I wonder how many people hated me for the last chapter… anyways, thanks to all of you for the reviews I got! It was actually quite overwhelming and I am honoured and flattered and incredibly happy that you enjoy the story so much!

I was asked by Cockapoo what the title means so a quick reply to that: the Men-i-Naugrim is the old Forest Road that leads from the Misty Mountains, across the Anduin and through the Mirkwood. In the past it was used only by dwarves as a trade-route and basically means "Road of the Dwarves" or something similar, which I though fits the story quite nicely ;)

So, onto the next chapter then?

"DO SOMETHING!"

Gandalf stared at Kíli, completely bewildered. Never before had anyone yelled at him like that. Never before had he seen such desperation on anyone.

"YOU'RE A WIZARD AREN'T YOU?! DO SOMETHING DAMNIT! SAVE HIM!"

Kíli was still kneeling on the ground, held by Dori who tried to calm the young dwarf but any attempt was to no avail. Pain was eating the youngster alive and now he vented his anger and despair at someone. Anyone.

Thorin and Glóin carefully lifted Fíli from the ground and carried him over to a small group of bushes and broom. The elder brother still didn't move and Thorin swallowed hard as he saw his nephew lying there like this.

"WHAT KIND OF WIZARD ARE YOU, THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN SAVE ANYBODY!"

Nobody could have stopped Kíli in his rage at this moment. He was young and blunt and never in his life had he suffered like this. Not even his own injuries seemed to matter right now, all he saw was the motionless body of his brother.

Maybe it was Kílis desperation that made Gandalf try in the end. He kneeled besides Fíli, closely examining the youngster, feeling for a heartbeat, whispering words that none of them understood. It took a while but eventually his face lit up.

"He's alive", he muttered. "He's alive!"

Immediately Kíli stopped, staring at the wizard in disbelief. The world moved in slow motion, he didn't hear or see anything clearly. Alive? He was alive? They youngster just sat there, staring into nothing as one single tear rolled down his cheek.

"Boil some water! Quickly! Óin, I need you to take care of the boy as well as you can!", Gandalf ordered, getting up from his spot. He put on his hat and grabbed his staff.

"What are you doing?", Thorin demanded, his voice rough and displeased.

"I have an urgent errand to run. Do not worry, Thorin Oakenshield, I will be back before morning. You have my word."

They made a fire, boiled water in a pot and bedded Fíli on all the blankets they had. While Óin tended to the bite on Fílis side, Kíli sat beside his brother, again chewing on some poppy seeds to blank out his own pain. Bilbo sat close by, once again mesmerized by the mutual love that the brothers shared.

When the water was boiled, Ori handed Kíli a facecloth and he carefully began to wash the dirt and blood off his brothers face, his hands still shaking. The wound on his side got cleaned as well and Óin disinfected it with a mixture of herbs, preparing a bandage to quicken the healing process. As soon as he was done, he pulled another blanket over Fíli and began packing up his belongings.

"Will he be alright?", Kíli asked, calmer than before.

"As long as his wound won't get infected, he'll be fine I suppose", the old dwarf muttered, clasping his hearing aid in one hand. "He's very brave, your brother."

"Or stupid", came a low growl from a darker corner of the camp. Thorin sat a little aside the rest of them. He had taken care of his own wound, not wanting anyone to notice it.

"A bit of both probably", Kíli admitted, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "When will he wake up?"

Óin tilted his head gently. "Hard to say. He needs a good rest for his body to recover. I guess all the anxiety got the best of him now. Just let him sleep. He will wake up when he's ready."

Kíli nodded, not entirely satisfied with the answer but at least his brother would survive.

Bilbo still sat a few inches away, his chin resting in the palms of his hands. Never had he encountered something as fascinating as those two dwarves. He flinched a little, when Kíli suddenly addressed him.

"Thank you."

"Huh? Me? For what?", he asked puzzled.

