Updated for you (want to try and get this up before DOS comes out - IT'S SO CLOSE!). Anyway, enjoy. I hope it is alright, though the ending may be a bit weird.

Chapter 18: Dispute

To the company, it was like watching a ball bounce repeatedly back and forth nonstop, getting nowhere except for back to the other side. Fili was glaring at Thorin, and Thorin was staring angrily back at his nephew. Kili was beside them, trying his best to pretend that they were not arguing, let alone doing it in such close proximity to him. The rest of the company were in the awkward position of hearing something they knew they had no real input in.

"My, what a lovely day it is," Bofur remarked loudly, "I think I may just take some time to go and sit outside and watch the birds fly around." He exited the cave and the rest of the company soon followed cue, leaving the three heirs of Durin by themselves, of which one definitely did not want to be there to witness the shouting match.

"What is wrong if I think neither me or Kili should continue on this quest?" Fili shot at his uncle, blue eyes blazing with ill-disguised rage.

"Because you said you do not want to continue because Erebor is not worth dying for," Thorin bellowed back in a rage.

"Well it's not," Fili said, hands clenched into fists at his side, "I would rather die for something of worth than for a city that has long since been abandoned."

"Do you care nothing for your birthright?"

"No," the blonde said coldly, "I do not."

"Too bad boy, because it is in your blood whether you like it or not," Thorin informed him with a dangerous air. Had either of them been smart, they would have backed down then and there, but both dwarves were equally stubborn and equally filled with rage.

"Blood that has been spilled in the name of reclaiming your lost kingdom and we are not even halfway there yet," Fili replied, "So forgive me if I think that the journey is not worth it."

"Not worth it?" Thorin asked incredulously, "Do you know how many have died in an attempt to win back our people's rightful home? More than I could count in one lifetime."

"That just goes to show how much hope we have at succeeding, doesn't it?" Fili stated, his heart turned rock hard at all thoughts regarding Erebor.

"Your great grandfather was killed in an unspeakable manner in order to reclaim Moria, and your grandfather, my father, went missing years ago while searching for the secret to help him reclaim Erebor," Thorin told his nephew in an attempt to sway his argument.

"Thror was dead long before my time, and your father went missing before mother even fell pregnant with me," Fili said, rendering his uncle's former argument worthless, "I never knew them and most likely never will.

"Do their deaths mean so little to you?" Thorin inquired, the fire in his own eyes burning at a dangerous level.

"No, but Erebor does," the blonde replied right on queue.

"If your mother could hear you speaking-" Thorin began.

"She would side with me," Fili finished, "She would rather us return safely than have us die because we are off on a quest to reclaim a home that is supposedly better than the one we have in the Blue Mountains."

"I would not be so sure," the blonde's uncle told him, a dark frown furrowing his brow, "For Erebor is her home and she wants it back every bit as much as I do."

"Then you are both fools," Fili snarled, "What use is there in hoping for something that will only end in death."

"I am glad you have so much faith in this quest," Thorin informed him sarcastically.

"Why should I after what has happened?" Fili answered, his words hanging in the air like a toxic gas.

"Because it won't happen again," Thorin roared.

"You can't assure me of that," Fili said, his voice icy.

"I can try," Thorin growled, staring his nephew down, daring the youth to contradict him.

"But what if it does happen again?" Fili asked, not ready to back down, "What if this time we don't just get hurt? What if this time one of us dies? Then would your precious journey be worth so much?"

"You question things you do not understand," Thorin said, anger making his voice ugly, "Things you cannot even begin to comprehend."

"Then enlighten me," Fili challenged. The dark haired dwarf opposite him opened his mouth to answer with a barbed reply, but he was beaten by another, much angrier voice.

"SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!" Kili bellowed not even acknowledging the discomfort raising his caused him, "JUST SHUT UP!"

The brunette was in a sitting position, breathing heavily through his nose as he glared his two kinsmen down, fingernails drawing blood from being pressed so hard against the skin of his palms. His eyes were wild and seemingly conflicted; anger, fear and despair all mingled into one large concoction of uncontrollable emotion.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT EITHER OF YOU DO," he continued, still shouting at the top of his lungs, "BUT I REFUSE TO BE A PART OF THIS MADNESS ANY LONGER!"

Fili and Thorin stared at their youngest relative, mouths slightly agape as the young dwarf began to struggle to regain control of himself and his tsunami of emotions. Fury radiated off the archer in waves, fury that was directed at a lot of things, not just his two arguing family. The brunette was angry at a lot of this; the orcs, Erebor, his uncle, Fili, even himself. Every moment, both waking and otherwise, he spent in fear, fear of being caught again by the orcs, of being forced to repeat what he was trying to forget. The young dwarf just couldn't take it anymore, and Kili was surprised he hadn't snapped sooner. As it was, the brunette immediately dissolved into tears.

Both older dwarves came out of their shock at Kili's outburst as soon as tears began to track down his face. Fili shifted so he was seated next to his brother before allowing the younger dwarf to sob into his shoulder. Thorin hovered for a moment before retreating to the back of the cave, giving his nephews some much needed space. He was still riled by what Fili had said, but more than that he was afraid what would happen to his nephews if he let them out of his sight. He would not be able to protect them if they turned back, for he had to reclaim Erebor in name of all those who had died trying, his father, father's father, and his brother included. He also could not spare Dwalin; if he could, he might have given the idea more of a thought, yet Dwalin was one dwarf he could not spare. In fact, the exiled king had a feeling that he would be needing them all when he faced the dragon.

After a while, the rest of the company tentatively began to filter back into the cave, wary of the mood that might be eradiating from the three dwarves they had left behind. They were greeted, however, by a fragile sort of calm, Thorin thinking in one corner, Fili murmuring to his brother who would sniff every now and then. Balin was the first sent in for it was thought he would best be able to reflect any anger directed his way, and the white bearded dwarf was glad that the three heirs seemed to have come to some sort of agreement, or had at least dropped the subject for now.

"What am I going to do?" the old advisor heard Thorin ask as Balin made himself comfortable besides his king, "For I do not want to risk losing them again on this journey, but to send them back would be a risk in itself."

"Sleep on it. The answer will come to you," Balin offered, stretching his back and sending his brother a reprimanding glance. The tall dwarf withdrew from where he had been sneaking up on Bofur in order to get him back for a few comments the latter had passed outside.

"I can only hope," he heard Thorin mutter darkly to himself.

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