An: I'm thankful I wrote this angsty chapter a while ago because right now I'm too happy to write anything else but happy stuff! ASDfghjkl. Also, I went to see Bofa. Oh. My. God. ;-;
Eredhys, I'm not gonna mention you in every single author note because it's growing frustrating but yeah. She proofreads every chapter and thank you soo much for it. Now I'm not gonna say it again - this goes for the future chapters too!
Few days passed. Kili got better soon, mostly thanks to Aíthon who bothered to bring him things he needed in order to actually get better, and soon he was allowed -or forced, depending on who you asked- to work. So, on the third day after visiting Thranduil and getting the decision, Kili was brought to see Amarth.
Amarth was an older elf, but he didn't look old. If you asked Kili, old people were grey and wrinkly and just.. old. But not Amarth, no, he looked young and powerful and kinda dangerous as well. He had long, brown hair and thick, dark eyebrows and his eyes were deep green. It was an odd-looking combination, but it made him look unique and with that, somehow invincible and scary. He was tall, taller than the elf that had brought Kili there, and had a long, somewhat blueish tunic.
His workplace was outside, and in order to keep Kili from running away, many guards stood everywhere around them with their bows ready. Kili's job was to cut thick pieces of wood into smaller ones, so they could be used to warm up food and rooms during winter. Amarth first showed Kili how it was done and then continued on his own project - Kili had no idea what he was doing, but it included disappearing into the forest and leaving Kili alone with the guards.
That was the first time Kili genuinely thanked Aíthon for existing - he had a little too long but definitely warm jacket on, which he owned just because Aíthon had persuaded Legolas into giving him one. It wasn't freezing outside, but it was a windy day and the harsh wind would definitely have been cold against his bare skin, as he only had his short-sleeved shirt on after losing his jacket into the forest. But thanks to Aíthon, he had this jacket.
The work was hard and the now scarred wound on his palm stung if he held the axe too tight, but he also didn't want to lose his grip on it and send it flying on his toes, so he ignored the stinging and continued chopping the wood, gripping the axe as tight as he could.
Fili had just reached the Iron Hills. He looked up to the entrance, flashing a quick grin to the dwarf who looked after the ponies as he started to lead the pony away. He hadn't slept well since he had first discovered that Kili was gone, and it was starting to feel and show. He was exhausted and his eyes were sore, so he couldn't stop himself from rubbing them every once in a while. He just hoped his brains worked well enough to put what had happened into words.
"Halt!" said the guard dwarf on the main gate as Fili was close enough. "Who are you, and what is your business in Iron Hills?"
Naturally the guard knew who Fili was - or well, at least Fili thought he knew, but it was their job to ask everyone who came in who they were. Fili grinned and looked at the guard. "My name is Fili, son of Dis. Thorin Oakenshield is my uncle - I'm here to see him."
The guard only nodded in approval and stepped aside, pulling the door open as he did so. Fili thanked the guard and walked in, the familiar lobby welcoming him in. He had a feeling that he should see Daín first, so he could ask him to join him and then go to Thorin and tell them at the same time. On the other hand, if he told Daín first, he could save Fili from his uncle if he really got angry.
I'll meet with Daín first. I can decide my course of action as I speak with him, Fili figured and started to make his way towards the king's room, where he believed Daín was.
He walked through the halls and past many dwarves he knew, not bothering to stop to chat because he knew that they would bring up questions Fili didn't want to answer just then, questions like why was he there again since he just left and where was his brother. So just politely nodding as a hello, Fili hurried past them, not even glancing back to see if they had stopped.
Finally he reached the king's room, and noticed a familiar dwarf in front of the door. She was a respected guard of Iron Hills, fought in many smaller battles and earned her place as the guard of the king. Her name was Tuli, and if you asked Fili, she was a rather nice dwarf.
"Good day", Fili politely said as he came to the doors. Tuli looked at him and grinned a little, her red, fiery beard beautifully braided to the sides.
"Good day, mister Fili. Where did you leave your brother this time?" she joked, laughing a little. She was a complicated thing - on the other hand she was a skilled and merciless fighter and a respected, trustworthy guard, but she also had a warm heart when it came to the people she knew and liked. Fili and Kili knew her because of a stupid bet. Kili had bet that Fili would never dare to ask a female guard out, and even though Tuli had told Fili that she couldn't date a dwarf half her age, they had started to talk and were almost friends now.
Fili smiled a little awkwardly, wanting to avoid the question. "He's, uhhh..." But as he came up with nothing smart -thanks to the sleep deprivation- he fell even more awkward and ducked his head a little. "Yeah. He's.. somewhere here. But it is not anything important right now, Tuli. I need to see Daín."
