To Thorin it seemed like an eternity before they finally got back to his cabin. As he approached, he saw Bilbo standing in the doorway, waiting for their return.

"Asphodel!" Bilbo exclaimed, rushing to Legolas as everyone hurried inside. "Oh…" Bilbo lamented as he followed after the elf that held his unconscious, seemingly lifeless niece under one arm while juggling Ori in the other, "I knew I shouldn't have let them go…"

"She and Ori fought bravely," Brenna said as Thorin shoved the door closed behind them, "If it weren't for them, the creature would have killed Fili and Kili." Bilbo didn't seem convinced as he followed the elf who held the little hobbit and dwarf with surprising strength and care.

Thorin felt the comforting warmth of the fire as he carried Fili in his arms and followed closely behind Legolas, casting a concerned glance towards Tauriel who held Kili carefully in her arms.

"I decided it best to wait here," Bilbo said to Thorin, not taking his eyes off of Asphodel as he relieved Legolas of her and gently carried her in his arms, "I've alerted Oin, he's on his way."

"Bring them all in here," Thorin instructed, motioning to the small bedroom. He carried Fili inside and the others followed. It was barely big enough to hold the two straw filled mattresses that Fili and Kili had been sleeping on for beds.

"We need to get them all out of these wet clothes and get them warm. There is a bag of medical supplies and bandages Oin left in the other room, go get them, Elf." Thorin said to Legolas and Tauriel as they carried Kili and Ori inside and laid them down. The elves nodded and quickly left and returned with the bag of supplies while Thorin lay Fili down in his bed and started to remove his soaked tunic. Thorin glanced up at the Halfling as he worked to get Fili warm, "Master Baggins, would you please go find Nori and Dori for me? they should have returned by now."

"I'm sorry Thorin but I'd really rather stay here and see to my niece," Bilbo said firmly as he lay Asphodel down on the floor next to Ori, and began removing her wet clothes and covering her with blankets, "I believe you can understand that." Thorin was about to insist, but stopped. He understood. He felt a pang of sympathy as he watched as Bilbo started examining the quills embedded in Asphodel's upper torso, shoulders, and arms, a distraught look on his face.

"I'll find them," said Tauriel who had helped get Kili and Ori into bed and was helping Legolas examine Kili's injuries.

"How do we get these out!" Bilbo exclaimed anxiously. Legolas handed him a large pair of tweezers.

"Please calm down, Master Hobbit," Legolas insisted, "Your anxiety will not help your niece now."

"That's easy for you to say, Elf!" Bilbo cried in exasperation, "She was my responsibility!"

"We all have responsibilities," Legolas continued, calmly, "Now please begin to remove the quills from her body. Be careful, the ends of the quills are hooked,"

Thorin watched the scene with a grim look on his face. He saw the tense, near panicked look on the hobbit's face. He glanced over to Brenna who quietly tried to help Bilbo. "Milady," he said, causing the gnome to look over at him. Her large blue eyes were wide with unspoken fear, "If you would please tend to Ori," he said, "It would be much appreciated."

Brenna nodded and moved away from the distraught Bilbo and his sleeping niece, and began to tend to the sleeping dwarf.

Thorin finished removing Fili's wet clothing and lay him down in his bed, draping his blankets over him, "I-I...m okay Uncle…" Fili stuttered weakly, as Thorin took his ice cold hands in his own and rubbed and blew on them to warm them, "Help Kili, please…"

Thorin didn't have the chance to consider. He was about to respond to Fili when they were all startled by Kili's sudden ear piercing scream of pain. Legolas, who had been tending to Kili, warming him and examining his injured leg, hurried to restrain the frightened dwarf.

"Kili," Thorin hurried over to his dark haired nephew and pushed him back into bed, "It's alright, you're safe."

Kili gazed up at his uncle with huge pain filled eyes. He looked confused and anxious as he struggled a bit, "Where am I…" he mumbled, reached over to touch the gash on his forehead. He looked shocked and confused when his fingers became wet with blood, "How did-" he let out another ear piercing scream when he tried to move his injured leg.

"Kili," Thorin said gently, cupping his nephew's face in his hands, "Just lie still." At his uncle's soothing voice, Kili calmed a bit and stopped struggling. But he still looked confused and terrified, and Thorin noted the far off, unfocused look in his eyes with concern.

"Fee…" Kili whimpered, slurring his words quite a bit, "w-wurrs Fee…"

"Right here, Brother," came Fili's immediate reply. Thorin noted that the color returned to the blonde's face as he propped himself up on his elbows to get a better look at his brother. Then Thorin watched as Kili's roaming hands brushed the blankets back and fell on his bare chest, "...n-n'ked?" he mumbled in confusion, a look of horror coming over his face. Thorin couldn't help but chuckle at his nephew's concern over his modesty. He shot an amused grin to Fili who smiled as well.

"Yes, Kili, you're naked," Thorin said softly, with a slight grin on his face, "We had to get you out of those wet clothes. Don't worry, you're covered in your blankets, no one sees anything. You have greater things to concern yourself with at the moment."

