a/n: thank you for all the reviews, follows, and favorites. I agree, Thorin was a little OOC in my last chapter, but he has his way of dealing with grief that is unique and wonderful in its own right.
Chapter 4: Follow the Leader
The fastest of the attacking wolves reached Fili first. He aimed a swing with the right of his twin swords as it lunged, managing to slice it close to its snout. It was enough to draw blood, but not deep enough to stop its attack. The blood now running from its face seemed only anger the wolf more, and it did a quick half turn to lunge back at the prince.
Fili took another swing, this time with his left blade, and missed. Fortunately, the wolf missed as well and its weight carried its body over and past Fili. Fili turned on his heels to guard himself from another attack. The second wolf that had focused itself on Fili was sitting back, snarling and growling, but not attacking to young heir.
Kili was struggling as well. One of the wolves hit him hard with its body, effectively tackling the younger dwarf to the ground. The wind was knocked out of him, but fortunately, he didn't get struck by the wolf's claws or teeth. From the ground, Kili swung a dagger at the second wolf, hitting under its belly. The dagger struck deep enough to draw blood, but not deep enough for the wolf to retreat. The first wolf, after having tackled Kili to the ground, snarled and snapped at the dwarf, but stayed back as if it were watching his companion and gaging his attacks.
It seemed to Kili that one wolf was just watching Kili while the other was fighting him. The second wolf seemed to be waiting for Kili to tire out before launching his own attack. As he risked a glance over towards his brother, he realized the two wolves battling Fili were behaving in a similar manner.
It was smart. Fili and Kili should be winning simply based on their own skills, even without Kili's arrows. And yet, they weren't. The wolves had carefully split up into teams of two and were attacking coordinately, allowing the brothers tire out and waiting for the perfect moment for a kill strike.
"Something's wrong with these wolves, Fili." Kili yelled, as the one managed to evade his sword once again. "They are too smart. They are dodging my strikes as if they were trained warriors, not beasts."
Fili nodded before letting out a cry of pain. One of his two wolves managed to swipe at Fili's arm with his paw. Four scratch marks, deep enough to slice Fili's tunic and draw blood appeared on his left arm.
"Fee! You alright?" Kili said, hearing Fili's yell before taking another swing at one of the encroaching wolves.
"You're right," Fili said, gathering himself and wincing as the blood ran down his arm, "They are too smart for mere wolves." Just as Fili was about to take another swing, the wolf he was aiming at pulled back from him.
This time, instead of counter attacking, the wolf let out a yelp, almost like a cry of pain, and immediately the other three wolves pulled back away from the brothers as well.
The fighting stopped for a moment, allowing Fili and Kili to regroup and catch their breaths. Kili stepped closer to his brother, glancing with concern at the blood on Fili's arm. Fili, however, did not make eye contact with his brother. The warrior in him was taking the moment to size up what was left of their enemies.
Two were injured from the fighting; the other two seemed mostly unharmed. Despite that they had been waging battle against the brothers for far too long; they suddenly seemed uninterested in them anymore. They were looking beyond the brothers, at other points in the forest. Fili glanced behind him to see what they were looking at, yet he could neither see to hear anything.
With a few yelps and nervous whimpers, they scampered off as quickly as they came. Something had spooked them, that much was clear to Fili and Kili.
"Quickly, brother." Kili said, grabbing a low branch in the closes tree and pulling himself up. He reached out for his brother and without thinking, Fili extended his good arm and allowed Kili to help lift him into the trees. He followed his brother as he climbed higher, stopping when they were about ten feet from the ground.
"What it is?" Filli whispered once they stopped. His arm was stinging rather fiercely and he was confused as to what drew off the wolf attack and prompted his brother to flee into the trees.
"I don't know," Kili replied. "But something scared the wolves off, and I don't want to be on the ground when whatever it is shows up. It's like when the canaries stop singing in the mines. Something is coming."
Fili nodded as the two scanned the ground and surrounding areas. Their campsite was clear evidence that they had quickly abandoned it. The fire still burned low. Any skillful tracker would know that someone had vacated the area not long earlier and start searching for signs as to the direction the young princes had gone.
When the first couple orcs strayed into the campsite, Fili found himself hoping it was just a coincidence that they were here in Mirkwood. That maybe, just maybe, the orcs weren't here for Thorin and company. His hopes were soon dashed.
"They were here not long ago, master" one stated, as it examined the small fire.
"There was a fight of some kind." Another said as it examined the dead wolf that Kili had stabbed with his dagger.
When Bolg came into view, Fili gave up all hope that this was any coincidence. These were the orcs hunting the company, there was no other possible reason they were here.
Blog growled and grabbed the closest orc too him. "I don't care about the dwarf runts." He seethed, throwing the orc to the ground. The other orcs stepped away from him giving their angry master some distance. Blog approached what was left of the flames, and stomped on it.
"Oakenshield was taken to the elven kingdom. We will get him and the rest of the dwarf filth there. The runts do not matter. They will die on their own in this forsaken forest." With a sneer he continued, "We head to the realm of the elven king." Blog said as a leader encouraging his troops. " In addition to Oakenshield, any Orc who can bring me the scalp of the elf princeling will be forever rewarded."
With a renewed battle cry, the orcs continued through the woods. There must have been at least 30 of them. They were far too many in number for the two tired and battle worn princes to engage.
"We follow them." Fili said, before his brother had a chance to suggest it. "The Orcs are tracking Uncle, we follow them at least until we get to the gates of the elf city. Then we can figure out how to get inside on our own." Kili nodded vigorously to the suggestion.
After a minute or two passed by, Kili hopped down. "I can track them easily. We give them a lead so they can't hear us, and we follow at distance." Kili said, turning to his brother. He frowned when he remembered his brother's arm, now coated in streaks of blood.
"We clean that arm first. " Kili commanded, dragging his brother towards the small river. Once his arm was clean and the brothers filled up their water canteens, they were off.
Meanwhile deep in King Thraunduil's halls, Bilbo had helped the company escape and was leading them towards the wine cellar.
"We get out, and then we can look for Fili and Kili. We are as useless to them being held in captivity as if we were not looking for them at all. We must get out of here if we want to help them." Balin said, intent on reassuring his King.
"Durin's day is soon approaching," Thorin said, as the company snuck towards the cellars. "We do not have time to get lost in Mirkwood again."
Balin was shocked. Surely, after he had just heard Thorin's tears, surely Thorin did not mean to leave the boys behind?
"They are your kin, Thorin. They are the heirs to your throne." Balin said softly.
"They are heirs to no throne if I don't have a throne." Thorin snapped back.
Before Balin could respond the company came to a halt.
"You mean for us to get into the barrels?" said Bofur.
a/n: please read and review. I know Thorin seems different in this chapter than in the last but that is always how I pictured him: struggling between his love for the boys and his obsession with reclaiming Erebor. It's hard to say which emotions win out.
Next up: The princes meet up with the company, and all hell breaks loose.