Hello everyone! So, a big chapter for you with several different perspectives at different/same times during the day. Please let me know what you think of this chapter as the pace is starting to pick up and we're getting to some really important stuff in the next few chapters! :) not to build too much anticipation or anything...
Special shoutouts to the new followers: xSilversun, LionsChild, GemDragon22, Fangfan1, C.H.W.13, Fire and Ash and the new guests to be reading the story! Also to the current followers/favouriters: LOVE YOU ALL LONG TIME!
Also thank you so much everyone for the reviews! They are absolutely INCREDIBLE! I'm consistently surprised and touched by the feedback I'm getting and I'm so glad I decided to go ahead and write/share this with you all! Looking forward to writing more for you all in the future!
As much as it breaks my heart I do not own the writings or the characters of The Hobbit or Lord of the Rings, they are the wonderful and exclusive workings of J.R.R Tolkien
The sun climbed over the Blue Mountains and cast its light across the sleepy town of Ered Luin and the field where two elves and a dwarfling were curled up fast asleep. Elrohir stirred and rolled over onto his side to face his brother, and he couldn't help but grin at the sight before him. Elladan was lying on his side, his head resting on his right arm which was stretched out above him as a pillow, and his left arm wrapped protectively around Fíli who was snuggled into his side with his thumb in his mouth and an arm holding onto Elladan's waist. Elrohir couldn't help the small chuckle that escaped his lips as he wished that he had something to capture this moment, so at the very least he could show his brother how cute he looked.
Elrohirs' chuckle was enough to wake his twin. Elladans' closed eyes scrunched and opened slowly to look at him.
"And what at this time of the morning could you possibly find so amusing brother?" Elladan thought with annoyance.
"Just how incredibly cute you look protecting a child whilst you sleep" Elrohir thought back with a grin on his face.
Elladan looked down to the sleeping dwarfling and back to his brother with a smile. "Oh shut up. We need to get moving as he's probably starving and we should return him if we want to finish what father sent us to do."
Elrohir stood first as his brother went to wake Fíli. Whilst he was stretching he sniffed at the air and looked around. It was extremely quiet this morning, in fact there wasn't a sound coming from any birds or insects, the only noises that occasionally floated across the field were noises from the waking town, and the noises from the trees as the leaves moved in the breeze. The air itself smelt heavy and Elrohir could smell the storm that was moving in. He said as much to Elladan.
"You're right it's very eerie this morning. That storm's on its way, I reckon it'll be here by tonight so we might need to take our stuff with us in the afternoon and look for a room for the rest of our stay." Elladan replied. He was already packing away his belongings as Fíli had headed off to the nearest tree to relieve himself.
Elladan and Elrohir made short work of packing up the campsite, and Elrohir went and stashed their packs in the trees so they could move around more freely in the town. The twins had agreed to collect them once they had found who Fíli belonged to, hoping that the storm would hold off until then.
Fíli came back just as Elrohir jumped out of the tree and smiled shyly at the twins as he sat on the ground near the burnt out fire pit.
"How are you feeling this morning mellon?" Elrohir asked the dwarfling with a grin and patting the two horses next to the trees.
"Hungwy, mewonin." Fíli replied with a smile. He liked his new word, and he knew it would be important when he went to live with Elladan and Elrohir.
The twins grinned at him for remembering the word and what it meant.
"Would I be right in guessing that someone didn't get to eat their dinner last night?" Elladan asked knowing full well what the answer would be, and got a sheepish smile and nod from the dwarfling making him chuckle.
"Well then, first things first this morning, let's head into town and get some food. Not many people will be awake at the tavern so we should get a nice meal with the best bits. How does that sound?"
Fíli's reply came not in a nod or words, but in an extremely loud rumble from his stomach, which they all looked at in surprise.
"Well you got your answer El" Elrohir said with a grin. "Come on Fíli! Let's find some food." He extended his hand to the dwarfling who held it tightly, and then Fíli reached around and grabbed Elladan's hand with his free one.
And so the dwarfling walked hand in hand with the two elves back to Ered Luin.
Balin finished off his breakfast with haste. Dwalin had just left for the Healing House to visit Thorin and take him some food, and Balin knew he needed to get a move on if he was to find Fíli before lunch as he REALLY didn't want to have to tell Thorin his nephew had disappeared.
He swallowed the last of his scone, pulled on his boots and hurried out the door pulling his jacket on as he did so as he had noticed it was rather cool out this morning. He looked left and right, trying to determine where to start first: should he start at the dwarven end of town or the human end? "I'll go see Fréya, then I'll start at the toyshop, if Fíli wanted somewhere to hide I'm sure Bofur wouldn't have turned him away." And with that thought Balin hurried off, determined to locate the dwarfling.
