The muse is tired and wants to go to sleep. The muse appreciates the food the reviewers have offered and is currently gnawing on reviewer-donated plushies and dozing while the author stays up late revising this chapter. Lazy muse.

(*Ouch!* ... Never insult the muses. They are evil.)

Kili felt as though he were floating, carried in the arms of the wind, watching everything grow distant until it threatened to wink out of existence. In his mind's eye he was standing on the edge of a mountain peak, laughing at the open expanse as he threw his arms out to greet the strong gusts and imagined that he was flying on one of the great eagles of the old tales.

Fili was shouting in the distance, begging for him to return, but Kili did not want to leave just yet. Let Fili ruin his boots on the mountain trail if their mission was so important. Right now there was nothing but the thrill of danger, the sensation of weightlessness and the wind calling his name.

"No, no, you're not leaving me, not like this..."

Silly older brother, why was he worrying so? It was hardly as though Kili was going to launch himself into empty air, after all. Fili might have done a marvelous job curing him of his fear of heights, but even he was not that stupid.

"Stay with me, Kili..."

Honestly, if big brother was so concerned about Kili departing without him, then Fili could belay his fears by simply coming up and fetching Kili himself. His brother really should join him and take a look at this view. The wind was marvelous, and the rays of the setting sun were so gentle and warm. Kili felt as though he could take a single step off the cliff and be swept away, as though he had sprouted wings instead of arms and the only danger presented in the great chasm before him was the voice of his brother dragging him back down to earth.

"He is not breathing!"

What kind of idiotic notions had his brother concocted now? Of course Kili was breathing; great gulps of air, in fact, so fresh and pure that he may well have been breathing in the magestic beauty of the mountains themselves.

He felt so light and carefree and absolutely thrilled about life that the cliff edge was looking more and more attractive. Of course he was not acting like a complete dunderhead, Fili. He would never willingly launch himself off a cliff if there was any hint of danger involved.

But there was no danger to be had, not here. Kili merely had to take one step forward and he would be soaring, unfettered as the great eagles and uninhibited by mortal pain.

Pain. Rivulets of agony, rippling even through the dreams and crushing them like fortresses of sand, leaving him with only empty visions and a pile of useless dust at his feet.

Why did that have to come and interrupt his fantasy?

Fili.

He had the impression his brother needed him... somewhere...

Confused, Kili backed a step away from the cliff. Fili's voice had been so ... so destitute, so berefit of hope. What was it that was so important that Kili could not remember? It had something to do with his brother...

"Kili, I... I do not think I shall be coming down just yet."

Kili stamped his foot in agitation, glaring up impatiently to where his brother was plastered against the wall of the cliff some twenty feet above.

"We haven't got all day, Fili. The trail is just to your right. Now get a move on, will you? We're already late." Wiggling his eyebrows menancingly, he added in a tease, "Unless you have lately rediscovered your fear of heights, that is."

Fili blanched, and Kili immediately regretted his words. His brothers white knuckled grip clutching the cliff face, his pasty features and his lack of response made it all too clear that Kili had twisted the knife in a pre-existing wound. Fili must be mortified by this sudden revival of his old fears, and rather than help him as Kili would have expected of his brother in a similar situation, he had only caused him further embarrassment.

Kili winced in guilt, thinking fast. If he had been Fili in this situation...

Well, whatever method of calming his irrational brother Fili would have used, it was obviously the big brother method, and nothing that Kili could mimic. He could only think of one sensible way to diffuse the tension.

Bounding up the rugged trail despite Fili's repeated argument that he was perfectly fine and needed no help getting down, Kili edged along the cliff edge until he was standing next to his brother. He stared over the end of his boots at the roaring turrent below, reliving the apprehension of his childhood and an eight rung ladder.

A scathingly brilliant idea struck him at that moment and a beaming grin stretched from ear to ear before Kili promptly began to scream bloody murder.

"What - Kili! Stop it this instant! This is not funny, Kili! Kili!"

Kili doubled over in laughter, wobbling on the cliff edge. He would have toppled in his mirth save for Fili's hand lashing out and snatching the hood of his cloak. Even so he had a close up view of the sharp rocks at the bottom that had him pressing himself back against the cliff face with a much more serious, wide eyed expression than he had previously intended.

"Kili, what do you think you are doing?" Fili shouted beside him, twice as scared if possible now that his brother had nearly tumbled head over heels into the raging waters below. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Well, at least Fili's concerns were now focused on a different source. Still, that hardly gave Kili any inspiration on how to get them both down. Turning his gaze to the horizon in an attempt to ignore the crumbling rock under his toes, Kili tried a different tactic.

"You know, Fili, it's perfectly normal to be apprehensive about heights. I still get nervous around them myself. You were the one who had to show me how to conquer my fears in the first place, just like Uncle Thorin taught you."

Fili rolled his eyes. He had learned to look fear in the eye and face it down on the battlefield, yes, but Kili really had no place in this argument any longer. Fili may have "conquered" his terror of heights, but Kili had grabbed them around the throat, bundled them up, stomped on them for good measure and then thrown them over the highest mountain peak. As if that were not enough he had taken things one step further and jumped right in after them. Kili had no concept of the word "fear," and Fili had long doubted it was even part of his vocabulary.

Realizing the conversation had taken a poor turn, Kili glowered at the waterfall in irritation. Honestly, how long would it take his brother to learn that he was trying to help him, not make things worse? Giving up on the humor attempt and sound advice, he sighed and laid down his final bargaining piece.

"Remember when I was stuck on the roof that one time, and you had to sit with me until dark because I refused to come down with you? Uncle Thorin finally had to come climb up there himself to rescue us." Kili's brow furrowed and he mentioned, "Now that I think about it he gave us a lecture that rang in my ears for a week."

