CHAPTER SEVEN

"I never knew we'd be more than friends."

-Bad Wolves ft. DIAMANTE: "Hear Me Now"

He woke with a start, bolting half upright as the cool night air rushed into his lungs.

Kili blinked away the images of blood and bruising that flooded his mind and tried to steady his heartbeat. He was alright. It was just a dream. Nothing more.

A glance over Fili reminded him that both his brother and Gwen were safe. The details of the dream were slipping away like sand through his fingers, and despite his efforts to try and remember it, it was gone. All he could recall was that Gwen and Fili were there, and everything was bad.

He shook his head, grateful to the chill of the night for cooling the sweat from his skin. The cool night had first proved disadvantageous. The fire died down as soon as it was truly dark, and although Kili was exhausted, the slight shiver of cold in his bones kept him barely awake, tossing and turning for a good half hour. The stone was cold against his side, and all he had in the way of blankets was his coat and his cloak.

It hadn't taken long for him to grow sick of it, and he rolled over to Fili's side, yanking away half of the other dwarf's cloak on top of him, and sweeping his own cloak over the both of them. Fili had grumbled and rolled over but didn't protest. They'd shared a bed for a good forty years; another night was hardly anything new. Soothed by his brother's body heat against his back, he had drifted off into a steady and deep sleep.

Until the dream woke him, of course.

Kili sighed, falling onto his back, peering through branches up at the sky. The night was cloudless and clear, strewn with tiny prickling stars. Not as good as the skies back at home, but fairly admirable. Good enough for him to count until he could fall back asleep.

A sharp gasp had Kili sitting up again, looking around warily. Luckily, it was just Gwen. She was hunched over, catching her breath, as Kili had been a minute ago. "Nightmare?" he said to her softly.

Despite his efforts, she still jumped at the sound of his voice. Her eyes met his, unreadable, and she just nodded.

"What about?" Kili asked.

She shook her head, taking a deep fortifying breath. "I…don't know."

He followed her gaze as it cast out, and he almost could have sworn it landed on Bilbo. Odd. "Are you alright?"

"Aye," she breathed. The dark was too thick for Kili to see if she was lying.

"Are you sure?"

"Mahal, shut up, you two," Fili growled suddenly from between them. "She said she's alright."

Though she jumped a bit at the intrusion, Gwen smiled, the tension in her body releasing. "I am," she assured Kili.

"Good," he said, returning her smile.

Fili groaned at the continued talking, and Kili shook his head, amused. Fili was a heavy and notably cranky sleeper.

With one last nod, Gwen lay back down, and Kili followed her lead. A minute or two of silence passed before Fili was talking again, only sounding more frustrated than before. "What do you want?"

Kili sat up at the harshness of the question when he realized it wasn't directed at him. Gwen and Fili were facing each other, Fili's eyes squished into either a squint or a glare.

"Nothing!" Gwen protested. "I was just laying here."

"Can't you just sleep?"

"It's too cold to sleep," Gwen huffed.

Fili let out a long, antagonized sigh as he sat half up, sliding a foot away from Kili. "Get over here."

"No, that's—"

"You said it's too cold to sleep and it's warm here. If this'll shut you up, you better move your arse over here before I move it for you."

For a half-asleep Fili, that was an impressively complex sentence.

Gwen didn't further challenge the angry Dwarf, wrapping herself up in her cloak, and crawling over, tucking herself in between the two brothers. Fili let out another long-suffering sigh as he flung their cloaks back over them, completely enveloping Gwen in warmth and closeness. "Now goodnight."

Fili's tone was final, but Kili couldn't help himself from leaning in to the general area where Gwen's ear would be through all the layers of wool, faux-whispering. "Sorry, he gets a bit cranky."

Fili reached over Gwen to land a sharp jab into Kili's ribs, aimed with the sort of precision that only comes from years of practice. Snickering, Kili settled back, feeling the tension from the dream melt away as warmth enveloped him.


Kili slept well through the rest of the night, only waking when the sun had quite risen. The day was bright and sunny, the crisp air of the dawn already ushered away by the heat of the day. It seemed most of the company had slept well, as they all woke with Kili, warming up last night's dinner for breakfast. Kili ate his share, and though he was still a bit hungry when he was finished, the ache of exhaustion that had pounded at his head the day before was quite gone, and he felt refreshed, energized.

Balin had announced that they would stay at the camp for another week, or until they felt it unsafe. Thorin didn't look very happy about the decision, but they needed to rest, especially with what was ahead. According to Gandalf, they were doing fine on time and would reach the mountain in plenty of time to find the door.

