Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter, including DwarvesAreEpic who I could not directly reply to! I'm glad you all enjoyed that little cliff-hanger, here is the next chapter for you!

Forgive any foolish mistakes I've made, I hope you enjoy it!

Read. Enjoy. Review.

Chapter Forty Five # A Little Help #

Cowering in the bushes just outside of the once safe walls of Beorn's home, Luno whimpered to himself as he quivered with indecision. His sharp ears picked up every scream of every dwarf and creature trapped inside the burning house, but he could no longer hear Kíli – and that did not bode well for the brave young dwarf he counted as his friend. A fierce desire swallowed Luno and he wished that he was brave enough to run back and sink his teeth into the filthy, bad dwarf's arm again until they let Kíli go, but he was too afraid. His ribs hurt from where the dwarves had kicked him and there was blood dribbling down his snout from his throbbing head that he could not wipe off with his own paws.

Luno shrank back into the shadows as the gateway darkened and the strange dwarves emerged, their evil faces set with grim satisfaction. Two of them dragged Kíli between them, but the young dwarf was not moving and Luno whimpered quietly, pressing himself against the forest floor. The dwarves wasted no time in disappearing into the woods, and as soon as they had passed him Luno raised his head to the sky and let out a long howl of fear and pain.

Evil! Fire! Murder! Help! Fire! Help!

As soon as he had let loose his howl Luno darted out from underneath his bush, knowing that it may not be safe for much longer. Without really thinking he slipped back into Beorn's garden, hiding behind the first tree he found.

So many screams of pain and terror from dwarves and animals alike were coming from the house and Luno knew that he could not linger in the shadows forever – he had to do something! He may only be a cub, but help was far, far away and his friends were burning. The little wolf poked his nose out and sniffed the air hesitantly, before peeking out from behind the tree. It looked like the bad dwarves had made hasty but effective barricades at the doors and larger windows, completely and securely blocking escape from both the front and the back of the house. A sudden hope lit in Luno's mind and he raced unseen around to the other side of the house where the side door was. Several large branches were securing it closed while the fire raged on, but they were a little smaller than the branches and rocks barricading the front and back doors. Perhaps the dwarves had built it last or had rushed it more – they would have had to have been quick in any case.

Without a second thought, Luno lurched forward and sunk his teeth into the nearest branch, tearing at it viciously. The dwarves had secured it tightly and Luno was only little, but soon the wolf cub had torn it away and was moving onto the next branch. In a few short minutes he had scratched and torn his way through everything keeping the door shut and he jumped onto his hind legs and scrabbled at the door with his front paws, reaching up towards the handle with his nose. It took him a couple of attempts but finally the door swung open and he pattered in, cringing immediately at the intense heat and suffocating stench of the smoke. Nevertheless he shook his head and continued on, letting out another howl.

This way! This way! This way!

Almost immediately the little creatures began racing towards him – the mice, the squirrels, the hedgehogs and the like and he ventured carefully through the burning hall as several dogs bounded past him, a pair of cats on their heels.

Jumping up onto his hind legs with a howl, he pushed open a door and stared at the coughing figures inside. The good dwarves – Beorn's guests – were all in the room, along with the strange little man with curly hair – Bilbo, according to Kíli – and Luno howled meaningfully at them, fearfully noting that every wall on the room was burning.

This way! This way! This way!

"Luno?" the blonde dwarf coughed and Luno growled in frustration.

Of course it was him, but that was hardly important! Why would they not understand and come?

Their ponies were behind them, whickering and rearing in terror, and Luno raced around to the back of the room carefully, nipping at the strange ponies' feet to get them to move towards the door. It worked better than he expected and the frightened creatures stampeded towards the open door. Relief filled the scared little wolf as the dwarves and little man began to flee as well, and he scampered towards the back of the house, letting out three shorter howls.

Leaving! Leaving! Leaving!

