There was little time for Bilbo to regret all of the life choices that had led him to this particular moment, much though he would have liked to do so. A minute after he had been abandoned on the edge of the crowd, things began to fall apart all around him.
Up on the gallows, the officiant placed a heavy noose around the pirate's neck and moved around behind him to secure the knot in the correct position. Bilbo took a moment to regret the reading he had done in the past that gave him a horribly thorough understanding of the process of hanging a man, and how it might be done with comparative kindness or with sheer sadism. He blinked back the crowding thoughts, and looked up at Oakenshield, trying to see how the man might be Kili's uncle.
He was too far away to make out more than the barest details of facial expression on the man, but the heavy scowl on his face was certainly not one Kili had ever worn around Bilbo. Any way he thought about it, it simply did not seem to make sense.
Everyone knew of the Oakenshield. The part of Bilbo's brain that kept the entire catalog of his books in order quickly threw up several titles that he himself carried in his shop, either entirely about the man and his family, or featuring them heavily. Oakenshield was not the man's proper name, of that he was certain. It was a title that was passed down from father to son, tying together at least three generations of what the broadsheet scandal-mongers liked to bill as the "Royal Family of Piracy" - or, to fit better in the popular ballads, "The Bloody Oakenshields." They were fiercely private, even as they were horrifyingly, bloodily public in the execution of their crimes. In all the books Bilbo had ever read, no-one had given personal names to the Oakenshield or his men - nor indeed to his women! It was known far and wide that the Oakenshield sailed with female pirates, and they had been reported by the few survivors of an encounter with his crew as being just as fierce and dangerous as any of the men.
The Oakenshield raised his chin as the noose was cinched into place, and turned his gaze away from the crowd, looking out to what Bilbo knew was the merest glimpse of the sea. There was a lump in Bilbo's throat as he watched the man prepare to die, and he could not begin to think of what it would be like to stand there, awaiting death.
Then, from mere feet away in the direction of the shore, there was a terrible explosion that startled Bilbo badly enough to knock him off his feet. He curled into a ball, bringing his hands up to cover his head, and found himself thinking distantly that it had probably always been too much to hope that the execution of the Oakenshield would go according to plan. A shower of debris rained down on him, though none of it terribly large or dangerous, and Bilbo stayed down, tucked into his little ball as the crowd began screaming again. There was rushing all around him, and Bilbo endured half a dozen kicks to the ribs by frantic passers-by before he decided he had had enough, and clambered to his feet, brushing ashes and splinters off his coat with almost steady hands.
A fire was burning at the edge of the Sands, no more than a few yards from the sea itself. It looked as though a small building had exploded, though Bilbo had no recollection of what had stood there before. The crowd were running and screaming now, and Bilbo looked around frantically for the lads who had been with him moments before, hoping they were not caught up in the madness - but no! There, at the opposite side of the crowd, he spotted Kili. The boy had climbed high atop a market stall, and was standing firm in the middle of the crowd, directing them out through a narrow street that would lead them away from the smoke and flame. Bilbo gaped at the boy. His uniform and his height drew all eyes, even in the madness, and Bilbo could see the crowd looking to him for direction, and then following his orders.
Another explosion rang out, this one near the base of the gallows itself, and the people panicked. They began to trample one another in their hurry to escape, and Bilbo found himself swept along in the crowd for a dusty, claustophobic minute, until he could pull himself out of the current of humanity to wash up on another sheltered island of sanity. There - by the base of the gallows - came a flash of color and motion, and Bilbo spotted Fili darting away from the now roaring fire, golden hair shining in the terrible light.
And then Kili pushed by his brother, the two never stopping to speak, and he was at the back of the pack, urging people forward and away - just as a third roar of fire and smoke went up in a third location.
"We're trapped!" an old man bellowed, near enough by his location that Bilbo could actually make out the words. The white-haired old fellow swung forward just as Kili darted by and grabbed him by the lapels, bringing the lad to a halt. "Where are the Marines? We're being herded to our deaths!" The people nearby reacted in total panic at those words, grabbing at their neighbors as though they might somehow save themselves.
