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The small girl awoke in the stables, the one unharmed bit of the Inn remaining. She lay on soft hay with a warm blanket on her and she breathed in the pleasant smell. She coughed as her airways burned. The smoke had done no permanent damage, but she was still recovering. Wondering how long she had been asleep, she gazed out from the stables and at the sky. It was near afternoon, as best she could tell. Sitting up, she checked herself over. She had not been harmed seriously, but her skin was covered with dirt and soot, and an unpleasant lingering smell of smoke remained on her.
Her eyes widened as the wonderful aroma of warm, home-made soup made her way to her. The other wounded people around her seemed to notice it as well, and she saw a young hobbit girl making her way to each of them with a bowl of soup. When receiving her own bowl, she cradled it with care and looked up at the young hobbit with warm brown eyes, speaking volumes of gratitude. She quickly finished the delicious soup and lay back down again, curling the blanket around her.
Who had saved her? She vaguely remembered a black beard and a husky voice...and an axe! Yes, that's right, he had an axe! She remembered. He had not been tall, but he had been very strong and compact...she paused, thinking. Had she been rescued by a dwarf? She giggled to herself and smiled. She had never met a dwarf before! How wonderful! She would have to find him and thank him, it was only proper.
Almost near sleep once more, she suddenly heard a woman speak above the crowds. "So I must ask you all - who here will help us to rebuild the Green Dragon Inn?" She recognized the woman as the one who had owned the former Inn.
She needed a home. She needed a family. Most of all, she needed to stop running. Getting to her small feet, the young girl made her way through the crowd near Aman and stood behind her. Tugging at the hem of her dress, she waited until she had Aman's attention and spoke as seriously as she could in her child's voice. "I'll help you Miss Aman. My name's Hindolen, but you can call me Indy." she said. Her brown eyes glowed with a soft warmth and her blonde hair, dirty and mussed as it was, seemed to frame perfectly her tiny dirt-smudged face with its pouty smile and button nose.
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