Whether Thorin would ever accept it, he was the primary reason they weren't moving ahead. He struggled to walk even ten minutes, quickly becoming out of breath. His chest and ribs had been cracked and broken by his beating, deep puncture wounds breaking through his skin where the warg's teeth had cut into him. He looked awful. Not that Kili would dare tell him any of this.

"It really is nice to have a break," Kili confessed as he and Fili dozed in a puddle of sunlight, letting the cold from the Misty Mountains leech out of their bones.

Fili hummed in agreement.

There was a long beat of silence. Resting was nice. Of course, it was. But he was starting to get—

"Are you bored?" Fili asked, voicing Kili's thoughts.

"Aye."

"Want to go for a swim?" Fili asked, sitting up. The sparkle in his eyes told Kili that his brother had likely been just as bored and twitchy as him.

Kili nodded, stretching as he sat up. "Can we bring Gwen along?"

Gwen was a good ten yards away, but her voice floated over to them, breaking the steady pace of her conversation with Bilbo. "Bring me along for what?"

Damn. Her hearing was sharp.

"Would you like to swim?" Fili asked as he and Kili stood, feeling the midday lethargy drain out of their bones.

Gwen snorted. "No, I quite would not."

"More like doesn't know how," Kili told his brother.

Fili gaped. "Don't know how to swim?"

"I grew up in a desert," Gwen retorted defensively. "The nearest body of water you could even try to swim in was a month and a half's travel away!"

"Well now the nearest body of water is ten minutes away," Kili explained, grinning at her reluctance. "So, up you pop."

"I'm injured," Gwen said.

"Nonsense," Kili argued. "Oin said the cold water is good for you."

"And if you're standing up enough to hurt your ankle in the water, you're not doing the 'swimming' thing right," Fili added.

Gwen seemed to be out of protests. "Well…"

"Right you are then," Fili chirped, closing the gap between him and her, and offering a hand. "Kili and I are wonderful teachers, I swear."

"Bilbo doesn't know how to swim either," Gwen blurted.

Bilbo, who had laid low until that point threw his hands up in annoyance. "Gwen!"

"Sorry," she said, not looking too terribly sorry.

Kili turned on Bilbo, jaw dropped in mock amazement. "You too?"

"I just never had the chance or desire," Bilbo explained, squirming under the accusatory looks of the two dwarves. "It's a very Stoorish thing, not really ordinary for a Baggins to go out to do—"

"And is it a very Baggins thing to do to be out on an adventure with a dozen dwarves?" Fili asked.

"No, quite not, I should think."

"And yet, here you are, Master Boggins."

"And so," Kili continued, "here you come with us." Bilbo tried to protest as Kili hauled him up from the ground, glancing, panicked at Gwen who Fili was helping up and over his shoulder. "Oh, it's never too late to learn," Kili assured him.

"You don't know that," Bilbo fussed, tearing his arm away from Kili, brushing himself off. "I can walk on my own, thank you very much."

"As long as you won't try and run."

Bilbo glared up at Kili as he straightened his waistcoat, his hand patting its pocket. "I could."

Kili laughed. "Aye, but you won't. I'd catch you. Speaking of catching," he began before Bilbo could argue. "We'd better catch up before the cripple and the shorty beat us there."

Still grumbling, Bilbo followed after Kili into the forest.

They caught up with the other two quickly, and Kili was glad to have his brother there to bounce teasing off of. By the time they got there, the only reason Gwen hadn't hit him was that he was too fast for her. Fili sat Gwen down on a rock as they all removed their boots and outer layers, except of course, Bilbo, who seemed to be hesitating. "If you don't take off a few layers, it'll be much harder to swim," Kili told him.

"Of, of course," he mumbled, shooting Kili a fake polite smile of thanks, even though his fingers curled tighter into the edge of his waistcoat. After a moment of thought, he huffed, mumbling to himself as he pulled it off, folding it neatly on the ground, and setting it under the shelter of the rock. Kili looked away to see Gwen also watching the hobbit's odd behavior, something peculiarly dark in her eyes. She saw Kili looking at her, and they shared a slight shrug before going back to their boots.

Once free of their most constricting garments, Fili seemed more excited than ever to escape the heat, going to help Gwen back up. "Come on, love."

