Nope still don't own any of this.

"Kíli! Can you hear me?" a feminine voice called out.

The dwarfling let out a weak moan. Was it really time to open up his eyes now? Did he have to? But wait, who was that voice calling? Was it him? Was he Kíli? Did he know that voice? Maybe it really was time to open up his eyes, even if it was just to find out the answers to his questions.

He was able to let his eyelids flutter open before having to close them again. The light, too bright! He whimpered in protest.

"That's right, Kíli, come on," a male's voice cut in this time.

This time he obeyed, that voice was just too demanding for him not to. He opened up his eyes fully for the first time in days. He was lying in a very large bed that was big enough to sleep four full-grown dwaves comfortably without them touching. The dwarfling found himself surrounded by faces of dwarves that looked like he should know them, but when he went to think about who they are, he found a big block in his mind.

What was that? There was a dark-haired younger dwarrowdam standing in front of a slightly older salt-and-pepper haired dwarrowdam on one side of him. They had a look upon their faces of sorrow, loss, and weariness. At the foot of the bed stood a young auburn-haired dwarf who had a look of utmost concern on his face.

The three dwarves seemed to be having a staring contest with him, but the more he stared at the auburn-haired dwarf, the more familiar he felt. Who were these people? Did he know them? Were some of them the ones who were speaking to him and calling him Kíli? The dwarfling whimpered, effectively ending the contest.

"KÍLI, MY BABY!" the dwarrowdam exclaimed as she reached down to grab him in his arms.

The dwarfling looked at her. Nope, not familiar to him at all. Not remembering who she was to him, he did the only thing he could do to stop her, he screamed, causing the door he did not realize was there to open. More dwarves rushed in.

The dwarrowdam stopped just before she could grab him and she frowned. "Kíli, you don't recognize me?"

The dwarfling looked at her again. He did not remember her at all, nor the older dwarf behind her. The auburn-haired dwarf at the foot of the bed looked like he could be familiar, but he was not sure. He watched as the dwarrowdam turned around to sob into the older dwarf.

"Grandfather," she weeped, as the auburn-haired dwarf shook his head.

Something was wrong here thought the dwarfling, and the wrong thing was him. The dwarfling did the only thing he could do, he screamed again as the dwarves that rushed into the room before swarmed around him and began to pull and poke him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Eydis, I'm scared," said Oydis as the sound of a warg pierced through the calm winter sky for the first time.

Eydis only responded by pulling her sister into a hug, as Bombur pulled the cart further and further away from the Gap of Rohan. It certainly looked like it was about to start snowing again. That would not be a bad thing if it did, thought Fíli as he sat in the back corner of the wagon next to where Ase was walking.

There was no safe place for the caravan to go without the chance of being caught by the wargs and eaten for the next meal. The snow would at least slow the orcs down creating some distance between them and the caravan.

Fíli turned his attention to the others in and with the wagon. Tyr was sleeping in Eluf's lap in the opposite corner where Bifur was walking. Bofur was walking next to Eydis and Oydis closer to the front of the wagon. Behind them all were the rest of the wagons in the caravan.

It did not take Fíli long to realize that Bombur was the leader of the caravan, and whatever he said, the others followed. In a strange way, Bombur was like his great-grandfather; instead of being King under the Mountain, he was King of the nomadic caravan.

Bofur seemed to take the place of his grandfather, sometimes taking orders from his brother and sometimes issuing them. Ase was easy, she was like his mother. Bifur on the other hand was the strangest. He was not quite like Uncle Thórin in his role, as he really wasn't learning anything from Bofur. He was more or less just there. It was a tough parallel for Fíli to draw, since there was not one. Perhaps it was more or less like Uncle Frérin, just there?

