~:~ The Hero ~:~
Fili hobbled through the stone halls with a miserable expression plastered on his face. Two small dwobbits clung to his legs, two dwarflings were hanging from his arm, and one dwarfling had a chunk of his jacket clutched in their small fingers. The prince grumbled as he heaved the five children down the long flight of stairs without stumbling and falling and breaking his neck. Twenty minutes. Twenty blasted minutes it took him to get to the bottom level! He was not liking this at all, and he knew it would go downhill from here (figuratively, of course).
"Prince Fili," a female dwarf called, waving to the dwarf from the infirmary. She went up to him. "Prince Frerin is doing better. The bleeding has stopped and his fever has been reduced. Unfortunately, we haven't had the time to notify King Thorin yet."
Fili grimaced at the thought of his uncle finding out what happened to his son. "Uh... I'll tell him myself," he forced out with a weak smile. "Could you watch the children? I've been with them all day and they haven't let go of me since Frerin..." He nodded his head toward the infirmary as he trailed off.
"Of course," the female dwarf nodded. "Before you leave though, Prince Frerin has been asking for you. He seems really worried about the whole situation."
He nodded in agreement. "So am I," he said. He hobbled into the infirmary and breathed a sigh of relief as the children detached from him and ran to the only occupied bed in the room. Fili gave his cousin a comforting smile. "Hey buddy, how are you doing?" he asked.
Frerin shrugged. "I dunno. I'm not really feeling anything right now... I'm just really scared what Dad's gonna say." He looked at Fili with worry-filled eyes. "He's gonna be upset with me-"
"No," Fili interrupted harshly. "No. He is not going to be upset with you." He shook his head. "No. Your father..." He sighed as he thought of a good way to describe what Thorin would do. "He... He's not going to be mad at you, Frerin. He's going to be very, very proud of you. Alright?"
The eldest child of the dwarf king didn't look too assured. "Really? Cousin Fili, you're not just saying that?"
Fili chuckled lightly. "No, Frerin. I'm not just saying that. Your dad raised me and Kili too, you know," he grinned. "Now, I have to go and explain what happened to him before someone else tells him first and my butt gets kicked big time."
Frerin laughed.
The blond dwarf gulped heavily and knocked lightly on the study door. After he heard a faint reply, he shakily opened the door and wiped his sweaty hands on his jacket. "Uh-Uncle?" he called nervously. "I-I have s-something to t-t-tell you."
Thorin noticed Fili's nervousness and frowned lightly. "What is it?"
"Frerin... he... uh... is in the infirmary," Fili said, cringing lightly as he prepared for an outburst.
"What?" Thorin asked, figuring he hadn't heard right. "My son?"
Fili nodded.
"What happened?" he asked more calmly than Fili had anticipated. "I thought you were supposed to be watching the children today?"
"I was. I did," Fili replied. "I had two guards with me, Uncle. We were on the south side of the mountain when Frerin joined us. He said Balin let him out of lessons early, and he wanted to help me watch the children."
Thorin nodded. "And?"
"There was... I was watching the children, Uncle. Honestly, I was... but Uncle, I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry," Fili choked out. "This is all my fault..." He looked down in shame but was startled when he felt hands grasp his shoulders tightly. He glanced up at Thorin whose eyes were filled with worry and concern.
"Fili, what happened?" he asked gently.
The other dwarf gulped. "The guards were facing the town and the valley. I had my eye on them, Uncle-"
"I understand. What happened? What are you trying to tell me?" Thorin urged.
"Neither of us were facing the mountain," Fili explained. "There was a growl and when I turned around, this huge mountain lion was charging for us." The poor dwarf cringed in his uncle's grasp, waiting for his uncle's booming voice. It never came. So he continued. "I-I called to the guards and was able to kill the lion... I turned around to check on the children and... and Frerin was already dashing towards them. I thought... I thought one of them was hurt, so I followed him. Uncle..." He sighed heavily and looked into Thorin's eyes. "There was a second mountain lion I hadn't seen. It was heading for the children. Frerin stood in between them and prepared to fight it with his bare hands. By the time I got there, the creature was dead but Frerin had been bitten."
Thorin felt faint hearing his own child could have been killed by this animal. "I need to see him," he breathed.
Fili nodded and turned to lead the way out but was stopped short when Thorin's grasp tightened.
"Fili, I am not mad at you," Thorin voiced. "You were protecting your own family. That's something I could never be upset with you about."
The blond dwarf gave a faint smile before leading the way.
Thorin nearly rushed to Frerin once he and Fili entered the room. He felt tears fill his eyes as he embraced his son. "Never do that again," he murmured into Frerin's hair. "Never scare me again. Frerin, I want you safe. I want you alive." He pulled back and looked into Frerin's eyes. "I love you. I love you so much, Frerin. I don't want to lose you. Ever. Do you understand me?"
Frerin nodded, feeling guilty for making his father cry. "I'm sorry," he apologized quietly.
The King shook his head. "No, no. Do not apologize. What you did was brave, selfless, and willing, and your siblings and cousins would not be here because of it. I... I am so proud of you, Frerin. There are absolutely no words that can... can describe how much I love you and don't ever want to lose you," Thorin choked out, a tear falling from his eye. Thorin pulled his son to his chest again and tried to will away the tears that threatened to fall. When he pulled back, he smiled down at Frerin. "Promise me you'll tell Papa that I didn't cry?"
"Sure thing, Dad," Frerin grinned.
"How's your leg?" Thorin asked, wiping his eyes.
"Sore."
"Well, get some rest," Thorin smiled, gently resting his hand on his son's cheek.. "I'll be here in the morning."
"Dad," Frerin said quickly. "C-could... Will you stay with me all night?"
Thorin felt the tears return to his eyes at his son's request. "Of course I will," he smiled. "Let me help Fili take the children to his and Cousin Kili's room. I'll be back in a bit."
Frerin nodded.
Fili wasn't hobbling as much as he was when he was heading to the infirmary, but he was still hobbling. With the youngest dwarfling in his left arm and the other two dwarflings taking turns pulling on his jacket and hanging from his right arm, Fili's hobble was as close to walking normal as he could get. He glanced at his uncle and grumbled under his breath at how easily Thorin was carrying one dwobbit and holding the hand of the other.
"What are you making a fuss about?" Thorin asked.
"How can you make them so calm?" Fili retorted. "They are just clinging to me and throwing me off balance."
Thorin looked at the two dwarflings that were right behind Fili. "They saw something terrible today and being close to you makes them feel safe."
"But your kids aren't all clingy," Fili grumbled.
"They know I'll not let any harm come to them," Thorin explained.
Fili muttered curses about being a stupid king under his breath. "Should we return them to Dis and Frerin or..." The dwarf groaned. "Not with me and Kili... Uncle!"
"I'll be in the infirmary with Frerin all night," Thorin replied. "I would think you'd want to muster up some courage before you return Dis' child."
"Yes, because my own mother will skin me alive if she even knew what I let happen to her child. Besides, what're you going to tell Uncle Bilbo when he returns from his trip?"
It was Thorin's turn to grumble.
Loudly.