Kili waded out into the water, its cool touch flooding up his legs, soaking through his breeches. The rocks were cold and slick under his toes, and he wanted nothing more than to dive headfirst into it. He held himself back as it seemed Fili was having some difficulty getting Gwen into the water. She was shaking her head vehemently, at the edge of the bank. "You go on, I'll go in myself."

Fili examined her face. "Are you scared?"

"No!" Gwen protested, a little too adamantly for it to be believable. "I'm just not comfortable with it all."

"Sounds like scared to me," Kili remarked as he made his way back to where they were.

"I just want to take it a little slower," she explained. "That doesn't mean I'm—"

Fili snorted. "What aren't you afraid of? Heights, water, cooking, what's next?"

"To be fair, I'm not afraid of cooking," Gwen bit back, though it seemed she was assenting to the other two. "I'm just terrible at it."

"See," Fili said. "Scared."

Gwen sighed deeply. "Alright. Aye. I'll admit, I'm a little scared of those two things. And goats," she added, after a moment, her eyes glazing as she was lost in thought. "I don't like goats."

"It's the eyes, isn't it?" Kili said, recalling his encounters with goats. Odd, they were, with their sideways eyes.

"Aye, there's something not right about it," Fili admitted, scrunching his nose at the thought.

"I'm not afraid of goats," Bilbo added after a pregnant pause.

"It's not so much afraid," Kili corrected him, trying to find the right words.

"More…unnerved by them," Fili suggested.

They considered this for a moment before Gwen broke in. "No, I'm fair positive that I'm afraid of them. I've had nightmares."

Kili looked up at her in disbelief. "You dream about goats."

"Well, not often," Gwen amended. "But I have."

"How did we get on goats?" Fili asked suddenly, shaking his head as if waking up from a daydream.

"Gwen's fault," Kili pointed out.

Fili gasped in exaggerated betrayal. "You were trying to distract me!"

"I was not! I simply mentioned goats; you're the ones who…contemplated them!"

"Well," Fili huffed. "We aren't going to be contemplating anything now. We're going to be swimming."

Gwen tried to protest, but Fili was practically dragging her into the water. Kili shot a pointed look at Bilbo, who was lingering at the shore, peering at the water skeptically. "You too, Mister Boggins." The Hobbit shot him a dark look and flinched as the water came up over his feet.

They swam for a good two or three hours. Well, Kili and Fili did, at least. Bilbo mostly did a lot of flinching and trying to excuse himself, while Gwen sat on a rock, half submerged and sulked. Gwen, at least had an excuse for her reluctance to try anything too new, considering her injuries. Bilbo, it seemed, was just adverse to all things new. They did manage to get Bilbo to the point where he could keep himself upright, and head above water in spots that was deeper than he was tall (although even then, he was floundering and sputtering as if he would drown any moment). Kili barely managed to convince Gwen to try and put her head under the water a few times. She wasn't happy about it and looked a bit like a tired, drowned rat by the end of it, but Kili considered it progress.

Bilbo left first, as they finally relented, allowing him to wade out of the water as fast as he could, scrambling to re-dress and get away from the draining cold. Gwen seemed content to sit in the water on her rock and watch them from a distance, splashing, wrestling and generally making fools of themselves.

Kili was having a wonderful time. He hadn't had the time or means to just muck about in water since he was forty-six when the lower pond filled up enough that summer he and Fili had spent home with their mother.

Nori, Bofur, Dwalin, and Bifur joined them after an hour or so, and their water-battle only grew more ferocious. Tired from hours of exercise, he and Fili helped Gwen out of the water, and sat up on the bank, lying back on the grass, relaxing. Gwen kept herself out of their conversations, almost looking to be sleeping, although Kili saw her quirking slight smiles at the funnier part of him and Fili's conversation. They talked about everything and nothing, often falling back to childhood memories of days like this when they had cool water and warm sun and nothing to do.

Unfortunately, they weren't entirely devoid of things to do, and as the sun arced lower from its high-vaulted midday, Kili knew he should get back out to hunt. By then, they had all dried well, baking in the sun, and the others in the river had calmed down, just lounging and floating in the shallows. "I think that Bombur'll cook me up soon if I don't find him something else to make."

Fili and Gwen sat up as he did. "You'd be too stringy," Gwen yawned.

"Are you such an expert in cannibalism?" Fili asked her, raising a brow as he stretched his sore arms.

Gwen shrugged. "There are many traditions of Rhun that you don't know about."

"Well, don't be giving Bombur any tips, I've come close enough to getting eaten already on this journey," Kili said, standing slowly, feeling the warm blood start to flow back through his veins.