"For finding him", Kíli smiled gently. "If it wasn't for you, we might have never found him. Or found him too late. You saved his life, you know?"

"Me? Oh no. No no, I didn't- I", the hobbit blushed badly. "I did nothing really."

Of course it was plain modesty speaking here, for the hobbit was most thrilled and excited at the thought that he might have saved someone's life. He had never saved anybody before.

"We should tell him when he wakes up. I'm sure he'd want to thank you as well."

"Bah!", Bilbo made a discarding gesture with his hand, causing Kíli to grin a little. He saw right through little Master Baggins but enjoyed his act too much as to call him upon it.

Sometime during the night, when most of the camp was fast asleep and only Nori and Glóin looked after the fire, Thorin got up from his place offside and made his way to his nephews. Kíli had fallen asleep leaning against one of the many scattered rocks with Fílis head on his lap. The cuts and scratches made the blond dwarf look a little rough and much older than he actually was, yet Thorin couldn't help but smile a little.

Young and stupid. That's what they were for sure. Naïve as well, carefree and absorbed into a world full of adventure and great deeds.

Thorin settled next to Kíli, taking off his coat to put it around his nephews shoulders. Nothing, not even the missing key, seemed to matter right now while he watched his sleeping family. Years ago he had lost his grandfather in battle. His father and brother shortly after that. Just the thought of losing one more member of his family in war was unbearable for him.

Unnoticed by Thorin, Glóin and Nori curiously glanced towards the small family gathering, quietly smiling to themselves.

When the next morning came, Fíli still hadn't opened his eyes. Though Kíli seemed less stressed out than the night before, he secretly wished for Fíli to wake up, to hear his voice again and maybe even see him smile a little. He therefore barely left his brothers side and needed to be forced to help the others pack up.

"Just let him rest now", Óin muttered, getting a little pissed off with the youngster constantly bustling around his brother. "I told you he needs rest, didn't I?"

"Leave the boy be", Glóin chuckled, patting his brother on the back. "I don't think even Kílis babbling will wake the lad up."

And it didn't and Kíli babbled a lot. He told his brother how worn out everyone looked, how Thorin tried badly not to limp, earning himself a small smack, then proceeded to tell Fíli how Thorin had just smacked him. It probably was Kílis very own way of dealing with his unconscious brother so the others let him, some of them even listening quite amused.

Around sunrise, Gandalf appeared again and he wasn't alone.

"Goodness", Dwalin muttered under his breath, when he recognized the wizard's companion. "Not that tramp again."

It was the shaggy frame of Radagast the Brown that appeared in the thick morning fog by Gandalfs side. His sledge, pulled by his infamous Rhosgobel rabbits, jolted along the dry grass slowly aside the wizards. Everyone watched curiously, as the two wizards arrived at the camp.

"The boy's over there", Gandalf mentioned to Radagast, pointing at Fíli.

"Ah!", the doddery wizard exclaimed. "Now that's not exactly a squirrel, is it?!"

"You will still help him, won't you?"

"Yes, yes, let's see what we can do. We'll see", Radagast muttered, leaving his sledge and the rabbits to hurry over to the wounded boy and his brother, who wasn't quite sure whether to defend Fíli or not.

"Squirrel?", Thorin asked, looking at Gandalf.

"Well, he cares more for wounded animals than dwarves, so I had to lie a little", Gandalf admitted, quietly smirking to himself. "Don't worry, Radagast is a better healer than I am. If anyone can help your nephew, then it's him."

Radagast shooed the completely puzzled Kíli aside and the young dwarf shot a questioning glance at his uncle, who merely shrugged. Thorin didn't trust the big folk too much but at least this one wasn't an elf. Kíli took a few steps back but still stayed close enough for Radagast to look at him for a while.

"And what's the matter with you?", he asked, unsure whether he should be annoyed or not.

"I-", Kíli cleared his throat. "I'm his brother."

"Ah, I see. Yes yes, family bonds, not uncommon amongst squirrels and other rodents."

