An: So, the third chapter! Sorry for the delay - I meant to publish this during weekend but somehow just didn't. Anyways, here this is, and umm, enjoy :D thanks for all the reviews btw! And thanks to Eredhys again :p
Fili held his hand over the wound on his left arm, trying to give it as much pressure as he could without hurting himself. He had gotten away from the elves with barely no injuries or wounds, excluding the one on his arm. It wasn't too deep but bled a lot, but even with all that blood covering his arm he felt lucky. It had been three elves against one dwarf.
He couldn't understand what had happened! They had eaten and Fili fell asleep, and when he had woken up in the morning Kili had been gone. For the first hour Fili had been certain that he had just gone to the woods or something, and that his brother would return soon, but after some time he had realized that he wasn't coming back and that something had happened.
But what, exactly? Fili was sure that Kili had gone to the woods (because of the marks on the trees) but Kili was no dwarfling and knew the dangers of forests. It seemed absurd that Kili had hurt himself so bad that he was just laying in the forest and waiting for help, but it was a possibility. That was why Fili had gone to the forest himself - to see if he would find Kili.
The second option was that Kili had encountered some orcs, goblins or trolls, and had been hurt, taken or worse. This was an option Fili thought was the most likely, but on the other hand, Kili could defend himself and the idea itself was horrific. Fili didn't want to think that his dear brother was hurt or worse in some place unknown, unable to escape. Trolls weren't too smart but they were huge and strong, and their mother had always warned the brothers about how they ate dwarves. Goblins weren't the smartest creatures in Middle-Earth, but they moved in bigger groups and were always pleased to use violence. Orcs, on the other hand, were a real danger, but Fili had never heard that those moved in this part of Middle-Earth.
The third option was that somebody -men, elves, maybe even dwarves- had taken Kili. It wasn't an impossible one, but it too was an idea Fili thought was crazy. Why would anyone just take his brother with no apparent reason?
Fili shook his head as he ran through the forest, his heart racing in his chest. He had wandered the forest for hours, finding nothing. He worried over his brother, more than ever, but he didn't know what to do. If he didn't leave back to the Iron Hills immediately, the elves would come back and find him and he would have to fight again. But if he left now and Kili somehow found his way back to the shore, he would be alone and vulnerable. Those were the options; to stay and wait for Kili and look for him alone, or to travel back to Daín and his uncle and ask for help, but with the possibility of abandoning his brother.
The way through the forest seemed to take forever, but finally Fili reached their camp. He stopped and bent over, breathing heavily. The blood on his arm had dried and the wound was no longer bleeding, much anyways, so he let go of it. His knees and legs felt like they'd give up under him, so he sat on the cold ground, massaging his calves a little.
What am I supposed to do? he thought, shutting his eyes for a moment. If I leave, I'll leave Kili alone. Then again, I don't even know if he is in the woods. If I traveled back to Iron Hills, Daín could help me. Oh Mahal.. Uncle will kill me.
For a few minutes he sat there just thinking. Whatever he did, he would do wrong, he was sure of it. He wanted nothing more than to find his brother, hug him, give him the longest lecture in the history of Middle-Earth about 'how not to make your big brother constantly worried' and then go home. Was it too much to ask?
Finally he decided that he couldn't do this alone. He would have to travel back to the Iron Hills, whether he liked he or not. Thorin deserved to know about this anyways. Slowly he got up from the ground, his legs still wobbly underneath his weight. It took no longer than two minutes to stuff everything inside the bags they had with them and leave. And so he started his journey back to the Iron Hills, cursing in his mind; if Kili weren't alright when they found him, Fili would never forgive himself.
xx
Legolas stood by the door to his father's halls impatiently. He had been asked to see him, but now Thranduil wouldn't let him enter - Legolas knew it was pointless to sigh deeply every half a minute or so, but he couldn't help it. He had seen a few of their guards enter the healer's room with blood all over them, so he knew that whatever it was that his father needed to tell him, it was something important.
