An: So hi, welcome to the first chapter of my new fic. I won't hold you back for a long time, I'll just quickly say a few things. First of all, this is pre-quest. I have no certain ages in my mind or anything, but Kili and Fili are surely almost as old as they are in the book/movies. Secondly, thanks for Eredhys and Samwin98 for helping me out with this by proofreading and other stuff! Third thing, I do not own the photo I decided use as the cover image.

I hope all of you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this.

Disclaimer: I do not own Hobbit

Fili and Kili knew that nobody could enter Lake-town without the permission of the master of Lake-town. Daín had made it clear to the brothers - when their uncle had fallen ill he knew that Fili and Kili would have to travel back home without him, and he did his best to prepare them for the long way back to Ered Luin. Thorin had been against the idea of his nephews travelling home without him, since the way was long and full of dangers, but after he realized that he wouldn't be leaving the bed for months, he hesitantly agreed.

Daín had told them to make a brief stop in Lake-town, rest and buy some necessities. "The Master of Lake-town is greedy, so if you have money to offer, he won't send you away", Daín had told them with a smirk and then handed them some coins. "With this you should be able to buy yourselves in. Save some for food and a place to sleep."

So the boys knew what to expect when they came to the entry of Lake-town. Kili glanced at Fili almost nervously, playing with the small bag of coins he had in his pocket. Fili noticed the glance and grinned at Kili. "Don't look so worried. Nothing bad will happen to us here. You heard what Daín said, all the Master thinks about is money, which we have. We'll buy our safety."

"I'm not concerned about the Master", Kili muttered, ducking his head. "You must remember what uncle Thorin thinks about men. They're greedy and unpredictable, sometimes even dangerous."

Fili huffed, rolling his eyes. "Don't be a fool, Kili. I don't believe uncle has thought about it that much. Everyone knows that the men weren't much of a help when Smaug took Erebor, maybe uncle feels betrayed."

"Maybe. But everyone also knows that Smaug destroyed Dale, and most of the men living in Lake-town now are descendants of the people who used to live in Dale. What if they have some kind of hatred towards dwarves? Because if it weren't for the gold in Erebor, gold dwarves dug up..."

"You are thinking too much", Fili said with a short laugh and patted his little brother on the head. "What have you done to the reckless Kili I know?"

They couldn't use the main entrance because it was only accessible with boat, so they used the not-so-commonly used one. It was a longer, wooden bridge which began from the dry land and ended where the city began on the lake. They had tied their ponies near the shore and were now walking down the frail-looking bridge. It was steady under their feet, but looked like it could fall apart any second.

The brothers looked around them as they walked. The water of the lake was dark and still - there were hardly any waves. The sky was dark blue, the first few stars of the night already twinkling high above them. They could see the Lonely Mountain in the distance, on the other side of the lake, rising to the darkening sky. Kili had seen it twice before, and it was as impressing now as it had been on the two earlier times. Not that he remembered much of the first time, because he did not. He had only a faint memory of it left, because he had been only a dwarfling at the time, but he remembered looking at it in awe and thinking that it could be his home some day, like it had been Thorin's and his mother's.

It didn't take long for them to reach the guards standing in front of the entrance to the Lake-town. The two men wore a bit worn-out suits, funny-looking metallic, pointy hats and they both held long torches in their hands. They had swords in their sheaths that hung from their waists.

The guards stepped forward as the brothers were close enough, emotionless expressions on their faces. "Who are you, and why have you come to Lake-town?" asked the one on the right, eyeing the dwarves in front of him.

"We are Fili and Kili, dwarves from the Blue Mountains. We are travelling back home from our relatives in the Iron Hills, and we're here simply to seek a place to rest in and to buy some food", Fili told the guards in the most polite manner.

The guards glanced at each other - something on their faces told that the answer had pleased them.

xx

Kili threw another stick into the fire and quickly hid his arm beneath the blanket he had wrapped around his shoulders. It was a pretty cold night, not as cold as it could have been, but cold anyways.

"This is stupid. The Master is stupid", Kili muttered to himself, rocking his body a little. He was freezing. "I can't believe he declined. We offered him so much money and he declined. Threw us out. Just like that, as if we were nothing." He was angry, hungry and cold. They did have food left, and it was cooking as he spoke, but it took another twenty minutes for the soup to be ready. Kili was positive that he'd die of starvation before that.

The older one glared at Kili. "I know. You don't have to repeat it over and over again." Fili was, too, slowly getting annoyed, not because of what had happened in Lake-town, but because of his brother. He was disappointed in the fact that they had been thrown out, yeah, but Kili was acting childishly, and Fili was about to snap back at him if he didn't shut up soon. He was tired and hungry, and not feeling good enough to listen to Kili's complains.