Dwalin pushed the main door to the Healing House open and walked into the waiting room looking around for the dark headed dwarf he'd known all his life, only to find to his surprise he wasn't there.
"Oi you," Dwalin said grabbing the arm of the closest healer and spinning him around. "Where's Thorin? Has the baby arrived?"
The healer shrugged out of Dwalin's ridiculously strong grip. "First door on the left, couldn' 'ave the King sleepin' on a chair out here when we 'ave plenny beds free." He said with a glare and walked off.
Dwalin hurried to the room he'd been told and opened the door without bothering to knock. He realised in hindsight that Thorin probably would've appreciated the gesture and noted to remember that next time, but luckily for him there was nothing that could've embarrassed either of them. Thorin was pacing the room, and Dwalin could tell he hadn't slept much, if anything really. Dwalin felt the same; he'd been tossing and turning in fear over Fíli's disappearance, and praying to anyone who would listen that he'd suddenly appear at his house. Remembering his promise to Balin to not say anything, he shut the door with a snap which made his friend spin around in surprise.
Thorin had been so lost in his thoughts he hadn't heard the door open, and missing hearing his friend come in meant that he truly was distracted, after all Dwalin was an incredibly loud dwarf.
"Dwalin! How long have you been there?!" Thorin said in surprise.
"Only just got 'ere" Dwalin replied, moving to lean against the wall after he set the plate of food down on the bed. "How are yer? Yer look exhausted."
Thorin ran a hand across his face and let it fall to his side looking at Dwalin wearily. "I feel it. I'm worried Dwalin, they keep telling me Dís is fine but she's been in there for so long, and they haven't let me back in since I spoke to her yesterday. I think I might…"
Whatever Thorin had been thinking Dwalin never found out for at that point the door burst open and Oin appeared.
"Oin!" Thorin and Dwalin yelled in unison
"She's getting close! Not too much longer now lads!" The old healer half shouted at them before disappearing, slamming the door shut behind him.
Thorin and Dwalin grinned at each other, it was almost time.
"I'll go find Balin, he won't be too far from here." Dwalin said to Thorin, clapping him on the shoulder before rushing out of the room leaving Thorin to eat his food and resume his pacing.
The trio approached the gates of the city in no time at all; however it was long enough to teach Fíli some more Elvish. The words they were in the process of teaching Fíli were 'Hannon Le', which Fíli learnt meant 'thank you'.
As they passed through the gate a human guard was watching them curiously and Fíli waved at him. "Hannonee!" he said with a huge grin.
The twins couldn't contain their own grins "Well done Fíli! Keep practising that and we'll teach you another one soon ok?"
The group had walked through the city gates without issue aside from the curious look and looked around to see if there were any dwarves nearby that they could walk Fíli past, hoping someone would recognise him. Unfortunately there was hardly anybody about at that time of the morning.
"The Lone Warrior huh?" Elrohir said looking at the sign to the tavern above him "Alright Fíli, we'll stop in here for breakfast eh?" Elrohir said as they walked towards the tavern.
Fíli nodded eagerly, he was well and truly hungry by now and just wanted food.
Elrohir held the door open and Fíli hurried inside, drawn by the smell of fresh bread. Elrohir and Elladan looked at each other amused and followed him inside, allowing the door to swing shut.
Balin waved to Bofur as he left the toyshop and sighed as soon as he had his back to the door. He'd managed to ask Bofur without causing concern if he'd seen Fíli that morning.
"I haven't seen the lad since yesterday when he got picked up. Everything alright Balin?" Bofur had asked with a slight frown.
Balin had told the toymaker that he'd stopped by to see Fíli earlier that morning and tell him Thorin would be home in the afternoon, but both he and Fréya had already left for the day so he was trying to find the pair of them to make sure he was ready to visit Dís when Thorin picked him up. Bofur relaxed and told Balin he'd keep an eye out for the pair and pass on the message if he saw them, especially as Fíli was meant to be picking up his toy sometime that day.
As Balin walked away from the toyshop he placed a hand on his forehead. Perhaps he should look in the human end of town, not that there was a divide mind you, but that end happened to be the area where most of the Men lived and owned businesses. Balin wasn't really sure what he was expecting to find, he highly doubted Fíli would go down that end as no-one had ever taken him there before, and he was unlikely to go somewhere he didn't know, even to hide.
With his mind made up Balin headed off towards the other end of town.