"Help me back to camp and I swear my lips will be sealed," Gwen said, holding a hand up to him.

Kili groaned, but took her forearm, helping her up. "We need to get you a walking stick or something."

"Brother, no humble stick could ever replace your usefulness," Fili promised him, voice sickly sweet with false comfort. "I'll come back too."

"Right," Gwen snorted as they started the long hop back to camp. "It would have to be an arrogant, hollow stick.

"Ouch," Kili said in mock pain, holding a hand to his heart and turning to give her the most offended look he could muster. "Words hurt, Gwen."

She rolled her eyes. "I was joking, Master Dwarf."

"Well, I should hope so," Kili laughed. As if that even needed to be said at that point.

"I wonder if Bilbo's going to want to come back out with us tomorrow," Fili mused.

Kili shrugged. "We'll have to make him, I'm sure, but it's good for him."

Gwen cut in. "There was something off about him. Has been," she self-corrected. "I think something happened."

"What do you mean?" Kili asked. He had his own ideas on the matter, of course, but he was curious what she had to say.

"You've seen it," she said. "He's…He avoids questions. He's been a little more isolated. He just seems uncomfortable, aye?"

"He went through four or five near-death experiences," Fili sighed. "Probably killed for the first time too. That'll shake anyone up."

"I suppose," Gwen said softly, and Kili could practically hear the workings of her brain running like well-oiled steel.

Bilbo's problem could just be stress. Or. Was it something else entirely?


He really, really needed to stop having dreams like that.

The kind where he woke up in a cold sweat, panting, making Fili grumble and roll away, often taking their makeshift blankets with him. Kili typically forgot his dreams the moment he woke up, but the worst was when they lingered, imprinted in his mind's eye.

He glanced over the mounds of dwarves to where he knew Thorin slept. He was fine. Thorin was alright. He let his eyes fall then, to Gwen who was curled up on her side, flush against Fili for warmth, the vague shape of her rising and falling as she breathed. She was alright too.

Kili rubbed at his eyes, forcing himself to lay back. He didn't feel that he'd be able to sleep. It was like his mind was sprinting in his head, exhausted but unable to stop whirring.

When he rolled on his side, he couldn't help but jump when he saw Gwen's eyes open. She blinked at him as the burst of surprise left his heart pounding. "Dream?"

Her voice was soft enough that Fili wouldn't hear but loud enough for Kili to hear if he leaned in close enough. He nodded. "You?"

She nodded in return.

"What about?" Kili asked, half out of curiosity half out of not wanting her to fall asleep and leave him bored, awake and alone.

A frown slid onto her face as she considered. "I don't…It's a dream I haven't had in many years."

"You've had it before?" Kili asked.

Fili let out a warning snort at the slightly raised sound of Kili's voice and Kili scolded himself. He needed to keep it down.

Gwen nodded slowly. "Yes. It's a dream many back at home have. Some, more often than others, and I don't know if the others were making it up…"

Kili raised a brow. "What is it then?"

"Darkness," Gwen said, her features practically invisible through the thick darkness though she was only inches away. Her breath washed warm over his face, her words soft but intense brushing against his ear. "Thick, thick darkness. Like syrup all around you. All cold and choking. It feels like suffocating. But then there's this light." Kili could have sworn he saw her eyes glint through the dark. "Piercing and thin, and it feels…odd, but you go towards it because you feel you have to. I get this…this feeling." Her tone lowered to being nearly inaudible, but Kili didn't dare say a word to her. "It's a sick feeling in my gut. But…a good sick. So you go towards it."

"And then what?" Kili prompted.

He felt, rather than saw her shrug. "I've never gotten there. Always woken once I gave in."

"Have you ever tried walking away?" Kili asked, genuinely curious.

She paused for a few long heartbeats. "You don't walk away." There was an immovable finality in her tone, and Kili decided not to question it. "What did you dream of?"

Kili struggled to find words and would have considered lying if he weren't so tired. "I was walking with you and Thorin, I think. And then the two of you walked past me. You were arguing over where we were going, and you chose separate paths. As I was deciding who to follow, I heard screams. Both of you. When I…I came across Thorin, and he was dead, his body being picked apart by giant birds. Then I got to you, and—"

"That's alright," Gwen interrupted gently, her hand falling softly onto his shoulder. "I get the idea."

Kili shook his head. "Aye. It was not fun."

"I honestly think I'd prefer my dream," Gwen admitted.

"Me too," Kili said, more than a little upset that the images had been refreshed in his mind.

