"This is not a good idea."
Dis scoffed at her older brother, the babe in her arms squirming slightly. "And what harm could it possibly do? Besides to your 'reputation'?" She snorted on the last word, rolling her eyes slightly as she rocked the fussing child.
"Because, he's, well, you know. How will he fit in here, in Ered Luin? The other children will surely mock him. Not to mention Fili," Thorin grumped, folding his arms over his chest.
"Oh, I see. So, you would rather see me leave the poor babe off in the woods, where he'll either die of starvation, or be eaten by Aule only knows what? Of course, that is so much of a better idea, Thorin, I have no idea what I was thinking," Dis deadpanned, staring blankly at her brother.
Thorin shifted slightly from foot to foot, fidgeting his arms around a little, before throwing them up in the air. "Fine. Fine! I should have known better than to try and argue with you, stubborn as a mule you are."
Dis smirked at Thorin, before turning to coo at the child that had finally settled in her arms, big brown eyes blinking owlishly up at her. "Your uncle is a silly dwarf, yes he is," she hummed, smiling as the babe giggled and tugged at her jewelry.
~
"FILI!"
"Leave him alone!"
Kili finally managed to yank his arms away from the other two dwarflings that had held him captive, stumbling a few feet away, before turning a glare at them and wiping a trickle of blood from his nose. Fili jogged over and promptly boxed both the other children around the ears.
"You leave my brother alone, you hear?! If I find out either one of you have come after him again, I'll make sure your families are shamed! We are Durins!" Fili snapped, the dwarflings before him exchanging mild looks of disgust.
"He's not a Durin," the girl scoffed, popping her hands onto her hips, "He's an elf! A dirty, nasty, tree shagging elf! Look at his ears!" She pointed at Kili, who shrunk away a bit, tugging his hair over the points of his ears.
"Yeah!" the boy chipped in from beside his accomplice, "He deserves what he gets, for thinking he could fit in with us. His kind are trash!"
Fili snarled, before pouncing on the boy, Kili rushing forward to aid his brother, before a booming voice called out and made all the children freeze.
"And just what is going on here?!"
"They started it!" the girl screeched, scampering off before she could be caught. Her friend managed to struggle out from beneath Fili and head for the hills after her before he could be scolded as well.
"Boys," Thorin rumbled as he stepped up behind the two, who looked up at their uncle, shame faced.
"It wasn't anything," Kili mumbled, looking away, Fili puffing up in anger.
"It was, so! Those two were beating Kili up, and calling him a-a-they were bringing disgrace to the house of Durin!" Fili barked, yanking Kili closer. "And you are not anything they said, you hear? You are a Dwarf of the line of Durin."
Thorin paused, listening to Fili, before crouching before the boys, and placing a hand on Kili's shoulder. "Is what your brother saying true?"
Kili shuffled his feet a bit, before heaving a sigh and nodding. Thorin frowned, squeezing the boys shoulder in affection. "Fili is right. You are a dwarf of Durin's line. Don't let what the others say about your appearance get to you."
Kili nodded and offered his uncle a timid smile, before Fili dragged him off to practice sparring.
~
"A bow and arrow?" Dis asked, arching an eyebrow at Thorin as he set the weapon on the table.
"He's all right with a sword, but the boy really does much better with long distance weaponry," Thorin reasoned, going through the arrows to make sure none of the fletch's were damaged.
"This will only make their talk worse," Dis murmured, running her fingers over the delicately carved wood, worry for her son evident on her face.
"Then let them talk," Thorin growled, setting the quiver on the table, "Kili is my nephew, and your son. And he has earned his place in this village. If they can't accept him now, they never will, so what matter does it make? The boy is happiest when he is comfortable, and if that means he is happier with a bow and arrow than a sword, who are we to argue?"
Dis sighed and nodded, letting her fingers skim away from the bow. "You're right," she sighed, planting a smile on her face when she heard her boys returning from town.
~
"We're going to slay a dragon!" Kili announced drunkenly, half hanging off his brother for balance, tankard lolling in his other hand. He'd somehow managed to keep most of the beer he'd sloshed about off his own clothes.
"Erebor will be ours once more!" Fili pipped in, clunking his own tankard against his brothers, a short burst of cheers resounding from the pub around them.
"And Thorin is really going to let a filthy elf step foot into our mountain?" a faceless voice shouted back at the joyous ramblings of the brothers. The two stopped, Fili looking about in anger, while Kili sighed, and sunk a little into his seat.
"Who said that?!" Fili barked, sitting up and slamming his tankard onto the table. When no one fessed up, but the tension in the pub was palpable, the brothers left, their spirits much lower than they had been before.
~
"Rivendell is huge," Kili murmured, clutching at the strap for his quiver as they were escorted through magnificent halls to their designated sleeping area.
