lyanna: glad you're enjoying it so far!
Fili had just begun to doze off when he felt someone poke him in the ribs. Fluttering his eyes, he realized that his head ache had returned with more force than even before, and he groaned aloud. His own groan seemed loud, and he pressed his eyes shut against the pounding in his head.
Being prodded again, slightly harder this time, resulted in a desperate attempt by Fili to open his eyes. Immediately they settled on the dying embers of a camp fire, and the light sent things blurring out of focus and darting about before his eyes in a terribly peculiar way.
Come to think of it, however, the campfire was peculiar. Why was he outside? Of course he should remember why he was outside, but between his throbbing head and his newly discovered throbbing ankle, which he suddenly realized hurt as well, it was hard to come up with any answers to anything.
"Fili!" Fili turned his head to see Kili looking very worried, but as much as he wanted to offer comfort to his little brother, he didn't even know why Kili was upset in the first place. That took too much effort on his part, and his effort level was quite high as it was at the moment.
Watching as his brother's head lolled, Kili shook his head at Strider, "I think he's even worse now. Can't you do something to help him?"
Glancing sharply at his fellow rangers and then at Kili, Strider shook his head.
"You already know I can't," was all he said, "Besides, they took most of our things and we're tied up; how am I supposed to help him with those conditions?"
Kili blinked desperately, glancing back wt his brother and whispering quietly to him, willing him to feel better.
Daddry had woken, and ever so quietly, he and Vordonde had been talking of escape, though no plans had been solidified. Meanwhile, Kili had done everything he could think of for his brother, which wasn't much, and he'd been growing more and more desperate.
Suddenly, there was a rustle in the bushes, and everyone froze, unsure whether friend of foe would appear. To everyone's shock, it was a dwarf who stuck his head out of the bushes, quickly twisting his head this way and that as he looked around the camp, his gaze eventually settling on the captives.
"Oh," he said, "And I thought you were the ones warning us about how to be safe from orcs."
The dwarf had a braided beard which curled at the ends in a sort of unnatural way. His looked the captives over, glanced at the orcs, and the raised his large eyebrows.
"And you said orcs only travel at night, and here they are sleeping. Must be right tired after stealing me camp."
Daddry and Vordonde widened their eyes, while Strider hurried to keep Kili quiet, although Kili was bursting with wonder at this strange looking dwarf.
"We were wondering what happened to you and your family; I'm afraid we were thinking the worst," Daddry spoke.
"My kin heard the orcs coming long before they arrived. We high tailed it and came looking for you, actually. We'd lost track of surroundings in the rush to get away. Guess I'm glad we found ye, though it's total happenstance that we were wondering what ended up happening to our camp."
"Now that we know you're alright, could you give us a hand? Careful, though, that orc over there is supposed to be keeping watch. He could wake at any time," Vordonde spoke, interrupting the dwarf's quiet talk.
The dwarf nodded quickly, cautiously stepping forward, and then his eyes widened.
"Why, you've got a couple of dwarflings with you! Where'd you little fellows come from?"
Kili opened his mouth to talk, but Strider interrupted saying, "We'll tell you, but first get us out of here!"
The dwarf nodded again, hastening over to the ropes and tugging at the thick knots. It took several moments, but soon the initial bonds were free, though the dwarf then noticed that each captive was also tied separately.
"I'll have these undone in a moment... What wrong with that young dwarf, he seems to not be waking!"
"He's had a head injury, now you must get us out of here!" Vordonde hissed, "At least get our feet untied."
"Of course," the dwarf began untying Vordonde's bonds, "My cousin had a head injury, so I know a thing or two about those." He moved on to Strider, "If you go right down the trail out there, you find my little group. I'm sure my brother can help too, since he helped take care of my cousin when the injury was new. Don't get me wrong, we're no healers, but we do know head injuries! What happened, was it the orcs? There ye go lad!" The dwarf finished untying Strider and moved on to Daddry.
"No, he fell out of a tree!" Kili said loudly. Too loudly, in fact, and the dwarf paused, glancing at the Orc fretfully. At first, the Orc only snorted in its sleep, but then very slowly, it began to wake.
Eyes widening, the dwarf turned to Vordonde, "Hurry, I've said where my new camp is. Go run and I'll meet you there with these little ones!"
Daddry glance at Vordonde, who nodded, and then he turned to Strider, who hesitated. Lifting a flask to Fili's lips, he poured a dose of medicine down his throat and clamped his mouth shut, forcing him to swallow. Then Daddry and Strider took off running while Vordonde clutched his sword, waiting as the dwarf struggled with Kili's bonds. As the dwarf tugged at the ropes, Fili was miraculously beginning to wake, and he gasped when he saw the orc waking.