The lady dwarf nodded, holding her hands on her hips. "I understand, but king Daín isn't in this room. He left some time ago, I believe."
"Did he leave Iron Hills?" Fili quickly asked, raising his gaze to Tuli again. If he weren't here, then he would have to meet Thorin without any backup at all. And Daín deserved to know, too.
"No, nothing like that, he is here somewhere", Tuli replied. "I wasn't here when he left, but I think that he might be visiting your uncle, or in the weapon-hall, or in the dining room. It's not dinnertime yet, but who knows. He's the king."
"Thank you, I must go find him", Fili told Tuli and eyed her. "We'll probably see later." With that he was off, hurrying back to the direction where he came from. He would check the weapon-hall first, then the dining room and lastly Thorin's room. If he just stormed into Thorin's room with no explications and Daín wasn't there, he'd have quite a nice time ahead of him.
The weapon-hall was empty of any kings, as was the dining room. With a deep sigh Fili decided that before he went into Thorin's room, he'd ask the dwarves of Iron Hill walking around the place if they had seen him. And so, soon enough he was talking with a young dwarf that in some way brought Kili to his mind. The dwarf was small and black-haired just like Kili, and carried a small bow in his hand. He was surely a young dwarf, no more than thirty years of age, but he could do.
"I think I saw king Daín going that way some time earlier", the boy said and held a finger to one of the corridors leading deeper to the mountains. "He might not be there anymore, though."
"That's great, thank you", Fili said and patted the dwarf's head before turning around to look at the corridor. That one lead to the healer's room, healing rooms and some of the bigger bedrooms. Thorin's bedroom was one of the bigger ones - Daín had to be there.
Fili frowned. Alright.
Slowly Fili made his way to the bigger bedrooms. Daín's bedroom was the last one, at the end of the corridor, and the two other bedrooms next to it were empty most of the time. Usually a higher guests like other kings visiting Iron Hills got to sleep in them. Thorin always got one of those two big bedrooms to himself, while Fili and Kili shared the other one.
Knock, knock.
Fili stood behind the door to Thorin's room, his fingers curled into fists. His heart raced in his chest as if he were having a heart attack - the seconds before the door was opened felt like a lifetime to the young dwarf. But finally Daín opened the door a little to see who was knocking.
"Fili?" asked Daín immediately, opening the door some more. "I thought you'd be far from here already."
"Is Fili here?" echoed a faint question from the room. Fili closed his eyes and ducked his head for a second before walking in to the room, after Daín made some room for him to come. He didn't dare to look at his uncle - he was afraid he would see betrayal in his eyes, or complete lack of trust. Fili wouldn't bear that. He knew it.
Daín eyed the young dwarf and slowly sat back down onto his chair near Thorin's bed. Thorin was lying on his comfy, big bed, looking much better than he did when Fili last saw him about a week ago. He was still pale, but not as much as he was before. He had dark circles around his eyes, making him seem paler than he actually was. There was a bowl of soup on the desk next to his bed - it looked like it was still warm.
"Fili", Thorin carefully said, knowing that something was wrong. He knew that only one thing could get Fili into a shock that big, but didn't dare to think it had happened. "What is it? What happened?"
At last Fili met his uncle's gaze, his eyes full of regret and fear. "Uncle, I.. I don't care what you will say or do. You may disown me if you want, but please, we must save Kili. He-"
"What happened?" Thorin cut his nephew off, now in near panic, quickly sitting up on his bed. "Where is your brother?"
"I don't know", Fili managed to breath out, desperately trying to hold back tears. "I don't... he was just gone when I woke up, uncle! We went to sleep and when I woke up, he wasn't there, and I couldn't find him. We have to save him."
Daín rose from his chair and quickly glanced at Thorin before turning his head to the youngest of them. "Fili, listen to me. We will do everything we can, okay? We will find Kili alive and well."
Silence fell on them for a moment. Fili felt empty now - he was exhausted and scared and worried, and longed nothing more than a nap before heading off to find his brother. Thorin, on the other hand, was in shock. Kili, his younger nephew, was gone? Missing? He knew Fili was no way responsible for it, but the worry soon turned into anger and he couldn't help himself. "You should have looked after him better, Fili! You're his big brother! We both trusted you to keep him safe - you know that Kili is reckless and stupid at times! I just never believed you would be as stupid."
This caused Daín to send an angry glare at his direction, but it was already said - Fili bit his lip and ducked his head, only nodding. He felt horrible. He knew his uncle was right.
