Chapter 2: Acciojd comes in and messes everything up. As per usual.
"And you are my brother. Don't forget it."
Kili's voice resonated in Fili's head hours later. The two brothers were moving slow, trying to find a way out of their current predicament. Kili hadn't said much since those words, and his last sentence warmed Fili to the core. Fili's memory was still missing, but he felt better, warmer, now that he had accepted his brother's presence.
Kili had grown quieter. Distracted by the pain in his side as well as his wrist, terrified for the rest of the company, and most of all missing his brother. The dwarf with him was trying, that much was clear, but it wasn't his brave older brother. His Fili would have had taken the lead by now. His Fili would have them back to the company.
The brothers were walking away from where they had set up camp to recuperate and get some rest the night before. A place where the mountain grew less steep seemed to be Kili's goal, but Fili was unsure. The two had clearly tumbled down the side of the mountain, coming to a rest in a soft oasis with a few trees and grass breaking through the rocky edge. Kili was heading away from the trees, towards the rock and stone. Fili followed, unsure of their ultimate destination.
"Where are we heading, brother?" Fili said, experimenting with the word. He hoped that if he kept talking, more of his memories would come back to him.
"We have to find the rest of the company. Uncle Thorin probably thinks us dead, and the others will be continuing on without us. We have to join them." Kili spoke, wincing slightly as his wrist throbbed from their continued exertion. "I'm looking for a less steep mountain area where we can climb back and find the pathway they were on."
"Thorin? The others?" Fili said, desperate for something to jog a memory.
Kili sighed sadly, but decided the best strategy would to keep talking in hopes of keeping his brother comfortable.
"We were on a quest to recover Erebor, our lost homeland. Our Uncle Thorin is the rightful king. He asked us to join him and eleven of our close kin on a quest to take back the kingdom that was stolen from us. There are 13 dwarves in total, a Wizard named Gandalf and a hobbit named Bilbo." Kili explained.
"While I'm sure a wizard is quite helpful, that doesn't seem like much of an army." Fili observed.
"Thorin and Gandalf believe stealth may be necessary. We aren't taking back the mountain from an army, we are taking it back from the dragon Smaug."
"A dragon!" Fili exclaimed and Kili nodded. "Well, that just sounds like a positively easy mission." Fili concluded and Kili chuckled in return.
Fili smiled, he didn't really have many memories, but it felt good to make Kili laugh. It felt like that was the way things were supposed to be. Kili was laughter and happiness and all that was good in the world.
Looking into his brothers eyes, dancing with laughter, Fili had a vision. Kili's wide brown eyes were staring up at him without laughter but with terror. He let out a heartbroken cry; "Don't let go!"
"We fell." Fili said, suddenly realizing what he had just saw.
"Do you remember?" Kili questioned
"You jumped, to try and get to me, and it was too far away. You missed the ledge and I grabbed you. I couldn't pull you back up, so we both fell." Fili remembered. "Oh Kili, I am so sorry, brother, I shouldn't have asked you to jump."
"Don't apologize brother, never apologize. You could have saved yourself. You should have. You should have let me go." Kili remarked, eyes filling with tears once more.
"It's fuzzy, but I think my memories coming back. I don't remember much, but I do know that I could never let you go." Fili said with a smile.
Kili felt his heart swell. He was terribly lonely; he missed his brother's stories and companionship like a constant hole in his heart. He knew this new Fili was trying, but it still was not the same. He missed their connection, their bond.
They continued onwards chatting aimlessly until Kili found an area of the mountain that seemed to suit his needs. It was significantly less steep, and a pathway seemed to allow them to walk up at a angle rather than climbing straight up.
"We should rest for a little while." Kili said as they reached the edge of the mountain. Since it was not as steep, he was optimistic he would not need his wrist to climb, however his wrist was a constant throb of pain. Should they need to scale over anything steeper or even just to maneuver around fallen rocks, Kili was worried he would not be able to do so. His wrist was broken, and the climb would be incredibly steep. The new Fili had yet to notice Kili's broken wrist. He was not in the same overly protective concerned older brother mode that he was usually in. Kili had to figure out how to bind it, at least so that he could use it to guide himself up the mountain edge.
"Alright. Do you have a plan for how to find the company?" Fili asked.
Kili frowned at the question. A plan. Kili wasn't supposed to come up with the plans, that was Fili's job. Fili comes up with the plans, and Kili helps execute them. Unless it involved pranking, then Kili had an active involvement in the planning. Still, Fili looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"Well, they would be heading towards the lonely mountain. So once we get to higher ground, we can find out where we are and head in the same direction." Kili said, proud of himself for coming up with a solution.
Fili nodded in acceptance. "Great. I'm starving. Do we have anything to eat?" Fili dropped his bedroll and began to walk around looking for twigs and stems to start a fire. He glanced at Kili expectantly when there was no answer.
"No." Kili said with a sigh. Most of the food was with Bomber."
"Can you hunt?" Fili asked, eyeing Kili's bow. The bow had miraculously survived the fall strapped to the younger prince's back.
Kili looked to the ground sadly and held out his arm for his brother. "I'm sorry, brother, but I can't use the bow right now."
Fili looked at his brother's wrist with a frown. "This needs binding. Why didn't you tell me?"
Before Kili could answer a loud voice interrupted them.
"Well what to have here? Two dwarfling spies?"
a/n: DUM DUM DUMMMMMMMMMMMM