This is slightly AU-all the dwarves survived the BOFA and it will not be following canon.

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"You! What is that in your hand?"

Thorin's loud voice echoed throughout the halls of Erebor. Kili immediately dropped both his hands and looked up at Thorin, but his uncle was not pointing at him, he was pointing at Fili. For the last day and a half, Thorin had been searching for the Arkenstone, and with each passing minute he became more violent, more angry and more suspicious of his own kin.

Fili had been showing Kili an ornate bracelet he had found, just a curiosity and certainly not the Arkenstone.

Fili opened up his hand and showed his uncle.

"It's nothing of importance-."

"Give it here, no treasure is worth your attention." Thorin growled angrily, gesturing towards Fili, who took a step backwards, leery of his Uncle.

"It's just-."

"NO!"-

Thorin then lunged at Fili, pulling him up to his side by grabbing his hair. Thorin ran his fingers through the thick golden strands with one hand, which the other gripped a fistful tightly. Fili winced, but the more he struggled, the stronger Thorin's grip became.

"What are you doing?" Kili asked, in horror.

"Of golden hair, and light. It shall be mine! No one except the king is worthy of such gold." Thorin whispered, pulling out his knife.

"Stop it! This is madness! Put him down!" Kili shouted, now realizing what Thorin intended to do.

Thorin ignored him as he pushed Fili to the ground, and used his knife to shear off handful after handful of his long golden hair. Kili felt his mouth open, what was Thorin doing? To have your hair cut short was the greatest punishment a dwarf could receive, saved for the harshest of criminals; murderers and rapists and the like. Kili knew deep down that in Thorin's maddened mind, he had only wanted Fili's hair because it reminded him of the treasure surrounding him but still-

Fili cried out in pain and terror as Thorin continued to hack at his hair with the knife and-

"Thorin!" a voice shouted, and Kili looked up to see Balin and the rest of the company staring at them. Thorin dropped Fili on the ground and picked up a handful of golden hair.

"Behold, the gold of Durin! Riches of the King's line!" he said, waving the hair and giving them a half mad smile.

"Thorin. What have you done? You need to stop this madness. Soon there will be an army outside this mountain and it will fall if we don't defend it." Balin said firmly.

"Riches such as this shall not go be fouled in battle. Gold must stay inside the tomb, where only the worthy can access it. It shall remain a priceless treasure, locked away under the mountain with the coins and gems of a thousand years" Thorin grabbed Fili, pulling him upright from the ground.

"Come, we must hurry. Before the battle starts." Thorin said gripping Fili's arm in his hand and pulling him forward. Fili had no choice but to follow him Then Thorin started walking, not leading them to the armory but deep into the mountain. He ignored the shouts from Balin and the pleading from Kili as he stopped in front of a huge wall vault. He walked over to it and took something out of his pocket—a gold, round key. He placed it in the vault keyhole and turned it until it unlocked. He swung the door open and stared inside the blackness for a moment, and then he turned to them, eyes alight with the sickness that plagued him.

"Gold shall not be fouled. We shall lock it away where it will never tarnish."

"Thorin-."

"Do as I say!"

"Thorin-."

"I AM YOUR KING. Put the gold inside, now!" Thorin shouted, and then he pulled Fili up, and with an exceedingly strong arm he pushed Fili into the vault and slammed it shut with one quick motion.

"NO!" Kili shouted, but Balin held him back.

"You cannot do this to him. He is your nephew, he is your heir. Please, please let him go. Take me inside. Thorin! Thorin!" Kili's shouts were useless as Thorin silently tucked the key back into his pocket and then walked away from the vault.

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Kili stared up around him, at the old halls of Erebor but he felt no joy. They had won the mountain, but had paid a steep price for it. Thorin had defeated Azog but not without serious injury. He was bedridden, and still unresponsive to all treatment.

And Fili.

Poor, poor Fili.

The battle had lasted three days, and for three days Kili could not get near his brother. They weren't able to get to him for three whole days. Three days in the dark, gasping for air and breathing in the fumes of coal and dragon fire. Kili had no idea what to expect, and part of him feared that when he finally opened the door he would find a corpse instead of his brother.

