Fili tried to dart forward, his eyes never leaving the sight of his brother wrapped into the tight embrace of the tentacled monster that just a moment ago had appeared as inconspicuous as all the other stalactites around them in this cave.

But as he made a move to rush to his brother's aid, pulling his swords out, ready to cut the thing down, he felt a hand grip him from behind. He whirled to face Sam as the tall human held him back.

"It's killing my brother!" Fili exclaimed his eyes wide with fear as he stared at Sam incredulously.

"I know," he said before swerving his head toward Catti-brie and Fili halted when he saw the magnificent longbow the woman had brandished and aimed at the creature. He gulped as he looked back at the monster that gripped his brother.

Kili groaned as the tentacles gripped him around the waist and chest, drawing him closer to its gaping maw. He presented a problem for Catti-brie as he blocked access to the monster and Fili realized that rushing to his brother would have disrupted her aim even more.

Fili waited with baited breath as she carefully aimed and let fly an arrow, the brilliant purple light that streaked forth from it lit up the cavern around them as it spend past Fili and plunged into the bulbous rocky mass of the creature, barely missing Kili's head as he squirmed in the tentacle grasp.

The creature shook from the force but its hold on the defenseless dwarf didn't waver. It let out a low rolling rumbling growl that reverberated through the cavern around them. Fili felt Sam release him then and he leapt forward, swinging his mighty dwarven blades as he came to his brother's defense, swiping at a tentacle with a downward swipe of his right blade a sideways swipe from the left.

The creature's hide was as tough as the rock it imitated and Fili had to swipe in hard to do any sort of damage to the beast, but still, he managed to leave a gash in the tentacle holding his brother, and to his relief, the beast loosened its grip and the dwarf tumbled forward. Fili was quick to grab his brother and move backwards just as Catti-brie let fly another arrow.

Kili groaned, holding his chest as Fili pulled him clear of the creature. "It's okay brother," he assured him as Sam and Dean ran at the creature with the simple blades they had picked up in Sundabar.

Fili was impressed with the brother's skill. They moved in on the beast, each flanking it and moving in for some offensive tactics, each swiping at the beast as it tried to lunge at them with its tentacles.

At one point, a flailing tentacle managed to grip Sam on around the knee, pulling hard. The tall human fell hard onto his back with a grunt, his sword falling to the side as the thing pulled him in towards its mouth, opening wide as it displayed a mouth full of shark-like teeth.

"Sam!" Dean exclaimed as he plunged a sword into the side of the beast just as the mouth clamped down on Sam's ankle, tearing at flesh and bone. The younger brother cried out in pain as he flailed about.

Another lighting quick arrow blasted into the beast and then another, the last one dislodging it's grip as it fell back and finally, a third arrow plunged into its eye, no doubt piercing its brain and it fell away, falling backward in the waters of the lake, its body quivering as Dean swiped at it again, severing a tentacle.

The monster finally died, its death throes slashing water about as Dean grabbed Sam and hauled him back away from the water's edge.

"That'll be a roper," Catti-brie explained as Fili dragged Kili up to where they had all made camp and laid him down on the floor. "Ye have to be careful about the stalactites, don't trust 'em."

"Great," Dean said dryly as he helped his own brother. "Thanks for the heads up."

"I told ye the Underdark isn't to be underestimated," the woman hurried to her pack and began to rummage through it for supplies.

"Fili…" Kili groaned as he lay on the ground, gazing up at his older brother. "Hurts…"

Fili winced as he pulled open Kili's jerkin and tunic to see the blood and broken skin. He could clearly see the pieces of bone sticking out of his brother's chest, and the way Kili's breath came in shallow gasps told him the truth of the matter.

Fili was no medical expert but Oin had taught him the basics of survival medicine. He glanced at Catti-brie as the woman approached with a vial. "He has some broken ribs," he explained. "And I think one of them tore his lung."

"Here," Catti-brie handed him a vial. "Healing potion. It's not very strong but it'll get him on his feet at least. We need to move on, we've made enough noise to alert all of the Underdark to our presence."

Fili gulped as Catti-brie hurried over to give a vial to Sam and Dean. He knew well the dangers of being in the deep places of the Earth. Middle Earth held more than its fair share of monsters in the shadows. Their fight with the roper was probably heard or felt by all the creatures in the area.

"Might that we will attract a band of goblins," Catti-brie continued as Dean helped Sam up, letting his brother lean heavily on him.

Fili helped Kili drink the dark liquid. His brother wrinkled his nose as he choked down the obviously distasteful concoction. But as the potion spread through his body, he started breathing easier. His wound remained and Fili quickly bandaged it using supplies Catti-brie handed over.

"Fili, sorry," Kili mumbled as his brother pulled him to his feet and let him lean on him. Fili sighed, remembering their conversation over Tauriel.

"Just don't scare me like that again and we'll call it even," he murmured curtly. Kili winced at the harshness of his voice and Fili met his eyes and sighed.

"You aren't the only one who suffered heartaches on this quest," he told his brother plainly. And he held his brother's gaze as the painful memories, mainly of Thorin, filtered through his thoughts.

Kili responded by leaning into his brother harder. "You didn't have to watch your brother drop to the ground in front of you," he murmured as he buried his face into Fili's shoulder.

Fili winced at that. He remembered Azog capturing him and stabbing him, he remembered falling to what he thought would be his death. His world went dark and he woke up in bed days later.

"Come on," Catti-brie urged as she gathered her supplies. Fili helped his brother along and moved to walk closer to Dean.

"Sounds like you understand what it's like to be an older brother all too well," Dean commented as he held onto Sam who favored his wounded ankle and limped heavily.

Fili met the human's eyes then and saw understanding. From one big brother to another. And Fili could see just by the look in his eyes that he had seen his share of horrors. He didn't know the human man's story, or what the world looked like where he was from, but he understood just by the way he held onto Sam, the way he cared for him, that they were kindred spirits in a way that only older brothers could understand.

One day soon, they would tell each other their stories, Fili knew. For now, the five of them marched on through the underdark, guided along by the human woman. By luck and fortune, they made it to the underdark entrance to the dwarven fortress of Citadel Felbarr and Fili found he was eager to meet these dwarves, his kin from another world.