"No. You can't." Fili shook his head. He was actually enjoying this limited power over his little brother,
"Please!" Kili whined.
"No! You can't join." Fili shook his head with pride.
Kili got down on his knees and groveled in the dirt. "Please, please- let me join. I want to be in your club."
"No." Fili gave a small nod to indicate the discussion was over. However, he felt a small cringe of pain when he heard his brother sobbing softly into the dirt.
"Fine. But you have to go through... an initiation!" Kili, still sniffling, got to his feet, wiping the tears and dirt off of his face.
"Whats an ini... ini... ini-shay-shon?"
Fili rolled his eyes.
"Its a series of tests you go through so you can prove you should be part of the club."
Kili's little eyes glistened. He loved a challenge.
"So first, you have to climb up there." Fili pointed to the tallest tree in the woods near their house. "And then, you can climb down there-" he pointed to a nearby rock formation, which was overhanging a river. "And swim across, to the other side. Then you'll be done part one."
Kili tentatively stepped towards the base of the tree. It was a lot thicker up close. How on earth was he going to reach the first branch? It was so high... maybe he shouldn't do this... but he really wanted to be part of this club. He grabbed at the tree bark with his hands as it crumbled down on top of him. Fili smirked. Kili was never going to make his club.
Well, that's what he thought, until he got hit on the head with a twig. What was that? Kili was on the branch above him! Disturbing the branches! Maybe he actually had a chance... ?
Kili couldn't breathe. The altitude must be making him dizzy, he concluded, as he hung on for dear life. A drop from this height could probably kill a dwarf, even a hardened explorer like him. He felt something poke the bottom of his foot.
"Hey. Hurry up. It's been five minutes and you've gotten two metres up- let's keep it moving."
Kili glanced over his shoulder and saw Fili poking him, with a bored expression on his face.
He sighed. He had to keep moving.
Fili was awoken from his brief nap by his brother's high-pitched screams. He must have dosed off in waiting for his brother to finish. Where was Kili? Was that... was that him at the top of the tree? No way!
Why was he screaming?
Kili knew now that he was going to do. Ok, so he had said that before, many, many, many times, but now he knew- there was no other way out. He had made it to the top of the tree, but, um... Fili had appeared to have underestimated the gap between the tree and the rocks. Kili could never make the jump! And he was so... so... so high up... he felt dizzy. He felt like he was going to throw up. Well- you only live once, a little voice in the back of his head said. Kili was about to disagree with that little statement when the branch beneath him gave way. In his haste, he kicked a branch to his left and sent himself spiraling downwards towards the rock formation.
He felt as if he had been awoken from the dead. Kili must have temporarily blacked out. His back HURT. All he could see was the blue sky above him. And he could hear something too- he could hear his mother's voice.
"FILI, IF I HAVE TOLD YOU ONCE, I HAVE TOLD YOU A THOUSAND TIMES, DON'T SEBD YOUR BROTHER OFF ON DANGEROUS MISSIONS TO ACHIEVE SOMETHING WE BOTH KNOW ISN'T REALLY THAT IMPORTANT!"
Ah. That was more like it. Kili smiled, despite of the pain. He heard Fili mumble something in return, and then his mother sighed, and said "look, honey, we both know Kili isn't... well, he can be quite- irrational, sometimes, but I'm sure he'll grow out of that."
Hey. That was rude. Kili turned himself, and realised he was perched on top of the rock cluster. He had made it! Dis and Fili were climbing up the side to get to him. It was quite steep, so he still had some time.
Irrational? He wasn't irrational. Sure, he did some crazy things, but that was fun, not irrational. Wait. What did irrational mean? Kili had no clue. It probably means I'm boring, the little voice inside his head whispered. Kili was taken aback. He was NOT boring! As a matter of fact, he was going to prove Dis and Fili wrong by finishing part one of this inishayshon! Um... intiaton... this intashion... this TEST!
When Fili climbed to the top, he expected to see his little brother's unconscious body sprawled out on the rock. Instead, he saw Kili at the edge of the rock, mustering his strength to jump down into the violent river.
"KILI!" Dis yelled.
"I'M NOT IRRATIONAL!" yelled Kili as he jumped off of the ledge into the freezing cold river. He used all of his strength to get him halfway, then he realised he couldn't possibly get to the other side. Oops.
Fili didn't know what to do. His mother was freaking out, and his brother had just leapt into the river when he couldn't swim. He would just have to go in after him.
Kili was now getting swept downstream, and getting bumped against all the rocks. OUCH. He felt something slimy tickle his foot. EWWWW. Then he saw the violent waters right in front of him. The rapids. Cue screaming.
Fili heard his brothers screams as he threw himself off the ledge. He heard Dis gasp and run to the side, looking down, petrified, as her two sons floated down the volatile river. Fili didn't know how to swim either, but he had seen the men in the next village race, and they did something cool with their arms, so he spun his arms around and kicked, and he found himself traveling surprisingly fast. Faster than Kili. Great- so he could catch up to him!
Kili thought he heard someone behind him.
"Help! HELP!" Kili screeched.
"Shut up, Kee, I'm coming!" He heard Fili's voice above the roaring of the water.
"FEEEEEEE!" Kili yelled as he was pulled underwater. He bumped into a rock, and was sent spiraling sideways. He was going to die now, he thought as he saw all the rocks ahead of him.
Suddenly, he felt an arm around him. He was yanked out of the freezing water.
"Kili? Are you alright? What happened to you?" It was Thorin. He was looking worriedly at his youngest nephew, who was dripping wet.
"Fili!" Kili gasped.
"Fili? Where's Fili?" Thorin set Kili down. Kili pointed weakly into the rapids. A small hand was waving at Thorin before it got pulled under.
"FILI!" Thorin dived back into the translucent water, thrashing about like a bear trying to catch a fish. His face was white with terror. He couldn't lose his nephews. His beautiful nephews.
Fili felt sick. And he needed to breathe. He felt his eyelids closing. He couldn't keep them open. Just before he lost consciousness, he felt a strong hand grasp around his ankle.
Thorin laid Fili down on the bank. He had a cut above his eye. Kili wanted to talk to him, to hug him, but Thorin nudged Kili back. Then Thorin started pressing down on Fili's chest, something Kili had seen a man do once. Fili sputtered back to life, coughing up water.
Kili rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
"Fee? Fee are you ok?"
"Yeah... I'm fine." Fili looked at him with his sparkling blue eyes. "You can join my club. You passed the initiation."
Kili hugged Fili tighter, and, to his embarrassment, started to cry. He heard Fili do the same.
"I almost lost you, Kee."
"But you didn't."
The brothers felt two large, hairy arms wrap around them both. It was their Uncle. He appeared to be crying too.
"Don't put yourselves in danger again, ok?" His usually deep, cool voice was wavering with tears.
The boys nodded, and pressed their cold, wet little bodies into their Uncle's warm chest. They could hear Dis sprinting along the river, crying out to Thorin and her sons.
"My boys! Are my boys ok?"
Her face was tear-streaked too.
Kili elbowed Fili softly.
"Hey."
"What?"
"Do you wanna join my club?"