"I'm a dwarf!", the youngster protested.

"I know! Now shoo for goodness sake, how am I supposed to look at him when you're so close?!"

Radgast quietly muttered to himself while he examined the bite on Fílis side, clearly criticising the messy bandage and the choice of herbs, which upset Óin a little, causing him to huff and scuffle off.

"So? What do you think?", Gandalf asked after a while.

"Yes yes", Radagast muttered, getting up again. "Nasty bite that is. It must've been a pretty big warg, those are not too common around here."

"Where did it come from?", Thorin asked.

"Hm? That one? Looks like an Ered Luin dwarf to me."

"Not my nephew, the warg!", Thorin replied a little annoyed. "I know very well where my own kin comes from."

"Oh, right! Well, a warg as big as that one is probably from the Kingdom of Angmar up at Mount Gundabad."

Now all the dwarves were listening attentively for they had a long history with Mount Gundabad that was deeply embedded in their roots. The only one still immensely puzzled was Kíli, for unlike his brother, he was actually quite bad at remembering facts and names but preferred the overall adventure story.

Thorin remembered the light brown warg running up north and a stern expression soon hung on his features.

"Is there a pack of them at Gundabad?"

"Of course", Radagast nodded. "The Gundabad wargs are fierce allies of the Orcs of Angmar. They settled down at the mountain in the late Second Age if I'm not mistaken."

Gandalf exchanged a glance with the leader of their company, knowing exactly what was going around in his head. If the warg had fled to Mount Gundabad with the key, they needed to travel there to get it back.

"It's a dangerous journey", Gandalf reminded Thorin quietly. "Too dangerous with two injured youngsters."

"And a hobbit!", Bilbo chirped up, who wasn't too fond of anything dangerous at the moment.

"Nothing's too dangerous!", Kíli exclaimed, seemingly offended. "I can face plenty more wargs if I have to!"

"Only you haven't faced any yet and you still can't use your weapons!", Thorin reminded him bluntly, immediately causing his nephew to shut up.

"We'll need to split up then", Gandalf suggested. "The ones that can fight will travel to Mount Gundabad. The ones that can't will stay with Radagast until they feel better, then they follow us."

"What? With me?", the tattered wizard asked, looking at Kíli, Bilbo and the still unconscious Fíli. "Oh no Gandalf, no no, by all means, I'm not a designated babysitter."

"And I'm not a baby!", Kíli hissed but everyone simply ignored him.

"Oh, don't worry", Gandalf smiled. "We could send our infamous mother hen with you, to look after the boys."

All eyes were suddenly on poor Dori, who would have never believed that his caring nature one day might make him the personal foster mother for two generally bad behaving dwarf princes. "Oh no. No, I refuse! I will not watch over those two! No offense, but those boys only behave when one of them is unconscious. No!"

The company remained silent for a moment, contemplating what to do, for it was clear to them and especially Thorin, that they would need someone who could guide them back to the rest of the company. Someone who knew how to read maps and was used to travelling at least a little.

"I could go with them", they suddenly heard a quiet, timid voice from the back. It was young Ori who had chirped up, clasping his leather-bound book in his arms.

"You?!", Kíli laughed.

"Well, why not? I- I know the area… a little. B-better than you!"

The dwarves muttered and whispered all over the place and Thorin didn't seem quite content yet. Sending someone so young and just as inexperienced with his nephews didn't sound like a good idea. It was Balin who spoke up again, calm and reserved as usual. Good old Balin, doing all the thinking for the bunch once more.

"The lad is right though, Thorin. His family are wanderin' merchants right? He's been up at the Ered Mithrin. Send the youngsters together, see how far they can get. Put yer eldest in charge when he's well, it's a lesson te be learned."

Thorin pondered over the idea a little more, ignoring Kílis claims of how he would be an excellent leader as well, before he nodded to himself.

"It's decided then!", Thorin declared.

You didn't really think I would kill one of my favorite dwarves now, did you? :P