Silence fell thick between them as Gwen shuffled from her side, facing away from him to look up at the stars. With the shift of angle, he could vaguely see her in the thin veil of moonlight. She was washed out, and pale, somehow entirely unearthly, and yet completely familiar. "They're pretty," she said, barely louder than an exhale. "The stars."

Kili hummed in agreement, though his mind was far from stars. He had never imagined he would like someone like her. And while she wasn't pretty, per say, she…made something in his gut flip hard. It felt warm and soft and wasn't quite a feeling Kili had ever had before. "Remarkable."

"Hmm?" Gwen asked, turning her face back to him.

Damn. He'd said that out loud. "The stars," he added, to correct his mistake.

Gwen didn't seem to notice his fumble as she turned back to the sky. "They're so far away. Out of reach." She turned back to him, rolling fully onto her side and wrapping her arms about herself for warmth. "I'd rather be down here."

"What, rather than up there?" Kili chuckled, reaching an arm out to wrap around her, drawing her across the stone, into his chest.

"What are you doing?" Gwen asked sharply, her voice half waking Fili, who let out a long, sighing snore.

"It's cold, we're cold, and I don't want to have any more bad dreams."

Gwen pulled away from his chest far enough to glare at him, before she grabbed his arm closest to her, patting it down as she placed it as she liked for a pillow. It wasn't long until his face was half buried in her hair and scarf, his arms settled loosely over her. She was like a bony furnace against him, and Kili couldn't protest. It was chilly. The smell of her invaded his senses, something warm and comfortable, like sunlight and rich fruit and tingling softness. His eyes fell closed easily. "G'night, Gwen."

If she replied, it was too muffled by his clothing, but he didn't mind one bit as he drifted off into a dreamless sleep. The very best kind of sleep, that was.


A week drained by in relative uninterrupted peace. Kili slept well. They all trained, fooled about, chatted, and went out for hours upon hours to swim each day. Gwen was regaining more mobility in her ankle, taking it quite slowly as per Oin's advice. The worst of her bruises, as well as Thorin's, were beginning to fade to green and brown, and the rest of the company was feeling more rested and energized than they had since the beginning of the quest.

The weather had held up beautifully, but of course, it was just their luck that rain would come the day they agreed to set off traveling again. What started out as a drizzle halfway through the previous night had broken into full-on rain by the time the sun had risen. The skies were gray and heavy with thick clouds, the rain freezing against their skin. It was a small mercy that their lack of gear made their travel light.

The din of rain and the slosh of their footsteps in the mud kept them from enjoying the march too much, as they followed up the river. Their path danced between the forests and the narrow slivers of open land between trees and the river, which was swollen and murky brown with dirt. Conversation was quiet and scattered, usually only between a few people.

Gwen had stopped needing Kili's help to get around days before, electing to use a walking stick to help her move, and so she was further towards the front of the company, limping with her head down as she spoke low with Gandalf.

Kili and Fili tried to keep their own spirits up. Many of their jokes fell flat, and Bofur seemed to have little energy to give to amuse them, but they kept up the efforts valiantly. It was a few hours beyond midday and Kili was beginning to wonder when they would be stopping for the night when their not-so-good day turned simply bad.

The river had become so bloated that it was only inches away from their path, but that hadn't proved to be too much of a problem except when their trail skirted right onto the edge of a bank over the water. Kili had very little reason to believe that they were anything but safe. This was, of course, until with a hideous slurping noise, the mud they were walking on sloughed away from the bank, sliding down into the river below. Kili yelped as he fell, scrabbling for something to take ahold of. He cursed as he found his arms tangled in his sodden cloak. Cold water was rushing up his boots, and mud had smeared onto his face, but before the water could rise higher, a hand landed on his collar, almost choking him, but keeping him from sliding further into the river. He blinked up through the blur of mud and rain to see that his brother had caught onto a root that had been exposed by the mudslide. The others were in a similar state, scrambling to keep from sliding down the bank, holding on where they could. Gandalf, Balin, and Bifur had managed to keep their footing, and upon seeing the chaos, rushed to help them all back up onto what was left of the bank.

Kili was just getting an arm free when a shout caught his ear. He turned sharply, and his heart was suddenly pounding in his ears, drowning out the rest of the cries and curses in the air. "Thorin."

The dwarf was wheeling backward, and fell, with a crash, into the river. It started carrying him the moment he hit the water, faster than Kili could follow, but before he could get too far from the bank, another dark shape crashed into the river. A flash of red bubbled up through the water and Kili realized with a terrible sinking feeling that Gwen had fallen-or jumped in after Thorin.