"Fili, you look bad. You should sleep", Daín gently said, eyeing the young dwarf. "Your room is empty right now, and it will take a while for me to come up with a plan on how to deal with this. You will not be any help like that."
"Yeah, fine", Fili muttered, raising his gaze to look at Daín. "Can I.. Can I get some food from the kitchen later?"
"Of course, whatever you need", Daín told him and nodded. "Now go. We will deal with this. Only one thing - where did he go missing?"
"Near Lake-Town. We were on the shore of the lake, close to the forest of Mirkwood."
Daín thanked the young dwarf and told him that he would ask the chefs to prepare Fili a good, big meal a few hours later. As Fili left with a faint smile, Thorin fell back onto his bed, letting out a long, deep sigh. "I never believed that he could do something like that."
Daín eyed the sick dwarf, anger rising inside him. "Who are you referring to, now? Fili or Kili? Well, it doesn't matter, because neither of them meant this to happen. I agree with you, maybe Fili should have taken better care of his brother, but he was sleeping when Kili disappeared. You can't expect him to stay up every night to watch over Kili. And Kili isn't a baby anymore, Thorin! So keep your mouth shut. Save your energy for the ones who took your younger nephew."
Thorin's eyes focused on the lord of the Iron Hills, taking a moment to think. He was right. "I need to apologize to Fili", Thorin muttered, struggling up from his bed. Daín was immediately in front of him, shaking his head.
"For Mahal's sake, Thorin, don't be an idiot; you don't go anywhere. Fili needs rest now, and so do you."
"Last time I checked, you didn't give me orders", Thorin sighed, pushing Daín aside as he started to walk towards the door. He now regretted lashing out on Fili like that and he needed to tell him that what had happened was in no way his fault."You should do what you do best, prepare this whole thing, while I do what I do best, be with my nephews."
"Nephew", Daín said, turning around to look at Thorin. "Only one nephew for now."
Thorin stopped and glanced at Daín over his shoulder. "Not for long, I hope."
xx
It was embarrassing to him, but Kili cried.
He never cried, to be fully honest - sometimes, when he fought very badly with someone he cared about he could weep a little, but he never cried if that was out of count. He didn't cry if he got hurt, he didn't cry if things didn't go as he planned, and he certainly didn't cry if he was disappointed. But this time, he really cried, and it was awful.
He tried to do it quietly, so nobody would hear him, failing to be silent even with his best efforts. But thankfully no elves walked past his cell, since it was late. He had an untouched plateful of food on the floor, just waiting for Kili to eat it, but he couldn't find his appetite.
His hands were sore from the work, but it was bearable. The scar on his palm had re-opened and Amarth -his 'boss'- had forced him to see the healer again, who had washed the wound pretty aggressively with water, making it ache even more than it had before. But, at least it was clean and wouldn't get any infections or such.
He had seen Aíthon only quickly that day, and not a single time the day before, so he was feeling lonely. As much as he hated to admit it, Aíthon made him remain sane only by talking to him and treating him like he was something more than a small piece of filth. It was more than anybody there had done to him, and even if it had been only around four to five days -Kili wasn't sure, he had lost count already-, he was in need of somebody to talk to.
Kili had seen Legolas a couple of times, but the prince hadn't bothered to even look at the dwarf - which was fine by him. He had never liked the prince too much. Well, he was okay, but Kili knew that he was only acting nice to benefit himself. Gwaen, on the other hand, had followed Kili around wherever he was, and only now left him alone because some other guard had come to ask him if he would go patrol with them. The head of elvish guard hadn't attacked Kili or even touched him, but the presence of that elf was enough to make Kili cautious and worried.
Wiping away the tears running down his hot cheeks he sat up. The plate still stood on the floor.
He wasn't this weak, he suddenly realized, leaning his back against the cold wall. He was a Durin, after all. He was the 'reckless' one of Dis' boys. What was he even doing? Crying about his situation and actually doing nothing, whilst he could actually try to come up with a plan?
I am not this weak, Kili thought and leaned forward to grab the plate from the floor. I'm not this weak and I certainly won't give up this easily.
Fun fact : Tuli (the dwarven guard of Iron Hills) is a pretty name, eh? It means 'fire' in finnish. That's why she has a red beard and hair, even though I didn't mention about the hair.
And before you think that Daín is weird, this is how I imagined him; he cares about Thorin, Dís and the brothers and treats them well, while he is still a skilled warrior, a stubborn dwarf and a great leader. I don't know if that is how you have him in your mind, but that's how I have always imagined him.
Review! What did you think of it? I'm also open to suggestions. :)