Hope

Coming awake sharply as the sounds of shouts and the clang of steel rang in her ears, Rarí stayed still on the thin pallet she was lying on. She didn't want to wake up. She had been having a pleasant dream that hadn't had anything to do with being kidnapped and used to hurt the king of the Lonely Mountain. Some part of her had known it was a dream because it was far sweeter than anything in her life had ever been but she had still clung to it.

Fíli's arms around her had felt so real that the fact that it had only been a dream made tears sting her eyes. She could actually smell him, mountain and leather all blended together, but it hadn't been real. Instead she got the smell of overripe warriors and the salve that they'd been given to keep Kíli's wounds from becoming infected.

Her heart ached as she thought about her fellow prisoner. Kíli had been hurt far more than he should have and it was her family's fault. Fíli and Kíli had no part in the drama that surrounded her line and the fact that they'd been drug into this mess because of their connection to her was killing her. And if they didn't get out of this mess soon, it would kill him.

Opening her eyes when she heard a low, pained sigh leave him, she studied his back. He was sleeping on his side, lying between her and the tent flap. Despite being injured, he had insisted he wanted to be between her and whoever was coming in.

Rarí stared at him like he'd grown another head. "Kíli, you've been stabbed multiple times and lashed with a whip," she said, keeping her voice as even as she could. "I appreciate the sentiment but of the two of us, I'm better suited to fighting."

"I know that," he said calmly. "Which is why I want you at my back."

"That doesn't make any sense! If they see you protecting me like that-"

"They aren't going to see you for the threat that you are," he finished, making her blink. "Rarí, if I've learned one thing about our Eastern cousins, it's that they don't think highly of Durin's Line. They think we're over pampered and over fed pricks. The fact that I'm lying in front of you is going to make them underestimate you. They know your bloodlines, but they've never seen you fight."

"Kíli, you've never seen me fight. Mahal, I've never seen me fight!"

He gave her a smile that was both sweet and sad. "And I'm sure Fíli wanted it to stay that way," he said softly, "but you're a warrior, Rarí. It's in your blood and I'm afraid your hands are going to be covered in it soon."

She shivered again at the thought. Yes, she'd been trained to fight but she'd never swung a weapon at someone in defence of her life. Could she do it? Most likely. Did she want to? Definitely not. But if it meant that the pair of them actually made it out of this alive? She would swallow her misgivings and do what needed to be done.

Kíli shifted before a low hiss slipped out of him and that told her that she needed to help him.

Sitting up, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Let me get the salve."

He grunted in response, his brows knit in pain and sweat beading his face. Neither was a good sign and made her wonder if he'd been hiding how much discomfort he was in.

Rarí grabbed the jar of salve before helping him sit up as well. She would have liked him to remain lying down but he stubbornly refused to. He wanted to be upright and facing the entrance while she tended to his wounds. Something about not letting any of them see how weak he really was. Since it wasn't overly hurting him, she had given in on it but at the first sign that this wasn't helping him she was going to make him choke on his pride.

Gently lifting his shirt, she felt her own back ache at the angry red lines tracing over the broad expanse of his. How could he even move was beyond her, but she would attribute it to the sheer stubbornness of his line. "You aren't invincible, Kíli," she said quietly, unscrewing the lid of the jar.

"Believe me, Rarí," he said lowly, "I'm well aware of how mortal I am."

The white lines under the red spoke of that loud and clear. He'd fought in the same war that Fíli had. He had the same scars marring his skin like his older brother, like many of their kind. They were worn with pride, of battles well won, but they told a tale of near death that very few came back from. "What happened?"

She winced when he tensed. The words had left her unbidden. She knew what had happened, had heard the story from several people but not from any that had been there. Everyone had come after the mountain had been won and she knew enough about stories to understand that what she was told was probably false.

"You don't have to answer," she said when he remained silent.

"It's so much of a blur," Kíli whispered as she dipped her fingers into the salve. "There were so many people and so much death all around us. Fíli tried to stay with me but I know we got separated at one point. I didn't know where he was. Or Thorin. All I could do was keep fighting and pray that I found them again."

Her heart clenched at the forlornness in his voice. He had probably thought that he was going to die, separated from his family and surrounded by those that wanted him dead.

"The orcs just kept coming," he continued. "It was like there was no end to them. The elves and men were there but we were outnumbered and everyone knew it. Unless some miracle happened, we were going to die. As soon as I realised it, the first arrow hit me."

Her hand stuttered as she was spreading cream along his shoulder blade. "First?" she asked softly.

"Mithril will protect you from much, but the orcs have faced it before. They got wicked and found ways around it, making the arrowheads smaller so they'll fit through the rings. Or worse, they used arrowheads made by dwarves in the darker days that would rip through the mithril. The first arrow was above my hip. The second my left shoulder so I couldn't use my bow anymore."