A faint scraping noise met his sharp ears and he pushed open the door to the kitchen, cowering away from the vicious flames with a whimper. A litter of tiny puppies tumbled out and Luno instantly started batting the smallest one with his paw, desperately trying to put out the flames that were burning the poor little thing. Picking her up carefully in his mouth, he raced towards the exit with the other smaller puppies on his heels.

Bursting out into the open did not bring the fresh air he had anticipated, but at least it was only the smell of smoke and not the thick, black fumes themselves that filled Luno's lungs when breathed in through his nose. The dwarves were nowhere to be seen and neither were most of the animals, which had all fled to the woods. One of the dogs bounded up to Luno with a ruff bark of thanks and took control of the trembling puppies, leaving poor, injured Luno at a loss of what to do with himself. His lovely fluffy tail was singed and his lungs were screaming and his head hurt and he was scared and –

All of a sudden the good dwarves staggered back into the garden, yelling as loud as they could with rather hoarse voices.

"Kíli, Kíli!"

Luno limped towards them and whined desperately, wondering if he could seek and give help at the same time.

Bilbo looked up as the young wolf approached him and despite his absolute terror the hobbit still felt a surge of sympathy for the bleeding little cub. Blood soaked Luno's soft fur around his face and was smeared all over his legs and the hobbit had no doubt that the blackened tip of the little wolf's tail had come from rescuing the dwarves. He half wished that he could sit down and comfort the whimpering creature but there was no sign of Kíli anywhere and his son always came first.

"Kíli!" Bilbo screamed, his voice ripping painfully from his throat and he started coughing violently.

Faintly the educated Baggins cowering in the back of Bilbo's mind supposed that the smoke from the fire was probably doing all sorts of awful things to his lungs, but he could not care less. It tortured Bilbo to think it but in truth smoke inhalation was likely to be the least of Kíli's worries, wherever he was. The young dwarf's echoed through Bilbo's mind as the hobbit tried desperately to draw breath through his coughs.

"Bilbo, help me!"

I'm trying! His mind screamed back in agony. I'm trying!

As soon as he had burst from the fire stricken house, Bilbo had spun around on the spot and searched the garden desperately for his son. Fíli had torn past him, screaming his brother's name into the air, and Bilbo had instantly followed Fíli out of the gate and into the woods. There was no sign of Kíli anywhere; no obvious sign that Bilbo could see within seconds, anyway, and he had tumbled desperately back into the garden with the others in despair.

As the hobbit shook with his violent coughs, the young wolf nudged his leg gently. Slowly Bilbo extended the fingers of the shaking hand not covering his mouth and stroked the soft fur of Luno's neck, all the while scanning his surroundings for a glimpse of a clue towards his son's whereabouts.

"Kíli! Someone's taken him!" Fíli cried desperately, his face the very picture of terror as he turned around in pointless circles with his swords clutched in his hands. "Why would someone do that? What's going on? Kíli, Kíli!"

"We'll find him!" Nori swore viciously, his knife raised and ready. "And we'll gut the bastards that took him!"

Luno wiggled back for a moment before rubbing the side of his face against the hobbit's open palm, whining quietly.

"I'm sorry," Bilbo whispered brokenly, becoming vaguely aware of the tears trailing down his own cheeks. "Oh, I'm so sorry…"

For a moment Luno held his gaze with wide, golden eyes. Then the young wolf growled slightly and though those brilliant eyes remained calm, Bilbo retracted his hand quickly, making Luno huff in what appeared to be irritation. Watching in confusion as the young wolf chased his tail for a moment, Bilbo opened his mouth to yell again before stopping as Luno darted towards the gate and then stopped, running towards Bilbo before turning and racing back to the gate.

"You're helping us…" Bilbo realised with a tiny slither of hope. "You're helping…"

Luno howled, throwing his head back up towards the sky and Bilbo staggered after him, calling out in a raspy voice. "Fíli! Bofur, Nori!"

"What?" Fíli whirled around to face him frantically.

"I think the w- I think Luno knows where Kíli is!" Bilbo's voice grew stronger as he watched as Luno's ears drooped and he shrank towards the floor. "Or at least which direction they took?"

