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The next morning dawned, the sun spreading weakly into the cage. Kili was curled on the floor; eyes wide open as sunlight warmed his face.
His bones ached, and his muscles felt like they were made of rock; groaning, he tried to move himself into a sitting position, breathing out hard as he pressed his back into the cage behind him.
He wondered what Fili was doing; probably going out of his mind looking for him- he knew he would be if Fili were the one missing. With a jolt he thought of Thorin- what would he say about this mess?
Suddenly, a loud clang of the door opening broke through his thoughts; a man in a hood was striding towards him. Kili twisted angrily as two large strong hands tried to pick him up.
'I can walk!' he spat, wrenching himself away from the man and backing away, reproachfully rubbing his arm. What was going on now?
The man snorted, shaking his head, but stood to the side, motioning for him to walk forwards.
'Of course, Sir…..' he growled as Kili walked forwards, giving him a low bow. Kili, frowned, aware of the sarcasm that was being presented at him, but there was no other way out of the cage; he took a deep breath, rolled his eyes, and walked forward.
As soon as Kili was level the man made his move- Kili shouted in alarm as he was pushed hard in the back; he felt his breath leave him as he fell chest first into the dirt.
Laughter echoed around the cage, and the man himself gasped for breath as he pulled Kili up from the ground by his neck, pushing him out of the cage.
The sunlight hurt his eyes a little, but still Kili kept resolutely walking, eyes darting around for an escape route. There was a clearing behind the fire, with woodland for as far as the eye could see; he could easily get lost in them….
The other men stood by, silently watching- Kili noticed they didn't sneer, or spit, or jeer. They just watched, not making a noise. That unnerved him more than anything.
He came to a stop before Addric, who was stood with his arms crossed, a stern look on his face.
Kili looked up, and at the man beside him. It was Liddry. The younger man bit his lower lip, a bruise blooming on his face from the strike he had received the previous night.
Addric cleared his throat, and the quiet mutterings of the group fell silent.
'I've had word from the Boss, and he's coming in two days' time- we need all the information that we can get.' He looked down at Kili, eyes hard. 'He'll be happy with just this one though, the other dwarves don't matter to him.'
There was a ripple of noise from the crowd; Kili looked around, eyes wide.
'They don't matter?' a high, hopeful voice could be heard, high above the others- suddenly, Kili knew what he was talking about. That meant the others were fair game now.
'Wait!' he yelled to be heard, before he was pulled back by the man in the hood. 'Leave them alone!'
The man in the hood clipped his head with his fist, sending Kili falling forwards a little- he shook his head, dazed, before he turned angrily on Addric. 'Leave them alone, you've got me!' he cried, eyes only for the leader. 'Leave them be!'
Addric snorted, shaking his head. 'Too late,' he muttered, 'They'll be looking for you, and we don't need the trouble….' He scratched the stubble on his chin, glancing at Liddry for a second or two.
'Please…' Kili muttered, eyes wide and earnest. 'Please don't- they're my family….' He trailed off, looking between the two men, hoping he'd got his plan right.
Liddry looked away, blue eyes shining; he put his hands on his hips and refused to make eye contact with either of them. Addric sighed as well, shaking his head a little.
'It's not….we're not doing this to be monsters.' He growled, echoing Liddry's words from the night before.
'Then why?' Kili barked, anger in his voice. He was tired of never getting a good answer.
'What does it matter?!' a voice came from behind him, and suddenly many voices started, angry and impatient. 'Why are you listening to him?! Kill him now!'
Addric put his hands up. 'The Boss is coming soon! Then we can- well, we can go back home.' He finished.
'You promised us we could get good sport from these creatures! But they're just begging savages!
Kili growled, the insults hitting him hard- as did Addric's supposed promise. 'Sport?' he muttered, eyes dark. 'So we're sport for you, right?'
Liddry sucked in breath beside Addric. 'This is getting farcical…..we don't need this…..' he whispered, shaking his head as he bent close to Addric's ear.
