Reply to Guest: That is a question, guess you'll be finding out soon ;)

(AN at the bottom (-:)


There was a soft humming coming from across the room when Kili awoke. He tried to move and see where he was, but he felt so exhausted that the smallest amount of effort caused him to fall back against the cushion he was laying upon. His lungs hurt to breath.
Deciding he would try to look around without sitting up, he glanced about to see himself inside of a small, stone cabin. The temperature was very low, but he probably would have felt even colder had he not been laying by a crackling fire which he noticed a moment later.

Realizing that he didn't recognize the place sent a stab of panic into his heart, and he was even more frightened when he realized he didn't know where his brother was.

Again, he tried to sit up, but he collapsed with a groan, causing the humming to stop.

Footsteps were heard, and then a short person dressed all in brown was in front of him.

"Awake, you are."

It had to tell whether it was a question or statement, but either way Kili nodded.

Mumbling to himself, the little man felt Kili's forehead, grabbed his wrist and took his pulse, then for some strange reason turned Kili's head to the side and stared at his profile.

Kili jerked away, gulping down his confusion before asking, "Where's Fili?"

Well, he tried to ask at any rate. His voice was so hoarse that even after clearing it, he could barely speak. A soft cough stuck in his throat, badly hurting his lungs when he let the cough shake his body. His eyes felt heavy, and he was about to accidentally drift back asleep when the little, brown clothed person spoke again.

"Not good at all," he shook his head, helping Kili to sit. "Kili, yes?"

"And who are you? And where's my brother?" Kili croaked in a voice so soft he couldn't sure he'd been heard.

"There now, there now, there's time enough for that now later," the man muttered, "And this is somewhere in the mountains. At least, that is what I've been told. At least that's what Rómestámo told me. At least I think that's what he told me..."

"Rómestámo? Who is Rómestámo? Are you Rómestámo?" Kili asked, the name much to long for his still frozen mind to figure out. This little man seemed so confused he might have been the one telling himself; it was really quite hard for Kili's muddled mind to figure out.

"No no, I am not Rómestámo. And Rómestámo is not me! Rómestámo is from the east! Far off and away! I'm only from... My little house!"

"Is this your little house?" Kili asked, very confused, and the little man seemed to think very hard for a moment.

"No, no I don't believe so, but it very similar. My fire place is farther from the door."

Kili let out another hoarse cough, and the little man shook his head quickly.

"Yes yes, soup will be good!" He suddenly declared, spooning some soup into a bowl and holding it up for Kili to drink.

Swallowing some soup, Kili opened his mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by the roaring wind as the door was pushed open and closed.

"How is it?" the little man in the brown cloak suddenly seemed to forget the dwarfling. He stood and faced the door which was not in Kili's line of vision.

"I believe it will be alright. As you have your animals, Radagast, I have my forests, and I think this forest will live through the storm."

"Wait, he is awake! Say no more!"

A third voice silenced the others, and Kili strained to see the newcomers, but could not.

"Ah, you're awake again! Are you feeling any better yet?" Radagast asked Kili, who shook his head in confusion.

"I didn't fall asleep, did I?" Kili coughed, quite confused.

"No, no I suppose you did," Radagast replied importantly.

"I... I did? Or I didn't?" Kili asked.

"I'm sorry for your confusion."

Someone all in blue came to stand next to Radagast. Speaking calmly to Kili he said, "It must be difficult for one to feel so ill and to be away from everything familiar."

"Are you Rómestámo?" Kili asked.

The man in blue turned to stare at the third person by the door before saying, "No, I am his brother."

"Oh," Kili managed to croak out before launching into a violent fit of coughing.

"His swollen ears are still swollen and no better! It's all that cold, you see?"

The one that Kili had figured out was named Radagast plucked a hat off a chair from beside the door and pulled it onto Kili's head, though the hat was significantly to large. Rómestámo's brother nodded understandingly.