After the men and elves had finally left, and the doors of Erebor closed did Kili finally turn to Balin.

"Fili." Kili said, and without another word he ran down the hallways, towards the vault that Thorin had sealed his brothr into. Balin was a step behind him.

"I have the key here. I took it from Thorin after he fell. It's the only thing that will open the vault door." He said.

Kili all but grabbed the key and shoved it in the lock. It clicked, but before he could pull it open Balin stopped him.

"Balin-."

"I don't know what we are going to find on the other side. Three days is a long time to stay in the darkness. Are you prepared for the consequences?" Balin asked

Kili nodded without hesitation, "He is my brother." He said.

And the he pulled open the door as fast as he could.

"Fili?" he asked into the pitch blackness, he shined the lantern he had taken from the great halls up high and saw his brother huddled in the corner of the vault, shivering against the cold. The air was thick and muggy, filled with mine dust and darkness. It made Kili dizzy just breathing it, and he wondered how Fili had managed to stay alive for three days breathing in this poison. Kili saw his breath condensed and suddenly was furious at Thorin. How did he not know that it would be freezing and poisonous in the vault? In his maddened state did he not realize that Fili could have died?

"Fili?" Kili asked again, this time stepping inside the vault, and towards his brother. Fili was in a sorrowful state, with his long curly hair chopped short, it fell in ragged clumps against his face. All of his braids were gone, and Kili felt his heart pang for his brother.

Kili knelt down next to him, and reached out to touch him, but Fili jerked his head away from him with a muffled "don't".

"Fili-."

"Please, just let me die, here." Fili mumbled, hiding his face in his hands and curling up against the wall.

Kili sighed. How on earth was he going to fix this? If Thorin passed, then Fili would be the next in line to rule, and Fili was in no state of mind to even stand up right now. Even if they did manage to get Fili out of the vault and into proper care, what would the others think of him? Would they truly follow a leader with short hair-a symbol of crime and shame?

"Come on Fili, let's get you warmed up." Kili said, reaching for his brother, who in turn flinched away from him. Fili was talking into the wall, but Kili had no idea what his brother was saying. The room was too dark, and it was hard when his brother refused to look him in the eye. Kili scooted closer and gripped Fili's shoulder.

"Please, Fili. The battle is over. The mountain is ours. Let's get out of the foul place." He said again, trying to pull Fili away from the stone walls, but Fili wouldn't budge.

Kili sighed, if Thorin did pass, and Fili wasn't fit to rule, then he Kili would be king. He couldn't rule the kingdom, he was just a lad who had barely come of age.

By then both Balin and Dwalin had entered the vault. Dwalin bend down, and in one swift motion scooped Fili up in his arms. Fili, in turn struggled against him, trying desperately to be free of him.

Kili made a motion to go forward, but Balin stopped him. "He doesn't know where he is, lad. Best let Dwalin take care of this."

Kili listned to his brothers screams as Dwalin carried him outside.

How had it come to this?

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Sometimes I feel like a broken record, but I have to say this again:

I am very serious about my work. I write because I love it. With that said, I want to take a moment to talk about respecting the works that are on here.

I totally will accept constructive criticism, everyone should, it's the only way we can become better writers but I will not accept hateful comments. Constructive criticism is defined as the process of offering valid and well-reasoned opinions about the work of others, usually involving both positive and negative comments, in a friendly manner rather than an oppositional one. The purpose of constructive criticism is to improve the outcome. It basically comes down to this: I can write whatever I want, and if you don't like it, that's fine but please be respectful of my work. If you have a problem with it, please message me and I promise we will talk it out.

We are all on here because we love to read and write fanfiction, and I fully support everyone who reads, writes and posts on here. Some write because they want to tell a story, others write as a way to cope with their past and to heal, and some write purely because they love it.

Respect your fellow authors, respect yourself.

Peace and love,

Songsofpsyche.