Disclaimer: The usual :)

Author's Note: So, I just want to say, thank you to all reviewers, followers, and "favouriters". I'm glad a lot of you enjoyed the last chapter. Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. I am truthfully surprised that people actually like and read this story. I'm relieved that it's not THAT boring :p So, I hope this one is good too! Maybe even better ;) Thanks again to everyone, especially those who prayed for my ill grandfather. Thank you.

Chapter Ten

"Elves?" I spluttered. "Elves? Uncle, why would there be elves here, in Ered Luin?"

Thorin's expression got even more darker, if possible. "Trust me, Kili. I know the sounds of Elven horns." He looked straight into my eyes, making me tense a bit. I wasn't that comfortable meeting Thorin's eyes, truthfully. They were too ... knowing. As if he knew everything that I was going through - but he didn't. And I wouldn't tell him, because I could already guess his response.

It would probably go along the lines of: 'What? I am ashamed of you, Kili! From my own nephew, my own heir...', and on and on. Never ending. Never stopping. Forever.

"Kili! Come! Follow me!"

Thorin's quickly barked out orders made me start and I hurried after him, not wanting to annoy my Uncle when he was in 'this' mood. Fili and I knew to steer clear when Thorin was like this. All questions and statements would be answered with 'Yes, sir', or 'No, sir', or even 'I understand, sir'.

I hadn't thought that the Elvish horns were that loud. But apparently they were. We were quite a small village - only hiding out and taking shelter under this small place called the Blue Mountains until Erebor could be reclaimed. Most of the dwarves were wide-eyed, some drowsy-eyed, as they stumbled out of their houses.

I heard the sound of horse hooves and muttered a rather foul curse after checking that Thorin was a bit of a distance away. "Uncle Thorin will have your head for that curse, Kee."

I turned around and Fili put his arm around my shoulder. I could see his blondish short beard move as he grinned and I once again wished that I would have more facial hair. All I had was barely any stubble. Rather humiliating, as beards were a dwarf's pride.

"Of what reason have you come here for, elf?"

Thorin's harsh tone jerked me out of my thoughts of facial hair. I gaped. A fair amount of elves were saddled in horses. I saw Fili pretend to gag and I grinned. I could hear Fili's thoughts - even the horses stood proudly.

The elf at the front - an elf with golden hair just smirked. I could hear Thorin's temper fuming and winced. Not good. "Who are you?" Thorin growled.

The elf narrowed his beautiful amber eyes and pronounced slowly and clearly, "Glindir. And you are Thorin Oakenshield."

"I know my own name," Thorin hissed, eyes flaring.

Glindir's gaze wandered around before stopping on Fili. "And that is your nephew? The blond one."

Thorin gave one, curt nod.

Glindir's eyes narrowed and he tilted his head when he spotted me beside Fili. I stiffened when the tips of his lips curved a bit into a smirk, but not a kind smirk. It was more of an arrogant smirk.

"That is your younger nephew? Second heir to the throne?"

"Yes, but it is none of your concern." Thorin's eyes narrowed and I could see his jaw moving, teeth grinding.

Glindir gave a sound between a snort and a huff. "He looks more elf-like than a dwarf. My, my, Thorin Oakenshield, have you been busy with a pretty elf? Barely has any stubble," he commented to the elf with platinum-blond and sapphire eyes. Beside that elf, there were two identical looking ones - probably twins. They were smirking a bit as well.

My face burned with humiliation and anger as Fili scowled and put his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it. I hated them. I hated the elves so bad.

"We need one dwarf, Thorin Oakenshield," Glindir said after the snickers and smirks died down. "And we want that one." He pointed straight at me and I tried not to flinch.

Thorin let out a low growl. "And why should I let my nephew go?"

"Because I said so." Glindir's amber eyes glinted. "And you don't want us to take him forcefully." Thorin remained silent. Glindir narrowed his eyes and said, "He will be returned safely back to you after a while. The Lord Thranduil wants one dwarf and one only - to show you petty dwarves that if we remain as enemies, it will be the death of us sooner or later."

"And Lord Thranduil did not think of that when Erebor was attacked by the beast," Thorin snarled lowly. Glindir did not answer.