"Indeed we are not, sir," Kili shouted back. He had them all moving again in a moment, sending them away down various streets with commanding roars that Bilbo was quite startled to hear from the lad. He was beginning to think that Kili had missed his career in the management of large crowds when he spotted Fili rushing past again, and saw the hand-off - and then there was yet another bang off to his right, as Kili lobbed the explosives directly behind the crowd, so that the explosion set them all running and panicking again.
They were doing it, Bilbo realised with horrified surprise. It had been Fili and Kili all along - and it was working. The formerly crowded execution plaza was more than half-empty now, and the remainder of the crowd were running as fast as they could push their neighbors along, leaving the gallows unwatched.
Unwatched.
Bilbo looked up sharply, peering up into the gloom of the fallen evening and the clouds of thick black smoke. The Oakenshield was still there, standing tall and proud - but no. No, he was not - for as Bilbo watched, there was a terrible jerk, and the ground gave way beneath him. He tumbled down a few feet, only to be caught tight by the rope around his neck. Bilbo's hands flew to his mouth, and he looked around to see who else had seen - but they were all running and screaming.
"Kili!" he shouted, taking off for where he had last seen the lad. "Fili, Kili! Fili!"
It was more chance than skill that brought him upon them, and Bilbo crashed into Fili without even slowing himself. "Oakenshield!" Bilbo pointed, choking on the words. "Oakenshield! Look!"
Fili looked up and, spotting the dangling figure of the pirate, spat out the foulest curse Bilbo had ever heard, and slapped Kili's shoulder hard with the back of one hand. He jerked his head at his brother; Kili nodded once, and they took off in two different directions, just as though they were following a well-ordered plan. Bilbo spun in place for a minute, trying to watch them both, and then gave it up. His hands flew up to his head in dismay as he looked at the hanging man. His feet were kicking vigorously, and he danced and spun at the end of his rope as he fought for breath. Bilbo throat ached abominably in sympathy.
In a mere moment, Kili was by the Oakenshield's side, reaching up as far as he could to lift the man up, clearly hoping to provide some relief. Atop the gallows, Bilbo spotted a flash of bright color. A man came tumbling down off the side an instant later, clearly either dead or knocked unconscious as soon as he hit the ground; a moment later, the rope that had held the Oakenshield slithered sinuously down from on high, and he fell atop Kili, knocking them both to the ground.
Bilbo started off at once. He hardly noticed the accumulations of debris and abandoned personal affects as he rushed over to the gallows - though to do what, he could not have said. At any rate, he was not the first there. Just as he was pulling up nearby, two of the City Guard appeared as if from thin air, and had the pirate by the arms, hauling him to his feet as he gasped and choked for air.
"What do you think you're doing?" the taller of the guards demanded, grabbing Kili by one arm. "Interfering with the execution of a condemned criminal? By the gods, I'll see you hang for this yourself! Who is your captain?"
Bilbo stuttered to a halt, mouth dropping open in dismay.
"You misunderstand, sir," Kili said, sounding as though he were merely reporting on the weather. He gave a neat little bow, standing at something like attention, and smiled disarmingly. "I've been ordered to help secure the prisoner. This is clearly an escape attempt. Our orders were to resecure him until a formal execution procedure could be seen through."
The guards relaxed a bit, letting go of the lad as they adjusted their grip on the pirate. Up close, Bilbo finally got a good look at the man, and found that he could now add useful descriptors about piercing blue eyes and strong lines of muscle and bone in a terrifying, mesmerizing face that -
He found he was staring more than might be politely attributed to curiosity, and looked away quickly - just in time to spot Fili sneaking up behind the guards with a heavy chunk of fallen wood in his hands. Without a word exchanged between them, Kili ducked smoothly just in time to avoid the first blow, and snatched the Oakenshield away from the second guard a mere second before Fili struck him as well. By the time Bilbo had blinked once or twice, in open-mouthed amazement, the lads and their apparent uncle were standing before him in front of a backdrop of fire and smoke - but there was no pursuit yet, and no witnesses left to their deeds.