Fíli watched as Tyr winced in his sleep as the wheel of the cart hit a bump. How he could sleep through all of this, he had no idea. The girls were still hugging one another that might be their way of coping with this. Eluf just looked dejected, like he just did not care. This had to have happened before, thought Fíli. Nomads, of course. Eluf also looked like he was in pain with Tyr's full weight on him. Fíli thought about helping Eluf share the weight of Tyr, but he did not think Ase would appreciate a mud covered Tyr.

She already had to deal with muddy clothes from Bombur, Bofur, and Bifur, no thanks to Fíli and his love/hate relationship with the ground. He really needed a bath, as he had not had one since the night before he ran from Erebor. He could only imagine how he looked, he had not seen a reflection of himself in days. He could feel the mud on his face, in his hair, he could see his once blue tunic now night colored and torn in many places. He looked like a pauper, not a one-time prince.

He frowned at the thought of his family, well one-time family. What would they think of him now, looking the way he felt?

A gasp and the tipping of the wagon brought everyone back to the world of awareness. Somehow, Fíli ended up on Eydis's lap with Oydis hanging on for dear life at the edge of the wagon with Bofur trying to push her back in the wagon. He took a quick look back, Eluf and Tyr had replaced him in his corner.

How this happened, he could not even start to explain. All he heard though behind him was a series of various gasps, whoas, and belongings falling out of wagons. Then there was an eerie silence like everyone knew they were about to be attacked by orcs. Luckily, none made themselves known. The sound of a baby crying broke through the stillness.

"Is everyone okay back there?" Bombur shouted back towards the other wagons, while Bofur, Ase, and Bifur helped the dwarflings fix their belongings and themselves in the cart.

No one in the back shouted that they were injured or something was broken. However, they were now stopped and with the short winter nights upon them, daylight was slowly fading into times unknown. Orcs tended to attack at night, or at least that is what Balin had told him. Fíli had never asked if that was true, and he never wanted to find out. He had no idea where in Middle Earth they were right now, and the scary part about it was that Bombur did not look like he knew where they were either.

This place could not be a safe place, could it be? They were completely exposed out in the open with a running stream to the right of them. And there were mountains in the distance to the left.

On the horizon there looked like there was some sort of forest. Fíli was too far away to determine what forest it was, it could not have been Mirkwood again could it be? They were not taking him back to Erebor were they? He squinted, trying to focus his eyes on the distant forest. The forest looked too green for it to be Mirkwood, perhaps it was another elven realm? He had no time to begin to determine which it was with the fading daylight.

Suddenly, three dwarves came running from the direction of the forest. When did they go past them? They spoke to Bombur with Fíli catching words like cave, forest, large, and not deep. It seemed like a good place to hide for a while so the orcs could bypass them.

Fíli made a motion with his hands to pull attention to himself to have the floor to tell them to head to the cave, like Uncle Thórin taught him to do in court. Catching Eydis's green eyes on him, he quickly pulled back. That was a close one, risking exposing the truth about himself like that, and now he pulled even more suspicion from her. Fíli could tell that she was about to ask him something about what he just did when Bombur picked up the cart and they began to move again. Eydis looked away.

Fíli let out a breath he did not even know he was holding. It was not entirely impossible that someone in this caravan was from Erebor and would recognize his name and try to return him. It was also entirely possible that that someone had told Eydis about the royal family and their names. Fíli had to be extra careful around her for a while until her suspicion rose.

As for anyone recognizing him by looks, he was sure he was unrecognizable though being mud covered and everything. He was safe, at least from anyone recognizing him for now.

Being safe from the orcs however, now that was a totally separate story, did they have an intense sense of smell that they would be to tell one dwarf from another, especially being able to recognize a dwarf from the Line of Durin? That was something to watch out for as well.

Night had fallen fully by the time Bombur and the caravan reached the cave. It was not deep at all, it was more or less a large hole in a gigantic rock that was just deep enough for the caravan to remain hidden in the shadows should orcs come upon them.

It would do for the night. Bomur set the cart down as Bifur and Bofur began to unload it with the help of the four dwarflings. Fíli went ahead to grab a blanket to hand to Bifur when hands grabbed him from behind and out of the cart.

