Guess who's back? I've been dealing with a huge writer's block, university and some serious sicknesses within the family. Hope you're still around to hear the rest of the journey. I'm grateful if you still are.
Thank you for the kind messages by the way, they have given me the power to come back to this story.
A little summary: The company is still in Mirkwood. Fai and Kili fell into the Enchanted River, and really weird stuff have happened.
Enjoy and forgive me if this is not worth the wait. Next one won't be too far away.
Chapter 24
"Swear on me beard, the puny tiny tot feels like a mountain.." grumbled Bofur, in the meantime trying to support the girl's weight on his back. "The kid's been bending me double."
Gloin and Bombur turned in rage with very red faces, and gave Bofur a deadly look. They were crushing under the weight of a brunette Dwarf and would pay good money to switch loads. "Don't.. make me burn.. that.. bloody beard of yours!" scolded the first one, all out of breath and infuriated. "Laddie weighs like a thousand sack of bats."
Bombur settled with a glare instead, for he was holding on to what's left of his breath like it was gold.
It had been one week since the company found Fai and Kili blacked out on the shore of the Enchanted River. It has been one week, since they were drawn into the deepest of sleeps, and hadn't opened their eyes even for a nanosecond. They were only sunk in ankle deep, so they were exposed to a couple drops of the water where they boots had failed them. Still, it was enough to get them both rat-arsed.
Fili was the one who first found them, and he had lost it for a solid hour, believing that they were both dead. Even though the company was informed about the river, no one could knock some sense in Fili no matter how hard they tried. If it wasn't for Kili inaudably mumbling in his sleep, Fili would've never believed that the two were alive. Although, the first wave of relief was quickly turned into panic when he noticed what his brother was mumbling about. He was saying Fai's name. So it was up to Fili to fake-cough or loudly yawn whenever he saw Kili parting his lips to say her name. But he couldn't do anything about the long, food related lectures.
"If the lad mumbles one more word about food, swear me life I'm droppin him." Bombur cried, and he turned Kili's head which was resting on his shoulder to the other way. The unconscious Dwarf's favorite activity while he was out, was apparently to talk of food in a painfully detailed way. It was hard enough to drag them already, but with all the food talk involved it was even harder to convince Bombur not to go back and jump into the river.
"We would leave you right there and then." once protested Fili, in an attempt to shut Bombur up. "No one here can carry your weight."
Things weren't looking up. Fili was running in circles all day to make sure his brother, and his non-kin sister were alright. It was a useless effort anyway, for they both seemed to be pretty happy, Fai being daintily asleep and Kili drooling all over the place. Oin had tried to boil some remedy for the asleep, but after a few attempts he gave up in order to not waste any more ingredients. Meanwhile, the rings encircling Fili's eyes were becoming more black than purple with each new day.
He felt like they would never wake up again.
Even though it's torturesomely hard to carry Kili and Fai around, it was only one thing. The company couldn't decide whether they had to be fed or not, but the need of water was certain. In every three hours or so, they were lifting the sleepers down, and it was Bilbo's duty to run some water down their throats. Under Fili's annoyingly worrywart supervision of course, Bilbo deserved a medal of patience.
With two members deprived of their walking ability, the company were moving remarkably slow. A sane person wouldn't be eager to spend even an extra second in Mirkwood. As for the Dwarrows, their sanity was open to discussion but they sure as hell didn't want to rot in there either. Their condition was getting cataclysmic as they got deeper into the forest, and keeping their mouths shut seemed like the best solution. Talking to each other had different effects on a 14 people crowd. Paranoia was a major problem and it spread like wildfire. A night before, Bombur decided to believe that his clothes were getting tighter to the end of slowly digesting him. As a result, Oin spent half an hour convincing the company not to undress and burn their clothes. He was immune to all kinds bullshit but his own, since he had decided not to wear his hearing trumpet in the forest.
Another downside to talking was the fights. They were very inclined to misunderstand each other, and headbutting your cousin or brother was not good for a couple of reasons. For starters, long making up sessions and exhaustion from lack of food.
