Information to help comprehension of certain aspects of Tolkein's world will be in the notes after every chapter. This work will be following the book to an extent, while also following Jackson's invented Kíli plotline. However, there will be deviations from the original storyline.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Hobbit.
The endless waves of pain began to recede as Kíli struggled towards consciousness. His leg still felt as if it were on fire, but the pain had lessened.
Dimly, Kíli heard voices, sounding as if they were a world away from him. One of the voices he recognized as the most important one in his life, a voice he had heard almost every day for seventy-seven years. Fíli. He sounded worried, upset. Kíli tried to claw his way to consciousness. He had to get to his brother.
With a gasp, Kíli resurfaced into awareness. "Kíli!" Fíli cried, his conversation abruptly cutting off. "Kíli, how are you feeling?"
"What happened?" Kíli gasped. Fíli frowned with worry.
"Tauriel saved you. Don't you remember?" Suddenly, Kíli did, but he wished he didn't. Do you think she could ever love me? In Mahal's name, had he actually said that?
"Where…" Kíli asked, his voice breaking before he could finish the sentence.
"We're in Bard's house," Fíli answered. "Óin, Bofur, and Bard's children are in the other room. Tauriel-"
"I am here," Tauriel interrupted, stepping forward. Kíli met her eyes for a breathless instant, then he looked away. Shame coursed through his body as the memory of his words flashed in his mind again. Damn it all.
"What of the dragon and the rest of the Company?" Kíli asked, his voice rasping and hoarse. Fíli shot a sideways look at Tauriel.
"We've heard nothing of them. But we did hear the dragon. It seems Smaug has awoken." Kíli tensed. That was bad news, he knew. And it meant the rest of the Company was in grave danger.
"Do you think they can slay him?" Kíli asked, struggling to sit up. Tauriel aided him, but she only allowed him to prop himself up in a slightly more upright position, not sit all the way up. Perhaps that was good; even just propped up, Kíli felt slightly faint.
"Perhaps," Fíli replied, but he didn't look very optimistic. Kíli knew what that meant. Thorin, along with all the others, could very likely die.
"Your friends will wish to know you are awake," Tauriel murmured, standing and stepping away from the bed, leaving the brothers alone for a moment. Once she was out of sight, Fíli grabbed Kíli tightly and hugged him.
"Don't ever do that again," he hissed. "I thought you were going to die."
"What, and leave you all alone?" Kíli asked, trying to add a bit of levity to the situation. Fíli let out what sounded like a choked sob.
"If Tauriel hadn't arrived when she did, you would have been lost. Óin himself thought you were beyond saving."
"I thought he'd have more faith in me," Kíli replied lightheartedly. Fíli didn't laugh.
"Kíli, please. Take this seriously. I don't know what I would do if you were to die."
"I won't. That'll solve the problem," Kíli replied. Fíli did chuckle a bit at that.
"As if it were that easy."
"I have my big brother watching out for me," Kíli replied easily. Fíli looked as if he were about to respond when Óin and Bofur came in and rushed to Kíli's bedside.
"Oh, am I glad to see you awake, laddie," Bofur said with a grin and a clap to Kíli's shoulder. Óin didn't bother with pleasantries and immediately went to take the bandages off Kíli's leg.
"Oi!" Kíli demanded as his leg flared with pain. Fíli glared at Óin, obviously about ready to pull him away from Kíli.
"I need to check the lad's leg," Óin retorted, giving Fíli a dirty look of his own. Kíli put his hand on Fíli's.
"I'm fine," he told him, his voice only slightly strained. Fíli relaxed, but only a bit.
"I am not highly trained in the healing arts," Tauriel said softly, stepping into the room on soundless feet. She had an apologetic tone to her words. "I ejected the poison, but I could not do much to fix the wound itself. And it will be slow to heal, if it ever fully recovers at all."
"What do you mean, if it fully recovers?" Kíli asked, beginning to feel a slight trepidation.
"I have heard stories that Morgul poisons often leave lasting effects," Tauriel replied. "I don't know if you will have these effects; not all people do." The thought of being left with a permanent limp filled Kíli with a sense of horror, but he didn't say anything. His distress must have shown on his face, however, judging by the look Fíli shot Tauriel. "But there are not many accounts, and none that are recent," she added, clearly trying to sound comforting. "And many cases are wildly exaggerated. It is highly likely you'll make a full recovery." Kíli wasn't fully convinced. Óin's expression when he saw Kíli's leg didn't help matters.
"I think it'll heal," he said tentatively. Kíli looked and wished he hadn't. The wound wasn't as bad as it had been before, but it was still clearly a deep and serious wound. There was a gasp from behind Tauriel and Kíli saw Bard's youngest daughter, Tilda, with a look of horrified disgust on her face. Next to her were Sigrid and Bain, but not their father.