"Hey!" he cried in protest, but it went unheeded.

He had no idea who had him or even where he was going, as he captor brought him to the other side of the wagon where Ase was taking things out of the wagon and placing them into a basket. He was placed on his feet next to her.

"Here is he, Love," said Bombur (who had obviously been his captor) as he bent down to kiss Ase.

"Thank you, Bombur, I can handle him from here."

Fíli gulped what did she mean by "handle"?

Ever since they had found Fíli's torn shirt Thórin had not lifted his gaze up from the ground. He was finding his feet and the fallen snow more fascinating than his family, friends, and companions.

No one would even talk or walk next to him. Everyone was socially exiling him, and by Mahal, did he deserve it. Legolas and Tauriel walked with Thráin, Víli, and Frérin up front, while he walked way behind the dwarven and elven guards accompanying the group. He was certain that Dwalin would not even care to turn around to at least check on him at this point.

Thórin felt like crying by now, he was not part of this company any longer and he was sure he was disowned by his family. Disowned, just like he did to Fíli. It was a taste of his own medicine and he knew deep down he deserved it.

He did not have to be out here looking for his nephew; he was not invited to do so. He was the one who sought out the gate guard to find out where his father, brother, and brother-in-law were going; he was the one who ran to follow them out, and he was the one who caused all of this in the first place.

Thórin would not blame his family if they never spoke to him again. His nephews would each be a better king than he would be anyways. Thórin felt so miserable at his thoughts. He knew what he had to do. He had to make this right, had to right this wrong, all by himself. No one would notice him missing, and he did not think anyone would care.

Thórin followed the company out of Mirkwood but was falling more and more behind the guards. It was getting to the point where he could barely make out the tattooed head of Dwalin, or the star shaped hair of Nori.

He watched as his father lead the company to a fork in the path, one path led towards the Misty Mountains, and the other, the Gap of Rohan. Thórin stopped behind a rock when the company stopped at the fork. He watched as Legolas, at least, he thought it was Legolas as that there were no other Mirkwood elves up front with blonde hair that glistened in the light of dusk, bend his head to discuss something with his father (the obvious person), and then they took the path that led up to the mountains. He waited until the last guard was out of his eyesight, which happened once darkness prevailed. Thórin came around the rock and began his journey towards the other path, the path that led to the Gap of Rohan. He was going to make this right.

Fíli, I'm coming for you, Thórin thought to himself.

"Go away!" Kíli yelled at Narvi, the healer, who had once again came into his room to check on him.

The dwarfling on the bed, whom he found out was him, the mysterious Kíli everyone was talking too, was scared at everyone and everything. He had no recollection of who he was save his name that he learned that day, where he even was (a room that he was sure about), and who these people were that kept coming in.

He wanted nothing to do with the black haired dwarrowdam who had grabbed him earlier that day. She was scary. However, there was something familiar about her, something very familiar, like he should know her and the auburn-haired dwarf that took her out the room earlier. He wished he could remember.

The only one in the room with him at that moment was the older dwarf who was wearing a colorful crown of mithril and every stone imaginable. The dwarf Kíli had to admit was strangely familiar, there was also something regal about him.

He was wearing a crown if the dwarfling remembered correctly, a crown meant royalty, a leader. The older dwarf had been visited by groups of dwarves throughout the day wearing regal robes that had bowed to him. They all thought Kíli was asleep but he able to watch them through half-opened eyes. The dwarf was sitting in a chair that had been placed alongside his bed. Kíli wished he could remember who he was, he seemed very important to the world outside the door, but to Kíli as well.

Kíli wanted to speak to the older dwarf, perhaps he had the answers he needed. Would he answer them? The dwarfling wished he could remember when he was younger, wished he could remember anything. The older dwarf realized that was Kíli staring at him. He stood up and sat down on the edge of the bed.

