Hey everyone! This is just something that came to mind some day, and I finally had the time to write it down.
AU version of the "Thorin taking on Azog on his own" scene at the end of AUJ - what if the eagles had arrived later? How far would Fíli and Kíli have gone in order to save their uncle?
Three-shot, which is already finished, so the fic will be complete by the end of the week. (I know I could have made it a one-shot, but it just fit to divide it into three chapters. Feel free to put off reading until the last one is out. ;))
Rated T for language and some violence. Hurt!Kíli, protective!awesome!Fíli.
If you fall then I will, too
1: Defending
"Thorin, no."
The words left Fíli's lips almost soundlessly as he watched his uncle running towards Azog. Everything seemed to slow down around him, the noises were drowned out, and all he could see was his uncle brandishing his sword as he approached the pale orc. He knew in that moment that Thorin didn't stand a chance, and still he was almost paralysed where he hung on to the branch above him with one hand, balancing on another branch when around him and his companions the trees were burning. His gaze was set on the dark-haired dwarf, and he heard someone scream when Azog threw Thorin to the ground. It was only seconds later that Fíli realised it had been himself.
"Kíli, we've got to –", he shouted, but when he looked at his brother he could see that the younger one was staring horror-struck at the scenery below, and his stomach clenched upon seeing his little brother so scared. He hadn't seen that expression in his eyes ever since their adventure with the stone giants, and he had then wished to never witness it again.
In that moment the warg buried its fangs into Thorin's limp body, and suddenly Fíli saw red. He could feel his blood boiling, his vision became blurry, all he could see was that his uncle was about to die before his very eyes.
"Thorin, noooo!"
It was a cry of so much anguish that it made Fíli's heart grow cold. He had never known that Dwalin could sound so terrified.
"Noooo!" someone cried out, and a small figure sprinted forward and crossed the distance between the trees and the fallen dwarf.
"Bilbo," breathed Fíli, "oh no, Bilbo..."
Kíli turned his head, fear and fury being reflected from his dark eyes, and in a split second of mutual understanding the two brothers jumped off the tree.
Somewhere beside him Fíli could see another dwarf rush by, he could barely make out who it was with everything being blurred around him, but he heard his battle cry echoing louder than the rustling of the flames and the cheers of the orcs and the growls of the wargs. The only thing he could really see, though, was the orc holding a blade at his uncle's throat, and his mind reeled.
He cannot die. He cannot die.
Like a mantra he repeated the words in his head, while his legs moved on their own accord but refused to run faster.
"Dwalin!" yelled Fíli in despair when he saw Bilbo taking on the orc on his own. The bald warrior didn't reply, but ran towards the hobbit, axe raised above his head. Fíli watched horrified as Bilbo killed the orc and found himself facing Azog and his warg.
"Get away from him!" roared Dwalin just when the orc leader sent forth his inferiors to end Bilbo's life. The last thing Fíli saw of his friend was the dwarf burying his axe in the orc's head.
Fíli rushed on, finally getting to Thorin, and he felt an icy grip clenching his heart when his gaze fell onto the still form of his uncle. He wasn't moving, and blood was covering his face and staining his coat somewhere beneath his chest. The young dwarf fell to his knees at Thorin's side.
"Uncle?" he whispered, scared for a moment by his own, almost timid, voice. He reached out his hand to feel for a pulse, and his own breath left him when he could find none. His uncle's skin was deathly cold under his fingers as he pressed his index and middle finger against the side of his neck where he needed to find a sign of life.
"Come on, Thorin," he mumbled, feeling despair washing over him, "don't do this, don't –"
"Fíli!"
He flinched when he heard Kíli's voice from somewhere in the blur. He looked up, and not a moment too soon. He saw only a huge shadow above him, and he reacted instinctively, wielding his sword and stabbing the mighty warg with all force he could muster. The beast shrieked and retreated, giving Fíli the time to find his footing and to balance his twin swords in his hands.
The orc urged its mount to go on, and the warg bared its teeth as it approached Fíli.
Fíli was surprised about his own calmness. He didn't move, but waited for his opponent to strike first, knowing that in that split second of jumping forward, the warg would be defenceless.
"You want his head, you have to get past us first," he growled.
Us.
Oh no, Kíli. He had been right beside him.
"Kíli!" he yelled, for a moment taking his eyes off the orc, searching desperately for any sign of his brother. "Kíli!"