Legolas handed Thorin a wet cloth and the old king started to clean his nephew's head wound. It had bled a lot and the blood had frozen on Kili's face in the below freezing weather. Now in the warmth of their cabin, the frozen blood thawed and instantly spread to cover the whole half of Kili's face. It trickled into his wet matted hair and down his neck.

Kili gasped and his breath hitched in his throat. Thorin glanced over at Legolas who had positioned himself over Kili's broken leg. He swallowed as he realized what was coming. "It's alright," he told his nephew, "Prepare yourself-" he didn't get the chance to warn Kili before Legolas grabbed the brown haired dwarf's leg and pulled hard, manipulating the bone back into place.

Thorin was sure they could hear Kili's screaming all the way in Lake-town. He shot the elf an angry glare, "You could have warned him," he said.

"It is better to do it quickly," Legolas said, "Telling him would cause more panic."

Thorin growled in irritation towards the elf prince as the dark haired Dwarf twisted and squirmed, trying desperately to get away from the pain, tears streaming down his face. Thorin winced as he held Kili down.

"Shh…" Thorin shushed, as he soothed the mess of brunette hair, trying to calm his nephew. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw Fili reach out and grab his brother's flailing hand.

Finally, Kili calmed enough to allow Legolas to finish tending to his leg. Thorin watched as the elf expertly placed two boards against the broken leg and began to wrap the makeshift splint in bandages.

"I'm sorry, Uncle…" Kili uttered, his big brown eyes gazing up at Thorin, "Just wanted to be useful…"

Thorin sighed and glanced over at Fili who met his uncle's eyes cautiously. Thorin had been too worried about saving his nephews to be angry at them for getting into this situation in the first place. And now, as he was reminded of it all, he felt a bit of anger well up inside him, though it was tempered with sympathy at Kili's words.

"Shouldn't have come to this…" Bilbo muttered. Thorin glanced over at the hobbit who was tending to Asphodel, who lay motionless on the floor. Bilbo had been quiet up till now, trying to ignore the Dwarves while he cared for his own kin. But now he glanced over at them with an expression of anger.

Kili glanced in his direction and his eyes fell on the young hobbit and on Ori, "W-what happened?" he asked groggily, "Ori…. Asph..."

"Asphodel and I returned with Ori to try and help you," Brenna explained as she tended to Ori, "We brought a rope and were going to try and get you out. But that thing attacked us and Asphodel and Ori were sprayed by its quills. They were poisonous."

Kili's eyes widened in concern, "p-poison?" he asked in fear.

"Ori got the brunt of the attack," Legolas said, "The young hobbit was not as severely affected."

"Is the poison serious?" Fili asked as he sat up a little to look past Kili to Ori and Asphodel.

"The effects are paralyzing," Legolas said, "But usually temporary. They will recover in a few days."

"It wouldn't have happened at all if you two hadn't gone off like that on your own," Bilbo scolded, "You two shouldn't have been out in this weather. If you had stayed inside like you were supposed to none of this would have happened! You're both lucky you're still alive! I should not have allowed them to go off after you!"

Fili hung his head in shame, while Kili tried to make sense of the Hobbit's words, still struggling with confusion no doubt due to his head injury.

Thorin felt angry. How dare the hobbit speak to his nephews like that! He was about to respond in kind, but stopped himself. Bilbo was frightened and overwhelmed. He was worried for Asphodel and Thorin could understand that he was having trouble coping. Thorin had been the sole guardian for Fili and Kili for much of their lives after his sister had died and her husband before her. He was used to caring for them. Bilbo had probably never given much thought to raising children, his niece had parents up until this quest. Now he was suddenly forced into having to care for his grown but still young and adolescent niece, and he had also taken on the responsibility of caring for the orphaned gnome girl.

Thorin recalled what it was like after his sister had died. Fili and Kili had been very young and although Thorin had been involved in their lives from the beginning, he hadn't really played a big role in caring for them up until that time. He had enough on his plate being a king in exile. He had to care for his people, protect them, and lead them. Now all of a sudden, he had two orphaned Dwarflings in his care, depending on him.

That was many decades ago and Fili and Kili had grown up in their uncle's care. They were considered very young adults by dwarf standards, some of the older dwarves still considered them adolescents. They were very capable Dwarf warriors; but as this incident had clearly demonstrated, they were both still reckless. They still needed his guidance. His job as their parent was not over, not by a long shot.

And Bilbo was starting this job all on his own. Thorin knew that Hobbits were home loving creatures. They didn't enjoy leaving their shire and were happy to be left alone. It had taken much convincing via Gandalf to convince Bilbo to leave the comfort of Bag End. But his adventurous side had won out and he eagerly joined Thorin on his quest. He had already been through far more dangers than he had bargained for and Thorin knew he pined for home, often wondering if he had made a mistake leaving his comfortable hearth.

Now the hobbit was in way over his head. Not only had he faced many perils since leaving the shire, but he was now in charge of two young traumatized orphans. Thorin could certainly sympathize with Bilbo's situation, so he let the chastising of his own nephews slide. He most likely was going to give them a similar mouthful later, anyway.