Immediately the wolf perked up, whining softly and Bilbo reached out and gently stroked Luno's soft ears the way he had seen Kíli do it. The wolf cub leant into his touch eagerly and set off towards the woods. Bilbo kept his hand on Luno's head as they hurried towards the gate – there was something strangely comforting about stroking the little cub despite Bilbo's rational fear of wolves.

Before the hobbit reached the gate however, an earth shattering roar filled the air and he staggered backwards, colliding with Fíli, who had been running up behind him. The young dwarf grabbed the hobbit's arm, automatically pulling him backwards as the enormous bear that was Beorn crashed into the garden, letting out another loud roar that could only be described as anguished.

Another piercing surge of sympathy crushed Bilbo as he realised that Beorn's home – his Bag End – was currently in flames, and the skin-changer had no way of knowing which of his animals, if any, had survived.

Elladan and Elrohir ran through the gate a few seconds later with expressions of pure shock and horror on their faces as their stared at the ravenous flames.

Bilbo's eyes, despite his own agony, were fixed on Beorn. The bear staggered for a moment and moaned mournfully with glistening eyes, roaring again with rage and pain and fear. All of a sudden Beorn turned his furious, anguished face to the dwarves, his eyes focussing on the little wolf pressed against Bilbo's legs. Beorn's eyes angered further at the sight of Luno and the poor little creature's injuries and a low growl rumbled from the enormous creature. However, when the bear looked between Bilbo and Luno, noting the hobbit's gentle hands on the little wolf's head, the bear relaxed a fraction and his hackles lowered.

"What happened?" Elladan cried and Bilbo met the elves eyes, swallowing. "Where's Mithrandir?"

"Gandalf? He's gone – for information! We don't know, we don't know what happened, but they took Kíli!" he tried to control his voice but he could not stop the sob that tore from his lips or the hoarse, pained tone of his voice. "One moment we were sitting and waiting and the next Kíli went outside and then he was screaming and the house was burning! We could not get out, we were trapped but Kíli was stuck outside – there were others here and they took him, he's gone!"

"Who took Kíli? How did you get out?" Elrohir demanded and Beorn growled in agreement.

"Luno opened the door – at least I think he did." Fíli offered by way of explanation, his voice thick with emotion as his eyes continued to dart all around the garden. "Somehow… I don't know… Kíli, Kíli was already outside, he's gone, they've taken him!"

The bear charged towards them and Bilbo flinched as Beorn shifted midstride and staggered towards them, reaching down and picking Luno up as if he weighed nothing, growling at the young wolf with what sounded like words of a strange tongue. The young wolf licked Beorn's face sadly and whined, growling a little himself to communicate with the man, and Beorn's sharp eyes looked to Bilbo.

"Dwarves did this?" the skin-changer demanded.

"I don't, I don't know…maybe…" Bilbo shook his head, a new wave of confusion entering his already spinning mind. If they were dwarves, why would they want to take Kíli - or kill us? Bilbo felt his eyes fill with tears of hopeless frustration and fear but he could not care less. "Oh, Kíli, my Kíli…"

"We got out mere moments ago," Bofur's eyes were glistening with tears of grief, sympathy and guilt as he addressed Beorn. "We know as much as you do."

A sharp hissing noise filled the air and Bilbo looked up to see Elladan and Elrohir throwing buckets of water onto the fire. For a moment he struggled to think where they had gotten the water from – it appeared that the fear and guilt ransacking his brain was dulling his ability to think properly and it took him longer than usual to spot the rather large stream that ran through the bottom of Beorn's garden. The skin-changer gently lowered Luno to the floor with a slight growl and then ran towards a pile of assorted pots and buckets, filling one with water before flinging it onto the untameable flames.

As much as Bilbo wanted to forsake the savage fire and run after Kíli, he knew in his heart that it would be in vain. It was clear that he was not thinking straight and he could use all the help he could get – and besides, Beorn was his friend.

