A/N Written for the Kink meme prompt :The company gets split into two groups. Thorin, left with Kili and whomever else you like, is leading his half of the company to a safe place he sees/knows of. The other half however, are thrown off by not having their leader and king with them. Fili eventually steps up and assumes the role, at some point earning the respect of the dwarves in his group (both young and old)."

I have absolutely no idea how long this will be but I'd like to write certain events that probably need a bit of developing so we'll see.

Enjoy!

It seemed only been a couple of days since the company set out of Rivendell to march over the Misty Mountains and already trouble was afoot. The mountain pass was treacherous enough but just as the company was about to tread a less than sturdy looking bridge that crossed a very deep drop, a horde of goblins jumped out of nowhere and attacked them. Immediately, the dwarves assumed battle stances and threw themselves into the fight, hoping to protect their hobbit and defeat the vile creatures without too many injuries on their own side.

The fight was going well enough, many of the dwarves were seasoned warriors and they all fought as one unit protecting one another, when the ground under some of them emitted an ominous groan and collapsed. Half of their group was falling and sliding down a steep slope together with some of the goblins while the rest could only watch frozen in horror and screaming the names of their kin.

Watching his nephew fall, Thorin yelled out Fili's name but it was to no avail. They must have fallen deep by the sounds of it and as much as he wanted to throw himself after them, Thorin had to admit defeat for now, there were too many goblins left to deal with. With a heavy heart and a silent prayer for his company, Thorin ordered what was left to cross the bridge, some of them had to be bodily carried over since their brothers got lost, and cut it loose once they were in safety so that no goblins could cross. There was nothing more they could do for the lost but carry on their journey and wait for them at the spot near the Mirkwood forest they had discussed with Gandalf.

Landing with a dull thud, Fili felt the air getting knocked out of his lungs but shook off the impact within moments, the fight wasn't over just because the ground opened up and swallowed them. His suspicions were confirmed as two goblins attacked him; it was only once he defeated them than he noted Dwalin fighting by his side and Gloin slicing a goblin open behind them. Bifur quickly dusted himself off before he joined the fray with a Khuzdul battle cry. Between the four of them, they made quick work of the raging beasts and once the last goblin had been slain, they took stock of their situation.

Clearly they had fallen into some sort of cave system within the mountain, probably one dug up by goblins, with hardly any way of going back up except to follow the tunnels. Besides the fighters, Oin and Ori had also fallen and were a little winded if not too worse for wear. Once everybody was up and checked for injuries, they went over their options. There wasn't much point in trying to go up, the rest of their party wouldn't be able to go down to them, most likely they had had to make a run for it.

Dwalin wanted to attempt the climb back to the surface nonetheless but Fili knew the truth. Even if by some miracle they did manage to get up, the others would be long gone. Thorin hated leaving his people behind but the needs of the rest would come first. They'd have to fight their way through all the goblins that remained up and with their diminished numbers, there was only one way to do it – the bridge they were to go over was no more. But dwarves were a stubborn bunch and not ones that lose faith easily, Thorin would surely wait for them at the next checkpoint of their journey.

"No Dwalin, we have to move forward. Thorin will wait for us at Beorn's as we had arranged with the wizard so we better be on our way there."

As expected, the warrior merely raised an eyebrow at Fili.

"And who made you the leader lad?"

Ah, so that's what it would come to. Fili had hoped that he still wouldn't have to take over for his uncle for a couple more years but clearly his wish wouldn't be granted. However, he was prepared, no matter what the others thought, after all he had trained for this all his life. Straightening up, his face set into stone, Fili spoke with powerful unyielding steel in his voice none of the others had ever heard him use before.

"Durin, the day he conceived his offspring. I am the heir to the throne of Erebor and you would do well to remember it Dwalin. You are a seasoned warrior and your council will be valued but in the absence of Thorin, the decision falls upon me."

For a moment it looked like Dwalin might attack him. Fili, however, didn't back off, he just calmly but firmly stared the older dwarf down. The others suddenly understood why Kili would call his brother a lion in jest, the description was very apt when Fili decided to stop acting as a child. It had been Dwalin who turned his gaze down first and nodded - Fili's first victory.

"Very well lad, we go your way. What is your way?"

Dwalin's tone clearly indicated that while he was willing to follow for now, he still doubted Fili knew where to go. All the eyes turned back to Fili who did his best not to show just how unsettling it was, and how the hell did Thorin manage to do it all the time, as he mulled over his answer. Knowing where you had to end up was all fine and dandy but the problem was that the dwarves weren't completely sure where they were and how to get to their destination. Thankfully, Fili had taken his responsibilities as heir seriously and came to the journey prepared just in case a situation similar to this one would occur. Putting down his pack he rummaged around for a bit until he took out a bundle of maps, taking a few more minutes to find the right one.

Map located, he spread it out on the ground beckoning everybody to sit around it as he traced their journey so far over it with his finger all the while describing how they had gotten there. Gloin had to admit that he was mildly impressed; apparently Fili had kept a very close eye on his surroundings while they travelled even though he was constantly causing mischief with his younger brother.

"Here, this is where the bridge we were about to cross should be." Moving his finger closer to the Mirkwood forest, Fili circled an area claiming that somewhere in there is the place Gandalf was talking about and that Thorin would undoubtedly wait for them there.

"We need to keep going East or South-East for now."

The dwarves nodded but Dwalin still wasn't about to let it all go.

"That's all nice lad but how do you propose we manage to keep track of where East is in this cave? Do you even know where East is right now?"

Again, uncertain eyes turned to him and Fili knew that this one would be harder to answer as he rolled the map back up and stuffed it into his pack. They could wait for a few hours of course and determine East based on the movement of sun from the hole they had fallen through but that would mean losing precious time and it still wouldn't solve the problem of keeping track once they went further down the tunnels. It was then that a childhood memory sprang forth and Fili's eyes lit up with an idea. Turning to Bifur, he asked a carefully worded question in Khuzdul and smiled brightly as the dwarf pointed to their right without hesitation.

Pointing right of where Bifur's hand was outstretched, Fili put the pack onto his back and faced the others.

"That's our way."

To say that Oin and Dwalin were looking at him sceptically would be an understatement.

"Mind to elaborate your highness?"

Deciding that it would be for the best to ignore the sarcasm in Dwalin's voice for now, Fili just smiled.

"When Kili and me were dwarflets, Thorin would occasionally take us to buy toys from Bifur, Bofur and Bombur. It happened quite by accident, we were just trying to practice Khuzdul, when Kili asked "which way is North" and Bifur immediately pointed in the right direction. For months we would keep on asking the same question and no matter where we were or how much we turned Bifur around when his eyes were closed, he would always point in the right direction. Bofur once joked that it was probably a side effect of the head injury."

"Ah, so you trust the dwarf with an axe embedded in his head to always point North when asked."

"Precisely."

Dwalin was about to speak up again but Fili beat him to it by raising his hand. There was time to let Dwalin voice his doubts and then there was time when Fili had to ensure everybody else didn't doubt every word he said if he wanted them to take him seriously.

"That's quite enough Dwalin. I trust every single dwarf that had come on this quest with Thorin with my life and in this case, I trust Bifur not to lead us astray."

Fili's voice broke no argument as he turned around and began the walk East, shortly followed by Bifur and Ori, the older oblivious to the tension that had been between the warrior and the prince and the younger trusting the blond Durin ever since their childhood. Looking at one another with Oin and Gloin, the three older dwarves just shrugged their shoulders and followed suit. They'd let Fili have his way for now, that is until it became apparent that he was wrong and clearly unfit to lead them.