Hey hey everybody. Thanks so much for the reviews for the last chapter! So glad you all liked my addition of the twins, I've really enjoyed writing them! Hope you guys enjoy and let me know what you think!
Elladan and Elrohir kept a slight distance between them and the fleeing child. They didn't want to spook the dwarfling anymore than what he already was, but they wanted to be close enough so that should he fall again, or perhaps something darker was to show itself, they'd quickly be able to protect him from harm.
It wasn't long after Fíli had taken off that he started to tire. Elladan and Elrohir saw he was slowing down, so they adjusted their strides to a walking pace until Fíli came to a complete stop, with his shoulders sagging and his head angled at the ground from exhaustion. Elladan and Elrohir crouched in front of the dwarfling.
"Mellon-nín, we are not sure what we said that upset you, but we are sorry. Would you come with us to our campsite, just so you can rest for a while, and we can clean you up?" Elladan asked kindly.
Fíli looked up at the two elves curiously "what does m-m-mewonin mean?" he asked, his tongue stumbling over the new word in an attempt to form it like they had.
"Mellon-nín? It means 'my friend' little one, or if you just need to say 'friend' then the word you use is 'Mellon'." Elrohir said with a smile, this dwarfling, despite his grief was somehow curious about the pair of them.
"You are my m-m-mewonin's?" Fíli asked, still struggling to form the word.
"Yes," Elrohir said with a gentle laugh, whilst Elladan smiled next to him "we are your mellon's. Please, will you come back to our campsite? It's not far from here, just around the corner, down a small slope and on the field by the trees."
Fíli nodded whilst mouthing his new word to himself, it felt funny trying to say it, but he was determined to get it right.
After a short walk Fíli spotted the area where the two elves were camping, there was a small fire pit near the trees, and two horses stood grazing nearby.
"Elrohir why don't you fetch the packs so we can have something comfortable to sit on and can start the fire." Elladan instructed whilst guiding Fíli towards the fire pit. Elrohir nodded at his brother and went over to one of the trees. He glanced at Fíli and noticed the dwarfling was watching him with interest, so he grinned at the child, looked up the tree and tensed his legs, and leapt onto the lowest branches, quickly disappearing from sight as he climbed higher.
Fíli's mouth dropped open at the sight, and not ten seconds later Elrohir was back on solid ground at the base of the tree, clutching two packs in his hands smiling at him again. Elrohir passed his brother his pack and they went about setting their campsite up, while Fíli sat on a small rock nearby watching them with curiosity and hugging himself trying to stay warm.
In no time at all there was a fire merrily crackling away in the fire pit, and Fíli was seated on Elladan's bedroll near it to stay warm. During the setup of the camp the elves had been talking in Elvish too quickly for Fíli to even make out a word, but he watched their graceful movements with awe. He'd always been told that elves were a cruel people, too focused on gems and power to care much for others or the world around them. But watching Elladan and Elrohir made Fíli wonder if that was true, these two were focused on him rather than themselves and would check occasionally to make sure he was warm and comfortable and always offered him a warm smile when they looked at him. Fíli decided he liked these two elves, he liked them a lot.
Once the campsite was set up Elrohir sat down on his bedroll that he had set up near Fíli and Elladan sat next to Fíli with a couple of cloths and a bowl of water. Turning to face the dwarfling Elladan said with a smile "here's some water so you can clean yourself and then we can see the little dwarfling hiding underneath all this dust! Would you like to do it or would you rather I did?"
Fíli looked at Elladan shyly. "I dunna how ta do it" he said quietly.
Elladan grinned at him and picked up the cloth "That's alright mellon, I'll do it for you, but first, let's see if you've got any scrapes or bruises that might need looking at. Can you stand for a moment?" Fíli climbed to his feet and allowed the elves to look him over. All up he had six scrapes that were bleeding lightly, and all gained from his fall, but because of the adrenaline that had been in his system during his running he hadn't noticed any pain when it happened. Now that Fíli was coming down from his adrenaline high, he was definitely beginning to feel them.
"Ow" said Fíli in surprise, looking at the ones on his hands, knees and the two rather large ones on his abdomen.
"Don't worry; we'll get them cleaned out ok?" Elladan said gently. They got Fíli to remove his shirt and had him lay down so they could clean his scrapes easily. Elladan and Elrohir set about cleaning his wounds quickly but gently, trying to avoid as much pain for the dwarfling as possible. When the wounds and his face were clean Elrohir asked his brother something in Elvish and Elladan nodded in reply with a smile.
"Fíli, would you like to see something cool?" Elrohir asked setting his cloth aside and looking at the dwarfling with a grin.
Fíli looked at him curiously before nodding.
"Great! Now the first thing you need to know is that not all elves can do this, in fact there are only a few in Middle Earth who have this ability. The reason we can," Elrohir motioned between himself and Elladan who was rinsing out his cloth "is because our father is one of the most powerful elves in the land." Elrohir was talking with a smile on his face.