"Aye. Still, not as grand as Erebor will be," Fili said with a brilliant grin, nudging his brother with his shoulder. The two chuckled as they walked, Kili pointing out random bits of finery and architecture that caught his eye, while Fili continuously remarked how elvish goods would never match the majesty of dwarven made goods.
"Master, uh…dwarf," a young elven lady demurred, smiling hesitantly at the brothers as they paused in making fun of a rather pretentious statue, both turning to give her twin looks of curiosity. "I apologize for the intrusion, but I couldn't help but notice at dinner, you seemed rather intrigued by the flutes."
Kili tipped his head slightly, eyeing the flute the elf held out towards him, glancing at his brother, who looked absolutely bewildered. "Ah, well, yes. But, purely for mechanical reasons. Dwarven flutes, or, well, whistles really, they don't look like that. And the sound is very different. I was simply curious as to the way the sound was changed, due to the shape, s'all."
The elven lady laughed quietly, pressing the flute into Kili's hand. "A gift, then. To sate your curiosity," she murmured, pressing a quick kiss to Kili's cheek, before wandering off down the hallway.
"What in the name of Durin, was that about?" Fili groused, taking the flute from Kili's hand and twirling it around between his fingers, frowning slightly at the delicate elven silver work.
"I haven't the faintest," Kili grumbled, letting his brother have the flute.
~
"We are leaving! The elves don't want us reclaiming our homeland, and to be frank, I do not think I can stomach another moment in this place," Thorin announced once he'd made sure the doors to their sleeping hall had been closed, sniffing angrily. "Their pretentious attitude will drive me to insanity."
Kili joined in the laughter of the other dwarves, but couldn't help feel the slightest pang of hurt at his uncle's words.
~
"And what are you even doing, totting an elf around with you, like he's some sort of prize?" Thranduil spat in Thorin's face, scowling at the king.
"He is my nephew," Thorin snarled, pulling himself up to his full height, and pressing forward into Thranduil's space as much as he could in restraints, "He is no elf."
Thranduil blinked, before a slow smirk curled his lips. "Oh, my my. The proclaimed hater of all things elven has an elf in the family! So what does he do? Bury the boys history like a dirty secret and raises him like a dwarf. Of course," the elf sneered, looking Thorin up and down with a derisive snort. "Does he even realize his lineage? Or have you convinced him he's just an odd little dwarf that doesn't fit in?"
Thorin bared his teeth, yanking at the bonds restraining his arms as Thranduil chuckled at him. "That's it, isn't it? Poor child probably thinks he's a freak. Pointy ears, beardless, and a penchant for a bow and arrow where he should be wielding a sword. Doubtless that he had no friends growing up, the way you pushed that stigma on elves. Oh, bravo to you, Thorin Oakenshield. Bravo."
~
"Why do you keep calling me an elf?!" Kili snapped at the young prince on the other side of the cell door, reaching out to rattle the bars and startle the elfling away.
"Why, because you are," Legolas stated simply, after having stepped back from Kili's outburst.
"I am nothing like you," the dwarf spat, slamming the flat of his hand against the bars of the door.
Legolas cocked his head slightly, watching Kili carefully, his gaze slowly roving over to his elder brother who was standing back and away from the door. "You should probably explain things to him. It might make things easier," the elfling hummed, smiling vaguely at Kili, before wandering down the hall.
Kili then rounded on Fili, a snarl on his face. "What is he talking about?!" he raged, pulling at his hair. "I am not an elf! Why does everyone keep calling me an elf?!" He sunk to the floor, sucking in deep breaths to try and keep his frustrated tears at bay. "I am a dwarf."
Fili sighed and moved to curl around his brother on the floor, combing his fingers through his hair to calm him down.
~
"But, why did mother keep me? Why didn't she take me to Rivendell? Why, uncle?" Kili pleaded, huddled in a blanket near the fire. The people of Laketown had been most accommodating to them, after their stint down the river in barrels.
Thorin watched his nephew for a moment, before moving to sit next to him, fiddling with the mug of hot tea in his hands, before wrapping an arm around the shivering boy next to him. "Because she loved you," he said honestly, half shrugging a shoulder. "She found you, abandoned, near the woods. I told her we should not raise you, but she insisted. We had no idea where you'd come from, or who had left you there, but Dis was adamant that she was meant to find you. And when Fili first saw you, well, to say he was delighted to have a baby brother would have probably been an understatement. You are a dwarf of the line of Durin. There is no arguments to be had in that respect. You are Dis' son, and my nephew. Your lineage cannot change that. Just because you have no beard, and pointy ears, it doesn't make you any less of a dwarf."
Kili turned a watery gaze towards his uncle, a small smile on his face as he pulled an arm out of his blanket to give his uncle a one armed hug. The two shared a peaceful silence as they watched the fire crackle before them.