"Alfrid Lickspittle. How stupid name is that?" Kili said with a dry laugh. "Lickspittle."

"I've heard worse", Fili mumbled. "Just can't remember any right now."

"We got in already! We were in Lake-town and everything was going well, and still we were thrown out?"

It was pitch black around them. They were sitting at the edge of a forest -Mirkwood, if they were where they were supposed to be- and near a river. It was a beautiful place, the Lonely Mountain climbing high to the sky somewhere far and Lake-town glimmering above the lake's water some distance away. It was quiet as well, which Kili liked. He liked to sleep in silence.

Kili picked up a thicker stick and threw it to the fire as well. It rattled a little and the fire started dancing more wildly than it had earlier. He could tell that Fili was getting angry, so he decided to be quiet for a few minutes. He didn't feel like arguing now.

"Could you stop throwing sticks into the fire? You're wasting them, and it's not even that cold. We will run out of them in five minutes if you keep doing that", Fili sighed and looked at Kili, who was shuddering under the blanket. "Are you really that cold?"

"I am", the younger one replied and leaned backwards a little. "I'm freezing, if you must know."

"How come I'm not cold at all?" Fili wondered, continuing drawing into the ground with a stick he held in his hand. He had been drawing a picture of their family, and now he only had himself to do. It was a time-killer, not anything else. He didn't even like drawing that much.

Kili shrugged. "I don't know, but be glad. This is awful."

"What if you're sick?" Fili suggested, glancing up to meet Kili's eyes. He couldn't see well in the dark, but Kili seemed a little pale from what he could tell. It wouldn't be a surprise. They had been sleeping on the cold, hard ground for many nights after all, and everyone knew how that tended to make fever rise. "Do you feel ill?"

Well, maybe, Kili thought but decided not to say it out loud. Being sick would only make them slow down their speed even more, and they were already travelling slow. Fili was overly protective of him at times, and if Kili as much as stumbled down and scratched his knee Fili would probably freak out and deny him from moving for two weeks.

Alright, maybe not. But it got close to that sometimes, and Kili wanted to reach home some day. "I don't think so. I'm only tired, that's all."

Fili didn't look convinced, and as he eyed Kili his eyes narrowed, as if he were trying to get inside his mind and find out if he was lying. But he nodded nevertheless, deciding to let it go. Again, he trusted Kili and he was sure that if he really felt sick, he would tell. He knew Kili wasn't stupid even if reckless and even careless at times.

The food was ready after what felt like an age to the younger one of the brothers. Kili found himself slowly getting more and more tired as he ate the soup that included more water than meat or potatoes. Fili ate with pleasure, enjoying the sensation of warm food entering his mouth. They hadn't dared to eat anything warm in a few days because their supplies were limited, and eating dry bread only had already gotten monotonous and boring.

"We should try to get some sleep", Fili told his brother and yawned as they finished their meals. He could hardly keep his eyes open anymore, and longed for nothing else than some rest now that he was full.

Kili nodded, grinning a little. "Sounds great."

They decided to keep the fire burning. They were so close to Lake-town that it was almost impossible for orcs, goblins, trolls or any unwanted guests to travel nearby. They were safe, they were full and the fire would keep them warm. It was as good as it could be.

For Fili, at least. Kili was still freezing, and felt maybe even a little nauseous. Yeah, he was sick and he realized it himself. Sleep will help, he thought and closed his eyes with a sigh. He didn't get to relax for a long time, though, because soon he felt like he was spinning. His eyes snapped open and the spinning sensation stopped.

He sighed again. He lay on his back, his arms crossed over his chest. Millions of stars glimmered above them, distracting Kili from thinking about anything but their beauty. Soon he heard Fili's silent snoring. Kili didn't know how much time he had wasted on watching the stars, but he decided to try to get some sleep.

xx

The forest was peaceful around him. Chirping of birds and the song of grasshoppers was the only noise Kili could hear besides his own, now steady breathing and footsteps. Now and then a stick broke under his feet, causing the young dwarf to jump. The huge trees grew everywhere around him, blocking any light that could have escaped the stars and the moon.

He had tried to sleep, he really had tried, but the more he tried the more awake he was, and now he wasn't even tired anymore. So he made the decision to go and walk in the forest, hoping it would tire him out.

Even though it was peaceful and somehow really magical, Kili was a little paranoid. Every sudden noise made him flinch back and reach for his sword, even if the noise was a stick breaking under his own foot. He guessed his fever was going down because he was so hot that he was sweating, and had already taken off his jacket that now hung from his waist.

He made sure not to get lost. He had taken one of Fili's small knives and used it to carve a mark to the bark of trees after a walking for a while, marking his path. He wasn't stupid, even if he was sick and his head didn't work well. He knew there was nothing to be scared of in the woods, not that close to the edge anyways, so why was he so jumpy?