By the doors Aíthon kept glancing over his shoulder to the prince. He knew it was forbidden to take your eyes off the yard, but it was as peaceful as ever and the prince's deep sighs made him curious. A few times Legolas had caught Aíthon looking, but had quickly turned away.
Legolas was highly respected among the elves, not because he was the prince but because he was a good leader, calm and loyal, but also a skilled fighter. He didn't think he was any better than the 'ordinary' elves, which made most like him. Some elves, like Gwaen, thought they were better than everyone else just because of their higher title, but not Legolas.
"Do you perhaps have something to say, Aíthon?" asked Legolas suddenly, eyeing the guard, who quickly shook his head.
"My apologies. It was rude from me to stare. Whatever worries you is not my business."
This caused Legolas to furrow his brows a little. "What makes you think I'm worried?"
A small laughter escaped Aíthon's lips -Kili had said the almost exactly same thing just a little while earlier- but he quickly suffocated it. "Your deeps sighs, I suppose, sir."
"My father has asked me to meet him, but he will not let me in", Legolas simply explained, taking a quick look at the door before turning to see the guard again. He decided to ignore the chuckle - it probably wasn't anything important anyways. "I am only bored and impatient. Whatever he has to tell me must be important. Do you know what happened to Emlin, Minir and Malgelír?"
"No, I do not. I could not speak to them, they only rushed in. Emlin and Malgelír went to the healer and Minir went to see your father, but soon he joined Emlin and Malgelír as well. That is all I know. Apart from them being covered in blood. I could hear your father yelling just after Minir left his room, but I do not know what happened."
"Who was in there with him when he yelled?" Legolas asked, not surprised by the news, because something was going on and his father wasn't the best to control his anger. Legolas had spent the whole day outside and hadn't yet heard any news, but looked forward to hearing.
"A dwarf", Aíthon said in a low voice. "A nice young dwarf if you ask me. I think he said his name is Kili."
"I suppose you don't know why he is here or what they discussed with my father?" Legolas more stated than asked, fully knowing that Aíthon, who was just a guard standing by the doors, couldn't know anything much, but he was bored and asking never hurt anyone.
Aíthon shook his head. "I believe it had something to do with the dwarf wandering our lands, but I have no further information. You will have to ask the king."
"I will", Legolas sighed and thanked the guard. Soon after Gwaen opened the door to the king's room, motioning Legolas to enter. With sure steps he marched in, glaring at Thranduil.
"What happened to Emlin and the other guards, father? And why is there a dwarf in here?" Legolas hurried to ask in a concerned voice before Thranduil could even begin to open his mouth.
"Another dwarf attacked them in the forest", Thranduil told with a wave of a hand, eyeing his son who stood by the doors. "We do not yet know who or why, but we will figure it out. Meanwhile you will go to the forest with Gwaen and his men."
"Why?" asked Legolas, taking a few steps closer to his father. "And has the dwarf in here something to do with the attack?"
"I believe that yes, but we haven't yet proven that", the king answered. "You will go out to find the other dwarf and bring him here. Alive."
Legolas stared at his father, nodding shortly. "Why do you need me to go? Our men are skilled. I have my hands full with the spiders spreading out, I do not have time for one dwarf."
"A dwarf who attacked and injured three of our elves, Legolas", Thranduil told his son in a strict voice, leaving the prince no other options than to agree and obey. "The spiders can wait, while the dwarf can't. Oh, but we will send Manadh to hunt the spiders as soon as he returns."
The prince nodded again, respecting his father enough not to start a fight with him. Because after all, Thranduil was right - the dwarf had hurt their guards, their friends, and had to be found and given a punishment for his crime. The spiders, however, needed to be taken care of as well, but Manadh could do it too. The dwarf was their main priority.
"Good. I expect you to leave as soon as you can."