In that instant the orc seized its chance, and the warg leapt forward. Before Fíli's mind had time to fully process the assault, his body reacted, moving his right arm and burying the sword deep into the warg's neck. Red, hot blood poured out of the wound, and Fíli gasped involuntarily when he felt his hand getting covered in the animal's blood. He must have severed an artery, and the shrieks of the dying creature filled Fíli's ears, but he couldn't afford to pay any attention to it. The orc was still alive, and it didn't waste time. Sword clashed against sword, the impact of the orc's weapon on his own sword vibrating through Fíli's body as he parried the attack.
Fíli fought like he had never fought before, handling his swords with ease, but every now and then chancing a glance at his uncle or searching for his brother.
The orc raised its sword high above its ugly head, a malicious grin on its face, and Fíli realised that the creature had made a mistake. He rushed forwards, and a war cry escaped his lips as he plunged his sword into the orc's chest. It died with a look of surprise on its face, as if it couldn't quite believe that a dwarf had had the cheek to end it.
Desperately Fíli glanced at Thorin again, but found another orc coming nearer before he could even check on his uncle. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion as he slayed the orc, and another one, all the time feeling the fear inside him grow the longer he couldn't find his brother.
Another orc fell by his sword, and finally he had time to catch his breath. The fire was burning around him, irradiating heat adding to the sweat running down his forehead. His arms were aching, shivering from exertion, but he ignored it. It didn't matter. All that mattered was his uncle lying at his feet.
Slowly Fíli kneeled down, afraid of what he might find.
He cannot be dead. He cannot be dead.
He laid his hand onto Thorin's breast, and his fingers, which were still coated in the warg's blood, were almost invisible against his uncle's own blood-stained tunic.
It was then that he heard the scream, and his heart froze.
"Kíli!"
He scrambled to his feet, turning around, frantically searching for the source of that agonised cry, all the while refusing to step away from his uncle.
He found him, all of a sudden, the black hair and dark clothes like camouflage against the earthy ground. Kíli was lying in his back, and to Fíli's horror an orc was looming above him, one foot on his brother's forearm, another on his chest, pinning him in place. His sword was lying only inches away from his right hand, but out of reach for Kíli due to the heavy orc boot rendering his sword arm useless. The orc raised its weapon, the blade was glinting in the light of the flames, and Fíli cried out in fear. His gaze locked with his brother's, and he saw him moving his lips, trying to form words but finding none. He could see that his little brother was in pain, he could sense that he was scared, and he could see the sword threatening to kill him.
"Not my brother, you filth!" he yelled, making to sprit forward, swords ready in his clenched fists.
A quiet moan made him stop dead in his tracks.
Everything seemed to happen simultaneously. He froze on the spot, at the same time witnessing the orc bringing his blade down, he heard himself screaming and saw the blade sink into the earth a hair's breadth next to Kíli's neck.
Azog.
Azog was approaching his brother and the orc, having held up his hand just in time.
Fíli stared at the pale orc, and at his brother who was still lying on the ground, the tip of the orc's sword at his neck.
"Drop your weapons!" roared Azog, his voice drowning out all other battle noises as he dismounted his white warg and crossed the distance between himself and Kíli with two giant leaps. He pushed the nameless orc aside, and suddenly Fíli was met with the fiery eyes of the arch enemy of his kin. Azog didn't lower his gaze, but an evil, twisted smile turned his scarred face into a grimace of horror, making Fíli's stomach lurch before he knew what was happening.
The pale orc kicked Kíli in the ribs, and the sight of his brother curling in on himself to shield his body, along with the grunt of pain that accompanied Azog's action, was enough to make Fíli feel sick. Swiftly Azog grabbed Kíli by his injured arm, and Fíli could see that it took all of his brother's self-control to not make a sound. Azog pulled him up, holding Kíli in an iron grip that made it impossible to escape.
Not that Kíli didn't try. Suddenly he started kicking, lashing out with his free arm, and Azog's laughter sent shivers down Fíli's spine.
"Kíli, no..." he whispered almost tonelessly, and Azog's eyes flickered as he gazed at Fíli. He twisted Kíli's arm until the young dwarf couldn't suppress a cry, and the sound seemed to please the orc and made Fíli's vision go white.
"Let him go!" he shouted, but he knew that it was futile. Azog merely grinned sadistically, and placed the spike at the end of his left arm against Kíli's throat.
"Now isn't that cute?" he said mockingly. "Your brother? But I can smell the Durin blood in him," and he spit on the ground, "so that makes you... oh, that's good. That's really good."
It was everything but good.
A/N: The story title is a line from the song "Without you" by Breaking Benjamin.
Reviews, anyone? ;)
