Kili, nephew of Thorin Oakenshield, had found that the events following the death of the dreaded Smuag to be rather perplexing, and not at all what he expected.

After the initial breath of relief at the falling of the false King under the mountain, there had come a series of celebrations worthy of his company's accomplishment. Erabor was theirs once more and there was singing, feasting, dancing and drinking; never had he seen such joyous dwarves before. The mere fact that his Uncle, brother, and friends had not been slain was a miracle within itself. He was especially pleased that their little Hobbit had not been taken by the dragon's fire. Bilbo was perhaps more subdued than Kili thought he should be, but at the time he put it down to exhaustion.

Then something rather peculiar had happened.

Bilbo disappeared.

It took maybe a day or two for everyone of Thorin's company to notice, since they all just supposed that the hobbit was off exploring the many halls of the mountain. But when Bofur had gone to Bilbo's chambers, it was void of any life, the bed hadn't been slept in and there were no clothes or possessions anywhere. Concern brewing, the dwarves had then began a search for the missing burglar. Fili hoped nothing unsavoury had befallen him, as he was very fond of Bilbo; such a caring, but determined creature.

They looked in likely places, then unlikely places, high and then low. Not so much as a hair could be found, and they only option was to go to Thorin; who might be able to shed some like on the vanishing hobbit. To be honest, they were reluctant, for the King under the mountain was only just recovering from a troublesome bout of gold sickness; so there was no telling what his mood would be.

The Durin sons entered the throne room, bowed in unison, and Fili spoke first. "Uncle? We can't find Bilbo, we went to his room but it doesn't look like it's been used. Has he gone somewhere?"

Kili could have been mistaken, but in that moment he thought he saw a flash of panic fly across his Uncle's usually stoic face, it was the kind of look akin to someone trying to find an answer they didn't have.

"… He had to go back to the Shire." Thorin finally said, looking above his nephews rather than directly at them. "He had family matters to attend to."

"... just like that? Without saying goodbye?" Kili asked, saddened.

"Maybe it couldn't wait."

"When will he be back?"

"… I do not know."

Kili wasn't sure if he was reassured by what his uncle told him, it was so unlike Bilbo to just go off without so much as a note to say where he was going. Whats more, in the following weeks The King began to curl into himself. He seemed to be keeping even his closest kin at arm's length, and had on a constant expression of discontent. Kili and Fili were especially disheartened at this development, they wanted their uncle to be happy, but whenever they tried to help they were snapped at and shooed away like bothersome pests.

On top all that, a new sinister problem arouse. More and more dwarves were being attacked and had their precious items stolen as they were travelling to and from Erabor. Of course there was always risk when carrying gold and the like on the roads, even more so if you were alone. But the sheer number of incidents was concerning, and it all seemed to be orchestrated by the same group.

This would not do.

Then, upon a sudden, Kili had the most brilliant idea; his head could hardly contain it as he rushed to tell his brother. Not only had he just discovered a way to make please Thorin, but it would also help them get a better grip on the bandits that had the nerve to attack their people. All he had to do was get Fili to go along with it.

"Uncle with have us skinned, so will Ma."

"You're always so negative Fee! This is the best plan ever thought of in the history of dwarves!"

"I wouldn't go that far… it is intriguing, But Kee, what happens if it blows up in our faces?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it! Look, if you're too scared to come I can go by myself-"

"Wait. I'll grab my cloak."

Exactly two hours later, the two brothers, grinning like cats dragged a rather stunned mugger into the throne room. The King gave them a look of regal disappointment; already frowning at whatever it was his nephews were up to.

"What is this?" he had asked.

"This." Said Kili.

"Is a freshly caught thief!" concluded Fili.

Thorin went wide eyed for a moment, then looked as if he was about to yell thunderously at the pair, then reeled himself back and instead focused his attention on the captive.

"Bring him foreword." Then, added under his breath. "I'll talk with you two later."

The mugger was dragged to the King under the Mountain's feet, and then maneuvered not so gently to his knees. His face was dripping with blood where he'd been struck to knock him unconscious, he swayed with concussion, but was lucid enough to send a hateful look at the dwarf in front of him.

Thorin was not the least bit intimated, and looked upon the wretched man like you would look upon a rat that had scuttled into your pantry.

"So, I understand you had the nerve to attack my nephews in broad daylight. You do not know how much that enrages me, whether it was their intention to catch you or not, you still put your filthy hands on my kin. That will not go unpunished."

There was a pause.

"However, before I have you locked away in the cells, you are going to tell me about your comrades out there in the hills. If you give me what I want, I might just not have you suffer for too long."

For a moment, there was quiet again, and Fili gave the thief a shake. "You will answer him!"

The captive raised his head slowly and painfully, and gave a short huff that had blood and spittle splatter onto the polished floor.

"I ain't telling you nothin' dwarf. I ain't afraid of you."

Thorin's hands visibly tensed on the arm rests of his throne, making his biceps and massive shoulders more pronounced under his furred coat. He had the appearance of a wolf waiting to pounce and devour. "Perhaps you didn't hear me. You will tell me what you know, or you already miserable existence will only become worse. I will not repeat myself again."

Kili dug his nails as hard as he could into the leather clad shoulder of the mugger, making him wince and try to pry himself free; but he had not a smidgen of hope against two young dwarves.

Spitting, the thief once again found his voice. "Whatcha goin' to do? Kill me? Pull out me teeth? Have me boiled in oil? There's nothing you can threaten me with, dwarf, cause' my lord is only one who had power over me."

Kili's uncle raised a dark eyebrow at the proclamation. "So you have a leader."

"That's right! And he's something else… he's not right in the head you see, downright disturbed, so he don't play by no code of honour, he can make you disappear without you having time to even think about running… he's as silent as a shadow on a wall because he has no footsteps, blink and you'll miss him… more cunning than any of your dwarves… and he curses your house Oakensheild!"

The man then bent over in hysterical, maddening laughter, until Fili had heard enough and knocked the fool upside his head; making him go limp in their grip. Thorin growled from his seat.

"If I wanted riddles, I would have sent for Gandalf! Lock this piece of dirt in the darkest and most damp cell we have."

Kili and Fili nodded together and began to haul the thief out of the throne room and the king's sight, but not before he briefly regained his wits to hiss out a few last words. His voice slithered down the hallway and right into the King's ear.

"He's gonna get ya… he's gonna get ya..."