"Yes," Fili grudgingly assented, "And if I recall correctly, you swore never to be mischevious again... fifteen minutes before you broke into a high cupboard trying to reach the sweets Mother had hidden away."

"All right, then... What about the time in the hayloft when you had to carry me down the ladder?"

"I am not going to be seen piggybacking on your shoulders just to get off this cliff, Kili!" How much more humiliation did his brother think could a dwarf could take?

"All I am saying," Kili reasoned, "Is that it is perfectly normal to be afraid of heights. You remember when I was younger; you had to carry me downstairs every night because I was convinced I would fall to my death."

"You were a toddler at the time," Fili corrected grudgingly, "And you were only afraid that the 'invisible gobbler' at the bottom would eat you. As I recall you bounded down those stairs three at a time during the day, and you nearly broke your neck on more than one occasion because you slipped on your own stockings."

"Oh," Kili paused, thinking back. "I suppose I was a little more rash back then."

Fili snorted. "Only a little?"

Kili chuckled, shaking his head. Turning to his brother he said in all seriousness, "Being afraid of something is nothing to be ashamed of, Fili. I shall never think the less of you for it." With a quirk of a smile he added, "You will still my big brother, as always... I cannot help but look up to you, no matter what. Remember this, though: no one ever said that you have to be the strong one at all times."

Fili's only answer was silence, his gaze thoughtful. After a moment he gave a sheepish grin, scoffing lightly as he always did when Kili had some brazen idea that amused him. "So, I suppose we shall fumble our way down together, then? Like old times?"

"Like old times," Kili agreed, smiling in relief.

Casting his brother a glare that was only half-hearted, Fili mumbled under his breath, "Uncle had better not hear a word of this."

Kili laughed, eyes dancing with mirth. "If he did, you could always tell him you had to carry me down instead, and that I screamed my head off like a little girl the entire time."

Fili snorted, grinning in spite of himself. "Aye, now that he would believe..."

The memory washed over Kili like a slap of cold water. For a moment he was disorientated, uncertain as to why he had followed the eagle's call to a mountain peak. Fili must be growing tired of waiting for him. Any moment he would come tramping along, rolling his eyes at his brother's thick headed schemes and dragging Kili away from disaster's edge.

Fili was certainly taking his time about it, though.

"Kili... Now look here, you stubborn, half-witted little brat, you..."

A sob broke in, a wrenching, hopeless sound that twisted Kili's heart.

Fili was crying.

Instantly Kili whirled around, searching for his brother.

Only to discover that he was alone at the cliff.

"Fili?"

Alarm coursed through him, and Kili raised his voice to the heavens, shouting for the voice he knew so well yet could not reach.

"Fili!"

"...You... you cannot leave just yet, Kili, do you hear me? I absolutely forbid it! I ... I can even bring Uncle Thorin in here to back me. You would hate that, wouldn't you? I..." Another sob broke free, the guilt ridden words more difficult to force past choking tears. "I dragged you out of that stupid hayloft... and the forest, remember the bear trap? I'll haul your sorry hide out of the the Mansions of Aulë if I have to!"

A harsh keen broke Fili's words, the dire note of futility. The despair in acknowledging that no matter what he did, it was already too late. He had failed.

Suddenly Kili remembered what had happened. He remembered razors of pain swiping through his flesh, the crack of bone like thunder in his ears and a fearsome scream he could hardly recognize being torn from his own throat. He remembered longing to do something, to twitch or to moan, to prove that he would be all right, only to watch Fili's pride shatter as he pleaded for his brother to remain with him just a little longer.

And Kili remembered why he must go back.

Fili was calling for him; needed him. Hoping against bitter hope that his little brother would understand his weakness and come to his aid.

This time, there would be no light hearted teasing serving to embarrass his older sibling.

This time, Kili would answer.

The wind and clouds of freedom were suffocated in a gust of darkness, leaving him fumbling and lost in a sea of pitch black. A hand was spread across his face, grabbing hold of him while words chanted in an unfamiliar tongue dragged him against his will back to a world of torment and fire, of wracking pain and light that seared his eyes, of Fili's tear ridden voice and the nagging guilt that somewhere along the line he had messed up terribly.

Kili let out a low groan as air was forcibly shoved into his lungs, blinding rays of sunlight piercing through visions of soaring eagles and shattering dreams of peace into a thousand irreparable shards.

More words drifted through his consciousness, numbing the whiplashes of searing agony and soothing the shock of sun-breathed, warm air being re-introduced to his ravenous lungs. He heard Fili screaming his name before calloused and battle scarred hands, far different than the light and unfamiliar touch that had pulled him from the light, yanked him into such a crushing and fervent embrace that he knew instinctively that he was safe in the arms of his brother.

"Fili..."

He wanted to shout out to his brother, to assure him that was fine, that he no longer needed to worry. He lacked the strength, however, and could only listen helplessly as Fili's wracked sobs shook his entire body while he clutched his brother in an unrelenting grip and whispered his thanks to every higher power in Middle Earth.

Kili thought he heard his uncle's voice in the mele; cracked, husky words of grattitude. But that was impossible... right? He had never heard Uncle Thorin use such a manner of tone before; it was literally impossible. The fever must be playing tricks with his mind.

It mattered little; Fili was here, and that was all that he cared about. In the end, after all, that was all that would ever matter.

His brother had called, and Kili had answered.

The muse is sleeping and must be given caffeine and reviews to munch on in order to wake up and hit me over the head with new inspiration.

... (Which we actually discussed between us earlier today, now that I think about it ... So give the author the caffeine and reviews so she can write on, and let the muse sleep a little longer so it can think about chapter 6.) ;)