First things first, his Baggins sense commanded, even as his heart screamed that finding Kíli should be his only priority. We sort out the fire and make a plan to go and get Kíli – we won't achieve anything running blindly through the woods.

The hobbit staggered towards the buckets and both Bofur and Nori followed him, but Fíli sobbed and took a few stumbling steps towards the gate.

"Fíli, don't!" Bilbo cried out, though the extra strain on his voice made him cough again.

"Kíli…" Fíli's lips formed one broken word as his desperate eyes begged Bilbo to understand. The hobbit did understand, with all his heart, but charging sightlessly into the woods would do nobody any favours.

"We need a plan to help him, we need to know what's going on – if they took him they'd be more than happy to take you too, or kill you on the spot, if they find you alone," Bilbo begged brokenly. "Please help us, Fíli, Beorn's home is burning!"

With a single furious, anguished sob Fíli nodded and sprinted towards the water.

In moments a system had begun to form with the skin-changer, hobbit, two elves and three dwarves passing buckets to each other in two rows, racing up and down and up and down, flinging bucket after bucket onto the burning building.

Between the seven of them it took little over an hour to douse all of the flames, but finally they were standing in the smouldering, sopping ruins of Beorn's home. A few walls still stood, though they were blackened with smoke and scorched by flames and stood in a harsh, crippled silhouette against the pink sky of the setting sun. Of all of Beorn's numerous animals, the only corpse they found belonged to a little mouse, but there were still tears in the skin-changers eyes as he gently scooped the charred remains off of the floor.

Panting heavily, Bilbo allowed himself to fall to the floor next to Kíli's pack. While his own bag had been on his back when he had fled the fire, as had Fíli's, Nori's and Bofur's, Kíli's pack had been abandoned, though somehow it was only slightly charred and not utterly incinerated. Bilbo let out a small cry out pain as he looked at his son's bag and a million awful possibilities flew around his head.

Kíli hurt, Kíli bleeding, Kíli choking, Kíli screaming, Kíli crying, Kíli dying…

Bilbo prayed with all of his heart that his son was unharmed and that the time they had spent putting out the fire had not cost Kíli his life. It did not bear thinking about, but if Kíli did die Bilbo knew he would never forgive himself – and he knew he would not survive.

"What do we do now?" Bofur asked brokenly, glancing towards Beorn, who was once again cradling Luno in his arms, wiping away some of the blood from the little wolf's face with a damp cloth.

"We find your young kinsmen and we make the dwarves that did this pay for their crimes." Beorn growled fiercely, his eyes meeting Bofur's. "They have taken my home and they attempted to take your lives – they will take nothing more."

Bilbo sobbed in relief and dropped his head into his hands.

"You'll help us?" Fíli asked, heart-breaking innocence shining through the cracks in his broken voice.

"Of course I will help you!" the offended tone of Beorn's voice fell away as his grieving eyes fell upon the shattered young prince. "Other than my animals, I do not have many friends, Master Dwarf. I will not forsake those I do have in so grave a state."

Luno began to scramble around in Beorn's arms, whining up at the man and licking his chin.

"He says the dwarves dragged Kíli west." Beorn's eyes burned with hatred as he stared in that direction. "Gather your weapons and your gear – we are going hunting."

Instantly the dwarves lunged at their packs, rooting around with single minded focus to find every weapon they could. As they prepared themselves, Elrohir explained what had happened when they had destroyed the orc pack. Bilbo had quite forgotten about their previous hunters – it seemed like a lifetime ago that he had been cursing their bad luck in Beorn's home.

"A few clung to life and we asked them a couple of questions," the elf's tone was unnaturally bitter and his words unusually concise as he spoke of the foul creatures. "They told us that they had been paid by a dwarf to murder two dwarven princes and a small company of protectors."

"Did they say who paid them?" Nori asked, thrusting a knife into a sheath on his belt.

