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Chapter Twenty: Bravery

When Kíli awoke he looked up at the brightening sky, turning from a rosy pink into a pale gold. It was early in the morning, but not as early as the days before. They had spent several successful days hunting and enjoying the wildlife and each other. Thorin seemed to have because a younger man, the years seemed to melt off of him as he taught them how to set a trap and how to skin and gut animals. It was like seeing someone starting to remember the happy days of their childhood and start to think the world wasn't all bad after all.

Much to Kíli and Fíli's disappointment, they hadn't seen the elves again, and they both guessed the elves had moved on, continuing their journey to the Undying Lands. The boys had heard vague references to that land and the journey the elves made, but they knew no sure facts; partly because their people harbored a deep dislike and contempt for all elven kind and rarely talked about them.

Kíli thought it a shame that hatred was still kindled against the elves even after all this time had passed since Erebor. What things could they learn from the elves? How would Middle-Earth change if hatred didn't separate races from other races? He had pondered that over the dark nights in the forest as he watched the stars and listened to the sounds on the forest. He and Fíli both wanted to one day be dwarves capable to forgive the elves and perhaps forge a friendship with them, but for now they could barely see past their hunting trip let alone what would happen in the years of their life.

Their Uncle had talked about Erebor so many times, and the events that had occurred that, yes they did feel a little anger towards the elves for not helping their people in their time of need. But if one did not forgive and forget, pride and disdain would eat you alive.

Kíli shook his head of these deep thoughts and sat up, Fíli was already awake and kneeling next to a small fire he had presumably started. The tendrils of smoke wafted through the air, twirling and twisting as they rose to the sky, to be lost against the dark treetops.

"Good morning, Brother." Fíli said cheerfully as he prodded the fire. "I trust you slept well since you were snoring all night."

Kíli shrugged and slid over to the fire and his brother, "I did, as well as expected from sleeping on the forest floor." He rubbed his eyes with the inside of his wrist, "I was snoring? I never snore."

Fíli rolled his eyes good-naturedly and grunted, "Between you and Uncle, it's a wonder I can sleep at all." He paused thoughtfully and added, "Just don't tell Uncle that."

Kíli chuckled and smiled at his golden-haired brother, "Of course not. I don't have a death wish."

They both laughed a little and Kíli looked around, "Where is Uncle by the way?"

Fíli shrugged, "I think he went off to get breakfast. That's why I started the fire. We are heading back home today. It will take us a few days, but we don't want to worry Mum too much, do we?"

Kíli barely heard the latter part of his brother's sentence. Fíli had misgivings about the forest at first, but had conquered them, now Kíli felt some fear rising up in him. Thorin was off who knows where and he and Fíli were left alone, last time they were alone wasn't a good day at all. Kíli shrugged off the sense of something wrong about to happen and took a little comfort in the fact that he and Fíli both had their weapons with them.

Fíli could feel the panic rise in his brother, and knew exactly what he was thinking. He noted Kíli was unconsciously fingering the fletching on his arrows beside him. He wondered if his brother would ever feel comfortable alone in the forest again, Fíli knew he probably wouldn't but then again he never spent much time in the forest anyway.

Kíli shook his head and smiled genuinely, today wasn't a day to dwell on the past. He breathed in the smoke from the fire and enjoyed the tangy burn scent. Fíli shook his head; Kíli could bounce back from almost anything and still remain cheerful.

In a few minutes Thorin came back toting a pheasant and greeted his nephews. They roasted his conquest and ate it quickly before packing up their things and breaking camp. Thorin seemed a little too serious for this early in the morning but neither boy asked why he wasn't jovial. He didn't explain that he had led them too far, and that they were now in the dangerous section of the forest; he just started walking back the way they had come.

His mood brightened as the hours progressed and no tragedy had happened other than Kíli being chased by a squirrel that he had upset accidentally. His fears dissipated too soon and his wariness began to lax that he didn't even see the showy figure stalking them.

After a long days walk, they set up camp and relaxed in the growing dusk.

"I thought it was amusing when Kíli was chased by that squirrel, don't you, Uncle?" Fíli smirked; they had both teased Kíli good-naturedly about that during the day.