"Do what?" Fíli asked curiously, tilting his head to the side.
"Elves can only remove poisons from a person, or delay their effects, they can't actually heal injuries, save for a few of us." To demonstrate, Elrohir took Fíli's hand and placed his hand over the graze. Fíli gasped in pain as he felt a slight burning sensation where his graze was, and when Elrohir removed his hand a patch of pink skin was the only proof an injury had been there.
"It does hurt a little bit unfortunately." Elrohir said to Fíli. He was met with wide eyes and a mouth that was slightly agape.
"You maked it betta!" Fíli said in awe and the brothers grinned back at him. They made short work of his other grazes, each time Fíli winced when he felt the burning sensation, but he didn't cry out again. When they finished, they sat side by side watching as Fíli sat there running his hand over the fresh patches of skin. He looked up with a grin and without warning threw his arms around their waists and hugged them tightly.
"Fankyou!" He said delightedly looking up into their surprised faces. They placed an arm each on his back and patted him hesitantly and looked at each other in surprise, they certainly hadn't expected that.
Once Fíli was finished with his hug he sat back on the bedroll and put his shirt back on. Whilst he was pulling the shirt over his head he missed the nudge that Elrohir gave his brother with a nod at Fíli.
Elladan sighed and nodded. Once Fíli was re-dressed and sitting quietly he spoke up.
"Fíli, I need to ask you something ok?" He waited until Fíli nodded until he carried on. "Elrohir and I want to know why you are running from Ered Luin, what has happened that would make you so upset?
Fíli suddenly looked miserable, with his head bowed he peered up at the elves through his eyelashes and the hair that had moved in front of his face. He didn't want to think about his mummy, or his uncle, or Drégo, or the sibling that was replacing him. When he saw the elves looking at him expectantly he sighed. "If I tewll you, wiwll you hewp me?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper.
"Of course" Elrohir said immediately and Elladan nodded, they doubted it was that bad, his mother had probably told him off for breaking something and for some reason had misinterpreted what his mother was saying so he thought she didn't want him anymore.
Fíli sighed and tried to think of what to say, but the more he thought about what had happened today, the more upset he became to the point where everything came rushing out.
"Unca tooked me to the toyshop and pwomised to pick me up, then Dwégo towd me that dwarves only have one child cause they should be evewyfing they wanted, and if they have annover baby it's cause the fiwst one is a disappointment, and mama is having annover baby cause she don't wove me anymore and wants a new child, and I fouwht Dwégo was lying but then Fwéya came to pick me up, and I knew Dwégo wasn't lying cause if Unca weally woved me he woulda kept his pwomise but he didn't so I did what Dwégo said to and I left cause I don wanna be a spare, I wanna mama who wiwll wove me so I 'cided to wun away and then you found me." The dwarfling finished in a gasp, tears pouring down his cheeks and Elladan scooped him up and held him tightly whilst he sobbed.
"El, I thought the reason for there being so few dwarfling's was because it was difficult for a female dwarf to carry children, not this whole disappointment thing?" Elrohir thought to his brother in alarm.
Elladan had placed his chin on the dwarfling's head and was rocking the child gently, trying to stop the crying; he hadn't done much of this before but knew it wasn't too hard. He looked at his brother out of the corner of his eyes. "Your right Roh, that's the only reason dwarfling's are so rare, not because of them being a disappointment. I remember father saying in one of our lessons that if the dwarves could craft their children from the earth than there would be an abundance of dwarves and no one would know where to put them all." Elrohir managed to avoid snorting at this particular comment.
Once Fíli's crying had become hiccups Elladan lifted his head and rearranged Fíli in a seated position in his lap. "Fíli who exactly is this Drégo? The one who told you about this disappointment thing?"
Fíli's was still shaking from his crying but managed to shrug his shoulders "A boy from town." He mumbled.
"Fíli, is the reason you ran from us earlier because we said we're brothers? And it made you think about your own sibling?" Elrohir asked and received a nod in reply. Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other briefly then back at Fíli.
"Fíli, I'm going to tell you what we know about dwarves alright? Especially where children are concerned and I want you to listen closely ok?" Elladan said firmly. When Fíli nodded he began.
"You need to understand first and foremost that no dwarf child is a disappointment to their parents, no matter what they end up becoming. If anything, dwarfling's are extremely special to your people because you are so rare. Usually dwarf women are very hard to come by, and carrying a baby is even harder, for most women their bodies are only really able to cope with a few, but I promise you, if they could have hundreds then they would. Children are like a treasure, and they cannot help but wanting to surround themselves with the most precious things they could possibly have. In fact throughout Middle Earth and all its races parents will give their children siblings not because they want to replace that child but because they want to give you the best gift you could ever receive, a best friend."