There also was some noise-making that couldn't be categorised as talking. Like Bifur's lately adopted hobby of constantly swearing in Khuzdul. For Ori, his thing was singing the same damn song repeatedly. It almost became the soundtrack of their miserable journey, and no one could shut him up for he didn't seem to acknowledge their presence.
The king under the mountain was now the king under pressure, not that he was doing any better before. He seemed to be upset about every living and inanimate object around, getting into fights with trees, swearing to rocks and fouled air, stomping the ground like it was to blame for all of their misfortune. He hadn't talked to anyone since he found his nephew and the girl on the shore. The company were following him the entire day without asking any questions, and stopping whenever he does, understanding it was time for them to call it a day.
He hadn't been talking to Balin, even. Him and Dwalin were walking right behind Thorin in the hopes of getting him to talk, or get themselves useful somehow. But to their disappointment, none of those things had happened yet.
It was impossible to select the day from the night, and it was causing great trouble among the company. Their sleep schedule had become beyond repair, and what they had could not compared with a good night's sleep. They were closing their eyes until they open them again, and that was it. Also, Kili's snoring wasn't helpful at all.
So they walked.
They put one foot in front of the other, having left no hopes of getting out of Mirkwood anymore. Gloin, Bofur and Bombur was at the backmost because of the asleep they carry. Fili was with them also, taking turns in helping one of the other in turns. It was then, they saw Bilbo running towards them from further afar.
"Here for the water duty, Mr. Thief?" asked Bofur, in the hopes of finally putting Fai down.
"No... I.. he... stopped..." puffed Bilbo, looking more tired from the run than being panicky. "He's not... in... the best... of spirits..."
Fili sighed.
They had to give Bilbo a couple of minutes before he could speak in sentences and not chokes.
"Well, not that I imply something, but your very fine king is axing a rock. A rock indeed, because Mr. Dwalin kept him from axing a tree somehow."
"Keep your eyes on my brother - and Fai."
And in the blink of an eye, Fili was gone.
He didn't know whether the air or the ground was heavier. It must have been either of the two, because his head felt like it was being squished in between two giant rocks. He felt terribly tired, and to his surprise he couldn't move any limbs. Well, apparently I'm jello now.
He felt like he was thrown into the middle of his life, not remembering how he'd gotten there, or what happened before waking up. What he's been through felt like a hundred years of sleep. Something felt off, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Horrible smell of the forest, darkness and silence was ringing a bell, but he still had no idea about the chronologic order of things. They were like pieces of an unmade puzzle, all there but disordered. Wasn't he at Bilbo's, trying to figure out how the hell he'd gotten back there?
And boy was he hungry. He was ravishing but that made no sense, for he felt like he'd been eating nonstop for the last week.
What was happening was that he wasn't able to tell his dreams from real life. His out of order, complicated, and nonsense dreams were still playing in his mind, messing up his perception. Wasn't there a feast? Wasn't he with his mother for a while? Wasn't he..
"Uwarm-er hnng-a?"
His poor attempt with words freaked him out. It was like hearing another person talk in another language. Trying to keep calm, he gave up trying to make sense into things and just lied there for a while. His headache was doing him no good, also the additional ear ringing was definitely not helpful.
In the position he lay, he normally should have been seeing stars. But the sky was invaded by the ancient, and very high trees of Mirkwood so darkness was the only thing on the menu. It made him feel like he was getting sucked in and it was pretty uncomfortable, so he turned his head.
He turned his head, and saw her face.
"F.. Faa.."
Was all he could manage to say.
Her long gold hair had turned silver in the dark and was all around her face. The air got knocked out of him for a couple of seconds until he realised that her chest was moving up and down slowly. She was alive.
Her presence was confusing, for in his dreams she wasn't there anymore, but he didn't know for sure that those were dreams. He could still be dreaming, in fact. Which one was reality, and which one was a dream? That didn't matter though, for all he was interested in was the fact that she was lying next to him. Alive. She was alive.