"Do you know who I am?" Thrór asked him softly.

Kíli whispered honestly, "No."

Thrór frowned at that. He bent down so his face was just over Kíli's. The dwarfling did not feel frightened though, like he did earlier when the dwarrowdam had grabbed him. He felt like he could trust him that is why he did not scream when Thrór kissed him on the top of the head.

"My poor, poor boy. My little Kíli, you don't deserve this. You don't deserve any of this. I only wish you would remember us, your mother, your cousin, me. I only wish your father, uncles, and brother were here. Fíli would help you, I know he would. But it's all Thórin's fault why he's not, and why your like this." Thrór whispered.

Kíli's eyes opened up wide at that. Who were these people the dwarf mentioned, and was the dwarf sitting next to him family? He had a brother? He had uncles? Who were Fíli and Thórin? These names felt so familiar to him but he could not find the answer why in his head.

"Who are you?" Kíli whispered, letting the older dwarf know his confusion.

The dwarf looked like he was about to cry, and for an elder to cry, something must be very wrong. The dwarf put his hand on top of Kíli's and squeezed.

"I'm your great-grandfather, Kíli. Your mother's father's father," the King under the Mountain told his great-grandson solemnly.

Kíli was in shock, he was the great-grandson of royalty? He did not believe it, so he did the only thing that seemed to get people of the room. He screamed.

Fíli whimpered as Ase dunked his head underneath the stream, it was cold! Under the light of a dim lantern, she was giving him a bath, his first in a number of days. Handling turned out to be something totally harmless and quite welcome, as he was finally getting the mud that had caked all over him. Fíli felt that she was really working her fingers through his curly hair, it must be very tangled.

All of the sudden he had a flash of something in his mind, of this same dwarrowdam holding him over the river in Erebor. That was crazy though, he had never met her before in his life before this morning, and he was certain she had never been to Erebor.

"Ow!" He screamed as she pulled a little too hard.

"I'm sorry sweetie. That was very knotted up, I have to tug the mud out," she said in a motherly tone.

Fíli smiled to himself, she called him sweetie, just like Dís used to and in the same tone of voice. This might work itself out after all.

Ase rubbed something into his hair that smelt like wet grass and summer flowers. But, it was January, or was it February now he was never good with dates. And why did it smell like flowers? She ran his head underneath the stream again.

"Almost have your hair clean, Fíli. You didn't tell us you have blonde hair, thought it was black." Ase said as she continued to scrub his hair under the dim lantern light.

Uh oh, thought Fíli, someone could recognize him if his true hair color was coming through.

Ase finished up with his hair and began to scrub his body with a cake of soap. He laughed, that really tickled. Ase realized he was laughing, and began to laugh as well with him. She put the soap down on the ground and tickled his tummy. The harder Fíli laughed, the harder Ase laughed. It was an all-out laughter war in the dark of night!

"Got you!" Ase said as she placed Fíli completely into the stream. Always an ulterior motive with adults and baths.

"Ahh! Cold!" Fíli screamed, he was not expecting that at all.

Ase dunked him in a couple of more times. "All done!" she exclaimed as she pulled him out and wrapped a large raggy towel around him.

Fíli smiled, for the first time in days he felt like himself again. Could he ever be himself again though after what happened and what was said to him?

Ase allowed him to dry himself off, he certainly was old enough, before turning around and handing him an old tunic of Bofur's. He was taller than Eluf, despite being around the same age. He took after his uncle and grandfather in that respect. All of the sudden Ase gasped. Fíli turned his head towards her, she was holding her hand over hermouth.

"Whats wrong?" Fíli asked as he realized she was holding leggings for him. She must have gotten a glimpse of him in the lantern light.

"You're-you're Prince Fíli, of Erebor!" She stuttered.

Fíli's only thought was uh oh, she knows…

A/N: Thank you a ton to my beta! This chapter now feels a lot better.