It wasn't long before they arrived at the intersection, and after a brief instruction of keeping away from anyone they didn't know on the road, Dwalin left them to their own deceives. It was only then Kili really felt is was being trusted to do something very important.

The land before them rolled out in rocky hills, with long scrubby grass, skinny trees and brush. Distantly stone formations stood on hills like silent sentries over looking the scattered landscape.

Small mound were scattered in the lower laying land, and Kili recognized several of them had holes hidden away beneath the tall grass. They had come for the connies, and as far as Kili could tell there were many of them for the picking, it was just tricking them into their taps.

Determined to prove himself, the young Dwarf set to looking for sturdy sticks, bent, y shaped or straight depending on the snare, any of were useful, and branches to whittle into triggering mechanisms for traps. They had already gathered enough rope to form loops to close around the animal.

"I'd whittle and you can make the knots. " Fili said as he walked around the field in search of sticks.

"K, you know, not seeing many sticks here." Kili observed. "Might have to further to get some by the trees up the hills there." He pointed to the scrubland ahead of them. "As long as we keep the road in sight we should be safe."

Fili nodded. "Ok, but we need to stay way from the hills with the big tall rocks. This way, we won't go near the Barrow Downs."

Straightening himself as tall as he could Kili glared at his brother. "I'm a dwarf warrior, I'm not scared of Ghost Stories. Grownups always use them to get us to do as they want."

Fili shrugged. "Well, I'm a warrior too, or will be…"

"So ghost stories shouldn't scare you either." It was a logical thought, after all, what could a ghost do? They scared you, just like in the stories his mother told when he was bad or ran off to play after dark. "I'd be more worried about Orcs and stuff, they'll really eat you."

"But Orcs rarely come this far from the mountains." Fili bent over and picked up a good sized stick.

"So we'll be safe. Mister Dwalin just wants us to not to get lost that is all. " As they walked, Kili found several nice sticks, one of them with a Y shape, perfect for making a rolling snare. He smiled and waved it to Fili. "If we find a few more of these, we might not need to do as much whittling!"

The other boy smiled and nodded, he looked worried, but Kili knew he was thinking about ghosts and Mister Dwalin. "Kili I have to keep you safe, so we have to be careful. It's my hide that will get beaten if you get hurt."

"You always keep me safe, Fii, so I'm not worried at all." Kili hoped his words were reassuring enough to his brother, but wasn't sure. He didn't want to get hurt because the idea of Fili getting a beating for it up set him. If he got hurt, it wouldn't be Fili's fault, Fili always looked out for him, he was just hard to keep up with. "And besides, if I get hurt, I'll tell them it is my fault, so Uncle Throin will have to punish me. If I get into trouble, you're the one who saves me, so you should be praised for it…"

It never really worked out that way. Fili was going to be the King someday. Uncle Thorin and their mother wanted him to learn responsibility. Looking out for Kili was a part of it.

Kili stopped walking near a small group of saplings. The tree also had some good sturdy branches that were flexible It would be a good place to set some rolling snares. When they had enough sticks they could start there.

Approaching the tree, Fili stooped to pick up more sticks before coming to a stop at Kili's side. "Kili." He started blue eyes meeting with Kili's. "Thanks for believing in me. I know if I get into trouble, you'll be there too." He touched his brother's shoulder with a hand and gave it a pat. "We should get the rest of these sticks so we can finish the snares before sunset. It will be very hard to see where we are going if it gets dark. "

It wouldn't be dark for some time, but Fili was right, making and setting the snares would take most of the day, and they needed to finish collecting sticks so they could start.

Kili wasn't sure how long they gathered sticks, but by the time they finished setting all their snares, they were well away from the road, and in the middle of a grassy knoll between rocky mounds. The sun was already going down and Kili's belly grumbled.

Loudly. Exhausted the young dwarf sat down on the grassy earth, and slowly wiggling out of his backpack. Across from him, Fili stood, surveying the hills around them.

The sky was cloudy and the air was moist from a soft spray of rain. A thick fog rolled in from the stone covered hills near the barrows. The temperature started to drop.

"We won't go near the Downs, don't worry." Fili glanced to Kili reassuringly. "Don't you remember all those lessons about the wars there?"

"Think I slept." Kili admitted. Sometimes staying awake during a history lesson was difficult, and Kili found ways of nodding off without Mister Balin noticing. In hindsight, he felt ashamed about it. If he had listened more, maybe he'd understand the stone structures they saw. They looked like old broken bits of buildings. He remembered ruins in the Blue Mountains. His mother told him it was once a great Dwarven Kingdom but it just rubble now. "We'll be ok here, I know it's not where Mister Dwalin told us to camp, but we pretty far from those ruins."

Nodding, Fili dropped down beside him, is gaze on the hills around them. "It will be really dark before we get back, and I don't want to get lost." He admitted. "But if we build a fire and shelter here, we'll be able to stay warm, and the hills will give us cover from strangers." The older boy shivered and rubbed his arms. "I just hope it doesn't rain harder, I'll really miss that camping spot then, even with a shelter here, we're gonna get wet."

Stretching, Kili thought about the knoll. They had plenty of spare branches to build a quick shelter, but Fili was right. Sitting between the hills would make the water pool up over the shale. The clay earth was too hard to absorb the water quickly. "We'll have to camp higher then, But if we are on hill we might been seen from the road."

