Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story line and my OCs. Everything else is credited to J.R.R Tolkien and Peter Jackson.
Little Kili smiled. There was little he enjoyed more than the company of his kitty. All Reesi had to do was walk in the room and Kili's face would brighten up.
Kili loved to follow Reesi around and play with her, even though she didn't acknowledge he was playing. He would often crawl around on his hands and knees pretending to be a cat, too. It was Kili's favorite game. His kitty would watch his silly performance and even seem to take part, rubbing up against him and letting her tail brush Kili's under the nose. It pleased the dwarfling to think that Reesi could actually believe that he was a cat, like her.
Reesi had started out tolerating having the dwarfling around, bute had grown on her to the point where she had actually begun to like him. She had grown fond of his childish ways- though Reesi often wondered why he never could seem to mature. The little boy had to be older than her, but he behaved like a month old kitten. He needed someone to teach him how to be a real cat. Even though cats are the superior beings and are obviously much smarter than whatever this boy was, Reesi supposed she could teach him the ways of becoming a being as great as her- it may not be easy, but she could try, then he too could become an immortal being.
Kili giggled as Reesi let out a meow and rubbed up against his leg. He scooped his kitty up into his arms and snuggled her close, rubbing his face in her soft hair. Reesi meowed again before propelling herself out of Kili's arms and walking towards the door. She turned around to look at him and meowed, as if calling him to follow.
Kili always wondered where Reesi went when she disappeared during the day- maybe if he followed he could find out and always know where to find her when he missed her.
Kili rose from his spot on the floor and followed after Reesi. She walked up to the door and Kili opened it for her to walk out.When Reesi walked out the door, Kili followed her. He followed her as she walked through the yard and toward the forest. The forest was Kili's favorite place to be, it pleased him that it also seemed to be Reesi's favourite place to be too.
Kili followed her deep into the woods, all the while chattering away to her about any little thing he could think of. Reesi would meow once in a while, but for the most part, stayed quiet.
After walking a ways in, Reesi stopped her steps and entered into her hunting mode. She crouched down and eyed a bird sitting a few feet away. Kili watched in fascination at Reesi's concentrated state.
"What are doing Reesi?" Kili asked.
The bird Reesi was watching flew away when it realized how close it was to a dwarfling. Reesi watched in disappointment as her dinner flew out of sight. She looked back up to the little boy. This would take longer than she thought. The child didn't even know what hunting looked like. How could she ever teach him how to fend for himself.
Kili bent down in the ground next to his kitty. He layed down and looked back up to the judgemental eyes of Reesi and smiled, "Do you want to play, Reesi?"Reesi just starred blankly at him before turning away and continuing on with her hunting.
"Wait for me!" Kili called out as he rose back onto his hands and knees.
'croak'
Kili froze in place.
'croak'
He looked around for the source of the noise.
'croak'
There! On the ground a short ways away was a big bullfrog. Kili crawled over to it and croaked back. The bullfrog just hopped in the opposite direction of the little dwarf. Kili hopped after it making various croaks and ribits to match that of his new bullfrog friend.
Kili giggled in amusement when the frog hopped straight into a big puddle. When the amusement ended, Kili decided it was time to get back to business.
"Reesi?" Kili looked around, but Reesi was nowhere to be seen, "Reesi? Where are you?"
No reply was given. Reesi had disappeared, leaving Kili all alone.
KFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKFKF
How long he had been lost in the woods, Kili didn't know. What he did know was that it had been a long time. Night had already begun to fall. He was so scared. He didn't know what else to do, so he waited. He waited by an old oak tree. The tree was massive and made Kili feel more secure.
Kili curled himself into a ball and hid his face. Would he ever make it home again? Kili didn't know. He had made a mistake following Reesi into the wild. This was her turf. She knew every little rock and every tree in the forest. Kili shouldn't have gotten distracted the way he did. It was silly of him to play with a frog while Reesi was showing him through the forest. It was own fault he was stuck out here.
'meow'
Kili's head shot up at the sound, "Reesi?"
'meow'
Kili spotted the shape of his kitty a few feet away from him. She appeared to have a dead mouse at her feet, "That's gross, Reesi. We don't eat mouses, we eat mum's yummy food."
'meow'
"No thank you. I don't want any."
'meow'
Kili picked her up and pulled her up to his chest. Reesi purred softly as he stroked her fur, "Are we lost, Reesi?"
Reesi just continued to pur.
"I don't know the way home. I wish mum or Fili were here. They would know what to do." Kili backed up against his tree again and closed his eyes.
"Kili!" called a distant voice.
Kili's eyes flew open, "That sounded like uncle Thorin."
"Kili!" Came another voice.
"Fili!" Kili called back at the sound of his name being called by his big brother.
"Kili?"
Footsteps could be heard approaching from a ways away.
"Fili? Where are you?" the little dwarfling asked in a frightened tone.
"I'm here Kili." Kili could see the form of his brother step out of the brush with Thorin behind him.
"Fili!" Kili carried Reesi and ran into his brother's embrace, "I thought I'd be lost forever."
Fili chuckled, "I would never have stopped looking for you."
Thorin cleared his throat and crossed his arms, "May I ask why you so carelessly ran off into the woods?"
