Title: Nauca
Fandom: Tolkien
Rating: Teen
Length: 703 words
Content Notes: Aftermath of violence
Author Notes: The enemies here aren't seen in the story itself, but are referenced. This is part of my combined AUs Flame of Durin and Gaearon Rhûnen, set before the First Age of the Sun.

Summary: Durin with a trio of avari before the First Age of the Sun.

"What were they?" Durin leans against the stone wall that divides workspace from home, watching Culdarusco as she grinds herbs for another poultice for nir wounds. Ne should, by all rights, still be in the bed, but ne can't stand to rest in that manner when there might still be dangers to face.

"Once, some of them were our kin." Culdarusco does not look up from her work, though her expression becomes one of mixed sorrow and anger, that looks all the darker in the flickering light of the kitchen fire. "Some are not shaped right to be even twisted kin of ours."

She looks up then, meeting nir gaze steadily, watching nem for something that Durin is uncertain of. Ne has nir own thoughts on what a few of the twisted and dark creatures that had attacked could be, but ne has not yet spoken those thoughts aloud.

"None deserve to be taken by the same evil that has twisted our kin. I would not even wish such a fate on the bright one who lured so many into following his call." Culdarusco looks down at her mortar again, checking the consistency of the herbs in it. "It is time to change the bindings on your wounds again."

Leaving the subject of the twisted beings ne had fought for later, though Durin is certain the conversation is not truly over. Ne shifts away from the stone so Culdarusco can tend to the wounds the claws and teeth of the creatures have left on nem.

---

"Show me how to make your weapon."

The words are spoken quietly, without demand, but there is likewise no plea in Haldasîcil's voice or expression as he watches Durin. They are in the workshop that Haldasîcil and Tuluncerë share, with its own stone hearth against the wall, the roof above made of thin-cut slabs of stone borne up by thick rafters. It is a construction worthy of nir own people, though it is created by others.

It is not, though, a forge, nor is there an anvil upon which ne can make anything.

"I cannot make it in here - the space is ill-suited to a forge." Durin holds Haldasîcil's gaze easily. "Nor have I made a forge that does not already sit under stone, so we shall have to learn together how to build one for under the sky."

A smile curves Haldasîcil's lips, and he nods.

---

"Sleep. All of you." Culdarusco has an expression on her face that is a warning not to argue with her, and Durin tilts nir head in acknowledgement, settling with a blanket against the wall next to the door, as ne has every time ne has needed to rest.

Durin is surprised when Tuluncerë settles against the wall on the far side of the door, raising nir eyebrows in silent question. Usually the slim crafter remains with Haldasîcil in the wide bed that is enough for them all to sleep in together. It is something that ne has not seen elsewhere, but is little surprised by.

"You should not be the only one to defend us." Tuluncerë shrugs, leaning his head against the wall and closing his eyes. "If the nauca dare to come again yet. They will, I know, but they are not lingering near enough for us to know they do, and so I shall think they will not come while we sleep now."

How the three are able to tell the twisted beings are near is something that Durin has yet to learn, and ne thinks it is something inborn, rather than some manner of bond to the land. If it is, ne will not be able to recreate it in the same fashion, but it still would be of some use if ne could find a method of creating that warning.

"Rest." Culdarusco glares at nem, clearly waiting for Durin to at least close nir eyes before she will go to her own rest. Ne smiles at her, settling a little more comfortably against the wall so ne can rest as asked. Worries about the twisted enemies outside can wait for sleep.