Tension crackled in the air and I shrank back against Fili. I didn't like this. Why did they want me?

Thorin was silent for a while until he growled, "For how long?"

"One month? Two, perhaps."

"Uncle!" Fili cried out, startling everyone. "You can't let them take Kee! You can't!"

"Hush, Fili," Thorin said darkly. "This is my decision - mine alone." He ignored Fili's desperate splutters and hissed, "Very well! Take him and make sure you return him safely! If you harm him, if I find one little scratch on him ..." He left the threat hanging.

"No! NO!" Fili cried out, grabbing at me as two elves ushered me toward the group of elves. I looked at Thorin desperately but he wouldn't meet my eyes. The last words I heard from him before I was ushered along once more were to my mother, who looked so ... sad. So desperate. So angry.

"One dwarf sacrificed is better than the entire group," Thorin growled lowly.

I swallowed. He thought it was okay because the dwarf being sacrificed was me. It wasn't okay. It would never be okay. I bitterly blinked away the tears before reluctantly allowing myself to be dragged along by the elves. I threw one last look at Fili. He was yelling at Thorin.

Then we disappeared into the woods.

I had assumed that the elves would treat me horribly. After all, dwarves and elves ... not so friendly with each other. Either Thorin's threat had worked or they had originally planned to not hurt me.

"Give him a horse," Gladir called.

"I don't need one," I said stubbornly, scowling.

There were three elves that ushered me along, and they all chuckled, making me scowl even more. At the rear, ushering me along, was the beautiful elf with sapphire eyes and golden hair. On either side of me were the two elves I had assumed were twins - they looked identical. The only way to tell them apart was by their clothing. The one on the right wore a royal blue tunic and the one on my left wore a pale ocean green tunic. They had dark hair and they occasionally exchanged smirks, like they knew something I didn't.

"You need a horse, Master Dwarf," the one on my right said with an even bigger smirk. "You cannot walk all the way to Mirkwood on your feet."

I gaped. They were taking me to Mirkwood. "That's too far!" I blurted out.

"Indeed," the other twin said with a smirk. "Too far to walk."

Scowling, I said, "No, I mean it's too far from my home."

The one at the rear merely said, "You will return safely. I promise." And he called for a horse.

I sat down on the horse reluctantly, only because I was tired and hungry. I had not eaten dinner.

"Master Dwarf, your name."

"Kili," I said curtly. I glanced at the three accompanying me. "And you?"

"Legolas," the golden-haired one said. He pointed to the twin on my right and said, "Elladan." Then the left twin - "Elrohir."

I just gave one short nod, not wanting to respond or have a very long conversation with these elves. Elves and dwarves weren't exactly on best terms with each other, after all. His thoughts drifted to Thorin and Fili. He remembered Fili's screaming and yelling at Thorin.

'You can't let them take Kee! You can't!'

I missed Fili already. I couldn't live without him. It was like Fili was my anchor to life; I never told anyone though. I had told Dwalin once before, and he had growled, 'You shouldn't depend so much on that brother of yours. What if you lose him later on? Will you die as well? No, Kili, you cannot depend on him so much. You have to have your own life.'

I remembered I had gotten angry with Dwalin - I had expected him to just laugh or something, or at least tell me to get back to training. After seeing Dwalin's reactions, I knew immediately that I couldn't tell Thorin. He would rumble at me and growl that I was to shut my mouth and get back to work.

That reminded me - Thorin.

'One dwarf sacrificed is better than the entire group'.

I shivered. If it was Fili, Thorin would have never let him go. I wanted to just get off this horse, run away and curl up and cry. Cry in fear of what my uncle would say when he found me so weak, cry because I missed Fili, cry because I wanted to. I wanted to cry because Thorin hated me.

"What's going on in that head of yours, Kili? You look ... anxious."

It was Elladan who asked me - I could only tell the twins apart by their clothing. Elladan, who wore a royal blue tunic, raised his eyebrow when I growled, "And why do you care?"

"Because you are under our care for the moment." Elrohir was the one who answered, his horse trotting up next to me as we sped up a little. "I recall Thorin Oakenshield threatening us to keep you safe. Not even a scratch, hmm?" He smirked.

