Fili sat alone in the cold room, waiting and testing his bonds again; he shook his head, heart sinking as the familiar weight and clink of his braid didn't appear, the hair not bumping against his temple like it normally did. It felt like a part of his very being had been severed, but he told himself that things could have gone much worse, if the glint that had been in Bein's eyes was anything to go by. After he had chopped off his braid he had written a short note on some paper on the table, looking it over under candlelight, before slipping the braid inside and giving it and his blade to the other two men, muttering something to them before they walked out, leaving just he and Fili in the room.

Fili had regarded him with an angered intensity, but didn't give him the satisfaction of knowing how much what he had just done meant to him.

Bein didn't seem remotely interested, either- he'd paced the room, giving him an occasional glance and a glaring, toothy smile. Fili resolved to staring at the floor, counting the leaves curling at his feet, the gag preventing him from doing anything to improve his situation.

His mind had wandered to Kili, and what it meant if these men's words were true. If it were true, it meant that he had probably died frightened and alone, on an unfamiliar road, for no other reason than for being a dwarf. His hands curled, the leather biting into the flesh, but now Fili didn't care. Let them do what they wanted to to him, he had lost one of the few tethers to this world, what did he care now?

His thoughts were interrupted by a high pitched, screeching sound- Bein sharpening his knife on a whetstone. The man caught him watching; smiling sardonically he showed him the blade, eyes narrowed. 'Like it?' He asked, cocking his head to the side like he had done before. 'Don't you worry none- if the group you were with do as they're told, I will have no reason to use this...' He finished, before shrugging, a horrible glint in his eyes. 'O'course, if you were to play up...well, I'd have no choice, would I?' He walked over to Fili, who despite his best intentions moved his head backwards as the blade came toward his face again. Their eyes locked, blue intensity meeting dirty grey, before Bein did something Fili totally didn't expect; he lowered his gag.

Fili licked his lips, tongue roving over congealing blood, before opening his tired jaws.

'What do you want?' He managed to get out, his throat still dry.

'Haven't you been listening, savage?' The man said, shaking his head.

'Why?' Fili went on, shaking his own head as he tried to wrap his head around everything. 'Why resort to this?'

The man laughed,placing a finger across his top and bottom lip as if he was thinking.

'You and the other one came into a place we called our own, fighting and being arrogant...you come into OUR tavern, expecting to be treated as decent folk, when in reality you are savages, freaks from a time past gone!' He yelled, eyes ablaze.

Fili sat back, wondering just how much hate one person could hold. 'I apologise for the way we may have acted, and for being hot tempered with you, I really do- but there was no need to do this! You c-' the backhanded blow sent his face to the side; he sat back, breathing heavily as his cheek stung. He slowly turned back to Bein,whose face had contorted into a fixture of hate mixed with insanity.

'And you call me savage?' Fili whispered with a shake of his head.

Bein had stood back at that, his face upturned in a sneer. 'I've grown up hearing stories of the evilness and madness of the dwarven race...there is nothing I could possibly do to make me anything like you!' He spat, the knife still in his hand. Fili suppressed a frustrated laugh, but settled instead for a snort; these people knew nothing of the dwarven race except bastardised stories and blatant lies.

'When we set out from The Shire to capture you, we only had one goal- kill the one you were with, and then carve you up as a warning to any other trespasser...to show them what happens to folk who wander on our paths that don't deserve it.'

'Please, I already apologised!' Fili growled; now anger was setting in. The man raised his hand to strike him again, but the look in his eyes must have perturbed him, for he lowered his hand moments later. He breathed hard, as if collecting himself. 'But my boys bring news of a company, a group of you...'

'Please...leave them be! Your quarrel was with me and me alone!' Fili cried- he had heard the conversation that had taken place earlier, but he still had to try and stop them.

' I don't intend to kill them, savage! I leave the slaughter of innocents to your kind!' Bein spat, the blade now dangerously close to Fili's face once more.

' They must have money, riches, goods...we intend to ransom you for everything they have!'

Fili sat back again, knowing full well that Thorin and the rest of the group held no such riches. He didn't like to think what would happen once Bein and his men figured that out.

'We...my company and I...we are but simple dwarves, I-' the punch almost knocked him off his chair, and as Bein screamed in his face lines of spittle fell onto his cheeks.

' Do not lie to me! I did not grow up just hearing about the madness of dwarves! I grew up on tales of vast wealth, of the arrogance of dwarven kings, of hoards of gold, rubies and diamonds! You expect me to think your company of many dwarves do not have such riches?!'

'You have it all wrong, y-'

'How? Tell me savage, how could all those stories be wrong!'