Dwalin looked around in annoyance. Surely his brother hadn't gone too far, Ered Luin wasn't a huge place after all, sure strangers tended to get lost, but it wasn't as big as what Erebor had been where finding someone would generally take hours.
Then again Dwalin had only just stepped outside of the Healing House, so maybe he was being a bit overdramatic. However he was desperate to find his brother before the baby arrived, as he knew Dís and Thorin would have their heads if they weren't there when they could see the baby for the first time.
"Dwalin!" A voice off to his right called.
Dwalin looked at the approaching figure "Gloin! How are yer? Wha' can I do for ye?"
Gloin grinned as he stopped near Dwalin "Nothing for me my friend, but you look a little… annoyed… is probably the best word to use."
"I need to find Balin, but I wouldn' have a clue as to where 'es gone, he went lookin' for F… er someone." Dwalin said, quickly correcting himself.
"Well then whoever he's looking for must be in the front of town, I saw him walking towards the gate not 10 minutes ago." Gloin said nodding in the direction he'd just come from.
Dwalin clapped Gloin on the shoulder in thanks and hurried off to find his brother.
Balin stood in the centre of town near the entrance and looked around. On his right he had the main gate where there were a couple of guards milling about, in front of him past the large wishing pool and market stalls were streets that houses, shops and a forge were connected to, behind him was exactly the same, and on his left were a couple of stalls, the Lone Warrior tavern, several inns and a couple of stables next to it for visitors to rest their horses during their stay.
"Why did I even bother coming here?" Balin wondered aloud, "why on earth would Fíli come here of all places?" He looked to his left when the door to the Lone Warrior swung open as a local lad walked in to start his shift, soft voices floating out of the usually noisy building.
Balin decided to head to the main gate to ask if they'd seen a blonde dwarfling wandering around when a hand landed on his shoulder making him spin around in fright.
"Dwalin! What on earth are you doing here? Have you found him?"
Dwalin shook his head at his brother "It's Dís Balin; Oin said it's almost time."
Balin's mouth fell open slightly in surprise, it was finally time for another Durin to join them in the world. He nodded at his brother with a smile on his face and the pair hurried towards the Healing House, the thoughts of trying to find Fíli forgotten for the time being.
Elrohir looked around the tavern with curiosity. They had taken seats near the back of the building to sit close to the fire, and he and his brother were sitting next to each other with their backs to everyone in order to give Fíli the comfier seat. Unfortunately they had realised too late that by doing so they were blocking everyone from the young dwarfling they were trying to show, and there was no coaxing Fíli out of his seat when he sat down. The two elves had looked at each other in defeat before taking their seats in front of him.
"So Fíli, the food shouldn't be too much longer, but while we're waiting, what does Mellon-nín mean?" Elladan asked the blonde haired dwarfling, drawing Elrohir's attention back to his table.
"My fwend, and mewon just means fwend." Fíli said proudly.
Elrohir ruffled the dwarfling's hair. "And Hannon le?"
"Fank you!" Fíli said, his eyes lighting up in excitement.
"Well done Fíli! At this rate father will HAVE to take you in! He wouldn't turn away a dwarfling who can say thank you in Elvish!" Elladan said with a grin, and Fíli responded in kind with a dazzling smile.
Elladan knews it was unfair to get Fíli's hopes up about joining them, especially as they were planning on returning him to his family as soon as possible, but he couldn't stop thinking about possibly getting a new little brother.
"What does Le Abdollen mean?" Elrohir shot at the dwarfling with a smile.
There was a pause whilst Fíli thought about it; they'd only just taught him this, and he had been having problems trying to pronounce Abdollen at all.
Just then the waiter came over and placed three plates of food on the table when Fíli suddenly remembered the meaning.
"Yoaw late!" Fíli shouted with glee, causing the waiter to look at him slightly offended, which sent the two elves into fits of laughter as they tried to choke out a thanks and an apology to the waiter. Fíli looked at the waiter with a grin "Hannonee!" he said trying his hardest to sound serious but failing miserably.
"Thank you for the food, and we apologise for his outburst, we're currently teaching him some new words in Elvish, the translation was just bad timing on his part." Elladan said managing to control his laughter whilst his brother was still chuckling away.
"Oh, well enjoy the meal." The waiter said with a small yet still slightly puzzled smile before bustling off to another table to take an order.
"Nice one Fíli!" Elrohir said with a grin at the dwarfling who had already started tucking into his rather large meal to try and sate his starving stomach.
Fíli just grinned back at his new friends and potential brothers. Finally he felt that he might belong with them.