"Who is 'we', if I may ask?" Legolas asked, glancing quickly at Gwaen, who shrugged a little.
"Máleth is a skilled fighter, so is Raenor", Thranduil said and leaned back on his throne, "but feel free to take whoever you like. Remember that the dwarf is also skilled. Do not get hurt, Legolas, none of you."
"We will try our best, father", Legolas replied and turned around, exiting the room, Gwaen following shortly behind him. "Go and gather those you want with us, I will ask the dwarf a few questions. Where is he now?"
"He is in the lower cells, as the king requested earlier", Gwaen told the prince (even though it was a lie - he had placed the dwarf to the lower cells just because he wanted to) and nodded. "We will be ready soon, and waiting for you by the entry."
"I will come soon as well", Legolas answered and hurried to one of the corridors, Gwaen turning to the right and picking another corridor. Legolas' path led him to the lower cells, but he couldn't quite understand why the dwarf had been placed here. This was a place they put hostages they found extremely disgusting or dangerous, and he highly doubted that a young dwarf could be either.
xx
"I assume you are Kili", echoed a voice outside the young dwarf's cell, causing him to jump up from the even harder bed than what had been in his previous cell. He looked at the new visitor, seeing a blonde elf standing on the other side of the bars.
Kili nodded, staring at the elf. "I am. No offense, but I am sick and tired of elves already, so do whatever you came to do and leave, thank you." He had nothing more to lose, so why not speak his mind? It wasn't like they could make his situation worse than it already was.
"My name is Legolas Greenleaf, and king Thranduil is my father. You must have met him already", Legolas said, ignoring Kili's comment. "He asked me to go after a dwarf that attacked our people, and in my opinion it would be wise to know what he has to do with you. There must be a connection between you two."
"As I told your father, I know nothing of this other dwarf", Kili sighed, sitting back down. "I cannot help you."Just believe me and let me free so I can go and find him.
"I doubt that", Legolas told the dwarf sitting in the cell. "Anyways, do you need anything?"
"So this is the plan, huh?" the dwarf asked, quickly standing up and walking over to the bars, staring at the elf. "Make me side with you so I'd tell you something? Something that I cannot possibly tell, because there is nothing to tell. I can't understand why you can't believe me."
Legolas smiled a little, shaking his head. "No, not at all. I just don't think we need to be rude, a prisoner or not. I have little time before I have to leave, so if you need anything, now is the time to ask." Naturally Legolas was lying as well - Kili had guessed correctly. He wanted nothing but to know the truth. They rarely saw dwarves and now they met two in one day? They couldn't be separate cases, not at all, and Legolas knew Kili was lying about the other dwarf.
"Well, I need nothing, so leave", Kili coldly said, meeting Legolas' eyes. "I want nothing else than to rest."
"Your cheek looks bad. What happened?"
Kili quickly raised his hand on his cheek, pressing it gently. It ached, and he guessed that it was a little swollen, but he doubted that it was anything else. He had taken a slap or two before. "Your father, dear king Thranduil got a little heated and hit me. Nothing to worry about."
"Do you want me to send a healer to look at it?"
"No need, really. Just leave."
Legolas nodded. "As you wish." With that he spun around and left, his blonde hair swirling behind him. Kili sighed heavily and slowly sat back down. What a mess. The only things that made his situation any better were that Fili wasn't there with him and that Kili knew -or was pretty sure- that he was okay, as well. He hoped from the bottom of his heart that Fili just would be smart enough to return to the Iron Hills soon, before the elves went after him and found him.
The sooner the better, Kili thought and relaxed against the rough wall. He shuddered again, the familiar headache starting to make its way to Kili's head. He would have killed somebody to get a blanket or a jacket, but he would never ask an elf to bring him one. He didn't need their assistance. He would survive this with pride. He had decided so.
Oh and no need to remember all of the names, only Aíthon and Gwaen, and one more some time later.