He could smile if he had control over his face.
"F.. ai.."
He didn't care that she was sleeping. He needed to talk to her, make sure that everything was alright. He needed to wake her up somehow and just make the most of this dream, if it was one. Maybe she had the answers. She always seem to have the answers, just not willing to speak them out loud. Anyways, she was alive.
It took great effort to move his arm. It was completely numb and feeling like it belonged to someone else, like everything else in that reality. His voice, his thoughts, his sight, everything. He watched his arm moving towards her in slow motion, and nudged her a bit harshly than he intended. He could touch her. It must've been real. She was alive.
Or was she?
She wasn't waking up.
He tried once again, this time even harder, almost hitting her on the shoulder. It hurt his numb arm more than it could hurt Fai. Like his arm was stung by a thousand bees, but he didn't mind.
She wasn't waking up.
In a couple of seconds he was literally smacking her shoulder. Seeing her body shaking with the impact, he felt like his lungs weren't big enough to host the oxygen.
Something was definitely wrong. He knew how deep she usually slept, but this wasn't normal. She always woke up upon physical contact, and knew that it was time to get back on the road.
He thought that it could bruise where he had hit her, and hated himself for it. She had always bruised pretty easily.
The forest was collapsing on him, and he started to tremble. His whole body shivered with the cold sweat.
"FAI!" he cried, this time managing to fully say her name. And in the same breath, he heard the sound of the dead leaves crushing from a few feet away. Whoever it was, his steps sounded hasty. Within a second, another gold headed person was looking at Kili, like he was from another planet.
"KILI?! Are you a-" Fili tried, but his brother's mouthful of nonsense immediately stopped him.
"Sh- she's n..not w-w..." He was doing his best but still, all that came out were meaningless stutters. Fili didn't seem to mind though, for he was only interested in him being awake.
"Oh, mighty Mahal, are you finally -"
But Kili wasn't up for a reunion, not yet at least. In his poor mind, there was something wrong with Fai and it needed to be fixed right away.
"H-hel-p her..r p-ple.."
He couldn't finish the sentence, for he was crashed into a hug by a very relieved Fili. He had woken up to his brother's cry, and immediately knelt down beside him, pulling him into a hug. The fair headed Dwarf had sparkles in his eyes, for the first time in days.
"I thought you would never wake up.. Thank Mahal.. Thank-"
The poor dwarf was trying too hard to free himself from Fili's grip and make his brother go check up on the girl. Why was he not listening?
"Fili! She-s not-"
Fili froze, finally realising how bad Kili was shaking. There was a look on his little brother's face, one like he'd never seen before. He was panting, trembling and desperately trying to reach the girl that was lying near him. He was too confused for his own good and needed to be calmed at the earliest.
"Hey- hey.. Easy- Calm down, alright? She's OK. Kili. She is alright. Calm down.." He loosened his grip on his brother to let him breathe easily, and shook him side to side very slowly, in an attempt to soothe his fear.
"She's o..k?" Kili then asked softly, trying to decide whether he should believe what he's been told.
"She's OK." the gold headed reassured once again. "She is just sleeping like you've been, in the last week."
Now Kili was completely weirded out. Also, this lack of ability to talk was annoying him to the fullest, feeling like he was paralysed.
"Have I.. Been.. sleeping f-for?" he tried, his eyes twice their usual size.
"Yes, brother." Fili responded with a smirk on his face. "Apparently, you idiots decided to have a swim in the bloody Enchanted River. Well, it knocked you down pretty hard."
Now that he was sure that Fai is kind of alright, Kili's body turned to jello again. It was time for the embarrassment part. The embarrassment of experiencing his fully mental breakdown with Fili as the primary witness. His cheeks were burning so much that there could be a power plant built on them. He was radiating. And like all that was not enough, the Dwarf was still having a millions of questions racing in his head. Swimming in the Enchanted River? Sleeping for an entire week? Fai not waking up yet?
"You idiot.." Fili grinned, letting all the happiness from getting his brother back wash over him. "You bloody idiot."