Thorin's pacing had increased in intensity, he knew he was probably creating a permanent path in the carpet, and realised he might have to arrange for a replacement to be brought in. The door burst open and he swung around as he refused to be taken by surprise again. Dwalin and Balin walked into the room, the only important question clear on their faces.
"No news yet." Thorin said with a sigh and resumed his pacing.
Balin looked at his weary friend before standing in his path. When Thorin was face to face with him Balin put his hands on his shoulders and guided him over to the bed.
"Thorin, you're exhausted. You need to sit down and relax; everything will be fine, just like last time. Dís is one of the strongest dwarrowdams I've ever met. When she finds out how much worrying you've been doing she'll have your head for worrying and ours for not calming you down." Balin pushed on Thorin's shoulders until he was sitting on his bed. Balin pulled the plate of food towards his friend and put it on his lap.
"Eat, and I will not be taking no for an answer you hear?" Balin said firmly.
With a defeated sigh Thorin made himself more comfortable on the bed and picked up some of the chicken on the plate, realising for the first time just how hungry he was.
Dwalin watched his friend intently, he could tell that Thorin was still stressed and would only relax when Oin told them that both mother and child were well. Then once Thorin had met his nephew or niece and spent some time with Dís he would go home, get changed and get Fíli so…. Fíli. Dwalin winced. How could he have forgotten the reason for his fears so easily? They still hadn't found him and now neither of them could leave without making Thorin suspicious.
"Balin, I need ta talk to yer outside." Dwalin said in a casual tone, yet both Balin and Thorin looked at him in surprise.
"Can you not talk in here?" Thorin said with a frown at his friend and a mouthful of chicken, blast the courtesy of not talking with your mouth full.
"Sorry lad, family business, it'll only take a moment." Dwalin said looking at his friend apologetically.
Thorin's frown remained for a second more before he shrugged. As close as he was with Balin and Dwalin, Thorin knew that there were just some things that weren't for him to know, just as it was for them about his life. It was a privacy that was rarely called upon between the three of them, yet it was a privacy he knew to respect all the same.
Balin looked at his brother with a small frown and followed him out of the room. Dwalin led him outside, determined for Thorin not to hear any of their conversation.
"What it is?" Balin asked with a frown as soon as Dwalin was satisfied with the distance between them and Thorin.
"Fíli, Balin. We still haven't found Fíli." Dwalin said in a lowered voice.
Balin squeezed his eyes shut. How could he have forgotten about the lad? He sighed and looked at his brother. "There's nothing we can do now, we can't leave Thorin by himself. We just have to pray that Fíli is there when he goes home. When Thorin does head home we'll go with him so that Fréya doesn't get the blame for not saying anything if he's not there."
Dwalin nodded, it was about all they could do now without dragging Thorin away from Dís when he badly needed to be here. And Thorin was likely to rip the town apart looking for Fíli if he found out now, not that he wouldn't when he found out later of course.
The two brothers walked back inside to Thorin's room to wait for the news, both praying that Dís and the baby would be fine, and that Fíli had returned home by now.
Fréya stretched and rolled over to get more comfortable, only to find herself falling smack onto the floor. Still half asleep Fréya opened her eyes in surprise. When had her bed shrunk? It was only after sitting there for a few moments staring at the ceiling in confusion that the memories of the day before came crashing back making her mouth fall open in horror.
"Fíli?! Fíli are you here?" Fréya called urgently, jumping to her feet and racing to his room. How on earth had she slept all night? When she arrived at Fíli's room she flung the door open, only to feel her heart sink, his bed was as cold and empty as it had been when she first got home.
With a sigh Fréya walked back to the kitchen in order to prepare some tea and a plate of food. She was starving and knew that she'd need to keep up her energy if she was to go and search for him soon. When she arrived in the kitchen she paused in surprise. There, sitting folded on the table was a note. It certainly hadn't been there when she arrived last night, so she dashed forwards and opened it.
Fréya, I thought it best not to wake you as you looked like you needed the sleep. I am going to start looking for him at the Toyshop, stay here in case he comes back. Don't worry, we'll find him. B
"Balin." Fréya said with a sigh. Hopefully her friend would have some luck in finding him. She walked to the front door and stepped outside to take in a breath of fresh air. She looked up and noticed that, although it turned out she'd slept in till near midday, the sky was now an ugly shade of grey. The storm was rolling in and it was rolling in fast. Yet there was no sign of the storm having any intention to start, it just decided to move in early and linger until it was ready to unleash itself.
"I hope Fíli doesn't get caught out in this." Fréya muttered to herself before walking back in and shutting the door behind her so she could take a seat in the kitchen and wait for Fíli come home.