Erebor has been reclaimed, everybody lives, happy happy joy joy etc. Here's hoping you guys enjoy this, and I'll likely have another chapter up in a couple of days. The plot is already decided, I just have to flesh it out.

Obvious disclaimer: I own nothing other than possible OC characters, all credit for recognizable content goes to JRR Tolkien.

Warm sunlight from the mirrors positioned throughout Erebor streamed in a small window of the apartment where Dori lived with his brothers Nori and Ori. It lit on the face of a peacefully napping Ori, and his elder brother looked on fondly as the dwarfling slept. Despite the relatively recent passing of their mother, the small family was content with their lot. Their mother hadn't been around much, constantly leaving her sons to their own devices, so the pain of her loss was less that it could have been. Their father had been killed shortly after the birth of his youngest in a mining accident, and it was his constant presence that the three still mourned over when they stopped to remember.

Seeing the young dwarf shift with the beginnings of wakefulness, Dori laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, giving him a little shake to rouse him. Ori blinked away the vestiges of sleep, smiling up at his older brother happily. "Can I get up now nadad?" the little one asked sweetly, remaining in his bed until he received an answer. Dori chuckled at the lads patience, he was the most obedient child a dwarf could hope for, and much better behaved than those hooligans Fili and Kili. The two in question were constant playmates for his brother seeing as how they were the only ones in the mountain currently at a similar age. It had been a relief to him that they were unable to sway his good manners with their constant pranks.

Ruffling his brothers hair, he nodded in the affirmative. "Aye nadadith, you may. It is time for lunch and then we will go to market." Ori hopped out of bed with a small cheer, excited at the prospect of helping with the shopping. As he got dressed Nori ducked through the doorway of their house, greeting his brothers fondly as he entered. He gave Ori a small pinch on the cheek, grinning when the little one offered a cry of protest at such treatment before touching heads with Dori in a more mature greeting. Ori followed after them, silently begging to be picked up to join in. Unable to resist the little ones sweet stare, Nori hoisted him into the air swiftly, eliciting a crow of delight followed by Dori's worried exclamation.

"Relax nadad," Nori laughed. "You worry too much. Where are you two off to anyways? I notice you have your basket ready to go."

"Just off to market," the elder replied as he fussed over the now earth bound Ori. Smoothing his hair, he glanced up at Nori. "Want to come along?"

"Sure thing!" Scooping up the basket, Nori led the way back out the door, Dori following behind with Ori's hand clasped firmly in his. The continued this way all the way to market, arriving several minutes later and moving into the burgeoning crowd. Light and happy chatter filled the air, the crowds thicker than normal. A clear sign that visiting merchants had arrived with new and interesting goods. Nori quickly spotted a brightly painted stall with a green awning, noting the display of foreign goods with interest. The three made their way over, Dori picking Ori up so that he would be able to see better.

The new stall was being supervised by a strange looking man, marking it as especially unusual in these parts. While there were casual alliances between dwarves and men, they seldom traveled farther than Dale, preferring to hawk their wares in the human town a few miles away. The trio glanced over the offerings delightedly, admiring the varied goods. There were odds and ends of all sorts, from jewelry to weapons, cookware to books. Nori had just begun to haggle with the man for a curious looking knife when Ori pointed excitedly at a small chest filled with colored sticks. Noting the dwarflings enthusiasm, the man held them up for closer inspection.

"They are colored wax," he explained. "From my native land far to the south. They make the most beautiful drawings."

Nori and Dori exchanged a look. "How much," the elder inquired at last. They were not rich, but this was the first thing to so completely capture their brother's attention since his mothers passing. The man named a price that was rather high, but not overly so, and with another glance at each other Dori nodded. Upon tucking the precious bundle safely into their basket, the brothers received a firm hug and brilliant smile. They hurried to finish their shopping before heading home so Ori could test out his new playthings.