Elrohir glanced at his brother fondly before looking back at Fíli who was still looking at him sadly. "Elrohir is my twin brother Fíli, but to me he's more than that, he's my best friend, the one I will defend with my life without a thought for myself, my partner in crime, an ear to whisper in, and when we were younger a step to stand on to reach the sweets, and I don't know what I'd do without him. And it will be the same for you, I promise. A sibling is not a burden, but rather an extension of you, someone you can always count on to be there. Do you understand now? Drégo was lying, Fíli, I'm sure of it. After all, we've been on this earth a lot longer than he has so we should know."
Fíli looked between the brothers then down at his lap. Maybe Elladan was right, maybe his mama didn't want to replace him. But then why did Drégo say all this to him in the first place? "Why would Dwégo lie?" He asked quietly.
"Some people can be cruel for no reason Fíli, but generally people will say hurtful things because of something that has happened to them." Elrohir said with a shrug.
Fíli thought about this for a moment, but his mind kept going back to his mother and Uncle. If they truly loved him then Thorin wouldn't have broken his promise to Fíli to pick him up, and he and his mama wouldn't have become distant with him when his father had died. "They don't wove me" Fíli said quietly "If they woved me then Unca woulda picked me up wike he pwomised and mama woulda kept woving me the same after daddy died, but they didn't." A stray tear rolled down Fíli's cheek, and Elladan brushed it away with his thumb.
"I don't think we're going to change his mind El," thought Elrohir sadly to his brother, his eyes never leaving the dwarfling's face.
Fíli didn't want to go back to Ered Luin, didn't want to go back to a home where he wasn't loved. He wanted to go with someone nice who would look after him and love him forever. "Can I come wive with you?" Fíli asked hesitantly "Can you be my bwothers?"
Elladan and Elrohir's mouths dropped open simultaneously looking at each other in shock. Granted, the night had been throwing interesting things at them but this was downright unexpected.
"Erm Roh, I don't think Ada will be overly thrilled with us bringing a dwarfling home from Ered Luin, I mean I know he wanted us to make friends and connections and all that, but I don't think he meant like this…" Elladan thought startled.
"Agreed, although look at him the poor thing. Perhaps saying no right now isn't the best idea. The sun has well and truly set, perhaps after a good sleep he'll be more willing to go back home tomorrow. Although..." Elrohir thought, barely managing to contain a grin "Imagine how cool it would be to have a little brother! I've always wanted one; just imagine the kind of mischief we could get up to with three of us!"
The silent exchange between the twins only took several seconds so Fíli wasn't left wondering if he'd insulted or upset them.
Elladan stroked Fíli's hair and said gently "why don't we discuss this more tomorrow mellon? The night is upon us and you look tired, it has been a long day for you. Your thoughts will be clearer in the morning and it will give you time to think over what we have told you tonight, ok?"
"M'not tired" Fíli protested weakly with a pout.
Elrohir grinned "well then, have you ever stargazed?" When Fíli shook his head Elrohir continued on "all light is sacred to the Eldar, it is what we elves love best, the stars hold memory, and the light holds hope. Why don't you lie down, and see what shapes you can make out in the stars. It is a game many elves like to play with their children, and we are yet to do it so far from home, perhaps we will see something new tonight. Why don't you tell us what you see?"
Fíli looked excitedly at the twins, perhaps by telling him about an elvish game they were in fact thinking about taking him with them. He lay down and Elladan pulled out his blanket and spread it over the two of them and settled himself next to Fíli, and instinctly Fíli huddled into Elladan's side, Elladan gaining a look of amusement from his brother.
A few minutes and several shapes later Fíli was out to the world, with his thumb in his mouth and tucked securely under Elladans' arm.
"Well dear brother, it seems we are going to be hard done by to return Fíli to his home, it seems he's found you to be a decent bedroll at the very least." Elrohir said with a smirk.
Elladan rolled his eyes "We need to take him into town tomorrow and get him fed, I have a feeling he skipped dinner so he'll be starving come morn. Hopefully there will be someone there who will recognise him and we can hand him over to them, assuming he'll be willing to go. Besides…" Elladan turned his head so he could look at the dwarfling fondly, or his hair as that was all he could see of him from his position on the ground. "If we don't try and return him I fear Ada will be less than unimpressed with the new addition to our family. I don't know about you but I've become rather fond of this one and parting from him is going to be hard enough the way things are at the moment."
"The longer he's with us the harder it will be to say goodbye." Elrohir said, catching his brothers meaning. "Well who knows what tomorrow will bring. Night El." And with that Elrohir huddled under his own blanket.
"Night Roh." Elladan replied, securing the blanket around him and Fíli.
Further South, just under a day's travel a rider stopped in the middle of the forest where a small campfire was surrounded by a group of 30. On his arrival the camp fell silent.
"Well?" Growled a voice approaching the rider.
"Less than a day my lord. And we will have the safety of the trees throughout. They will not see us approach." Came the guttural hiss of a reply.
A smile spread across the leaders face "This time tomorrow night, we feast on dwarf flesh!" he roared to his companions, and he was answered with cheers.