Fili rubbed his slight golden whiskers on his chin. "Well, we could camp with in one of the hills, I remember seeing a stone overhang on one. I know we'll be closer to the ruins, but we'll stay dry."

It was easier than building a shelter. Kili stood up and pulled is pack back up on his back and gathered his wood. "We'll have more wood for fire then."

"And be slightly off the ground so the water won't soak our camp and gear." Fili picked up his pack too, and started up the hill.

Larger droplets of rain kissed his cheeks as Kili followed. He was looking forward to a warm fire, and some dried meat. He was famished.

After a some time of wandering in a thick fog and dark they found what Fili thought was the right spot. It was pouring by the time they had their fire and camp set up in a rectangular shale crevasse with a nice piled slate stone over hang that covered a smooth floor. The side and back walls were mossy and over grown with weeds. Enough of the camp was safe from rain so the boys felt confident they'd stay dry for the evening.

Already, the heavy fog crept in over the ground and was only held at bay at the mouth of their little cave by the warm crackling fire.

It was chilly and the rain rapped endlessly against the grassy earth. It made a pleasant pitter patter on the roof of the overhang. Kili edged closer to the fire, and held out his hands in an attempt to warm himself. Across from him, Fili wrapped himself in a thick wool blanket and leaned his back against the stonewall behind him. "I wonder what mom is doing." Kili asked.

Fili shrugged as he chewed on some beef jerky. "Worrying about us, probably. Don't think they expected this weather, it was really warm and sunny today."

"I wonder if it will make it harder to catch rabbits in our traps? We might need to wait another day." Kili broke off a piece of bread and chewed it. They were just about finished with a meal of cheese, beef jerky, dried fruit and bread. What wasn't in their bellies, was packed away for morning. "Bread is good."

"We're starved, anything tastes good." Fili observed. He looked out of the cave and drew his knees closer. "All that fog could be used for cover by an attacker or a predator."

Kili shrugged, he studied the fog and felt a surge of anxiety. It seemed to drift and boil as the rain splashed the puddles beneath it. "If we keep watching, we'll be ok."

The idea of sleeping made Kili uneasy all the sudden. It was almost as if the fog was alive. "So do you remember what Mister Balin said about the Barrow Downs? Are those ruins of a great city like the ones in Nogrod, and Belegost? They're so old that there is nothing but funny shaped stones instead of walls."

"It used to be a kingdom of men a very long time ago." Replied Fili. "They called it Cardolan. I think before that, it was a part of the kingdom of Arnor. But it fell after a great battle with evil powers."

The story didn't make Kili feel any braver. He watched the fog disquieted. It was thicker and Kili thought he saw swirling shapes in it. He took a last bite of his bread and stared at the murk suspiciously. "Maybe people see ghosts because there is a lot of fog here?"

"Might be, but Mister Dwalin insisted the Downs were haunted." Fili explained. "And Ghosts are real."

Kili never saw a real ghost. He just knew the stories and didn't want to think of them. In fact he started to feel bad about all his boasting earlier that day. He quickly stowed the remains of his bread in his back. "We're safe here."

"With a wall against our back and a warm fire." Fili agreed. He finished his jerky and stretched his legs. He sounded brave and Kili admired that. "Evil things don't like fire."

Fili's words relieved Kili some. He turned form the fog, and took to looking into the fire. "But what would be do if something evil did come here? We need a plan."

" Just use the stick of fire to drive them away." Fili explained after much silence. "And we need to keep the fire going until morning. We're up away from the puddles, the rain isn't coming in, and we collected a lot of sticks to keep it going for a good long time." He tossed Kili a blanket from Kili's pack up against the back of the cave. "Don't get all scared on me, Kili, weren't you the one boasting about how you were not afraid of ghosts?"

Fili would remind him of that. Kili puffed his cheeks out and exhaled. "And I'm still not. I just don't want anything to creep out of the fog, like an Orc, we've never fought orcs before."

"Sure." A smirk crossed Fili's face. "More like a wolf, or a bear. Better keep that bow of yours handy."

Pouting, Kili picked up the blankets and unintentionally sprinkled breadcrumbs over it from is clothing. "Don't rub it in. It's pretty dark now, and it's raining, this trip isn't turning out the way I thought it would."

Even the blanket didn't cut the chill. The younger dwarf scooted in closer to his brother's side, and leaned into him for body heat. At least they were dryer now, he'd be miserable if he still soaked. The more he thought of it, Kili was too tired to be miserable. He yawned.

"Yeah, I'm cold too." Fili informed. "We should share blankets, they are more than big enough for both of us and we'll be warmer."

It was a good idea, Fili and Kili often shared their mother's bed for warmth at night. The camps could get very cold in winter and it wasn't unusual for families to sleep together.

The boys quickly shared blankets and lay close to each other for warmth. With the two blankets, fire and shared body warmth, Kili felt better. The fog outside was less scary too. "Who should take first watch?"

"I will." Fili replied. "I'll wake you when it is your turn."

The younger brother nodded, and closed his eyes. Fili would protect him while he slept and if there was trouble, he'd wake up ready for a fight. Comfortable on the smooth ground, the dwarfling curled up on his side and his mind drifted to thoughts of snare building and delicious rabbit stew.