"How," Bilbo asked, holding up a curious finger and squinting at them, breathing deeply, "how did you do that? I have never in all my life seen anything like that."
"No time," Fili said briskly, darting glances around and behind in a way that suggested he had already worked out exactly how and when the next threats would reach them. "Can you run, Baggins?"
But they were already off, and Bilbo found himself tagging along behind them for no good reason that he could give, except that he had stood near enough to see them almost die, and yet they were still alive. Well, that, and the fact that anyone who lingered in that place was likely to find their own neck in a noose next, he supposed.
They were heading for the rocky shore, where the waves were rolling in with a deceptive calm. Bilbo knew from experience that they were cold as spite, and wickedly strong, and he drew up short at the edge of the sea. The light of the sun was gone, except for a fading glow that hung steady at the horizon, and the stars were beginning to appear in the sky.
"We're not going to swim, are we?" he asked, eying the water with trepidation.
"What poor sort of pirates do you take us for?"
Bilbo stepped back a whole pace at that, because it was the pirate he had helped to rescue who growled the question at him - growled, indeed, with his hair hanging in his face, and his eyes blazing fury. He only glanced at Bilbo for a moment before clearly dismissing him from all consideration, and turning to Fili.
"Shore-boat?" he asked hoarsely. Fili nodded, a grin creeping across his face again, making him look far younger than the insanely dangerous manic whom Bilbo had just seen kill or incapacitate a large number of people.
"Shore-boat," he agreed. He looked closely at the Oakenshield's neck, and shook his head. "Closest thing yet. Suppose I may get to be the Oakenshield some day after all, if you carry on at this rate!"
His uncle clenched a massive fist in Fili's shirt-front, hauling him forward, and for a second, Bilbo was afraid that even kin were not exempt from the pirate's wrath. But instead of flinging him to the ground, the Oakenshield brought him forward into a quick, rough embrace, and slapped him on the back so hard that Bilbo winced in sympathy. It was a short-lived moment, though, and then they were off again at a fast pace - Fili and the Oakenshield in the lead, and Bilbo and Kili trailing along like rather clueless tails in the gathering darkness behind them.
"Is that really your uncle?" Bilbo hissed at Kili, darting a nervous glance ahead. He would not put it past this man to have superior senses, nor to turn and knock him out for daring to ask another question.
Kili shrugged, looking little more at ease than Bilbo felt. "So Fili says - and that's assuming this really is Fili."
"So you really don't recognise him?" Bilbo pressed.
"I haven't seen him for more than a decade," Kili said quietly. He sounded wistful. "I don't remember much of him, either - just that he was very tall, and always looked out for me."
"How did you know to meet him today, then?"
Kili glanced over at him, clearly thinking about whether to answer the question at all, and then gave up. "We've written over the years. Letters, when we could manage; messages left in secret spots when we couldn't." He gave Bilbo a mischievous grin for just a moment, suddenly looking like the Kili he knew. "We've been exchanging messages in your shop for years, you know. I got word of what had happened yesterday, when we reached port."
"But the way you worked together," Bilbo protested. "How did you plan all of that with only messages passed back and forth?"
"We didn't plan any of it," Kili said flatly. Bilbo closed his mouth at that, and followed after the long-legged family as best he could, glancing behind them for signs of pursuit all the way.
They finally slowed when they reached a large rock outcropping on the beach, and Fili darted away beyond the cover of the rock. Bilbo glanced up at the Oakenshield, half afraid of what he might say in the absence of his nephew. He needn't have feared. The man simply stared out to sea as they waited, one hand coming up to rub restlessly at his throat. Kili shifted nervously from foot to foot beside Bilbo, and then stilled all at once, snapping himself to attention and standing with military formality.