Addric nodded, eyes resting on Kili. 'You're more trouble than you're worth, Thorin Oakenshield- get him back in the cage, I'll deal with him later.' He muttered, waving his hand as if dismissing them.
Kili shook his head, stepping forwards. 'Promise me you'll leave the others alone! You have me! You said it yourself, I'm the one he wants, not the others!' he yelled, pulling Addric's elbow and wheeling him around.
Addric stared daggers at him, his face as hard as a rock. 'I'll do as I choose; Dwarf- and you'll do well not to disobey me.' He spat, before wrenching his arm from Kili's grasp and stalking off.
Kili turned to Liddry, the one man he seemed to have some sort of connection with. The younger man had an unreadable expression on his face, and he started to bite his lower lip again as if anxious. 'What's Azog got on you?' Kili wondered out loud.
Liddry sucked in his breath again, his face paling then tingeing with red. 'None of your business, Thorin- take him away.' He gave the order, sounding reluctant.
'Please! Tell me, I can help!' Kili shouted, now realising that something was very wrong- Azog must have something they want; it didn't look like they'd be doing this for fun. Before he could say anything, though, he was pulled roughly away.
'Liddry! I can help!' he yelled as he was forcefully pulled backwards, hands grabbing at his face and clothes. Feeling suddenly very claustrophobic, Kili hit out, bringing his heel back and managing to hit a shin, before using his fists to beat his way out of from the grasp of the clamouring hands.
'He's getting loose!' a shout of alarm cried, and suddenly Kili was running, running for his life.
He tore past Liddry, who hadn't moved at all, but was watching him- he made an attempt to grab him but Kili easily evaded him.
Kili made it to the forest behind the fire- without even looking back he ran into the trees, focused entirely on finding the others, and warning them about the danger than was now following him, wielding swords, knives and sticks.
Fili crept along the underbrush, eyes primed and ears pricked up for any sign of movement. A short while ago they had suddenly smelt a whiff of smoke; the settlement of men surely couldn't be far now.
Keeping low to the ground, stepping carefuly and silently, he directed his Uncle and the Hobbit, warning them to stay silent; Thorin obviously didn't need telling, but Bilbo had the unfortunate knack of stepping on every twig and branch that lay on the ground- he was now treading very carefully, looking around his feet before putting weight on them.
They had been silent for the past hour- Fili didn't want anyone to know they were coming; an ambush was the best tactic, as enemies with a heads-up almost always killed their evidence whilst being ransacked.
Stepping forwards, they all stopped as they heard pounding footfalls, and branches snapping simultaneously, as if someone was running for their lives.
Darting behind a large tree, the three of them stood and watched as a figure came into view.
Fili squinted, trying to make out the face, but whoever it was was running too fast for him to see them properly.
Suddenly there were more noises; looking to the side the three of them could see a group of tall creatures were running through the trees after the single figure….men. They were men- which meant….
'Kili….' Fili breathed, feeling his heart plummet, his skin freezing in sudden shock.
The men were still a way off, and what he presumed was his brother hadn't yet reached them yet- if he could get his attention.
Suddenly, Fili heard it- the unmistakeable sound of an arrow being loosed. 'No!' Fili screamed, eyes widening as the figure twisted in the air, trying to evade the arrow- but it wasn't enough.
Fili didn't even remember when he started running. His senses only came to when he fell to his knees beside the figure, pushed the dark hair away from the ashen face.
'F-Fili?' his little brother stammered, eyes wide as Fili pulled him into his lap.
'It's ok, I'm here….I'm here….' Fili muttered, looking down fervently to see where they arrow had it; he closed his eyes for a brief second as he located it- it was latched into Kili's torso, just under his ribs. Blood was seeping onto the ground, making Kili hiss in his breaths.
Kili sucked in breath, clutching Fili's hand with a death grip. 'Where's Thorin?' he whispered.
Fili's eyes widened, before he looked behind the tree- Thorin and Bilbo were both stood, swords raised, as the men started coming into view.
'He's here….he's here Kili….' He reassured him, but to his surprise Kili shook his head.
