Wow, thanks for such a great response to the last chapter :) Thank you all so much!
The ideas I got were all awesome, so I tried to incorporate as many as possible, along with a couple of my own ;)
I am very sorry about the wait – I spent the last week up in Cumbria with no internet, so I hope that I didn't lose momentum for this :( good news is that the next chapter is almost done!
Without further ado, Read, Enjoy, Review!
Chapter Ten # Sing for your Supper #
"…and dodge, duck – strike!"
Kíli swung Thorin's sword at Fíli, trying to follow Dwalin's barked instructions, practising a single manoeuvre for the twelfth time. To his surprise, his sword found its mark and collided with Fíli's with a clang.
"Ha ha!" he cried in shocked triumph.
"Twist!" Dwalin roared, and Kíli did so, sending his brother's sword clattering to the floor. The warrior cheered. "Thatta boy!"
"Ha, I did it!" Kíli laughed, and Fíli shook his head with a smile.
"You did. Now, let's do it again."
Kíli groaned, hefting the sword up again. "This is even more tiring than ploughing!"
That distracted Fíli. "You plough?"
"Not regularly, but I've helped to do it before." Kíli nodded.
"He wasn't given a choice." Bilbo interjected. "That's what you get when you steal a field full of potatoes from Farmer Maggot…"
Kíli pulled a face and Fíli laughed brightly, before lunging at his brother again as Dwalin yelled out instructions again.
The drill continued until Kíli had disarmed his brother over fifty times to ensure that the sequence of moves was engrained in his mind, and as soon as they had finished Thorin sent them both to relieve Bifur and Bofur from their duty to care for the ponies.
Their uncle just argued with the fuming Gandalf, who had stormed away, so the two brothers walked to the ponies with no fuss whatsoever. Though he was only just starting to get used to Thorin's passionate mood swings, Kíli knew that the likelihood of his receiving a lesson in Khuzdul that night was low.
Fíli cast a sideways glance at his brother as Bifur and Bofur returned to the main camp. "You're improving, you know."
"I know." Kíli grinned smugly, before pausing. "I sense a 'but'."
"But, you'll have to keep working this hard to keep up the improvement." Fíli said seriously, and Kíli studied his brother's eyes, trying to read their expression.
"And you think that I need to keep up the improvement to be able to survive… It's alright, I know that Dwalin and Balin do, and some of the others. Most of the others actually, and you're probably all right. I know better than to get offended by the opinion of masters of a subject I know nothing about." He assured his brother. "Do you think I'll stop working hard?"
"I did." Fíli shrugged. "I gained confidence and I decided that I did not need to keep working as hard, I was already ahead of the class…my wake-up call was rather…abrupt."
"I see." Kíli mused, rubbing his chin absently as he thought. "Fíli, will Bilbo be alright? He hasn't had any training – not that he'd want it, but…"
Fíli grinned. "We'll look after your hobbit, Kíli."
That was good enough for the brunette, who gave his brother a playful salute. For a few minutes they sat in companionable silence, before Fíli started to speak a little hesitantly.
"Kíli, something's been bothering me. Does no one in the Shire own a weapon?"
Scraping his hair away from his face and into a high ponytail, Kíli shrugged. "A few Tooks own bows, mainly for hunting, and of course people have axes for wood chopping and the like, but that's about it. Why?"
"What would happen if it fell under attack?"
Kíli stiffened, his hands freezing in place as they tied a length of string around the ponytail. After a moment, he remembered how to speak. "Attack?"
"Yes…" Fíli asked softly.
Kíli dropped his hair and stared at his brother. "I…It never has been under attack…Why wouldanyone attack the Shire?"
Fíli shrugged almost apologetically. "Some do not need a motive."
"You mean orcs?" Kíli guessed, trying to hide his growing agitation.
"Orcs, goblins…bandits, outlaws…"
Swallowing, Kíli shook his head as images of Bag End burning flashed before his eyes. He tried to scoff. "No one would attack the Shire!"
Apparently recognising Kíli's attempts to reassure himself, Fíli smiled softly. "Of course not."
