An: Hello! So this is the sequel to my fic Place Unknown. I said I would write it and even though I had some problems making the plot work, I managed to do it at the end so here I am now.
Some of you who clicked this fic open haven't probably read Place Unknown, so you can either go read it first or you can just read the short summary of it, which I will write below these sentences (it includes the whole plot minus some details, so if you want to read the fic I suggest you don't read the summary). If you have read it, welcome back! You may just ignore the rambling below and start reading if you so wish.
In Place Unknown, Fili and Kili are traveling home from the Iron Hills. The brothers are denied from spending a night in Lake-Town, so they sleep on the bank of the lake, near the edge of Mirkwood. Kili can't sleep, so at night he wanders off and into the forest, where he meets unfriendly elves. He is taken to the palace, and after some stuff happens, Thranduil decides to keep Kili there as a prisoner. He spends the entire winter there, but after befriending the right elves in the spring, he manages to escape. With the help of some humans and another dwarf, Kili is able to return home. He only tells the truth to Fili - he tells everyone else he got injured in a fight with goblins, and had to stay with some people until he was healed enough to travel back home.
Other stuff you probably need to know about characters I came up with (and other stuff) I'll explain in the AN's of the chapters you get to know these people/whatnot so that this Author Note doesn't get too long. Nobody will read it if it's too long and yeah :D
-Set slightly before, during and after the quest. Oh and it's not a deathfic. Everyone lives happily ever after (what denial? never heard of that) C:
-Contains hurt, but those who know me know that it's nothing too major or too graphic :) I'm a kind(ish) writer
-This fic contains slight Kiliel feels, but nothing major or big or plot-affecting. Other than that, no slash of any kind
Enough of my blabbering! Have fun reading this.
"No", Dís said in her hardest, strictest voice. "I will not send you on this dangerous quest, Kili."
"What are you so afraid, ma?" Kili cried, looking at his mother in desperation. "That I'll get hurt? That I'll die?"
"Yes!" came an instant reply from his mother. Dís crossed her arms as Kili struggled to find the words to answer with. "Have you forgotten about what happened when you wandered off on your own? The goblins, how you almost died? I cannot take the risk of losing you!"
"And yet Fili has the permission to go!" Kili yelled, glancing at his brother who stood beside him, eyeing the floor silently. "How is that fair?"
"Fili is smarter than you! He doesn't get in trouble the way you do!"
"We would be safe together - we'd look out for each other like always before! You cannot deny me from going when he can go!" Kili yelled, this time angrier. It was so unfair!
"Don't you scream at me", snapped Dís, "I said no, and it means no!"
"Fili, say something!" Kili pleaded for help, turning to look at him again. "Please!"
Sighing, Fili raised his head to see their mother. "She's right, ma. We've always been safe when we're together.. this quest wouldn't be an exception."
Dís shook her head once more and drew in a long breath. "No. You are going on a quest to reclaim Erebor from a dragon, and who knows that kind of dangers you meet before you even reach Erebor? I just cannot send you there, Kili, no matter how unfair you think it is. I cannot risk losing you. So I'm sorry, but you are not going."
Groaning in anger and frustration, Kili spun around and stormed out of their house into the bright day outside. He had no idea where he'd go, he just knew that he needed some place he could cool off in peace or he'd do something he would most probably regret.
He could hear Fili running after him and calling his name. "Let me be!" Kili yelled at him, not bothering to turn around to see Fili or to stop walking. "I need to be alone."
Fili sighed, stopping on his tracks. "Fine", he called out, understanding his brother better than well. "Just be safe!"
And so he just stood there, thinking hard, as his brother disappeared from the view. He agreed with Kili and would have wanted to share the adventure with him, but on the other hand he also wanted Kili to stay home where he would be safe. It was hard for him to pick a side in the fight between Kili and their mother, but then again, he was glad he wasn't on anybody's side.
Finally he drew in a breath and started walking towards the town. He couldn't leave his brother home alone for Mahal knows how long - and like they both had said earlier, they were safer when they were together. They took care of each other and made sure the other brother was safe, it was just how they acted. He needed to find Thorin.. maybe he could help.
xx
It was already dark when Kili returned home. He had spent the day wandering around and avoiding others, taking the isolated paths instead of the busy ones. He was still angry, a little less perhaps but angry anyways. Or maybe disappointed was a better way to describe his feelings. He was disappointed in Dís and himself, and little in kind of everyone for no reason at all.
As he opened the front door, the first person he saw was Fili. He was sitting by the kitchen table, eating some kind of soup from one of their bowls.
"Hi", Kili muttered as he walked in. Fili raised his head to look at his younger brother and flashed him a humorless grin.
"Hi to you too. Ma is upstairs if you're wondering."
"Nah, I'd rather not see her."
"Yeah..", Fili replied and sighed. "Listen, Kili-"
"I get it, I get it, you don't want me to come because I'm 'too reckless, too young and too stupid'. I know", Kili cut his brother off and sat on the other side of the table before groaning in frustration and hiding his face in his palms. "I'm sorry, Fili. I'm kinda.. still kind of angry. I'm sorry."
Fili snorted, nodding. "Yeah, it's fine. But I was about to say that I did some thinking, and then went to uncle Thorin. He promised to help get you on the quest with us after I explained that we'd be safer together. Who knows what kind of trouble you'd get in, since you'd be alone in here for months."
