Wow, thanks for the response to the last chapter! I was glad I was able to pull of a bit of humor :) And...I'm going to apologize for the ending of this one in advanced. Please don't kill me!

Chapter 8

When Bofur had asked the members of the company who wanted to join him in helping the lads, it seemed the entire company wanted to take part. However, due to new responsibilities, most were unable to join him.

Dwalin was very keen on going with them – however, since he already was covering down for Kíli, he couldn't pass it off to someone else; Bombur wanted to join as well, but he was busy working in the kitchens and was just beginning to settle down with a fine dwarrowdam. Ori would have gone except for two small details: one, he was the scribe and still had plenty of scrolls to sift through and two, Dori absolutely forbade it unless he went along, and since Dori was a member of Thorin's council, he couldn't run off as well. Óin wanted to, but he still had his duties as healer, tending to the sick and those who were hurt during Dwalin's training exercises and Glóin was the treasurer, still working his way through the wealth of Erebor.

That left Bifur and Nori, both who agreed to go, not caring about their small responsibilities.

Once it was settled, the trio set off towards the Old Forest Road.

They had only been traveling for a day when they realized their first problem. It seemed not one of them new where the entrance to the road was. As they kept traveling south, Bofur kept his eyes fixed on the border of Mirkwood, hoping he could spot the entrance.

"Don't bother, Bofur. It's further south," Nori said as he rode next to him.

"I don't think so, Nori. I think we may have passed it already."

"We haven't passed it. We would have seen it. It's further south."

"And how would you know? You haven't traveled this way before!"

The two were about to jump at each other when Bifur rode up between them, separating them. "Askhâb, thurkh!" he grunted, pointing towards the forest.

Bofur and Nori came to a stop to see that Bifur was, indeed, correct. There lay the entrance to the road and Bifur was already heading that way. The other two exchanged shocked glances before following after.

The sun had just begun to kiss the horizon when Fíli, Kíli and Bilbo set forth through the mountains. Although the looks of a storm was still brewing, they could not delay. Bolg and his Orcs could be anywhere and they needed to put as much distance as they could between them.

The path was narrow, forcing them to dismount their ponies and lead them through the pass. At one point Fíli wondered if it would just be safer to send the ponies back, but the thought of leaving the mountains and walking the rest of the way did not sit well with him. Not with Bolg after them.

Around midday the storm they had seen the night before finally struck. They struggled onwards, hoping to make some progress that day, but the rain and wind was almost too much for them.

It was Bilbo who found the cave. After much searching on Kíli's part, they set up camp in it, deciding to try and wait out the storm.

There was no wood to be found, so they were stuck shivering and wet in the cold, dark cave, the only source of light being from the occasional flash of lightning. Fíli kept his mind busy by sharpening his knife, occasionally glancing towards Bilbo. A small voice was whispering in the back of his mind but he was not quite sure what it was.

Oh how he wished he could just hold Bilbo's ring.

Kíli came and sat next to him, grabbing his wounded arm. "How is your arm?"

"It's fi... ow! Kíli, what are you…?"

Kíli had pulled away the bandage and was prodding the wound. "Just making sure it hasn't become infected."

"It's fine, Kíli. It's just a scratch."

"I recall saying those exact words on Bard's boat and look what that ended up being. Now would you sit still?"

Fíli heaved a heavy sigh as he let his brother do his work. As Kíli prodeed it a bit more he winced and tried to pull away. "Would you stop being a Dwarfling?"

"How would you like it if I were prodding your wound?"

Kíli intentionally pushed hard on the edge of it. "Ow! Mahal, Kíli!"

"You're fine. Just try to avoid irritating it."

As Kíli stood up to walk away the sound of a rock falling echoed through the cave. Everyone was on their feet, looking for the source of the noise, weapons already drawn. At first, it seemed that it was possibly just a loose rock falling from the roof however something didn't sit right with any of them. After their encounter in the Goblin tunnels they were wary of any cave in the mountains.

When nothing shifted in the background and everything became still once more, the dwarves and Bilbo relaxed a bit.

"I wish this storm would blow over. The sooner we get out of these mountains, the better," Kíli muttered as he returned his arrow to his quiver.

With a crash of lightning, the entire cave became illuminated. When it did, Bilbo could have sworn he saw something lurking in the corner.

The cave went dark once more, except for a small glint of blue that began to illuminate from Sting. They all knew what that meant. They drew their weapons just as the cave swarmed with Goblins. At least this time they were ready for the attack.

Fíli saw a Goblin about to deliver a killing strike to Kíli and instantly cleaved its head off its shoulders. His selfless act to save his brother, however, left him vulnerable. A Goblin came from behind, wrapping its arms around him and attempting to drag him towards the entrance of the cave.

"Fíli!" Kíli called out.

He tried to push forward to his brother, but the swarm of Goblins was too much. All he could do was watch as they got closer and closer to the opening. Eventually, Fíli grabbed his knife from his bracer and slashed at the Goblin.

He should have paid attention to how close to the edge he was.

Although the slash freed him from the Goblin it put him off balance and he tumbled off the side of the cliff.

"FÍLI!"

Kíli broke through the ranks, rushing to the side, peering down into the dark chasm below. There was nothing. No golden head of hair, no body. No, Fíli.

Tears and anger welled in his eyes as he turned back to the flood of Goblins. He let out a battle cry that shook the mountains as he pulled his sword and began to kill Goblin after Goblin.

A Goblin managed to break through his defense, its sword creating a wound in Kíli's side. Kíli gritted through it and killed the Goblin, only for another Goblin blade to slice his thigh. Kíli fell to the ground and Goblins grabbed his arms and held him on his knees. "Well, well, boys! Looks like we'll be having company tonight!"

As the Goblins began to drag him off Kíli looked around the cave, looking for Bilbo, only to not spot him. Had the Goblins gotten to Bilbo too? First his brother, now the Hobbit; Kíli's heart broke. He had failed Bilbo.

He had failed his brother.

TBC...

PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! *ducks*

Translation (and I'm sorry if it's wrong. I'm still learning Khuzdul)

Askhâb, thurkh! – Look, the road!

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