"But…Fíli, if they did…if someone did… We would…It would be hopeless! No one would be able to do anything about it!" Kíli's mouth felt dry as the fear of his home being attacked began to consume him.
Fíli winced. "I'm sorry, Kíli, I didn't mean…"
"I know…" Kíli took a deep breath. "It's fine, I just… I have never thought about the vulnerability of home before…"
Fíli was quiet for a moment, and at first Kíli thought that it was due to their conversation, but then Fíli stiffened and held up a hand to motion for his brother's silence.
Instantly Kíli's keen eyes scoured the forest until Fíli suddenly pulled him down to hide behind the log they were perched on. The breath left Kíli's chest in a huff as he landed on a great big rock, and Fíli jabbed him.
Kíli's eyes widened as the ground began to shake with the heavy footsteps of something big, and he looked around intently. As the thing grunted, he heard the sound of a tree being ripped up by the roots and his hobbit upbringing sprang to life. As silent as night, he disappeared into the underbrush both to run and to get a better look, ignoring Fíli's desperate beckons for him to return.
Creeping through the dense greenery as effectively as a hobbit, Kíli froze like one.
It was a troll.
A troll.
Half a dozen swear words passed through Kíli's mind as he watched the thing carry away two of the ponies, and as soon as he judged it safe he ran back to Fíli.
"It's a troll!"
"That was the most idiotic thing I've ever seen you do!" Fíli hissed, and Kíli recoiled.
"I was not going to be seen-"
"How did you know that?" Fíli spat, and Kíli felt his cheeks burning in anger.
"How did I know? How did I know? I may not be able to fight, Fíli, but I'm not useless. There are things I can do very well, and there are things I can do better than you can - I know how to go about unseen, especially in the woods!"
Fíli closed his eyes and shook his head. "We can argue about this later, now we need to tell Thorin."
"Tell Thorin what?"
Kíli whirled around. "Bilbo…two of the ponies just got kidnapped by a troll!"
Startled, the hobbit almost dropped the food he was carrying. "A troll?"
"Yes, a troll, I saw it!"
"Well then, we most definitely should tell Thorin!" Bilbo declared with a nervous laugh, his eyes fluttering in the direction the troll had so obviously taken.
"What if there are more? Shouldn't we tell Thorin as much as we can?" Kíli offered, looking in the same direction.
Fíli opened his mouth but Bilbo interjected. "Absolutely not. You are not scouting after a troll, Kíli. No."
Kíli sighed. "Well someone should stay with the ponies-"
"I will!" Bilbo stated, though he looked absolutely terrified. "Go! And please be quick."
Kíli's heart fell as his plan crumbled. "Bilbo…"
"We will be quick." Fíli informed the hobbit, grabbing Kíli's wrist and pulling him away.
"How old do you think I am?" Kíli rolled his eyes, tugging his wrist out of Fíli's grasp as they started to jog.
"Seventy-seven. Now come on-"
A startled scream ripped through the air and Kíli gasped, whirling around. "Bilbo! No!"
"No!" Fíli yelled, grabbing his brother's arm again as Kíli started back.
Kíli turned to his brother with a fierce snarl. "No? No? Bilbo's in trouble, did you not hear him?"
"I did, which is precisely why you can't go back!"
Furious and terrified, Kíli's eyes widened. "What? Bilbo-"
"Has been discovered, obviously! You think you can sneak where he can't? We need help, Kíli, you need to get help! I will go after Bilbo." Fíli's voice was so calm as he put a hand on Fíli's arm.
"N- what?" Kíli felt tears prickling his eyes but he was too afraid to be embarrassed.
Fíli unsheathed his sword. "I will go after Bilbo, I won't let anything happen to him, but you have to get help, Kíli. Run, as fast as you can, and get Thorin and the others."
Torn, Kíli glanced back over his shoulder, a part of him begging Bilbo to scream again just so that he knew his father was alive. "I can't run-"
"Yes you can, Kíli! I can't fight a troll, you have no chance!"
"Then what are you going to do?" Kíli cried.