He fell deep into his thoughts. He imagined scenarios where he saved the day in different, very heroic ways. How they got in to Lake-town but the Master attacked them and how he needed to save Fili, and how they would steal a boat and escape with that. Fili would be grateful and their mother would be proud of him - instead of the usual worrying and lecturing.

Suddenly Kili realized that he had been walking for a long time. The trees were thicker there and even less light came through the heavy roof made of leaves and branches. Somewhere along the way the birds had stopped singing and now it really was silent.

Kili stopped and looked around himself. He had marked the trees and knew that he only needed to turn around and walk back to get to the open air again, to where Fili was sleeping, but something felt wrong. He was surrounded by darkness but it felt like it wasn't only darkness, as if there were something behind the trees or in the shadows. His heart started to race - why had he come here? He stared into the shadows around him, but saw nothing.

Still, the suspension came too much for him to bear. He spun around and started to run back to where he came from, but he didn't manage to run far before he heard steps echoing around him. His heart was racing in his chest, he admitted it, he was scared. Really scared.

Then he came to a sudden stop - there was someone in the shadows a few meters away from him. Immediately he drew out his sword and pointed it at the someone, taking a step backwards. "Stay where you are!" Kili yelled, focusing on keeping his hands steady. "Don't come any closer!"

Kili saw the someone lift up a bow and quickly took a step forward to attack the man, but it was meaningless. Because out of nowhere came four more, yelling at Kili to drop his weapon.

It was not easy, but Kili obeyed. He threw his sword angrily onto the ground, crossing his arms and keeping his eyes on the one standing in front of him. "I haven't done anything", Kili hissed, but was cut off by the one in front of him.

"Keep quiet, dwarf, and kneel." That someone was still standing in the shadows, but Kili guessed that it was a man. They were so close to Lake-town that maybe someone from there had come after them. He was angry - he had known they shouldn't trust them! Now someone was there to kill them, and they were separated. Fili was alone on the shore, for Mahal's sake.

And then Kili realized. If these were men from Lake-town, they would have used a boat to get to the shore. Kili had left Fili on the shore alone-

"Obey, dwarf!"

Kili couldn't even start to kneel before one of the men behind him already shoved him to the ground. Kili's knees hit the cold, hard ground hard, sending a wave of pain up his legs. He suffocated a cry as the same man forcefully grabbed his shoulder, his bony fingers pressing his muscle hard, and yanked his back straight. And so, there he was, in the arms of men, vulnerable and unable to defend himself. This was it, Kili knew it. His short life had gone to an abrupt end.

"What shall we do to it?" asked one of the men, the one on Kili's other side. Kili glanced at the speaker only to see a long, beautifully braided brown hair and pointy ears, along with a dress-like outfit. They weren't men, Kili figured and quickly ducked his head. They were elves.

They weren't men, which meant they didn't come from Lake-town, he thought and suddenly got it - that meant that Fili was probably alive. It immediately sparked a new light into the young dwarf; Fili was out there, and the situation didn't seem as hopeless anymore.

The elf in front of Kili stepped further from the shadows so at last Kili could see him. He was taller than others and had an extraordinarily long, golden hair. It had no braids in it so it hung loose around him. He had a more detailed outfit made of green and brown material. The expression on his face was mighty and knowing, and his whole appearance was just.. big. As if he were some kind of leader. Kili's and his eyes met, and even though every cell in Kili told him to duck his head, Kili kept staring.

"We will take him to the king", the one in front of Kili said, never breaking the eye-contact with the dwarf. "King Thranduil will decide what to do to him. Spying on our lands is a grave mistake, dwarf."

"Spying?" Kili blurt out and forced out a chuckle. "Oh, I was not spying. I was just simply walking around."

"At this hour, when the moon is at the highest?" the elf who had pushed and yanked Kili and still held him tightly in place, laughed. "I dare to think you are lying. Why else would have you run away from us like that? You must be a spy. How bold of dwarves, to send a spy this young, who doesn't even seem to know what he is doing."

That explained a lot. Kili had felt that there was something in the darkness, and he had been right.

"I did not see any of you!" Kili explained and sighed deeply, ducking his head. He had to find a way out of this, he knew it. What if they took him -or worse- and in the morning when Fili woke up, he would be alone? Kili grimaced unhappily. What a mess. "And for the last time, you fools, I am not a spy. I couldn't sleep, so I decided to walk around a little bit. Is that a crime on your lands?"

The elf in front of Kili shook his head a little, his golden hair flying in the air. "I am too tired to listen to excuses. Make him ready to be transferred."

Suddenly Kili was released and he jumped to his feet. Just as he was trying to ask what they were going to do to him, something hit the back of his head hard, and the last thing he saw before the darkness engulfed him was the ground coming at him with an alarming speed.