Chapter 19
*Fili*
He had known about the Orcs. He had gone out to see if there was a stream nearby so they could get fresh water and had heard and seen them coming. Fili led them on a wild goose chase and when they gave up, he headed back to camp only to tell Kili they had to leave immediately.
When he arrived however, his brother was gone and so was Coal.
"No, Kili! You didn't!" Fili groaned. He dismounted the mare and let her nibble on the grass as he went to Myrtle.
"He left you here, didn't he, girl? I don't suppose you could point me in the right direction, though." He patted her neck and untangled a snag in her mane. Fili turned to his pony and clambered back into the saddle and began to head down the trail his outward journey had made.
The forest was quiet. All the birds had gone silent, which had begun to have Fili wondering if there was a storm brewing. He started to mimic a thrush's call in hopes that Kili would hear and answer. They had started doing that a long time ago when Kili was ten years old so they could find each other if they got separated somehow. The only times they had used it before, was on hunting trips and they needed to communicate without frightening their quarry. Silence was the only answer he received and he cursed in Khudzul, worry forming a knot in his abdomen. Kili, if you're all right and you don't answer, I am not going to be very pleased with you because it's not funny at all!
Fili halted when he saw boot prints on the ground and got off Mabel to look closer. Kili. Most defiantly his little brother had come this way. And what if the Orcs had come this way too? Then he's most likely in trouble. Fili took Mabel's reins and led her, keeping an eye on Kili's tracks. After a little time, Fili saw Kili must have gotten back on, but he stayed on foot to watch Coal's hoof prints. In a surprisingly short while, Kili had dismounted again. When Fili looked again though, he could see his brother did not get to where he wanted. There were marks where it looked as if his knees had hit the earth hard and the ferns were smashed like someone had fallen on them. Coal must have been startled out of his wits, for the ground was torn where…an Orc had stumbled after him.
So, his precious kid brother had met the Orcs. If they had hurt him, which it was almost certain they had, there was going to be blood spilt. Fili frowned at the Orc tracks, as if that would give him answers to how they had taken Kili captive. There were no signs of a fight and there was no way the clumsy beings had snuck up right behind Kili to knock him on the head so he would be unconscious. Kili's hearing was too sharp for that, Coal's instincts would warn him if Orcs were that close, and those particular Orcs were certainly not the lightest on their feet. The short one maybe, but the big brute that had first seen Fili would be incapable of being that noiseless.
He saw the tracks had split up, as well. One, if his guesses were correct, it was the limping one, had gone after Kili's pony while the other had taken his brother. Fili decided to follow the Orc that appeared to have gone back to its camp. They could always hunt down Coal later and right now, Fili could not seem to shake the stories he had heard of Orcs treatment to their captives. The thought of his innocent little brother becoming a slave, made his blood boil. He had always been better then Kili at keeping his temper, but if anyone or anything hurt Kili or sometimes look at him the wrong way, Fili found keeping calm was not easy and now, he had more reason than ever to let his anger flare.
"When I find you, you scum; you are going to wish you never touched my little brother!" Fili said. He tied Mabel to a nearby tree and patted her neck saying, "You stay here now, gal. I'll be back soon."
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Dwarves are not the best woodsmen, but Fili, who had spent more of his life outdoors because of Kili's sincere love of nature, was better than most when it came to keeping quiet.
He followed the Orc's trail of broken sticks, smashed greenery, and the occasional blade hack marks in trees. Fili remembered the strange wizard they had met after the trolls had been turned to stone and figured that he would not be happy at all with the Orc's treatment of the living things. He continued on for a while or at least it felt like a while to Fili's stiff legs. Why does riding a horse after you haven't in a while have to kill your legs!? It's not fair. Fili thought.
A loud voice startled him and he halted. Dropping to the ground, he slowly advanced trying to not disturb the grass as much as possible. Fili stopped and peaked over the edge of a bank. There were the Orcs, arguing while Kili sat tied to a tree and looking quite pleased with himself. In fact, Kili looked so pleased that if he was not tied, a stranger might have thought he wanted to be right there.
"An' what are we gunna do with a mad Dwarfing?" the big Orc was saying.
"We could eat it. It can't taste that bad. An' then we can go find the yellow one and eat it too." the one with the crooked foot replied and Fili shuddered at the sound of its voice. It almost sounded like the time Kili had run his finger nails across a chalk-board to see what it sounded like. If you dare touch Kili, you are going to so die! Well, you're going to die anyway, but it will be a lot more painful. Fili thought. He pressed his lips together, trying to think of someway make one Orc come after him at a time, for he did not see how he could fight the big fellow and the small one at the same time. The small one would be easier to defeat, but the big one could take some time and Fili would need to concentrate on it alone and not have to make sure his back doesn't get stabbed at the same time.
"But-but kill me and you have to deal with my Warg!" Kili said in his 'I am innocent and you can't hurt me because I'm cute' tone of voice. Fili was wondering what Kili meant about a Warg when the small Orc turned to him.
"If you don't shut up, I'm gunna gut you. Stop smiling at me!" it hissed and raised it hand over its head.
"Hit me and you have to answer to my Warg!" Kili said quickly and Fili got it then. The Warg Kili was babbling about, was him. Kili was telling them his brother would find them and save him.
"Codak, leave it alone! If it's mad, it's going to sit there and act like the worthless scum it is." the large Orc said then turned to Kili and said, "Look 'er if you don't h've a Warg so shut your gob, unless you want me to brain you again." You did hurt my brother. The next thing Fili knew, he had stood and had his swords in his hands.
"Hey, you warthog face buffoon!" Fili shouted pointing one of his blades at the big one, "You touch him again and you're vulture food!"
Kili turned toward him and grinned, "Hi Warg!"
"Hi." Fili said glancing at him then his attention turned to the one called Codak, for the Orc was reaching behind its back for something.
"Warg, look out! It's going to…" Kili started to say when Codak hit the side of his head. Fili slid one of his swords back into its sheath and made as if to put the other one back, but instead he pulled the throwing knife out of his gauntlet and hurled it at the short Orc. Kili cheered when the blade appeared in the side of Cadak's throat.
"Told you you'd have to answer to my Warg." he said in his know-it-all way. Fili smiled grimly when the other Orc looked at him. The Orc picked up its falled comrade's sword that had a hook on the end of it. When Codak had told Kili it would gut him, it had been serious. If this one were to stab Fili, twist, and pull, Fili was getting the feeling he would not live very long. He pulled his other sword back out and then the Orc charged.
A/N And then…oh wait, that's the end of the chapter! Oops! I guess I'll just have to start writing the next one. :P Review, because if you don't…I do not know what Fili and Kili will do with themselves. It snowed again. Really. -_-
Thanks to: leggomygreggo2, Mira Meliandra, jaymzNshed, Alicia457, Syblime, Apophis god of chaos, and Lady Hobbit :D for reviewing and not letting me give up on writing. If any of you silent people out there want your names up here and Fili and his adorable little brother to smile.