"Improvise." Fíli was already running back the way they had come. "Kíli, run!"
Kíli nodded desperately and ran. He ran faster than he had ever run in his life, ignoring the scratching branches of the trees and undergrowth, cursing Thorin's decision to keep the ponies so far away.
"Help!" he yelled as he saw their camp after less than three minutes of eternity. "Help!"
"What's wrong?" Dwalin demanded immediately as several dwarves sprung to their feet.
"Trolls!" Kíli cried, barely pausing to take a breath. "There was a troll and we hid and it took two ponies and then Bilbo arrived and said he would stay at with the ponies while we got help and Bilbo screamed and Fíli told me to get help!"
Thorin barely even hesitated. "Du bekar!"
Kíli watched as the dwarves each lurched for their weapons. His heart was beating in a pattern that rang into his ears.
Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump...
Bil-bo, Bil-bo, Bil-bo…
"Kíli!"
The young dwarf blinked out of his reverie as Thorin's hand clamped onto his shoulder. "Yes?"
"Stay here."
"What, no!" Kíli cried angrily. "I can't, I can help!"
Thorin's eyes flashed dangerously and Kíli's own eyes widened fearfully. "You will stay here!"
Kíli nodded mutely, and Thorin pressed a small knife into his hand, before leaving without a word.
Bofur was the only one to cast back an apologetic look at Kíli, who was left standing alone in an abandoned campsite.
Kíli's breathing all but stopped as he wrapped an arm around his stomach.
He had never felt such crippling terror in his life. When he had plunged into the river after Fíli, he had known exactly what to do, and it had all happened too quickly to be truly terrified.
Now Kíli had to sit there and do absolutely nothing.
He managed to do it for about half an hour.
In that half an hour he heard battle cries and he heard silence.
The only thing that kept Kíli in place was a dying prayer that Gandalf would return, and that the wizard Bilbo held so much stock in would save the day, but finally it was not enough.
Kíli crept into the forest, removing his shoes to ensure his silence, and made his way back to the ponies, before following the footprints of the trolls towards a nearby fire.
He could hear the dwarves cursing and shouting, so he guessed that the battle had not gone quite to plan.
Trusting his instincts, Kíli climbed a tree until he got a glimpse of a sight that made his stomach churn.
Bifur, Bofur, Dori, Ori, Nori, and Dwalin were tied to a spit above a roaring fire that was being turned by three huge trolls.
Desperately, Kíli's eyes searched for the others, and he soon found them, stuffed in sacks in a pile on the floor.
There's Fíli… he thought with relief, Thorin, Óin, Glóin and Balin…
Bilbo. Where's Bilbo?
"Are they cooked yet?" he smallest troll whined, and Kíli's fears were confirmed. They were going to eat the dwarves.
And he still had not seen Bilbo.
His imagination automatically jumped to the most horrifying conclusion, that he was too late and that the troll's had already…
No, no, no…don't even think it! He ordered himself. Bilbo's not…Bilbo's fine, he's just-
Bombur shifted and a mop of curly hair came into Kíli's view.
Kíli sagged with relief.
Bilbo was alive. They were all alive.
Now all he had to do was come up with a plan.
"They'll be done when they're done!" The troll with the ladle replied, poking at Dwalin with a big stick.
As the warrior yelled and cursed, Kíli's mind raced.
Plan, plan, I need a plan, a plan…
"Wait! You're making a terrible mistake!" Bilbo cried.
Kíli's heart pounded as Dori and Bofur said something about half-wits.
"I uh, I meant about the seasoning!"
Bilbo, don't draw attention to yoursel- seasoning?
"What about the seasoning?" the troll with the ladle questioned in a thick voice.
Kíli could practically see Bilbo's mind whirling as he answered. "Well, have you smelt them? You'll need something a lot stronger than sage before you plate this lot up!"
As the dwarves started to protest, Kíli grinned. Yes… That's it Bilbo, play for time…
The other troll swung its wicked knife in Bilbo's face and Kíli swallowed. "What would you know about cooking dwarf?"