The water dragged her for a moment, but not before Ori caught a grip of her ankle. Both figures in the water stopped suddenly, Ori crying out as his grip on her almost popped free with the sudden force.

Gwen had caught Thorin.

Kili struggled frantically, torn between getting up onto the bank and diving in himself. Fili's hand on his collar made the decision for him, as a harsh pressure cut into his windpipe. Fili and Gandalf hauled him out, keeping Kili from seeing the commotion proceed a few yards up.

The moment he had grass under his hands, he was staggering up to his feet, scrambling for a view of the others. "They're okay," Fili panted.

He was only partially right. Bilbo had hurried to help, and this seemed to keep the two from washing away entirely. Still, it felt like had been ten minutes since they fell in, and Kili hadn't seen a sign that Thorin or Gwen had come up for air. He despised the thought of them suffocating in the undertow.

Luckily, Dwalin had hauled his way over to them. He shoved Ori out of the way, into Dori and Nori's hands, to get pulled up out of the danger. Kili pushed through to the spot on the bank right above them, watching anxiously, and infuriatingly helplessly as Dwalin took a strong grip of Gwen's leg and hauled her back towards him.

By then, Gloin had replaced Bilbo, and together, he and Dwalin managed to drag Gwen up out of the water. She seemed to have gotten a grip around Thorin's waist, and her arms stayed locked around him as the two dwarves hauled him out by the coat. Gwen was still coughing when Dwalin tossed her up the mudslide onto the bank. Kili and Bifur caught her arms, helping drag her up the last few feet, and it was only moments until they were all shaken, soaking wet, muddy, and coughing but alive.

Gwen crawled out of Kili's arms the moment she could, retching up mouthfuls of river water onto the ground. Kili caught his breath for a moment before he went to her side, patting her firmly on the back as she coughed out the last of it.

Thorin seemed to be a little more shaken than her, but he had coughed his lungs clear. Oin was checking him over frantically, likely looking for any injuries that may have been further damaged, while the others huddled in a loose mass taking stock of their circumstances.

Gwen sat back and Kili reached forward to clear the mass of soaked hair from her face. She was pale and shivering, her eyes bloodshot from the water. "Good thing I taught you to swim," Kili said, trying to keep the mood light despite the adrenaline crowding his veins.

"That wasn't swimming," she croaked. "That was drowning."

Fili knelt down next to them, setting a hand gingerly on Gwen's shoulder. "Are you alright?" She managed a nod, though she was still coughing a bit and looked absolutely miserable. "That was daft," Fili huffed as he sat down into the mud, looking warily past Gwen at Thorin.

Gwen's eyes widened. "What would you have done?"

"Well…Exactly that," Fili admitted. "But I do daft things all the time."

For once, Gwen didn't have the energy to protest, just shaking her head as she wrapped her arms around herself, shivering harder. Kili moved in before she could ask, wrapping an arm around her, and squeezing her into his side. She was sodden, her forehead against his cheek like ice. "Is Thorin alright?" Gwen asked, her voice trickling weakly out of Kili's coat.

He nodded. "I think so."

"It obviously wasn't good for him, but he's getting up already," Fili added.

Kili was surprised to see that he was right. Thorin pushed away Balin's help as he lurched up to his feet. "We continue."

Fili's look of surprise mirrored Kili's own, and Kili would have spoken had Gwen's elbow not jabbed into his ribs with surprising strength from someone who looked like a half-drowned rat. "Let me up."

He loosened his grip on her, and before he could say a word, she was struggling to get her legs under her. Fili hurried to help her, letting her lean her weight on his shoulders as she caught her breath. "Gwen," Kili began, aching to let her stop and rest.

"Come on," she prompted him as she righted herself. "He said we continue."

"Love," Kili huffed as he got up. "Don't be daft."

She was as bullheaded as ever, shrugging off his hand from her shoulder. "We continue," she repeated sharply, pulling up her soaked, headscarf to cover her hair, and her hood over that, even though it was in a useless state. "She'll catch her death of a cold," Kili hissed to his brother as she started off, limping as she caught up with Bilbo.

Fili shrugged helplessly. "Aye, but what can we do?"

"Clock her upside the head," Kili growled to himself as they hurried to tail the company as they continued up the trail.

Fili snorted. "That'll help."

"She's so stubborn," Kili groaned, shooting the bloated river one last glare.