'No….get him away…..get him…..away….' he begged, eyes impossibly wide, before he rolled in pain, eyes squeezing shut as he whimpered.
Fili grimaced, tears springing to his own eyes- he turned as he heard men approaching, their voices loud and hostile. To his shock, Kili tried to push him away, frowning through his pain.
'They wa- want….Thorin…..' he stammered, his breath hitching. 'Get him….away from here….'
Fili shook his head. 'I'm not leaving you!' he growled, hugging his brother tight. Kili's head bounced on his shoulder as shadows drew near. Turning, Fili latched eyes with Thorin.
By the widening of their eyes, each one understood. 'Baram!' Fili shouted, using the Khuzdul word for 'men' so Thorin could understand.
'Get out of here!' Fili yelled, trying to move Kili into a better position so he could carry him through the forest- suddenly, an arrow whistled past his ear, and embedded into a tree- Fili cursed before putting his body protectively over Kili as they were suddenly overwhelmed by men.
Bilbo pulled Thorin back into the shadows. Thorin glared at him, but for once Bilbo didn't care. 'He told you to get away- there must be a reason!' he muttered, pulling them further away as they watched the men clamour around Fili and Kili.
'They are my nephews!' Thorin muttered, surging forwards as Fili shouted and tried to defend himself and his brother.
Bilbo pulled his elbow, steering him around. 'You're no good to them dead!' he growled, inside desperately worrying whether he was doing the right thing.
'And I won't be good to anyone if they die!' Thorin countered, drawing his sword. Looking back in the forest, Thorin could see Fili was losing the right, but he was still going strong.
'Fili is more than capable of looking after himself- if they get you we're all finished!'' Bilbo growled, feeling braver than he had ever felt in the prince's presence.
Fili stood, growling and baring his teeth- he grabbed the nearest man, pushing him to the floor and kicking his chest- he didn't have enough room to draw his sword, but his daggers would work fine- he unhooked one and jabbed it into the crowd; a man yelped and fell. But Fili couldn't savour the moment- a fist suddenly came out of nowhere; he fell to his knees, dazed.
Kili still lay on the floor, hands weakly reaching up to hold his brother's tunic as he swayed on the spot. A foot kicked out, sending Fili sprawled into the dirt with his brother.
'Fili….' Kili moaned, his face white, hands shaking.
Hands clamoured to hold them, hauling them up and holding them tight.
'No….let my brother go!' Fili spat, weakly kicking out; his head was throbbing. No one paid him any heed. They continued to hoist them away, now pulling them away from the forest itself, presumably to the direction of their camp.
Thorin surged forwards once again, but this time Bilbo was ready- he bodily pushed the dwarf away, eyes hard. The branches around them moved, and one of the men stopped, eyes narrowed.
Silent and bristling, the Dwarf and the Hobbit watched the Man as he stepped closer; the man pushed dark hair away from his blue eyes, and he began to bite his lower lip.
Thorin gripped the handle of his sword, watching with deflating breaths as Fili and Kili were pulled back into the forest.
The man sheathed his weapon himself, stepping backwards. Shaking his head, he walked behind the group, almost as if he were unwilling to join them.
Stepping into the forest, Bilbo turned to Thorin. 'Why would they want you so bad?' he asked out loud.
'Who knows…and now my nephews may die for it.' Thorin stated, anger pulsating from his body.
He turned to Bilbo, eyes dangerous- he pushed the Hobbit in the chest, sending him careering to the ground. 'If you ever, ever do that to me again- you will live to regret it, do you understand me, hobbit?' he hissed.
Swallowing, Bilbo nodded, feeling quite scared. 'S-sorry, I just thought-'
'When I need your advice, I will ask for it!' Thorin snapped, before walking in the direction the men took, leaving the hobbit on the ground.
'You better hope they get out of this, Hobbit- because if they die, I'm holding you responsible!' he yelled back, not even looking behind him.
Getting up, Bilbo resisted the urge to yell his fear and frustrations into the air…..what had he done?
To be continued….
Well, now they have both of them- what's going to happen next? Find out in the next chapter!
Thank you for reading!
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