I scowled and muttered under my breath, "Uncle doesn't care about me. I bet he only said that for the others to hear and settle down."

Unfortunately for me, I had forgotten that elves had quite keen hearing. Elladan tipped his head to the side, eyes narrowing and brow creasing. "What makes you think that?"

I glared at him and growled, "He always liked Fili better." Then, I realized that I was spilling my feelings to people who I had just met - and elves at that. I looked away quickly, refusing to speak anymore.

The rest of the trip was silent, until Glindir called to stop and settle down for the night. I sat down, back against a tree and quite far from the elves. I sat there for a while until I saw feet in front of me. I looked up. It was Legolas. "Glindir wants you to move a bit closer," he said. "He wants to keep an eye on you."

"I'm not going to run away," I grumbled but moved anyway.

"It's for your safety," Legolas corrected. "Are you hungry?"

I shrugged. "A bit," I admitted. My belly rumbled. Wincing, I huffed half in annoyance and half in laughter when Legolas rolled his eyes, smirking.

"Here." Legolas handed him something that looked like bread. "One bite will probably be enough."

I looked at him skeptically, but when I bit into it and swallowed, I felt quite full after a while. Elf magic, I reckoned with a snort. I looked toward where the elves had set up a camp fire and were all huddled around it, laughing and talking quietly with each other. One of them glanced at me every once in a while, as if they were making sure I was still there.

I stood up and headed to Legolas. "I'm going for a walk," I told him shortly.

I felt a flash of annoyance when Legolas exchanged an unsure look with Glindir. I sighed and growled, "I won't run away; I'll come back. Where would I go anyway?" And I turned and strode away, tightening my cloak around me a bit tighter as the breeze ruffled it. I glanced back and caught Legolas whispering to Elladan, but I thought nothing of it. They were probably discussing elf business.

I headed toward the edge of a small cliff. It was dark, so I couldn't see what was down there. I stared down. Once again, I began to wonder if Fili was alright. I hoped Mother was, too. Thorin, well, he probably would be fine.

"Careful."

I spun around, eyes wide. Elladan was standing there, arms crossed as he watched me, perched on a thick tree branch. "What do you want?" I hissed, annoyed when I realized that Legolas had probably sent Elladan to watch over me.

"Careful!"

But it was too late. Unable to see that well in the dark, my foot slipped on a rock. Yelping, I felt my body slip over the edge of the small cliff. I grabbed onto the edge with my fingers, my muscles groaning in protest.

Come on, Kili, I thought to myself, growling and gritting my teeth as Elladan quickly scaled his way down the tree. You're a dwarf - you can handle climbing back up. Just push yourself up and-

If you fall now, it'll all be over, a voice hissed.

I froze. "No, no, no, no," I moaned. "Go away."

"Kili! Grab my hand!"

But I was frozen, it felt my body was paralyzed. Paralyzed, unable to move. Helpless.

Weak, the voice sneered. So, so weak. No wonder Thorin sent you instead of Fili. He'll be so happy if you let go right now. It'll all be over. Just let go. No more pain, no more weakness, no more disappointment, no more. Nothing.

"S-Shut up," I whimpered, but I felt my grip begin to go weak. I was losing strength. I could let go or make a last, probably useless, attempt to push myself up. I felt my foot kick and scrabble at the cliff wall, and heard a few rocks stumble down. That would be me - so free. Free from Thorin. Free from his disappointment, his anger, his sadness. Everything.

"KILI!" Elladan screamed at me. "Grab my hand! Now!"

I closed my eyes, shuddered as I took a deep breath. I grabbed Elladan's hand. I felt him begin to pull me up and felt my body go limp, exhausted.

Let go, Kili. Just let go. Let go of his hand, and you'll be free. LET GO NOW!

I felt my hand slip as I pulled it back.

"NO!" I heard Elladan scream.

Then I was falling.

End of Chapter Ten

Author's Note: Was this chapter good? In my opinion, it might've been slightly boring but you tell me! I would love feedback, or more ideas. I'm sorry if this chapter sucked. :/ Once again, thank you to those who are actually still reading this story :) Thanks! Please REVIEW!