"That's why you too get along so well."

Fili only got a glare in response for his troubles.


Luckily, the rest of the day passed uneventfully. The rain let off in the afternoon, and though they were all still damp, a nice crackling fire had helped banish the chill from their bones when they set up camp for the night. They had little to eat for dinner except for a rabbit that Dwalin had axed practically in half and a few birds Kili was able to shoot down. While they went to sleep hungry, they all slept well, glad to be resting their aching feet.

Unfortunately, Kili was forced to wake partway through the night to be on watch with Bofur. Together, they stoked the fire and tried to keep each other awake with hushed conversation, but Bofur seemed to be truly struggling. Just as he nodded off for the fourth time that half-hour, there was movement from the far side of their camp, and Gwen stood, yawning. She gave Kili a slight nod, padding silently over to them.

Bofur almost shouted in surprise when she tapped him on the shoulder, but he managed to keep from waking the others as he clutched at his heart. "You scared me, lass."

She chuckled softly, sitting down next to Bofur, leaning back on the log that he and Kili had sat against. "I can tell."

"When Kili's waking me, he punches me," Bofur grumbled, shaking off the sudden excitement. "Thought you were a ghost or some'ing."

"You're tired," Gwen said, her voice barely above a whisper. "Go sleep. I'm going to be up anyway."

Bofur didn't need to be told twice, and Kili suspected he fell asleep on the way down to his spot, judging by the thump of his body hitting the ground.

"Can't sleep or you just wanted to spend time with me?" Kili asked, grinning as she settled in, leaning forward to warm her hands on the low embers of the fire.

"Neither," Gwen answered. "I was cold."

Kili sniffed in agreement. The air was breezy and damp with the lingering touches of the storm. He leaned forward to their dwindling pile of wood and placed a small branch onto the fire. They couldn't set it blazing lest an enemy notice the smoke, but he was at least able to get the fire to kick out a little more heat as licks of flame flashed up to draw the wood into the fire, breaking it down to shimmering orange coals.

Their silence didn't last too long. They talked mostly about unimportant things, and Kili was glad to see that the night seemed to lower her guard against him. The sound of her muffled laughter was nearly constant, those soft, hidden smiles of hers even more frequent than the laughter.

She'd spent the last hour trying to teach him a trick he'd seen before but never attempted: making a coin disappear. It was painfully simple when she explained it, but it was much easier said than done. "My hands are just too big," Kili groaned as the coin slipped off of his hand instead of staying perched, hidden on his palm as Gwen had demonstrated two dozen times.

"Nonsense. The man who taught me this had hands twice the size of yours and he never had this much trouble." She shook her head. "You're just not skilled with your hands, Master Dwarf."

Kili leapt on the opportunity that presented itself to him. "Oh, my hands are skilled, love." The smirk on his face was enough to send her eyes rolling as she rubbed at the bridge of her nose. Before she could criticize him, he blinked innocently, explaining. "I'm quite the knitting prodigy, according to my mum." Gwen tried to hide her smile at the fact that he'd fooled her, and he feigned being aghast. "Mahal, Gwen, what were you thinking of?"

"Knitting," she said drily. "Only knitting."

"Inappropriate little minx," Kili admonished her, shaking his head and holding onto the joke for another moment, before he broke, muffling his chuckles as best he could.

"You're never going to get that," Gwen commented as she watched Kili fumble, trying to get the coin to stay where he wanted it.

"You're not a very good teacher," he critiqued.

She snorted, leaning forward to prod the coals with a stick, bringing a little more light to the narrow space between them. After a few more attempts, Kili found the right spot, and the coin stayed wedged just where it needed to be. "I've got it!"

Gwen turned, nodding to let him know she was watching. "You see this coin?" he asked in as theatrical of a voice as he could manage without waking anyone. Gwen nodded again, appearing to be resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "It's a real coin, I assure you," Kili said, trying to bend it, tapping it against his boot to demonstrate how entirely real it was.

"Aye, I see it, now make it bloody disappear."

"Patience, woman," he scolded, clearing his throat as he went back into the performance. "Now, would you believe me if I said I was going to make this…disappear?"

"At this point, I don't think so."

"Well," Kili admonished. "It's only going to work if you believe in me, Gwen."

"Fine," she huffed, impatience coming off of her in waves. This was his twelfth iteration of this performance in an hour, and Kili was having a wonderful time irritating the life out of her. "I absolutely believe in you."