Thorin hid a smile; that had to have been one of most humorous moments he had ever witnessed. "Indeed, Fíli." Thorin cleared his throat to cover a chuckle, "I don't think I've ever seen Kíli run that fast before."

Fíli laughed hard and slapped his brother on the shoulder, "And his battle cry of retreat was quite impressive, was it not?"

Kíli rolled his eyes, knowing if he didn't stop their teasing now they might go on the whole evening, "I have never been very fond of squirrels."

His statement, of course brought on more laughter, and Kíli joined in this time. Before anyone had time to react, five wolves sprung out of the shadows and encircled them, snarling. The largest of the five had blonde lustrous fur and was at least double the height and size of the other four. Thorin and the boys stood quickly when they pounced and now stood stock still, wishing their weapons weren't still on the ground at their feet.

The wolves slowly circled them, sizing up the enemy that dared to intrude on their territory. Spittle gleamed off their long white fangs as they snarled, growling. Without warning, one of the smaller wolves leaped towards Thorin's throat. Thorin dodged and side stepped, then picked up his weapon from the ground during the distraction. Fíli and Kíli also took the opening to grab their weapons.

Thorin used the wolf's rebounding pounce to drive his dwarven sword deep into the creature's heart. The other wolves didn't wait any longer to attack; the quiet forest became a cacophony of yelps and growls mixed with the sound of striking metal and the twang of Kili's bow. The smell of blood was strong in the air as two of the wolves had been felled and three remained, the largest one being one of them.

Thorin and Fíli were both fighting separate wolves and Kíli was standing alone, wondering where the third one had gone. Then a flash of fur caught his vision, and he saw out of the corner of his eye the third wolf ready to strike at his unaware and preoccupied brother. Kíli shot off his arrow without thinking much, and mentally berated himself for not taking a lot of time to aim properly.

Fíli heard the arrow as it approached and felt the fletching gently brush his sleeve. He was glad his brother was a fair shot. The arrow hit the wolf mid-leap and imbedded deep into the creature's eye then into its brain. It fell dead behind Fíli and he twirled to look at his brother and nod in thanks. Kíli smiled a little when another flash of fur caught his eye, the wolf that had been caught up with Thorin was now charging him. He felt for arrows in his quiver but they were all spent. His furry bringer of death closed in upon him and he could do nothing about it except face it with the small amount of courage he had.

Fíli had seen the wolf coming before Kíli had, and ran to put himself between his brother and danger. He slammed into the wolf before it reached defenseless Kíli and made it stagger a few paces to the side. It growled menacingly and leapt at Fíli who had his blade ready. It barely knew what was happening as Fíli clumsily slashed his blade across it's throat.

Kíli watched in awe and horror as his brother came to the rescue and killed the large blonde wolf with a lucky strike. The force of the wolf's leap propelled the body on top of Fíli, pinning him, but the wolf was dead. Thorin and Kíli rushed to Fíli's side and helped lift the wolf corpse off of him, now that all the creatures had died, the second to last one being killed by Thorin just seconds before Fíli rushed to help his brother.

Fíli stood and panted, staring wide eyed at the battle scene, blood was smeared over the ground, and covered his blade with a dark red splotch. Kíli clutched at his brother in thanks and in the realization that they all could have died right then. They didn't speak for a long while as they took in the events that had just happened.

Finally Kíli spoke, "You saved me!"

Fíli smiled a little and patted his brother's shoulder, "And you saved mine."

"We saved each other." Kíli persisted, "That's what brother's do, right? Look out for each other and watch their backs?"

Fíli nodded, getting his breath, "That's right, little brother."

Thorin placed a firm hand on both of their shoulders, looking them in the eye "Both of you showed exceptional courage, I am very proud of you both." He then pointed at the blonde wolf, "That, Fíli, would be a pelt to keep as a trophy."

Fíli nodded, still trying to grasp what had happened, then turned to Kíli, "Brother, you were brave, that is an honorable quality."

Kíli grinned shyly, "And so were you brother." He paused, then added cheekily, "At least it wasn't a squirrel, or else I wouldn't have had any courage at all."

There it is! I hope you all enjoyed it! Suggestions for chapters are always welcome and I would love to hear from you! Thank you, and please review!