Chapter 6: The Plan


In no time at all they had gathered the rest of the company, except the still unconscious king and heir. Most of them had already heard the devastating news, and agreed to a quick search through all the camps, just in case Bilbo had been lucky and safe with either the humans or elves.

Two hours later they gathered once more and had the confirmation that nobody had seen their hobbit, since Bofur had glanced at him back in the human camp.

Kíli silently watched as the company descended into chaos, arguing between themselves for the right course of action. Chewing on his lips he cursed the fact that his uncle and brother were both still out for the count. They could have wrangled the rest of them into at least a coordinated mess, instead of this bickering nonsense that was currently playing out in front of him.

But Kíli? Kíli had always been more of a joker, the youngest, to be protected. He wasn't used to actually taking the reigns without a silent support from someone, who watched over his actions ready to intervene. Nor was he used to being taken seriously all that often.

Rolling his shoulders, ignoring the twinge of hurt in his arm, Kíli climbed to his feet slowly, letting his eyes trail over the rest of the company. What use was arguing to Bilbo? None. And the longer they took, the less likely it was they would find their hobbit alive.

What did they think they were doing?

"Itkit!" he growled and when none seemed to hear him he raised his fist.

"ITKIT!" with it he slammed his fist into a barrel that was standing in the small space between tents, where they had gathered so as to avoid being heard or disturbing the sick. The sudden silence was satisfying, but now he needed to back up his actions with a plan or they would just start up again. He felt sick with the responsibility, sick with fear of making the wrong choices. This wasn't him. He was supposed to make ridiculous choices and cause mayhem for his own amusement, not be the voice of reason. But right now it was not like he had much of a choice.

"Stop quarrelling. It is not the time, right now we have to act!" he scowled to hide his uneasiness and ploughed on "I want you split into two teams. Dwalin, Óin, Balin, Ori, Bombur you can't leave here. You are needed, or it will draw too much attention if you suddenly disappear." Balin nodded, a gleam in his eyes that made Kíli both happy and uneasy, for it looked too much like pride for his taste. Another thing he was not really used to. Disapproval or fond exasperation usually coloured his elders eyes, sometimes even hidden amusement.

"Nori, Dori, Bofur, Bifur, you could come with me. Glóin..." he looked at the red-haired dwarf "Do you think you can leave your duties to someone you would trust?" Glóin would be good to have with them. He had at least a mediocre understanding of how to patch up bigger wounds than the rest of them and with Óin unable to stray from the kings side, it would be invaluable to have, should Bilbo be in need of medical attention. To his surprise Ori stepped forward.

"I think I can take over the most important bits. I'm good with sorting and have a quick hand. Right now you are taking stock of what is in Erebor, and what is brought out, right?" They were using a small bit of Erebors gold to reach out for trade to the neighbouring settlements. For food and other items they would need to survive the winter. At Glóin's nod Kíli let out a sigh of relief.

"Okay. Dwalin's group, you go about your business." he gestured at the dwarves that had already started to divide into the two teams.

"The rest of you will come with me." At their protest he growled and waited until they were quiet again.

"I might not be able to shoot a bow right now, but I sure as hell can still fight." Kíli said "And that's beside the point. I have you to fight for me, should come to that." he rolled his eyes at another wave of protests "I'll go with you as a tracker."

Due to Kíli's reckless nature and him being prone to cause mischief, it was often overlooked that he was quite proficient in his area of expertise. Hunting, after all, wasn't only about shooting an arrow, but also about tracking the animals and anticipating their reactions. And that was something Kíli had dedicated himself to.

Without giving them a chance to reply this time he quickly added "Gather your stuff. Óin? Can you prepare a small med kit for Glóin?" and watched as the healer nodded and bustled away.

"Good." Kíli sighed and resisted the urge to slump to the ground in exhaustion. Responsibility was tiring. He really hoped that his tent-mates would wake soon and he would never have to do this again. Then again, now that Erebor was theirs once more, he wondered how long he could escape that cursed fate. For now thought there were more important things to do.

"I'll leave in half an hour. With or without you."


Notes:


I love Kíli and I think he is a lot more inteligent than his goofy and playful attitude let's him appear most of the time. I think he just really abhors responsibility and since Fíli is a big brother and overprotective, Dís is a menace to the world at large and Thorin is a grumpy, sourdwarf that scares everyone away and dislikes unloading his duty on others, he might not have had to do much of that at all.

Who else adores Kíli? :)
Anyways, he doesn't all that often play a bigger role in fanfictions, so I thought he might like to have some action to himself for once :P