Elladan and Elrohir exchanged a glance with Beorn and it was the skin-changer that spoke. "They claimed that it was Dwalin, son of Fundin."

Bilbo's head snapped up in shock and his head began to spin as Fíli let out a small, strangled yelp.

"What?" the young prince cried, sounding as though he had been punched in the gut. "No, that's - that's impossible! D-D-Dwalin is, Dwalin wouldn't, he wouldn't-"

"We believe that the orcs were indeed given information by a dwarf but we highly doubt it was Dwalin." Elladan assured him, though he looked as though there was a bitter taste in his mouth as he spoke. "It is possible - probable, even - that someone is using Dwalin's name to lay blame on someone close to the king. If there are dwarves involved this is highly likely to be political."

"We need to go, now!" Fíli urged, but Beorn shook his head slowly.

"Night is falling, and hunting in the dark-"

"I am not waiting!" Fíli shrieked suddenly, all traces of his usual composure utterly gone. Bilbo stared at the brother of his son with a surge of pity; Fíli's appearance utterly reflected to frantic fear that was no doubt raging inside him – his tousled hair flew wildly around his face and his grief stricken eyes were wide with fury. "I did my waiting - twenty one years of it! My baby brother is out there in the hands of murderers and I am not waiting again! I will go out there alone and I will die trying to bring him back, but I will not wait! Not again, I can't…I can't lose him again…"

As Fíli's voice broke Bilbo stumbled towards him and instinctively pulled the young dwarf into a fierce embrace. Fíli instantly wrapped his arms around Bilbo, shuddering for a long moment before pulling away and staring imploringly into the hobbit's eyes. Bilbo nodded, shouldering his bag with a ghost of a smile.

"Of course I'm coming with you." He whispered.

"There's no way you two idiots are going alone," Nori's teasing lacked all humour as he turned to Beorn. "What do you have in the way of torches?"

"Torches will do us little good – this was clearly organised and we do not want to draw attention to ourselves. I do believe that Bilbo is the only one who will truly struggle in the dark, but the sky is clear and the moon and the stars may well be enough to light our path tonight." Elrohir glanced up at the sky approvingly before looking to Beorn.

The skin-changer stared up at the sky and sighed heavily. "I have something to take care of here, but I will catch up with you within the hour. There will undoubtedly be a trail, probably heading westwards and I have no doubt that you will be able to pick it up. I should reach you before dark and I may well be able to pick up the scent of the trail when the light leaves."

"Thank you," Bilbo croaked automatically.

Unwilling to wait for a moment longer, Fíli and Bilbo both headed straight for the gate, with Nori, Bofur and the elven twins on their heels. Wordlessly the six trackers fanned out in search of the trail and it was only moments before Elrohir crouched down on the floor and held up his hand. Bilbo picked up snippets of the elf's stream of Sindarin murmurs as his eyes flitted across the ground.

"…dwarves…three – no, four… here…there!" Elrohir straightened with a grim expression, pointing towards the thickening trees. "They took him that way, there were four of them - not including Kíli. They were dragging him."

"Dragging him?" Bilbo choked, a sick feeling settling in his stomach.

Elrohir nodded gravelly. "This way."

They began to follow the elf at a far slower pace than Bilbo wanted, but the trail became harder to see as the light seeped out of the sky. Just as the moon began to rise, a deep rumbling growl turned the company's attention to the enormous bear now trailing behind them. Beorn nodded once and then prowled to the front of the group, sniffing the trail they were painstakingly following with his enormous black nose. A small, grey body darted out from underneath him and studied the trail to, before lifting his head up and howling at the moon.

Both Luno and Beorn turned to look at the others before following their noses at a far faster pace than the company had previously been moving at, and as Bilbo broke into a run he finally felt as though they were getting somewhere.

Hold on Kíli, he thought desperately, we're coming.

I hope you enjoyed that chapter, it took me a while to get it how I wanted it but I'm pretty pleased with the result! In the next chapter we will see where Kíli is and just what's going on there.

Thanks for reading, leave a review if you fancy :D