The trolls started arguing among themselves, but then the knife jabbed Bilbo in the chest and Kíli's heart stammered.
"If you know so much about cooking dwarf, tell us what you know right now or I'll cook you first!"
Bilbo's eyes widened and he swallowed, opening his mouth.
For a single moment, Kíli watched his father stammer wordlessly, but before the troll could do any damage, the young dwarf did the only thing he could think of and opened his mouth.
"Oh you can search far and wide; you can drink the whole town dry-"
The entire scene before him halted and Kíli scrambled down from the tree before he could be seen, continuing his song as he dexterously danced through the shadows.
"But you'll never find a beer so brown…."
"Who's singing?" the smallest troll demanded.
"It's not us!" Bofur called.
"Oh you'll never find a beer so brown…" Kíli sang, happy that his distraction seemed to be working.
The dwarves all began to take up Bofur's tune.
"Who is that?" Dwalin demanded angrily and Bilbo looked around in fear.
"It's the- oh no, it simply couldn't be!" the hobbit cried.
"Couldn't be the what?" a troll demanded.
Kíli ducked a large bush. "As the one we drink in our hometown!"
Bilbo shook his head. "Oh no, even to say such a thing brings bad luck!"
Kíli spied his target and skipped towards it. "You can keep your fancy ales-"
"What a terrible voice!" Fíli howled, and Kíli tried desperately not to laugh.
"You can drink them by the flagon!" Kíli began to climb up the huge, crumbling boulder, glancing over his shoulder at the sunrise.
"There!" the cooking troll yelled as Kíli stood atop the rock.
Kíli spread his arms out wide. "But the only brew for the brave and true-"
"It's another dwarf!" the little troll squeaked.
Kíli grinned devilishly down at the trolls, dancing a little jig as he finished his song with a flourish.
"Rum from the Green Dragon!"
"Grab him!" the troll with the knife roared, lurching forwards.
Kíli stuck out his tongue out and rolled away with ease as the creature's giant hands smashed the rock where he had been just moments before.
Bilbo let out a warning yell as the troll brought its knife down towards Kíli's head, reaching for his legs at the same time.
Kíli pushed himself backwards, falling off of the boulder with a startled yelp.
Angrily, the troll hit the rock again, which was what Kíli had counted on. The already weak boulder crumbled and split in two and sunlight poured through into the clearing.
The trolls writhed and screamed, their skin hardening and cracking as the glorious sunlight turned their skin to stone.
Propping himself up on bleeding elbows, Kíli gave a breathless laugh. "Well…that wasn't so hard…"
"Ha ha!" Bofur cried joyfully. "You cheeky little scamp! Bless you, laddie!"
Tapping an imaginary hat Kíli grinned and scrambled to his feet.
"Is anyone hurt?" he asked, automatically looking towards Bilbo as he rubbed his stinging elbow.
"Just get us down!" Dori cried, the flames leaping towards his red face.
"How?" Kíli asked a little frantically.
"I can help you there."
"Gandalf!"
"So now he arrives…" Kíli muttered under his breath, before following the wizard's instructions and releasing the dwarves.
As soon as everyone was free, Thorin put a hand on Kíli's shoulder, his face stern. "I thought I told you to stay in the camp."
"You did." Kíli admitted, and Thorin smiled.
"Despite disobeying my orders, you saved us, Kíli and you have made me proud once again. However, if you are to continue this quest until its end, you must learn that orders are to be obeyed. I do not make them lightly, though from now on I will do my best not to underestimate you again."
"Thank you…I understand, Thorin." Kíli bowed his head. "I'm sorry."
As Thorin nodded back and walked away, Kíli was mobbed by the company, who began patting him on the back and congratulating him on his quick thinking. He felt like a hero amidst the laughter and the thanks.
It was a nice feeling.
"Well done, little brother!" Fíli laughed his way through the throng, managing to wrestle him into a headlock. "I thought we were done for!"
"So did I!" Kíli laughed, wiggling out of the blonde's grip.