Fili was back in moments, wading through the surf without a care for the cold as he pushed a little rowboat ahead of him, grounding it firmly on the shore. The Oakenshield strode forward to take his place in the boat, and Bilbo glanced over at Kili, wondering what he was supposed to do next. Fili glanced up at them, and his brow wrinkled in confusion. "Well, come on, then! They'll be after us any minute!"
"Where is it we're meant to be going?" Bilbo asked cautiously. "I'm all for not getting arrested for the indecencies of your lot, but I'm not about to just climb in and sail off with no idea where we're headed."
"You will, if you wish to keep your head," Fili said jovially. "And you, little brother. Might as well leave that uniform behind, as well. You won't be needing it again."
Kili looked about as pleased as Bilbo felt with this turn of events. He would have argued for days, if only out of a desperate desire to keep his feet firmly planted on solid ground, had it not been for the sudden cry of triumph that came from behind them. They had been spotted after all, and Bilbo remembered the mood of the crowd with a sickening jolt. They could not stay and be captured - not if they were to be blamed for the escape of the Oakenshield. He nodded once, and then again as a means of strengthening himself, and hauled Kili forward, flinging them both into the little boat. Fili pushed them off before leaping in himself, and Bilbo grabbed the sides of the boat as it swayed sickeningly back and forth. Kili had a paddle to hand in a moment, and Fili grabbed the other, shoving them forward with long, smooth strokes. Bilbo put his head down on his knees as he tried to breathe.
"What ship are we making for?" Kili asked after a few minutes, when the shore was fading from view behind them and the voices of their pursuers could no longer be heard. "Is she in harbor? You can leave me there, and I'll find my way back to my ship."
They laughed, then - Fili and the Oakenshield - and it was a dark and dangerous sound.
"Our ship doesn't make harbor," the Oakenshield said darkly, through a throat that sounded impossibly painful. He leaned forward in the prow of the shore-boat, peering out into the darkness, which was now only broken by the glimpses of moonlight that peeked through the clouds now and again. After a long, silent watch, he finally leaned forward so fast that Bilbo half-thought he would dive into the sea. "There! Starboard, and mind how you turn," he snapped at the lads. Fili just nodded at him with a hint of a lazy smile, but Kili straightened quickly and made the beginnings of a salute, before stopping himself.
It was minutes longer before Bilbo could see anything at all. His heart seemed to pick up it's pace with every oar-stroke as he strained his eyes out into the darkness, beyond the point of fear. He was headed toward a pirate vessel, accompanied by the pirates in question, and he was completely uncertain whether he was a captive or a guest. The glimpses he got of Kili's face, when the moon shone on the lad, were enough to reassure him he was not alone in his discomfort. It was not much of a solace.
When the ship appeared, gleaming in the moonlight, Bilbo would not have thought it worth much. He saw far grander ships every day, and it was plain to see that this was not a large vessel, nor a particularly wealthy one. But Fili leaned toward her unconsciously, and he watched some of the lines of tension go out of the faces of both pirates, and he did understand. This ship was their home.
"What's her name?" Kili asked, his whisper barely carrying, but it was full of nothing but respect. He understood, far better than Bilbo ever could.
"Loyalty," the Oakenshield said. Bilbo shuddered at the sound, at the depth of feeling in the word, and clutched a little tighter at the sides of the little boat. "She's the Loyalty."
"Welcome home," Fili said, clapping his brother on the shoulder. Bilbo could see Kili shrink back from the touch. Above, the moon's silver light flickered and then died away as a cloud drifted in front of the old, friendly face, leaving them all in darkness.
Please don't judge Thorin too harshly here - he has just been almost hanged, which can put a damper on anyone's mood! It may take a little ways for them all to find their proper footing after what has happened.
Also, I need to stop and thank you all profusely for the support and encouragement on this project! I'm having such fun with it already, in a time when I rather desperately need it, and hearing that other folks want to read this silliness is just wonderful. Thank you all so much for reading!