Rarí's gaze moved to where he was talking about and she saw the jagged patches of scar tissue left behind. "Kíli…."

"I don't know how many arrows I took," he admitted. "Fíli would. He woke up before I did and he never forgets when I get hurt."

Her fingers gently moved over other patches of scars that were similar in shape. There were more than a few but she couldn't bring herself to counting how many there actually were. "You kept fighting?" she whispered.

"I wasn't going to die surrounded by orcs, Rarí. I had to fight to find my family, but they found me. Thorin came out of nowhere and the look on his face made me wonder if he'd truly gone mad. I didn't know if he'd recognize me, but he attacked the orcs with a mindless frenzy. Fíli found me shortly after that and he had a few arrows of his own."

How had any of them survived that battle? She knew that Dain had shown up to turn the tides, but even an army of dwarves couldn't have done so much.

"I never asked the healers for any kind of list what had happened to me or them, but Fíli did at some point. I think he feels responsible for every wound I suffered, that because he wasn't at my back I got hurt."

"It was war. People get hurt," Rarí said, spreading more salve. "People die."

"And we nearly did. It's a miracle any of us are actually alive and when you have that hanging over you, you have to wonder if you didn't actually cheat death."

Rarí paused again at those words, rolling them around in her mind. There was only one way she could interpret that. "Kíli, living isn't cheating death."

"It can happen at any time, Rarí," he said firmly. "And it never goes very far away when it's gotten a taste of you."

"Well it can't have you," she said tartly, slathering more salve on his back than was necessary. "You're not allowed to die."

His head canted slightly, just enough so he could see her. "Says you?" he asked.

"Yes, says me. You're just not allowed to die."

"Everyone dies, Rarí," he said, sounding far wiser than Fíli had led him on to be. "It's simply the way of things."

She glared at him. "Well, you aren't allowed. Not until you find some nice dwarf to marry you and give you plenty of dwarflings to refill the line of Durin," she said sharply.

Dark brows rose slowly. "Oh really?" he asked and she could hear the smile in his voice. "I'm not so sure I'll be able to find anyone who would put up with me for an extended period of time."

"Then maybe you need to stop doing stupid things and she will. Did you ever think of that?" she demanded crossly.

"Or maybe I'll find her because I do something stupid," he corrected.

Rarí huffed. "Then you should have found her already."

He chuckled softly before a sigh left him as she finished covering his wounds with the salve. "Thank you, Rarí."

"You're welcome," she muttered, cleaning off her hand. "But you're still not allowed to die."

His chuckle came again and he said something so softly that she didn't catch it.

Studying him, she didn't bother asking him what he had said. She didn't think that she would get an honest answer out of him and she didn't feel like pushing right now. Her gaze moved to the tent entrance and she sighed. "Do you really think we're going to get out of here, Kíli?" Rarí asked quietly, listening to the shouts and grunts coming from outside.

He hummed softly, his gaze following the direction of hers. "As soon as you give up hope, you've let them win, Rarí," he told her.

"Kíli, there's an army out there. If Fíli comes, he won't have an army behind him."

"When Fíli comes, he won't need one and honestly, Rarí, my brother isn't stupid enough to come alone."

"It doesn't matter who he comes with. He's not going to win against them."

"Such faith," he chided. "Fíli will have a plan, Rarí. My brother always has a plan."

Pressing her lips together, she didn't say anything more. Kíli had absolute faith in his brother and that he would come. Fíli wouldn't leave loved ones here to rot and that was what scared her. Ever since Nadok had revealed his connection to her, a sick feeling had taken root in her stomach. Her? A descendant of one of the seven royal lines of dwarfkind? It was almost too absurd to believe but as soon as the words had left him, she had seen the resemblance. Not so much to her, but to her father and brother. It was clear they were related and it made her want to throw up.

How could anyone be so twisted as to want to completely destroy their own family? Or was it because Nidin had chosen Runsa over his family? How could anyone fault their kin from wanting a family of their own? None of this made any sense to her but she did know that Kíli was right. Fíli would come and it would be his doom.

Her eyes squeezed shut and she shoved that thought from her mind. "Who would come with him?" she asked, her voice tight.

"What?"

"Fíli. You said that he wouldn't come alone. Who would he bring with him that you think could stand up to this army?" She had to know, had to believe that he was bringing giants with him that would keep him safe.

"Dwalin for sure," Kíli said confidently. "He's been the royal protector since my uncle and him were little. Even if Fee tried to leave him behind, it wouldn't work. Short of a royal command, nothing would stop Dwalin from coming."

"But what if he gave a royal command," she asked suddenly. "What if he didn't want anyone else coming with him because he didn't want them to get hurt?"