"Ori!" they were interrupted when Nori burst into the room suddenly, followed by Dori, Tauriel, and Oin. The two Dwarves hurried to their sleeping brother's side. Brenna moved aside and joined Bilbo at Asphodel's side.

"By the light of Mahal, Thorin, what happened!" Dori demanded as he looked around at the scene before him.

"It was our fault, Dori…" Fili spoke up, before Thorin could respond, "We wanted to have a look at the place so we went into the forest. We ignored the storm…"

"Well why isn't he waking up!" Nori wanted to know as he and Dori examined the puncture wounds in Ori's chest.

"Alright, Lads, lets have a look," said Oin, kneeling down to inspect the row of injured youths. He quickly and expertly moved from Fili and Kili to Ori and Asphodel, getting an assessment of their injuries.

"First thing is to keep them all warm, they've been at the mercy of that storm for far too long." He said, "Kili here's lost quite a bit of blood. Ye managed to get it stopped, that's good, but he's got a nasty concussion as well" he said as he moved down to examine Kili's leg.

"Nice work, Elf," he muttered to Legolas, "Patched the Lad up quite nice. We'll need to keep this leg immobile for quite awhile." Oin patted Kili on the shoulder before moving on to Ori and Asphodel.

"Venom, eh?" Oin said, glancing over Ori. As he did so, Ori slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

"Ori!" Dori exclaimed. Ori had a brother on each side of him and Oin and to shove them a bit out of the way in order to properly examine the puncture wounds on his chest and upper body.

"What - Oh…" Ori winced, "Boy, do I have a headache...hey, Dori, get off my legs, why don't you?"

"What?" Dori wasn't sitting on Ori's legs. He exchanged worried glances with Nori.

"Ye can't feel yer legs, can ye, Lad," Oin said. Ori shook his head with concern, just as Asphodel started awake as well.

"Oh you're awake," Brenna gasped, holding Asphodel's hand. "How are you feeling?" Bilbo asked.

"I feel tingly," Asphodel answered, shifting a little, "My feet and arms feel a bit numb and heavy. Hard to move them."

"The venom is paralyzing," Tauriel offered, repeating what Legolas had told Thorin earlier, "But it's temporary… most of the time. As we said before, we've encountered these creatures before."

Oin reached into his apothecary bag and pulled out a jar of white cream and handed it to Nori, "Here, put this over these wounds," he instructed. He turned around and gave another jar to Bilbo, "Should take care of the pain and help extract the poison. I think these Lads and Lass will be fine."

Thorin watched Bilbo visibly let go of a breath at that news. Again, the king could sympathize with the hobbit. He realized then that he and Bilbo had suddenly become kindred, both having to care for their orphaned kin.

"Kili!" Ori exclaimed, as Nori helped him sit up, "Fili! You're alright! I was so worried you were both goners for sure!"

"We're still here," Kili responded, "Thank you, Ori."

"We helped too, you know," Brenna pointed out, with a raised brow, "You're welcome."

Thorin smiled at the gnome's boldness as his nephews exchanged glances, "Thank you, Milady," Fili offered, "We're very grateful to you both."

Brenna nodded, satisfied.

"Ah they can all do with a bit of rest now, Lads," Oin said as he finished with Ori and Asphodel and moved over to check Fili over real quick, "You are the luckiest of all of them," he asked as he bandaged Fili's cheek for him, "Just a few scrapes and no broken bones. You were just suffering the effects of the cold and as long as you stay warm, you should start to feel better soon."

"Thank you, Oin," Fili said, "I already do."

The old healer reached into his bag again and pulled out some herbs and glanced over at Tauriel and Legolas, who had withdrawn from the area and stood nearby together, "Will one of you pointy ears make the lads some tea for me?" he asked, "It'll keep them warm and help them get some sleep."

"I'll do it," Tauriel said, grabbing the herb pouch, "Master Baggins, did you bring in the supplies from our horses?"

"Yes, yes," Bilbo said, "On the table. That fish too." Tauriel nodded and left the room.

Thorin remembered the fish Bard brought him and sighed. He had been looking forward to surprising his hungry nephews with it and he had forgotten about it in his concern for them.

"We brought some food from Mirkwood," Legolas said, "And supplies. It wasn't much because the horses couldn't carry too much due to the storm and we had to have room for all of your weapons. Just some bread, vegetables, and herbs."

"Very good," Oin said, standing up, "That's enough now, all of you. The Lads all need plenty of rest and perhaps when they wake they'll be of a mind to eat."

"I'm of a mind to eat now," Kili complained, "Those berries and mushrooms I found would have been great."

Thorin sighed. He had seen the berry bush and realized what had kept his nephews out in that forest for so long. They were hungry and the berries must have been too tempting. He really couldn't stay angry at them for that.

"I wanted to surprise you, Uncle," Kili said sadly, "I convinced Fili to stay awhile longer because of that."

"I appreciate the gesture," Thorin said, feeling genuinely touched, "Rest now. You can eat when you wake."

And with that, the four youths were left in the room alone while the others moved out into the larger room.