A/N: So, I decided to make this little text of when Fili and Kili almost drown. NO SLASH!
Characters belongs to J.R.R. Tolkien. I own nothing.
Not Even The River
Fili & Kili
It was raining. Still. The mood was low between the members of the company. No one sang, joked nor told stories to cheer the others up. And the rain continued. Finally they decided to stop and take a rest. Therefore the rode over to a spinney close to the road. It wasn't as wet under the trees, as it had been at the road, but the wind shook the raindrops off the leaves, and the eternal dripping was rally annoying. They didn't even manage to make a proper fire! Dwarves can as usually make fire nearly wherever it should be, or how the weather was, even if it was wind, but the evening not even Oin and Gloin managed so, and they were especially good at this.
Kili sat close to his brother, trying to get some warmth, resting his head at Fili's shoulder. Fili was trying to keep the blanket in place around the two of them, and even that didn't work too well.
That was when one of the ponies got scared of nothing. The rope binding it to a tree, snapped, and the pony galloped toward the river not far away. Kili and Fili jumped to their feet and ran after, together with Thorin, Bilbo, Bofur, Dwalin, Nori and Dori.
"Kili! Fili!" Thorin shouted. "Come back! The river is too contend!"
Fili slowed down, but when Kili continued, he rushed after. Behind them, Thorin cursed in khuzdul.
Kili had grabbed a rope from one of the ponies, and was now binding one end of it to a half rotten tree. The other end he put around his waist. Fili reached over to him.
"Are you sure I shouldn't go instead?" he asked, holding the rope in his hands. Kili shook his head.
"Just make sure the rope don't snap before I get back," he replied as he slowly made his way down wet riverbank, until he reached the river. Thorin had been right. The river was really contend, but he couldn't let that stop him. Not when he had a chance to save the pony and the supplies.
The water was cold. The feelings left him as he slowly moved further out in the river, toward the pony. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the coldness biting his skin. He reached out to grab the reins, but the pony moved further into the middle of the river. "Come... on!" Kili growled as he again tried to reach it. Now he had the water nearly to his shoulders. He could feel the force of the river trying to pull him under.
This time he managed to get hold of the reins. Then he turned to make his way back. He felt his heart sink when he saw how far from the riverbank he had went, but he couldn't let that stop him. He had to do it. One foot in front of another. Slowly he made his way back to the others. He felt the rope around his waist tighten as Fili tried to pull him back. Tried to help him. He had nearly reached it. Just a few inches left... he grabbed a branch of the half rotten tree he had bound the rope to. It was just in time. The rope snapped, and the force of the river nearly overwhelmed him. But still he fought. He managed to hand the reins to one of the others.
"Take my hand!" Fili shouted, reaching out for him. Kili stretched toward Fili. Their fingertips touched each other.
"It's... wet!" Kili shouted, trying to get hold of his brothers hand, as his grip of the branch slowly slipped.
"Kili!" The branch disappeared, and Kili was pulled into the river. Water surrounded him. He tried to swim toward the surface, but where was the surface? Up. Where was up? He took some desperate strokes, and suddenly he could breath again. He heard the others shouting his name, but was then pulled into the river again.
"Kili! KILI!" Fili followed the river, and tried to find his brother. His baby brother. "KILI!" There. A hand. Without even thinking of the danger, he waded out into the river. He tried to grab the hand, but it disappeared again. Desperately he followed the river, and all the time shouting Kili's name. Suddenly he spotted something dark blue which seemed very similar to Kili's coat. He waded further out, not noticing the water which always tried to pull him under, and grabbed the back of the coat. Then he began making his way back. Water washed over his head, and when he got his head over surface again, he spat water, and then continued.
"Grab the branch, lad!" Bofur shouted. Fili glanced up, and spotted the branch Bofur was talking about. He grabbed it with one hand, holding Kili close with the other arm. Hands grabbed them and hauled them back at the riverbank. Voices asking if they were okay, and then Thorin commanding them to pull away so he could see his nephews.
Space was made, and finally Fili could put Kili down. Fili's hands were slightly trembling, as he turned Kili over on his back.
"Kili?" he asked. His voice seemed thin and not his, but it was he who spoke. Kili didn't move. His eyes were closed, his mouth half open, and he was laying still – not a muscle moving. "Kili!" Fili felt his heart pounding fast in his chest. It couldn't be true. Kili couldn't be... No. He just... couldn't!
Then Thorin was there. "Kili!" he shouted, before slapping the youngster. It didn't give any results. Again Fili called his brother's name. There was no number for how many times he called, and all the time Kili laid still.
"Kili..." His voice had turned to sobbing, and he bowed his head. "Please!" Suddenly a small tremble went through Kili, before he rolled over on his side and started convulsing. Most water came up, and when it finally stopped, he rolled back on his back, trembling, and pale.
"Fi – li," he croaked. Fili took Kili's hand, and pressed his lips against it. He didn't know any other way to express how happy he was. His baby brother was alive.
"Does it hurt anywhere?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper.
"It hurts... to breath..." Kili muttered. Fili carefully lifted him into his arms and held him as close as he dared. "And... my head..."
"It'll be okay," Fili whispered. "Just relax." At first, Kili's breath went fast against his neck, but then it slowly became more normal.
A/N: Please, review and tell me what you think, and if I did it well.