Kíli frowned at her, his entire face scrunching in confusion. "Rarí," he said slowly, "Fíli wouldn't be dumb enough to make this trek on his own. We've done a lot of stupid things over our lives, but coming alone to face one army? That would be a suicide mission and Fíli isn't going to give up on his life when he has so much to live for."

And he only thought he was facing one army, but there was two waiting for him. "Who else?" Rarí whispered.

"Your father."

She blinked. "What?"

"What?" he threw back at her. "Your father is one of the only dwarves in the mountain who would know what was going on. And he would have more knowledge about the enemy that Fíli would be crucial to all of us making it out of this alive. Besides, it would be obvious he had nothing to do with any of this since he was locked in a room the entire time. Nidin wouldn't be left behind for those reasons and the glaringly obvious one of they took his daughter. No father is going to let that stand."

Her cheeks heated slightly at that. Of course. She was his only living family if he'd cut himself off from the Stiffbeards. She was his little girl. Nidin would have broken out of the mountain on his own to find her if Fíli didn't bring him with.

"He'll probably be the one leading," Kíli mused. "He'll know the patterns to look for, where to find us. And if he's a Stiffbeard, he's going to be a damn nasty fighter when it comes down to it."

She had to catch herself from reminding Kíli that her father was a blacksmith because it was mostly a lie. Yes, he had spent her entire life being a blacksmith, but you didn't craft magnificence without knowing how to use it. Nidin was crown prince of the Stiffbeards. The Stonefoots she had grown up with had always been wary of their northern cousins, the Ironfists and Stiffbeards always ready to make war at a moment's notice. If her father had been raised to rule them, he would be no less vicious than Nadok.

"Bofur will probably come because he lacks the common sense not to," Kíli muttered but she heard the fondness in his voice. "And he thinks of both of us as family so that won't help matters any when it comes to his decision making."

"You say that like it's a bad thing, Kíli."

He shrugged before wincing as his wounds pulled harshly. "It isn't always and I'm the last person that should criticize for making rash decisions when it comes to family. But I know that gambles don't always pay off and Bofur's supposed to be starting a family. Charging into the wilds with Fíli is doing the exact opposite of that."

"And your uncle?" she asked. "Do you think he'll come?"

"No."

She was startled at the vehemence in his voice. "Why not?"

"Thorin won't want my brother to go. He's the king and has to stay in the mountain. Fíli isn't going to tell our uncle that he's leaving and he damn well isn't going to ask him to come with. Meaning…huh," Kíli murmured. "Thorin will be King Under the Mountain while my brother is away."

"You're both rather chatty this day," Nabek said as he flipped the entrance flap back and strode into their tent. "Full of high spirits and hope are we?"

Both of them tensed at his appearance and Rarí cursed herself. How long had he been outside and listening to their conversation?

When neither of them answered him, he shrugged. "I don't truly care, but if you're all hopeful it'll be all the more fun to crush you when you learn that your dreams are for naught."

"Says the dwarf who needs two armies at his back to take down one king," Kíli said calmly.

Nabek's head tipped back slightly, staring down his nose at them. "It won't be the two armies against one king," he corrected. "It'll be dwarf against dwarf when it comes down to it. Consider the army more of a royal escort."

"Then you should expect Fíli to bring one as well."

"Ah, but you don't so why should we? A few select dwarves are all that he'll bring because he knows that his road ends in death."

Her hands curled into fists in her lap and Rarí kept her mouth shut. Kíli had the conversation under control and she would only make it worse because she wanted to shout at Nabek to get out.

"Besides," Nabek continued, looking completely uninterested, "our scouts have already seen a small party of dwarves leaving the borders of Erebor."

Rarí was glad her mouth was shut because if it hadn't been her heart might have leapt out of it. That was it. Actual confirmation that Fíli was coming from them. She didn't stop to think that he was lying because he had no reason to on this. Unless to give them false hope, but everyone here knew that Fíli would be coming for them.

"Then your death will soon be at hand," Kíli said, his voice still even. "Because none of the ones coming will allow any of you to walk away from what you've done."

She saw Nabek's eyes narrow further as if he was getting irritated that Kíli wasn't rising to his bait. No doubt he had been told that the younger prince was the more impetuous of the two brothers but here he was, using calm rationale to rebuke everything the other said. Even she was impressed with how he was handling this.

"From what we've done," Nabek mused darkly. "I don't think we've done quite enough. Get in here!"

Rarí's eyes widened as several armed warriors came through the tent entrance and she scrambled to get closer to Kíli. Her foot lashed out when someone clamped their hand around her upper arm and she was satisfied when she heard a sucked in breath as she connected with sensitive flesh. The grip on her slackened before someone else's closed on her and hauled her back, pinning her arms behind her. "Let me go!"