Just as Kili was almost free, and Vordonde was beginning to help Fili, the orc woke completely, and immediately roared at what it saw.
This roar woke the other orcs, and within moments, the camp was alive and moving to surround Fili, Kili, Vordonde, and the thus unnamed dwarf.
Vordonde swung his sword protectively, but he knew that him against a camp of orcs had extremely one sided odds. Meanwhile, Fili was beginning to show signs of wellness again, and Kili was doing all he could to wake his brother. In a moment, Fili sat up.
The orcs conversed for a moment, the guard almost cowering when others began shouting at him, and then they turned to the dwarves and ranger.
"So," the orc leader said, "A new dwarf appears whereas two humans have disappeared. Perhaps that means there are more dwarves lurking around?"
"No," the dwarf shook his head quickly, "I'm just a lone traveler who saw these lads in some fearsome trouble, no offence meant, and decided to help out." He hesitated, "You're kinda in my way of helping, so if you'd excuse us..."
The orc growled, tossing a hand and two more orcs promptly grabbed the dwarf's arms and twisted them begin his back.
"Silence," the orc growled, "Now, where are your companions? Where have they run off to?"
"Now how are we supposed to tell you that if we're silent?" The dwarf mumbled, and Vordonde shot him a despairing look.
"Your mouth, dwarf, is used most poorly. Instead, you should be telling all about your companions. Now, talk."
"Well," the dwarf hesitated.
Seeing that the dwarf wasn't going to say anything, the orc grabbed the nearest person who happened to be Fili, and help a knife to his throat.
"Talk!" The orc roared.
"Fili!" Kili cried, Vordonde quickly grabbing his shoulder to keep him from leaping foreword and trying a fool-hearty attempt to help his brother, and the orc's eyes widened.
"Fili, is it? I though his name was Kornur?"
Kili's bottom lip trembled as he locked his eyes on his brother, who was holding perfectly still, eyes tilted downward and transfixed on the dagger.
"Fili," the orc continued, "That name sounds awfully familiar. In these parts, I think it may mean something. A dwarfling named Fili... Fili, it's a name of Durins folk, is it not? Who is your family, dwarfling?"
Fili blinked, unsure what to say, while the third dwarf looked shocked by this new development. He knew who Durins folk were; could this little dwarfling be among those that were royalty?
"Tell me!" The orc shook Fili, who winced against the sudden jarring of his head. "Who is your family?"
"I just live with my mum and brother," Fili cried.
"And your uncle? What of your uncle? You have one, do you not?"
The orc shook Fili again, who winced and shook his head as it seemed better than giving any sort of verbal answer.
"Fine, if he will not talk, let us try the younger. They are so much easier anyway," the orc advanced toward the shaking Kili.
"What is your uncle's name?" the orc demanded Kili to tell him, but Kili could tell he wasn't supposed to say, so he remained quiet.
"Who is your uncle?" the orc slapped Kili across the cheek, and Kili's lip trembled even more.
Just as Fili looked about ready to attack the orc, despite whatever problems he was currently having himself, there was a war cry from the brush. A streak flew from the bushes, sword swinging wildly. This caused the orc that was holding onto Fili to let go, and Vordonde immediately joined the sudden fight.
"Come on, hurry!" The third dwarf grabbed Fili's and Kili's shoulders, rushing them from the camp and leaving the commotion behind. Finally, after running for a bit, they slowed for a moment to catch their breaths.
"What was that that came and saved us?" Fili asked ad they got a little farther from the camp.
"I don't know!" Kili cried, "But it was scary, Fili!"
Fili nodded, putting an arm around his little brother, "Yes, are you alright?"
"Uh huh… You know, that was exciting! It was... It was an adventure!"
"That it was," the third dwarf nodded, not quite as pleased by the whole 'adventure'.
Fili rolled his eyes and his little brother, glad that he was at least unhurt, when Fili slumped a bit, and the unnamed dwarf nodded quickly.
"Come on," he said, "Your brother is still ill. My camp isn't far, let's hurry."
The three hurried along the path until they reached a tiny clearing. On arriving, the spotted Daddry and Strider sitting beside two other strange looking dwarves, and they looked up quickly at the new arrivals.
"This little dwarf needs help. Hurry brother, get some hot water boiling, it's his head!"
And suddenly, Fili fell to ground, one hand clutching his head, and the other his ankle, "Hurry," the dwarf repeated, and the little encampment came to life.
Au: So, Fili and Kili seem to have gotten away from the orcs for the moment, but they're not out of the woods yet, literally! Who was saved them? And who are these new dwarfs? Hint, you've seen them before! :) And don't forget what I said in Chapter 1.
As per usual, reviews help get me inspired to write longer chapters! ;)