Kili looked timidly up at his uncle, "Reesi wanted me to go with her. She wanted me to follow her."
Thorin raised an eyebrow, "I guess you can see how that played out. Have we learned our lesson about chasing cats into the forest?"
"Yes, uncle." Kili nodded.
Fili hugged his brother tighter, "We were so worried about you."
"Reesi knows the way home. She would keep me safe."
"You can't rely on your cat to keep you protected. You need to be more wary." Fili scolded gently.
"Yes, Fee." Kili burrowed into Fili's furs, "I was so scared out here alone."
"I know, Kee, but when you're lost, I'll always find you. No matter where you are, I'll always try my very hardest to make sure I'm there when you're lonely, but I can't be the only one contributing to this deal. You've got to help me out a bit, okay Kili?"
"Yes, Fili. I won't wander off. I don't like being lost." Kili shook his head.
Thorin walked up to the two lads and placed his hands on their shoulders, looking down, into the eyes of each dwarfling in turn, "Your mother will be worried sick. We should get home, where it's safe."
Safe
Kili woke up to the voices of Cain and Ben talking. They seemed to be discussing something, but it was too quiet to hear- that is, until the third man, Mathias came in.
"The note has been delivered. It's all in motion now." Mathias said.
"Good. Now Cain, 'ow about gettin' our guest somethin' to eat. He'll need to have his strength."
The next thing Kili heard was footsteps walking his way. He closed his eyes again to pretend he was still sleeping. He could feel Cain cut the rope around his legs, then his arms. The man clearly wasn't expecting Kili to have strength to fight back.
That's where he was wrong.
Cain started trying to wake Kili by shaking him. After a few moments Kili kicked out his legs and caught the man in the head. Cain dropped to the ground, unconscious, and Kili moved to grab his knife with bound hands.
"Hey!"
Kili's head shot up to see Ben and Mathias running toward him. He quickly cut through the rope holding his wrists behind his back and hopped to his feet. Kili backed away from his attackers before spotting his exit: a door a few yards to his left.
Kili ran towards the door and pushed against it.
Locked
He could hear his captors coming up behind him. Time was running out. Kili pushed harder. Still nothing happened. He then backed up and got a running small running start. Kili threw his whole weight up against the door, finally breaking through the lock and falling into the open.
Kili had no time to breathe in the fresh air before he was on the run again. He just barely made it out of Ben's reach before he broke into a sprint.
He recognized this place as one of Erid Luin's sister villages, Eugenia. Eugenia was the market town. Every road running through the little village had loads of trading tables and even more people. It would make it easier for Kili to disappear in the crowd.
The problem with Eugenia was that they weren't particularly fond of dwarves. They saw them as a nuisance. That's just one of the reasons their family avoided trade with this town. Eugenia also has a reputation for being a harbor place for criminals- a sort of den of thieves. It's no wonder Kili's captors brought him here. Their illegal activity would blend with all the rest going on around Eugenia.
Kili ran through the streets of the village, dodging and avoiding passersby in his way. He maneuvered around the various carts and trading stands while moving at as fast a pace as he could.
Kili broke apart from the crowd and pressed his back up against a wall in a small alleyway. He tried slowing his breathing so he wouldn't be found. Kili waited this way for long moments before he figured it safe to peek around the corner.
He took a deep breath and began to move slowly to the edge of the wall. Kili placed his hand on the corner to steady himself. He jumped when he felt his wrist get grabbed by a hand from around the corner. Kili tried to pull away, but the hand was too strong.
Suddenly the man attached to the hand appeared from around the corner, as well. Ben shoved Kili hard against the alleyway wall, then pressed both hands around Kili's throat.
This feeling was too familiar to Kili. The feeling of your air being cut off. The feeling of not being able to breathe, no matter how hard you try. The feeling of your life in someone else's hands.
Kili could see the edges of his vision begin to blacken. He looked around to see passing people not even him a second glance. His fighting hands started to fall limply to his sides. His vision was almost completely gone when he was dropped to the ground. Kili's hands shot up to his neck and he struggled to get air back in his lungs.
"That's what you get for tryin' to escape. Maybe we should do somethin' so it don't 'appen again." Ben grumbled.
Kili could barely understand what he was saying, but it didn't take long for it to sink in. Ben rose his foot up and stomped harshly down on Kili's leg, drawing out a wheezed noise that may have been a scream if Kili could have made the sound.
Kili continued to groan in pain, "Help!" He attempted to draw in attention from the people around him, but they continued to ignore his situation, "Please!" Still, no help came.
"Shut up! Ain't nobody gonna 'elp you! You're just a dwarf." Ben bent down to Kili's level, "They don't like your kind 'ere. According to them, you did somethin' to deserve this. You started this fight."
Kili glared up at him, "I've started a lot of fights in my life, but this isn't one of them. I've had a lot of things happen to me that I don't deserve, but you've gotten out of a lot of punishments you do deserve. I don't understand what Mahal is doing in letting this happen, but I have a feeling we'll both get what we deserve in the end."
"Don't back talk me! The only thing you'll get is a few more bruises. The only thing I'll get is fifteen-hundred pounds." Ben hit Kili hard with his fist, plunging him into darkness.
Uh oh! He was so close! This must be torturing y'all. I hope you're loving it, though. Let me know in the reviews.