Nabek leaned back and kicked Kíli in the chest, sending him sprawling on his back.

His jaw tightened as he landed on his wounds but he didn't make a noise as the others pinned him down. His gaze never wavered from Nabek as the other dwarf crouched over him.

"They say you're the pretty dwarf," he said, gripping the beard on Kíli's chin. "I don't really see it."

"Nabek, leave him alone!" Rarí shouted, struggling against the hold on her.

"Shut up, cousin, or I'll start on you."

She inhaled sharply to cry out again but Kíli caught her gaze and shook his head minutely. Biting her tongue, she glared daggers at her cousin as he unsheathed a knife.

"I think we can make you pretty, Kíli," Nabek said, a wicked twist to his lips as he leaned forward.

Wrapping his cloak tighter around himself, Thorin kept alert as he walked further from the Lonely Mountain. The moon was hanging full and heavy in the sky above him, stars winking in the blanket of blackness. But his gaze didn't stray to them. He knew where he was going and he didn't need the stars to guide him to it.

He tensed when he heard the sounds of a horse, his hand sliding to the hilt of his sword. It was late and anyone out wouldn't have good reasons.

"Easy, Thorin," a voice called from the darkness. "I mean you no harm."

"Bard," he said shortly. "What are you doing here?"

He could see the Man now and watched as he dismounted. "No doubt the same as you. After everything that's happened did you think we wouldn't notice the arrival of another army?"

Thorin let out a low sigh. "They mean us no harm, Bard. I summoned them. You can return to your people and let them know they're safe."

"We might not have the best of histories, Thorin, but Fíli is my ally. If you honestly think that I'm going to sit back when an ally is in need of aid, you have a very low opinion of me and mine."

"I've been failed by allies before," he said darkly.

"Then remember I'm Fíli's ally and I know what him failing will bring to my people."

Thorin stared at him for a long moment before nodding shortly. "Keep up. I'm already late."

"You agreed more readily than I expected."

"This isn't about me and my grudges. This is about getting my nephews and Rarí back alive and in one piece."

"True enough."

Bard thankfully lapsed into silence so Thorin could think of how this addition would benefit his mission. He had no doubt that they would, but speed was required because Fíli already had a day head start on them. But if Bard wasn't ready when the others were, he would be left behind.

Cresting a small hill, Bard let out a low whistle. "Are they all from the Iron Hills?" he asked, looking over the sea of small campfires before them.

"No," he said shortly, noticing the one fire set a distance away from the rest of them. The ones he needed to speak with would be there and waiting for him.

As they got closer to the fire, Bard slowed and tied off his horse. He lagged behind, giving Thorin the option to include him or not. Which only served to show that he had been paying attention to dwarven politics since rebuilding Dale.

"Oakenshield," one of the pair of dwarves at the fire said in greeting.

"Stonehelm," he responded before looking at the other and nodding shortly.

The nod was returned but his gaze was on Bard. "Who is that?" he asked lowly.

"The king of Dale," Thorin said quietly.

"You shared this plan with him?" Stonehelm asked, not bothering to hide his surprise.

"Bard came on his own, demonstrating his loyalty to the alliance between Erebor and his people."

"And you trust him?"

"I trust his desire to keep his people safe and to keep good ties with the mountain."

"Then bring him over," the unnamed dwarf said.

Thorin waved at Bard and waited for him to join them. "You've met Thorin Stonehelm before."

Bard nodded at the dwarf. "Your father is well?"

"Well enough, but he's not why I'm here." Stonehelm's gaze moved back to Thorin. "How far behind Fíli are we?"

"A day, possibly a full one. Dís didn't share exactly when the king left but it was sometime in the night."

He made an irritated noise, staring into the distance. "We'll have to move hard and fast to catch up to him," he muttered. "He'll be moving swiftly to get them back."

"Aye," Thorin agreed, watching the other dwarf and seeing calm eyes gazing back at him. "Are your dwarves ready to move?"

"We didn't settle when we got here, Oakenshield. We were just waiting for the signal to go."

Thorin nodded and looked at Bard. "They're ready to move. Are you?" he asked shortly.

Slinging his bow off of his shoulder, the Man stepped forward and dunked an arrow into the fire. He turned from them and fired the shot into the night. "My men are ready," he said firmly as the arrow streaked through the dark. "When do we go?"

"Now," Thorin ordered, silently praying that it would be enough for them to catch up to Fíli.

A/N: I know I'm a terrible person. I'm going to try to slog through these last few chapters because I do love this story and I want to end it right. I also want to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through the absence and my horrible updating skills. To the new people who've favourited the story since my last update, I love you too and I hope you can bear with me for a little bit longer. I promise the end is near and I will try to finish it as quickly as I can.