Kili decided that playing the mute card was the wisest choice, even though his control over his tongue was getting better each second.
Fili was aware of the source of all the fuss. He knew what was going on. He'd been fearing for so long now, and his foresight had fulfilled itself. Kili and Fai, were too dangerous for each other. He had no idea about what drew them to get into the lake like they did, but he could speculate on it pretty well. Most likely a fight between them, Kili being too eager and Fai, intensely annoyed by it. Fili could bet good money on this scenario.
Things were getting out of controlled, and he had to talk to his brother.
"Kili." he said, in a serious tone. To no one's surprise, there wasn't a response.
Fili then supported his brothers back, and made him balance his weight while at sitting position. He sat right across him, ready to catch if his body fails. There was no escape for Kili now to ignore his brother, for they were sitting face to face.
"Look up." said Fili, more sternly this time.
Kili gave up, and he literally ripped off his gaze from the ground to make their eyes meet. Whatever would Fili say next, Kili knew he wasn't going to enjoy it.
"What's going on with you two?"
Oh, so he was going to push.
"What do you mean by wha-a-a-ts.. g-" You idiot! He'd lost the leverage by talking fluently. It was too late when he realized what he did, but he gave a try anyway.
"Cut it," Fili interrupted, clearly not buying it. "And tell me already."
"She's hiding stuff, alright?" Kili gave up, huffing like he was 20 years old again. "And it's making me crazy."
Fili lifted a brow. "And when did she signed a contract that agrees she would tell you anything and everything?"
Another huff. "I don't get it Fili."
"What exactly?" his brother asked. He was feeling kinda bad about pushing him so hard the minute he came to his senses, but it was necessary.
"One minute, we're.. Alright. And before I know it, she hates my guts." Kili protested, and he sounded genuinely in pain when he said the last four words. His gaze shifted to ground again.
"That's because you're pushing her, Kili." said Fili, just as troubled. "We don't know what she's been through."
"Exactly- I have no idea!" he protested, but Fili was determined not to have it.
"Kili. You guys are hurting each other."
Apparently, the poor Dwarf had no response to that. Even though he hated it, Fili felt the need to continue.
"She jumped on a warg for you, and I'm grateful that she did. But she could've been seriously injured, or killed."
Kili clenched his teeth upon remembering it again. All the memories of Fai getting hurt was making him infuriated. He wore his intense gaze, and looked at Fili.
"I never asked for it. You know how I snapped after she'd done that."
"Yeah, just like she didn't ask of you to go challenge some trolls."
"But-"
"Kili." he said calmly, but still tough. "You guys were the only ones out, when Beorn lost it. Unlike us, we were all sleeping in the safety of the walls around us."
"Yeah but I was out for some air, she came after me."
They both kept silent for a while, as Kili focused on the girl's breathing. His face was dominated by worry, and there was nothing he could do about it. As he watched Fai, Fili was watching him. It pained him deeply to see him like that, and he didn't know what to do. He couldn't tell him to stay away from Fai, that would only make things worse. And he couldn't ask him about his feelings either, he seemed to be in denial still, and Fili didn't want to wake him up. It was still dark around the forest, and nothing but some malicious cracks here and there was audible.
Couple of Dwarrows were talking in their cheapjack sleeps, and Bofur was on the scout. Fili wanted to end the conversation before someone could hear them.
"Brother.." he said woefully. "All I ask of you is to be careful. Of course, we all should protect each other and will. Just.. Don't push her. Cause every time you do that, something terrible happens to either of you. In the river incident; both."
Kili didn't even protested this time. He just started studying his hands, and mumbled.
"Iklalalfâtakhaf."
Fili affectionately smiled and gave him a little nudge on the shoulder.
"It's not needed.
This is shorter then my usual chapters, but this was the correct place to end the chapter.
I hope you've enjoyed it.
Till the next one, take care!
Iklalalfâtakhaf (Neo-Khuzdul): awkward apologetic statement made after having embarrassed oneself or one's family [Singular Compound Noun]