"Who wants to get dressed?" Thorin called, holding up the three sacks of clothing that the trolls had confiscated.
The dwarves let out a mighty cheer and charged over to get dressed, leaving Kíli with Bilbo for a moment.
"Bilbo!" Kíli grabbed his hobbit and hugged him tightly before he could say anything.
"Well done, Kíli…" The dwarf could hear the smile in Bilbo's reply.
Kíli's eyes squeezed closed. "I thought…when you yelled…"
"I'm fine… I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and had a choice between being seen and being squashed. I picked being seen. It caught me by surprise, suddenly being dangling upside down, but I'm not hurt, Kíli, I'm fine." Bilbo said soothingly, rubbing Kíli's shoulder for a moment.
"Good!"
Bilbo pulled away and put a hand on Kíli's shoulder far more gently than Thorin did. "I'm very proud of you. Again. The Green Dragon was a nice touch."
"Merry will be pleased." Kíli laughed.
"Oh, most definitely." Bilbo chuckled.
"What would you have said I was? You said it was bad luck to even say it…?"
"I don't know…" Bilbo laughed, looking up as Gandalf approached the Bagginses.
"You were late." Kíli scolded the wizard lightly, and Gandalf raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, I arrived here in good time, but Bilbo already seemed to have the situation under control. I decided to let you have your moment."
"Let me have my…?" Kíli shook his baffled head.
"You did very well." Gandalf added, and Kíli smiled back.
"Thank you."
"I found it!" Glóin called.
"Found what?" Bilbo frowned.
"The troll hoard!" Gandalf announced, rubbing his hands together. "Let's go and take a look, shall we?"
When they reached the cave, however, Kíli's nose warned him away. Instead he sat down on a nearby tree trunk, yawned and closed his eyes.
Instantly, he heard someone sit down next to him. "Tired, brother?"
Kíli made an affirmative grunt, not bothering to answer properly.
"That makes two of us." Fíli murmured, and Kíli leant sideways, sinking into his brother's arm.
"Wake me up when we're moving." Kíli managed to mutter, and Fíli shifted, putting his arm around Kíli's shoulders, cushioning his head and neck.
"Alright…are you comfortable?"
Kíli grinned. "Yes, thank you."
"No problem." Fíli replied simply.
Surprisingly, Kíli did snooze for a moment, but it was only minutes later when Fíli was shaking him awake. Kíli groaned. Getting absolutely no sleep whatsoever did not agree with him.
"Kíli."
The young dwarf leapt to his feet, blinking at Thorin. "I'm awake!"
Thorin gave him a wry smile. "Here."
With a confused frown, Kíli took Thorin's sword.
"When a dwarf is trained under usual circumstances, they train with a different blade in each session to maximise the range of weapons that they can use. However, in circumstances such as this, when training is commenced in a dangerous situation, it is more important for the trainee to be able to defend themselves than anything else. You have only ever trained with this sword, so now I have made the decision to give you Deathless, Kíli."
"Wh…what?" Kíli gasped. "I can't…"
"We found several excellent swords in the troll hoard. If I had my way, you would have a new sword of your own, but your survival is far more important. It will be much easier for you to continue training and wielding Deathless while we are still on the road." Thorin explained, handing over a scabbard and a belt.
"Thank you!" Kíli murmured, running his hands over the blade in awe. "Thorin, thank you!"
Thorin smiled. "You are most welcome."
"Something's coming!" Fíli yelled, and Thorin whipped around.
"Ready yourself!" he ordered, and Kíli swallowed, gripping his sword.
They charged back to the others but Gandalf had already diffused the tension.
"Radagast! What on earth are you doing here?"
As the two wizards struck up a conversation, something in Bilbo's hand caught Kíli's eye.
"You have a sword."
"I suppose I do." Bilbo nodded. "I see that you do, too."
"Thorin gave me his." Kíli mumbled, his voice filled with awe.
"Really?" The hobbit gaped. "That is…well…"
"What do you think is wrong with that wizard?" Kíli whispered to Bilbo with a cheeky grin.