"Hmm…" Kili mused, peering at her with squinted eyes. "Not sure if I believed that."

"Bloody hell—"

"I'll need a kiss for luck," he announced, offering his hand forward.

She sent him a dark glare, but leaned forward, brushing her lips onto the backs of his fingers. "Now just do the bloody trick."

His prerequisite fulfilled, Kili grinned. "It is time…for the impossible…to become possible." Before Gwen could nag at him, he sat up a little straighter, using the excuse of adjusting his sleeves to justify switching the coin to his other hand. He tucked it into that spot on his hand where it would hopefully stay. He almost grinned as the coin failed to fall as he pretended to switch it back to his other hand. Perfect. "And…" he began, lifting the empty hand. "Where it should be, there is—" he opened his fingers, revealing a completely empty hand. "Nothing."

Gwen tried to maintain an unimpressed visage, but he could see the smile trying to tug at the corners of her mouth. "I could see it the whole time," she said, leaning back onto the log, her face turned up to the sky.

"I think you're lying," Kili huffed as he fiddled with the coin a bit more. "Either way, I think that'd fool Dori or Dwalin."

Gwen hummed in agreement. After a minute or two, Kili slipped the coin into his pocket, looking up to see what had Gwen's attention. Through the trees and clouds, a few tiny stars were visible, scattered over the heavy, black skies.

"It's odd," she said, frowning. "Back at home, we spent every summer sleeping under these stars. It was too hot to sleep inside," she explained. "But up on the roof, it was just cool enough to be comfortable."

Kili nodded, settling back next to her, letting his eyes trace the invisible lines between the stars.

"I spent years staring up at the skies. I could tell you where every star is, their names, and their constellations from every people that have looked up at them. I see them when I close my eyes, and know them better than I know myself but I don't even think I like them."

"Why's that?" Kili prompted, feeling a smile on his lips. She was an odd bird.

"I don't know," she admitted. "They just seem so far away. Cold." She sat up, and Kili followed her. "I prefer firelight." It danced, orange and red and gold; flashing, pulsing lights in the deep mirrors of her eyes. "It's warm and close."

"You can control it," Kili observed after a moment of silence. "To a certain point, anyway. You can start it, you can guide it, but it's ultimately itself, and it will burn as it pleases."

"That was eloquent," Gwen commented, smirking as she glanced over at him. "I was just going to say it's red. I like red."

Kili snorted. "That works as well."

Gwen shook her head, hugging her knees to her chest as she stared deep into the embers as if searching for something in their soft blue heat. "The starlight is so remote…distant and strange. But I understand fire as much as anyone can. I can feel its light on my skin; feel its pain when it burns me. It's familiar." A soft smile broke over her face, and Kili knew he was staring but couldn't stop. It felt like something burst in his heart, and a heat that had been trickling out before, pooling in his gut flooded out, sending his pulse rushing, he fingers tightening into the dirt.

She wasn't pretty. That was it. She'd never been pretty to him. It was wrong to try to fit her into pretty.

Pretty was soft dwarven ladies, with their trim beards and flowing, rich curls. Thick lashes, and sweet rounded eyes, and porcelain skin, with blushing pink cheeks. A rolling farm field was pretty, bathed in a thick syrupy sunset, cut with placid lakes and runs of water, flowing and soft and cozy,

Pretty wasn't this.

Eyes tired and deep, but dancing in hidden depths with heated black secrets. Quick lips, cheeks carved out by orange firelight, wrought with shadow and sun-wearing. Tangled, wild hair and roughly knotted, fast hands. Like the last spitting beam of the setting sun cutting long shadows into a vicious cliffside. This was strange and fearsome and beautiful.

Beautiful. There it was. There was the word. That's what she was.

He wanted to make Gwen, so strange and fearful and unusual, his.

"Did you hear that?"

His mind seemed reluctant to pull itself from the sink of warm, spiraling heat, but the urgency in her tone and the way she leapt to her feet in an instant, pulled him out of his reverie in a heartbeat. "Hm?"

''Howling."

He was up on his feet, eyes snapping wide. "Where?"

"I don't know," she spat back.

Kili felt his heart sink as the wind carried him the sound of distant howls and barks. It seemed their rest was over.


Hello, all! This was kind of a fluffy chapter, but I feel we all needed a break after these last couple of chapters. If you had an opinion on this chapter, please take a moment to leave a review! Even if you didn't have an opinion. I'd love to hear from you. They really make my day, and I love them. Thank you for reading and reviewing, and I'll catch you all on Sunday!