"Really?" Kili asked, raising his head from his hands. His eyes seemed to twinkle in excitement. "But- didn't Thorin leave for the meeting?"
"He left maybe an hour ago, just before the sunset. He had time to talk with ma."
"What did she say?"
"Well, there was a lot of yelling once again", Fili chuckled, dropping his spoon onto the table, "but at the end of their fight ma calmed down, and uncle looked quite pleased when he left. So I don't know what will happen, but at least she probably thinks about it some more."
Kili smiled, ducking his head a little. "Sounds better than great. Thanks for that."
When they had both eaten a little -Kili too decided to eat some soup, because he had spent the whole day outside and hadn't eaten anything since breakfast- they headed upstairs to their room. It was quite late, so both of them looked forward to a good sleep and the next morning, when everyone would hopefully be in a better mood.
xx
"We'll tell you everything about our adventure when we meet again", Fili said, throwing his arm over Gimli's shoulders. The youngest one shook it off angrily. "Hey, we promise!" Fili laughed, leaning back a little on the grass he was sitting on.
"Yeah", Kili joined in with a teasing twinkle in his eyes. "I swear we will tell you everything, although I doubt there will be a lot to tell. Just many boring nights around a fire - and, of course, slaying a dragon but that's really not interesting."
Gimli slapped Kili's arm and Kili flinched back before laughing out loud. The youngest of them looked jealous, which he most probably was. He had begged his father to go with him on the quest to claim back the Lonely Mountain, but Gloin hadn't given him the permission to come. Too young, he had said.
"I swear, one day I will go on an adventure just like you and you aren't coming with me!" Gimli claimed, glaring at the brothers.
"Come on, Gimli, you wouldn't survive without us", Fili laughed and exchanged an amused look with his brother. "We'll miss you, okay? I wish you could come, but it was already hard to get Kili to come because of his age-"
"I'm not a child", Kili groaned. "You're only four years older than me, Fili."
"I know! But tell that to mom", Fili replied with a chuckle. "She let you go in the end, didn't she?"
"Yeah", Kili muttered and shoved his hand into his pocket, feeling the smooth stone in there. Dís had given it to him as a reminder of his promise to come back to her. As if he wouldn't remember it - but it made Dís feel better, and that was all that mattered. And anyways, Kili kind of liked it. It was a memory from his mother, and when Kili was old he could look at the stone and remember the adventure as well as Dís.
"Anyways... Gimli, you're even younger", Fili continued and sighed, smirking apologetically.
"Quit the sensitizing, I'm tired of you two anyways", Gimli said with a serious expression, but his voice had some kind of amusement in it. "When I come to Erebor, you'll have to show me around."
"Sounds great", Kili grinned, nodding.
xx
And then the morning came. The brothers had new outfits, minus the boots since they were pretty new anyways. Kili had bought new arrows and Fili had cleaned his swords, daggers and knives (Dís had been kind of worried of Fili and the amount of sharp objects he carried inside his clothes, but hadn't said a word) really well.
They ate a huge breakfast with their mother, not really talking much because of the excitement that lingered in the air. Kili felt like he could have eaten a horse, but Fili's appetite was pretty much gone. Still he forced some food down his throat, knowing that he wouldn't get food until they reached Mr. Boggins' house.
"I will miss you both so much", Dís said as she pulled her sons into a warm embrace. She hugged them tight and closed her eyes - was she really doing this? Sending her only sons on a highly dangerous quest to the other side of the world? She was scared, but also so, so proud. Her sons were strong, clever and courageous.. maybe too much for their own best at times, but still.
She had raised her boys well.
"We'll miss you too, ma", Kili replied as he felt Dís' hair scraping his cheek. "We'll send you letters, we promise."
"Yeah", Fili agreed and smiled into his mother's hair.
Dís took a step back, breaking the hug. First she turned to Kili and cupped his face into her hands. "Be careful. Listen to Fili - he knows better than you, okay?"
"I know, I know", Kili laughed and nodded a little.
"Remember your promise", Dís added, giving her youngest son a meaningful look. "I will come get you from the afterlife myself if you do something that foolish, and I will drag you back by your hair. Okay?"
Both of the brothers chuckled, and Kili nodded again. "I won't, ma. Don't worry too much. We'll both be alright."
Dís smiled and nodded, placing a kiss on Kili's forehead before turning to her other son, who's face she also cupped in the same manner.
"Fili, Fili.. you heard what I told your brother, that also applies to you. Stay out of trouble, or you will be in serious trouble when we meet again!" Dís said and smiled, looking at Fili. She was so proud of him for being as trustworthy as he was, and a great brother as well as a son. She had no doubt Fili would manage well on the quest. "Don't forget to lecture your uncle for me if he does something stupid. Kili, too. Keep him out of trouble."
"I will, ma", Fili replied with a smile. "We will be just fine! Don't forget that there will be fourteen of us -and a wizard- and we will all look out for each other. Nothing can happen to us."
"I know", Dís answered and kissed Fili on the forehead. "Now go, or you'll be late! Dwalin and Balin already left, so I saw. Do you have the map with you?"
"Yeah", Kili nodded. "Mr. Boggins must be waiting for us to arrive soon anyways. Didn't he say that we'd have to be there for tea?"
So this was kind of an.. intro, of some kind? Prologue or something. And yeah, I wanted to show you guys my version of the whole thingy. Next chapter will be the first real one.
I'm not sure when I publish the next chapter, but it's hopefully soon!
Anyhow! Review, what'd you think?