"Radagast, I must speak with you!" Rómestámo said sternly, and Rasagast frowned before hurrying off and out of Kili's sight. He heard the two whispering somewhere behind him, and though Radagast let out a few, "'Hmm,'s and several, 'Nonsense's , their voices were too soft for him to follow the conversation.

Rómestámo's brother knelt in front of Kili, a warm yet worried smile on his face.

"How are you feeling? I know what my friend tells me, but what can you tell me?"

Kili shrugged, wondering what his friend was telling him, before he asked yet again, "Where's Fili? Where's my brother?"

Kili's voice was getting softer by the minute, and his lungs still burned and ached, though he couldn't be sure why.

The eyes of Rómestámo's brother flickered about the room anxiously before again settling on the dwarfling.

With a sigh, he placed a hand on Kili's shoulder as if trying to placate his nerves; yet instead of soothing him, this only made Kili more anxious.

"Your brother is quite ill. You have not been well either, however. How is your breathing? Do your ribs hurt?"

Kili shook his head, unconcerned with his own ailments, but when he was asked again, Kili nodded miserably. He only wanted to know how Fili felt.

"Here, drink this. My friend said it will make that feel much better."

Kili was handed some sort of strange drink, which he reluctantly swallowed if only to get it out of the way so they could move on.

"Just sit for a moment, then we'll talk again," Rómestámo's brother said calmly, holding up a hand when the Dwarfling tried to protest.

He knew what he had just given the dwarfling could have dizzying side effects, so he had to be sure that Kili would not react poorly. He would not have even given it to the dwarfling had Kili's breath not been so strained and forced. Rómestámo's brother knew perfectly well that the dark haired dwarfling was lucky to be alive, and that a straggled breathing pattern was the least of the child's problems, but eliminating one ailment at a time had to be the way to go.

It hadn't been long after Radagast had arrived when it happened. It had been absolutely terrifying, especially after what his brother had told him about the tiny dwarflings.

Radagast had been doing his best with the dark haired one when suddenly the little wizard gave a cry of despair.

"What is it?" Rómestámo had asked, reviving no reply save another cry from the little wizard.

It hasn't been until several healing attempts later and a relieved sigh from Radagast that Rómestámo's brother leaned what had happened and what would come.

It seemed that Kili's breath had again come no more, and his pulse had almost stopped fluttering and pulsing. When Rómestámo learned what danger the dwarfling's life had been in, he went to sit silently in the corner. He did not speak for quite a while and his face had been pale as the children's.

After that, the dwarfling's health slowly got better, except for the swelling which Radagast hoped would die down soon, and the fever which waged war on the dwarfling. Radagast said that this fever singled sickness, not something worse, and that was the reason for the cough. Yet while Kili's health slowly gained ground, Fili's did not.

"Can I talk again?" Kili asked hopefully, reviving a nod from Rómestámo's brother. "Please, then, tell me where my brother is. Please!"

Kili sounded close to tears now, and Rómestámo's brother was surprised when his own brother approached and also knelt in front of the child.

"Please, be calm. It will only make you worse. Your brother is on the bed, see? He is alive." Rómestámo turned the dwarfling as Kili didn't have the strength, and Kili let out something between a sob and a laugh.

Fili's chest hardly moved, and if they hadn't told Kili that his brother was alive, he wouldn't have known.

"Why... Why is he so still?" Kili murmured. It was a stillness beyond sleep. It was a frightening, heart wrenching stillness, and Kili suddenly felt like whimpering and curling in on himself to escape all of this.

"He is very ill," Rómestámo's brother repeated.

"Will he be okay?" Kili croaked, his eyelids drooping, and Rómestámo's brother could only provide a shrug in return.

Kili seemed to be slipping back into unconsciousness, unable to handle any more excitement, but Rómestámo pulled him from his sleep.

"Who is your family?" Rómestámo asked urgently, "Is there anyone looking for you?"

"Mummy," Kili murmured, his eye lids falling shut, "Uncle..."

And then he was asleep.


"Thorin," Bofur laid a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder, but Thorin jerked away violently.