A few days passed, every one of them leaving Dori to thank Mahal that he had purchased the colors for his brother. He had been able to get twice as much work done around the house and in his workshop, as the little one was so fully occupied with covering every available paper in color. Every once in awhile he would pause in his work and stroll over to admire the results of Ori's labor, genuinely impressed with the boys skill. He would sit on the floor for hours, doodling away, drawing everything under the sun. Landscapes, animals, people, nothing escaped his attention.

Each evening Dori drew the little dwarf onto his lap and listened in amused fascination as he was regaled with stories about every piece of artwork. Nori would join them by the fire, smiling at their youngest brothers vivid imagination.

"The cat started running in circles, and then the dog chased it all the way off the page. But then they got tired and came back for a nap. And the trees were moving, cause it was really windy." He would finish his story so very matter of factly that it was as if he were telling them about his day, and not something he just thought up, leaving the two to humor him with questions and noises of interest.

Ori sat drawing one day as his brothers worked nearby, just out of sight of him in another room. Taking hold of the green color, he added some more leaves to the trees, almost finished with his picture of the lands outside the mountain. Giving it one last deliberate swipe of color, he set the stick down and examined the work critically. Sure enough, the drawing seemed to feel it was complete, for the trees began swaying gently as if in a breeze. The small deer in the center of the picture lifted its head to some unheard noise before continuing to graze cautiously. Ori leaped to his feet in excitement, determined to show his brothers the truth of his stories. He bounded into the workroom, panting slightly and clutching the picture in his fist.

"Look Dori! Look Nori! The trees are moving and the deer is nervous because there might be a wolf nearby!" He brandished the picture fervently under their noses, missing the look of perplexed concern the two exchanged over his head.

"Ori..." the eldest began hesitantly. Dori was unsure how to react, unwilling to crush his spirit with the truth. He saw not a single flicker of movement, as it should be. After all, a picture was not alive, unless perhaps it was a wizards picture, and Ori was not one of those.

Nori quickly saved him the job, being used to acting more forward than his brother. "Nadadith, it's not moving," he said gently, shrugging helplessly at the look of reproach on Dori's face. "Well it's not," he muttered, too low for Ori to hear. The younger one was looking insistently at them, frowning when he turned the picture and saw that they appeared to be right.

"It was moving," he replied, crestfallen now that he had again failed to show off his special pictures. He trudged off back to his room, tucking the picture carefully into a box at the foot of his bed where it nestled safely among all the others he had drawn. He couldn't understand why this kept happening, why some stroke of luck was not allowing his brothers to see what he saw. Feeling glum, he decided to put away the colors for the day and do something else.

Ori was sleeping now, and the two elder brothers sat by the fire, puffing quietly on their pipes. Dori was nursing a cup of tea in one hand, Nori a mug of frothy ale. They were silent, each thinking their own thoughts as they watched the flames dance and flicker.

"Do we need to worry?" Nori spoke at last. "Maybe we should ask a healer if he is suffering some sort of illness." He did not need to bring the word madness into it, it was implied in his tone of voice.

Dori glanced up at him sharply, momentarily shocked at the length to which Nori's dark thoughts had taken him. "Hush," he said sternly. "He's just a child, perhaps it is just imagination and loneliness. After all, other than Fili and Kili he has no other friends to play with. He may just be trying to work out his feelings." He sounded uncertain by the end of his argument, shaking his head sadly.

"Perhaps you're right," Nori offered, trying to console his brother. He offered a reassuring smile before rising to his feet. Tapping the embers out of his pipe and into the fire, he finished off his ale with a gulp. "I think I'll turn in," he said lowly, leaving the elder to sit thoughtfully as he headed to his bed.

Their problem was solved in a rather horrific way when Erebor fell, the trio managing to escape with nothing more than their lives. The pictures and colors lay forgotten in the mountain, tucked away in some dusty corner, now nothing more than memory. Ori withdrew after that incident, becoming exceedingly cautious and introverted. Several times the brothers tried to coax him out of his shell, but nothing held his interest anymore. It would be many years before the young dwarfling would once again take up his calling...