"I have no idea, but if he pulls any more insects out of any more places I shall not be amused." Bilbo joked back, and the two snickered like children.
"I am so tired…" Kíli admitted with a yawn. "Oh, Bilbo…"
"I'm sure that Thorin will stop soon enough, no one got any sleep at all last night." Bilbo said calmly, and Kíli smiled, sheathing his sword.
His sword.
Kíli Baggins had a sword.
Bilbo smiled with pride as he looked at Kíli. The young dwarf was growing, he could see it easily, but his loyalty and love for Bilbo had not waned at all. Bilbo felt guilty for ever believing that it would.
Suddenly, a spine-tingling howl ripped through the clearing, making the odd little wizard whimper and making Bilbo grip Kíli's wrist tightly.
"Was that a wolf? Are there wolves here?" he stammered, his mind racing as images of the Fell Winter filled his mind.
Bilbo had been only nine years old at the time, but he had seen his best friend ripped apart by wild wolves attacking the Shire, and ever since the mere thought of the creatures sent chills down his spine.
"That's not a wolf…" Bofur trembled.
Bilbo swallowed, barely noticing as his fingers dug into Kíli's wrist.
A low growl drew his attention up to where a huge wolf like head was growling down at them. Bilbo gaped as the warg leapt down, but fortunately Kíli's instincts were far better, and he took the creature down with one arrow.
Another warg leapt down from the trees, but Thorin ripped its throat out instantly with a single swipe of his sword.
"Warg scouts! Which means an orc pack is not far behind." He growled.
"Orc pack?" Oh, this cannot be happening.
"We have to get out of here!" Dwalin interrupted.
Ori ran up, sheer panic on his young face. "The ponies, they bolted!"
"What?" Kíli cried. "Now what do we do?"
"I'll draw them off!" The brown wizard volunteered, and with a Gandalf gave a grim nod.
The next thing Bilbo knew, he was following the dwarves in some horrendous chase through uneven hills. Each step blurred together and he barely noticed that they had stopped until he felt Kíli's hand on his arm, pushing him back against a hug rock. He looked up at Kíli and nodded gratefully.
Bilbo watched as Thorin nudged Kíli meaningfully. His heart pounded heavily as Kíli braced himself, before taking a step forward and shooting a growling warg in the neck.
With a thundering crash and howl, the creature tumbled down, and for the first time in his life Bilbo found himself staring eye to eye with an orc.
For a second at least, before Bifur speared it through the throat and silenced it, two seconds too late.
"Run!" Gandalf yelled, and once again they were running and Bilbo was putting foot after foot after foot.
"There they are!" Dwalin yelled suddenly and Bilbo gasped.
Prowling towards them, were three huge wargs and riders. As he whirled around, Bilbo realised what Bofur yelled out.
"We're surrounded!"
Bilbo swallowed.
"Stand your ground!" Thorin ordered, and Bilbo pulled out the little blue sword Gandalf had given him.
The sword trembled in his shaking hands, and his mind was bombarded with visions of a very possible future, a future where he saw Kíli ripped apart before his eyes, a future where he was torn limb from limb after watching his son die.
"Kíli, shoot them!" Thorin yelled, and Bilbo was sure that he could discern fear in the leader's call.
His son needed no further prompting and began to shoot arrow after arrow. Terror filled every fraction of every moment for Bilbo until Gandalf roared out.
"This way, you fools!"
Bilbo whirled around to see the wizard disappearing behind a boulder, and the next thing that he knew, Bofur dragged him towards it and he was tumbling down a tunnel.
He quickly scrambled to his feet and pressed himself against the wall in case he was crushed by the falling dwarves.
Thorin roared from above and Bilbo's heart all but stopped.
"No - Kíli, run!"
I hope that makes up for the wait :)
In response to some questions I received last chapter, there will be no slash pairings in this fic (so no Bagginshield or anything) As it stands, I don't see there being much romance in here at all but that may change towards the end, we'll see how we go!
So, please drop a review if you'd like, the next chapter should be up tomorrow or the next day to make up for this ridiculous wait!
Thanks for reading!