'What you heard of happened an age ago, maybe even two ages! We hold no such treasure anymore, you must believe me, I-'

The slap echoed off the stone walls, and as Fili reeled from this latest assault Bein roughly pulled up his gag, pulling it tight around his mouth. 'You lie, as I knew you would! Your race are arrogant...you would keep the treasure to yourself while us simple folk starve and die below you! Well not me, and not my family!' He spat, tightening Fili's already tight bonds on his hands.

'But know this- if your company does not come through on our demands, if they pretend as you have done, and lie that they have no such treasure...' He held up the blade for Fili to see. 'I assure you I will use this blade, and not just once...' He stood up, admiring his handiwork- Fili glared up at him, an icy cold panic now settling into his chest as he processed the man's words.

'If you make it from this room, you will not be the dwarf you once were.'

Fili looked down at the floor at that, unwilling to give this madman anymore of his time- Bein chuckled at that, before stepping forwards and ruffling his hair with a calloused hand; Fili threw it off with a growl. Laughing, Bein stepped backwards, and Fili could hear him gathering the contents of the bag on the table. Moments later he heard the door open, then slam shut forcefully, the sound of boots on gravel slowly trailing away.

Only then, only then in the quiet and coldness of this stone prison, did Fili finally allow his emotions to overcome him. Tears streaked his cheeks, wet sobs threatening to choke him as images swirled in his mind of Kili lying motionless on the road, of Thorin and the others finding him, of his beloved brother going where he could not follow...

And now, as the night drew in around him, Fili shook with coldness and emotion. His sobs subsided into wet sniffles, and he sat still, listening for any sign of Thorin, of anyone in the dusk.

'What does it say? What does it say, uncle?' Kili pleaded, eyes wide as he watched Thorin read the note again- dusk was fast falling in the forest, leaving the group with no alternative than to travel to the clearing he and Fili had been tasked with finding, and making a camp for the night. Once they had settled, Thorin had re-read the note, holding it away from Kili for as long as he could; the message did not bode well, and his heart had only just stopped beating rapidly in his chest, anger and fear coursing his system- he did not want Kili to know, for as long as he could.

'Kili...listen to me, I-'

'He's my brother! I need to see what it says, please!' Kili growled, leaping for the note and snatching it from his uncle's grasp. Thorin stepped backwards, a hand on his nephew's shoulder, as Kili read the note, his eyes getting glassier and glassier as he read.

'Ransom….the treasure bestowed upon generations of dwarves….' He read outloud, loud enough for Gandalf to hear- the Wizard stood, eyes and face set in an angry expression.

'What does this part mean?' he asked, showing Thorin the note, pointing at a near illegible part.

'It means…it means that if they don't get what they want, they'll take their revenge on Fili….for each day we are late for our payment they will deliver something to us- and not just a braid.' Thorin replied, bile in his throat.

'What?' Kili cried, shaking his head. 'You mean they'll…'

'Yes Kili, that's what I mean,' Thorin nodded, before putting his forehead on Kili's and pressing hard. 'I will not let this happen- they are mere men, mere fools!'

'They want treasure, gold….we don't have anything!' Kili muttered, voice cracking. 'We need to find a village, we need to raise funds, we need to-'

'Kili, we will not need to for I intent to rescue your brother without need to pillage or steal!' Thorin said, taking hold of his nephew's face and levering it upwards so they faced each other- Kili's face was now streaked with tears, his eyes darting around for any sign of his brother.

'I will find your brother, and I will bring him back here- I will then bestow the fiery revenge of dwarven kind to his captors!' he promised, his voice faltering a little as Kili crumpled, shaking his head. He held him tight as rain started falling through the trees- after a while he moved his head backwards so their eyes met once more. 'We move at first light, you and me- the others I will leave behind to keep camp, and sort through our weapons….I did not think we'd need to use them so soon in our journey.' He said, looking down at Kili and rubbing the back of his head comfortingly. Kili sniffed, nodding.

'How do you know where he's gone?' he asked, eyes wide with fear.

'Balin found a trail, like….like a body was dragged through some underbrush.'

'Why don't we move now? We could take them by surprise…'

'And if we were to lose that element of surprise? Fili is as good as dead then- no, we go in light, in silence….with bow and blade.'

Kili nodded, turning away as emotion almost clouded over him- he needed to be strong now, for his brother's sake as well as his own. He sat apart from everyone else, who were sat in an uneasy silence, the crackling of the fire the only noise- each had a weapon in his hands, and each were checking it, tuning it, honing it, cleaning it….Thorin sat sharpening his blade with a whetstone, eyes dark as they scanned the forest. He got out his bow and arrows and a small blade, eyes narrowed as he struck the stone, sharpening the blades.

He was going to be ready by morning light, and he was going to get his brother back-

Whatever it took.

Next chapter- victory or defeat? Find out soon!

Thanks for reading, please review!