"Where is Bard?" Kíli asked, only then realizing that Fíli hadn't mentioned him earlier when he told Kíli where everyone was. Fíli didn't look happy about the question.
"Bard was taken by the Master of Lake-town."
"What?" Kíli demanded, trying to sit up straighter. Fíli put his hands on Kíli's shoulders to stop the movement.
"We'll free him, but you must stay here."
"I can help!" Kíli protested, struggling against Fíli's hands.
"And you will," Fíli replied, still not letting Kíli sit up. "You can help us plan how to get Bard out. You've always been the clever one. Help figure it out."
The words I don't know how were on the tip of Kíli's tongue when Tilda came over to him shyly. "Please, Master Dwarf," she whispered. "Please free my father."
"I owe your father a debt, child," Kíli replied, unable to think of denying her. "He took me in and kept me from death. If he can be rescued, we will do it."
Tilda threw her arms around Kíli in a burst of gratitude no one was expecting. Sigrid took a step forward, as if to pull Tilda off, but Kíli gently wrapped his arms around the little girl before Sigrid could reach them. "Thank you," Tilda whispered. Kíli smiled and pressed a gentle kiss to Tilda's hair.
"All will be well," he promised, and he hoped it wasn't a lie.
Tilda pulled out of the hug a moment later, but she stayed right next to Kíli. "How would you suggest we go about freeing Bard?" Fíli asked his brother. Kíli sighed, thinking.
"We'd need to do it in a way they're not expecting. Does the Master even know we're here?"
"Perhaps," Bofur replied. "He's got spies everywhere. I wouldn't count on thinking he doesn't."
"Alright. How many men are guarding Bard?" Fíli and Bofur looked at each other. Kíli sighed. "You don't know?"
"I told you you'd be the best at this," Fíli replied sheepishly. Kíli shook his head fondly.
"You're hopeless," he sighed. "Well, the first thing we need to do is figure out where Bard is and who's guarding him."
"My father gave me his Black Arrow to hide," Bain piped in. "And I might know where to find him."
"I must see if Legolas is still here," Tauriel added. "But I will return after I search the town. If I see any sign of Bard, I will tell you."
"Thank you," Kíli replied, inclining his head at Tauriel slightly. He could barely look at her without remembering his idiotic words, but that would not stop him from doing his job to help Fíli and the others.
Tauriel nodded before leaping out the window. Kíli looked back at the others. "Well, what are you waiting for?" he demanded of Fíli. "You and Bofur should go and see if you can find out where the Master is holding Bard. Óin and I will watch the children."
"I want to do what I can to help," Bain said firmly. Sigrid nodded.
"And I," she added. Kíli gave them a soft smile.
"And you shall. But, until we have a plan, the thing you can do to help the most is to stay here. You can help us watch Tilda. I don't know how much I will be able to do." Kíli gestured at his leg, which was starting to hurt again.
"But we will be alright, won't we?" Tilda asked, pulling on Kíli's hair gently to get his attention. "You'll get our father back and we'll all be alright."
"You'll be alright. All will be well," Kíli replied, tousling Tilda's hair slightly. "I promise it."
Fíli and Bofur shot Kíli a look before they left the house. Óin disappeared into the corner, doing something with some herbs, and Kíli found himself left alone with the children. Tilda was practically in his lap, but Bain and Sigrid had maintained a distance. Kíli could see that they needed comfort as well, however, and he held his arms out towards them.
"Shall I tell you a story?" he asked. Bain made a face as he approached.
"I'm too old for stories," he complained. Kíli nodded. If he compared dwarf years to human years, he wouldn't be that much older than Bain and Sigrid. But he was still the eldest of the four, and he had to be there for the children.
"I know," Kíli replied in an undertone. "But I believe it might help calm Tilda, and she will be more inclined to listen if you at least act as though you are as well."
"Ah." Bain nodded. Kíli turned to Tilda.
"Do you wish to hear a story?" he asked her. She nodded shyly. "Very well. Have you heard the story of how Mahal created the dwarves?" The children shook their heads, so Kíli dropped his voice to the proper storytelling tone and began.
"Long ago, before even the elves were born, Mahal was tired of waiting for someone to whom he teach his crafts…"
The idea of Morgul poison leaving lasting effects was derived from information given about Frodo's wound from a Morgul blade inThe Lord of the Rings. The wound continued to pain him for years, and the only complete cure was when he left for the Undying Lands.
The story Kíli tells Bard's children is the story of the creation of the dwarves, in which Mahal (also known as Aulë) created dwarves due to his impatience for life to be created, even though the elves were supposed to be the first beings to live in Middle Earth.