Hi there. I wrote this Story 2 years ago in german. now I decided to Translate it in english with the help of the Google Translator. I am curious, how this Story will be Liked here. now... enjoy.

Fire. The fire and heat haunted him every night in a dream. No night passed without waking up in a sweat. Dragon Smaug's attack on Erebor was almost 30 years ago, but Thorin was still hunted by this events. He had to flee to the Blue Mountains with the dwarves that had survived the attack. Thorin worked all over Eriandor to help his people get the reputation that it was up to before Smaug's attack. At that time he was working as a blacksmith in a village on the western edge of the Blue Mountains when he first met her. As a small, 5 year old girl with long brown hair that reached over her bottom. Giggling, she stumbled into the blacksmith's shop and hid under the table. Thorin sighed annoyed and crept up to her and leaned down to her at the table: "You have no business here, it is dangerous."

The little human girl fell silent and looked at Thorin with wide eyes.

"Are you a dwarf?" She asked.

"Yes," said Thorin, pulling her out from under the table, "Where are your parents?"

"I ran away, it was so boring to go shopping with mom."

Thorin had to smile, because the little one reminded him of his two nephews, who were now about their age and had all sorts of ideas. He knelt in front of her: "A little adventurer? What's your name?"

"Clara," she said, smiling.

"You should go back to your mother, she'll be worried about you."

"I'm sure she hasn't noticed that I'm gone."

"Yeah, sure," said Thorin, lifting her up. He carried her out of the blacksmith's shop on his strong arm. He just wanted to get rid of this annoying little girl quickly. Clara discovered his braided strands and laughed at it: "Do men wear braids too? What's your name?"

"I'm Thorin."

"Thorin? My dad once told me about a Thorin. He was once a prince on a mountain. "

Thorin sighed as the memory rose in him.

"Are you about the same?" Asked the Girl that Thorin's serious expression hadn't missed.

"Yes I am. But ... that remains our little secret, okay? ", Thorin whispered to Clara.

"Yes, I wont tell anyone" the little one swore solemnly, raising her hand.

"Good, very good."

Thorin walked through the streets to the market with Clara on his arm and wanted to see if he found a woman who was frantically looking for someone. He did not have to search very long when the calls of a young woman came to his ear: "Clara! Clara! Where are you? Come out!

"Sorry, I think I found your daughter," Thorin said as he approached Clara's mother. He handed the mother her little runaway Girl. The mother accepted her daughter with relief.

"Thank you, I hope the little tomboy did not make you much worse," said the mother with tears in her eyes.

"No, not at all, she just wanted to hide in the blacksmith's shop. She was probably bored. "

"In the blacksmith's shop?", The mother rolled her eyes, "What should I do with you?"

She gratefully shook hands with Thorin and carried her daughter home. Clara waved to Thorin while she was being carried away, and Thorin waved back with a smile. That night Thorin did not dream of Smaug for the first time, but of Clara, what kind of young woman she would grow into ...

A week later, Thorin met her again in the blacksmith workshop, this time Clara ran straight in and clutched Thorin's leg.

"Clara? Did you run away again? ", Thorin asked with a sigh and interrupted his work. He was in the process of punching heated iron into shape, but he didn't want Clara to be hit by a spark or two. This encounter was different from the first, however, because the little one trembled and was scared. He leaned down to Clara and asked her, "Has something happened?"

"There are two mean boys ... they always hit me," said Clara, sobbing.

Then Thorin heard them both:

"Where's the little crybaby?"

"We'll get it, it can't be far."

Usually Thorin didn't care about other people's concerns. He had more than enough problems himself than burdening himself with more. But he took pity on little Clara and decided to help her. The boys stopped in front of the blacksmith's shop and looked curiously inside. Then Thorin grabbed the heated iron that he had just worked on and approached the two:

"Hey you! I advise you not to chop on others, otherwise you will get this on your butt! "

The two boys were already intimidated by Thorin's grim face and his appearance. When he made the threat, the boys ran away in fear.

Thorin cleared his throat and turned to Clara: "So, hopefully they'll leave you alone."

Clara stared openly at Thorin. She didn't expect Thorin to drive the bad guys away.

"You're so strong," said the little admiringly.

Thorin put the iron back in place next to the anvil and smiled at Clara. It was a welcome change in his dreary, deprived life. From then on, Clara visited him every week when the mother was on the market. Clara asked him a lot of questions and he patiently answered them. He put her on the table, far enough from the furnace, and continued to work. The older she got, the more fascinated she was about his work. Thorin always looked forward to Sunday when Clara came to see him. Her mother, who was initially not enthusiastic about the fact that her daughter always went to the dwarf's blacksmith's shop, soon had no choice but to accept it, because Clara had her own head. Thorin had really taken Clara to his heart, even though he thought for a long time that no one would ever do it again. Because the wounds Smaug's attack had left in his soul were too deep.