"No," Thorin repeated. His voice was thick with emotion, but strong and unbreakable nevertheless. "No, they cannot have... I will not accept that they fell in! They are smart; they would see the ice crack. They would know to get off before it was too late."

Thorin's voice broke, and now Dwalin approached.

"Thorin, it is cold. Kili left his knife behind. Do you possibly think they could yet live?"

Thorin spun on Dwalin, his face enraged, "I will not give up on my nephews. If you want to give up, then go ahead. You're right, it is cold; I cannot make you stay out in this weather. I am not going back, however, until I find more evidence of my nephews whereabouts."

Dwalin opened his mouth to say something, but after a moment he closed it, glancing forebodingly at the broken ice.

Seeming to take this as a sign that Dwalin would keep looking, Thorin turned to the other two.

He was about to ask the other dwarves to stay as well, when he glimpsed little Ori shivering next to a sympathetic Bofur, his heart dropped.

Ori was naught but a child himself, barely older than Kili and about the same age as Fili. Thorin's heart, mind, and conscious collided violently, a regrettably nervous lump forming in his throat when he spoke again.

"Bofur, you should take Ori home."

Ori protested weakly about wanting to help, but Bofur could see the deep emotions traveling through Thorin's eyes.

"Thorin," Bofur spoke quietly, "You need more people for a search party. What will you do with only two?"

"Ori needs to be taken home," Thorin repeated, earning a nod from both Dwalin and Bofur.

"Alright, I'll take him home. I can come back quickly and continue to help you search. As long as you stay within the vicinity of the lake I'll be able to find you," Bofur smiled at Thorin, who hesitated.

"Come back with someone. You shouldn't travel through a storm like this alone," Thorin told him, and Bofur nodded agreeably.

"Aye. Come on Ori," Bofur nodded before leading the young dwarf away.

"Really, I can help. I'll be alright!" Ori was heard telling Bofur, but his argument didn't convince anyone of anything considering his violent shivers.

"So, what do you expect to do now?"

Thorin turned to Dwalin, his mouth a thin line.

"They could have walked somewhere, couldn't they?" It was too hard to tell whether the question was meant to be answered realistically, so Dwalin merely nodded once.

"Well, we'd best check the perimeter of the lake, then."

Thorin turned away, trudging through the snow as Dwalin stared after him for a moment before following.

"Thorin," Dwalin spoke once he'd caught up to his friend. "How long can we remain in this level of snow storm? The temperature must be below zero; you must think of your own safety as well."

Thorin spared a moment's glance at Dwalin, not replying to the comment. And yet, even without words, Dwalin knew Thorin's answer.

It was not his own safety that worried Dwalin's old friend; it was that of his nephews.


Bofur trudged through the snow, Ori hurrying along by his side. They had been following the river to village when Ori let out a soft cry of surprise.

"What is it?" Bofur asked, and Ori pointed silently. Across the river, two unfamiliar men stood. They were both cloaked in blue and appeared to be examining the country side. They turned to speak to one another, and then they began to walk away. Apparently they hadn't noticed the dwarves.

"Where are they going?" Bofur wondered aloud. Could they have any idea of the location of Kili or Fili? It was highly unlikely, and yet there was always the chance...

"We should see where those two and heading off to," Bofur decided, yet he received a tiny frown from Ori.

"How will we get across the river, Mr Bofur?"

Bofur grinned, "I know of an old bridge a little beyond the village. No one uses it anymore, but it'll do if we hurry. Come on!"

The two dwarves rushed along the river's edge, Ori hopping they'd arrive before the strange blue men had disappeared completely.


AN: Hello :) Well, the usual, casual begging for reviews;) AND just wanted to say: There ya go! The strangers. So, those who said Radagast were correct, as were those few who said the Blue Wizards! If you check up on it, Rómestámo is the name of one of the Blue Wizards. Now, how did he know to show up with Radagast? That's another question, isn't it? Could it be because of wizardy (wizardly?) abilities? And what about Ori, Dwalin, Thorin, and Bofur? How will they find the nephews? Will the old bridge work?!

Anyway, thanks again for all the favs, follows, and reviews in general!