Chapter 24

*Kili*

The wolf had been an exciting few moments and Kili had felt adrenalin pumping through his body when it had jumped at him. However, having the great beast land on him was not the best thing that had ever happened to him. Needless to say, after the adrenalin wore off, Kili was exhausted and it did not take him very long to drop off into the realm of dreams.

He was woken by the sound of Fili talking to something, the ponies Kili guessed, and impatient hooves pawing at the ground. Kili sat up and blinked the sleep from his eyes as his elder brother appeared in front of him.

"Hi Lazy Bones! I thought you'd sleep until the world's end and nothing could wake you." Fili said.

"Don't call me that Blondie." Kili muttered and Fili raised an eyebrow asking, "What did you say?"

"Nothing." Kili replied meekly, but Fili did not look too convinced that he was telling the truth. He offered Kili a hand and he accepted it, using his brother's strength to pull himself to his feet. Kili looked around the landscape and it did not look as if Fili had been battling any foes whilst his brother slept. The sun was rising in the East turning the sky shades of golden, pink and orange.

When Kili started to walk toward Coal, the black pony nickered and pricked his ears. Kili stopped and stared.

"Is he under some kind of spell?" he asked Fili.

"I don't know. He's been like that since last night. I can't figure out what is wrong with him."

Kili held out his hand to Coal and he lipped at it and then nuzzled Kili's arm. Kili just stood there. Coal had never done anything like that before to him and it took the Dwarf by surprise. Then the answer showed itself to him. He and his brother had not been the only ones who needed a change.

"Fili, I think I know why he's like this." Kili said.

"Why?"

"Because he is happy on the road."

"Oh, I see. He needed to be out too. Makes perfect sense now." Fili said and began to bridle Myrtle. Kili patted Coal's neck with one hand and rubbed the star on the pony's forehead with his other. Coal push against his chest with his nose and stamped his hoof as if to tell Kili to hurry up and get on his back so he could start out again.

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Kili rode beside his brother in a comfortable silence with nothing to hear other than the thud of the ponies' hooves, the squeak of leather from the saddles, jingling of the bridles and the chirping of birds. Mabel tossed her head and shook her mane in Fili's face.

"Now why on earth or under it did you do that to me?!" Fili said. Mabel just did it again and Kili put a hand over his mouth to hide his grin at Fili's misfortune. Fili was about to say something else when Mabel reared a little and chomped at her bit.

"I think she wants a run. Why don't you hand Myrtle over to me and let her loose?" Kili asked and Fili shook his head replying, "If I do that, Coal will want to follow her and he might cause problems."

"Like what?"

"Bucking. You want to sail through the air?" Fili asked.

"Oh come now! I'm a better rider than that! Let her go, I can manage." Kili said and held out his free hand for Myrtle's reins. The elder hesitated and then passed the pack-pony to his brother and tapped his heels lightly on his mare's flanks. Kili smiled as the silver pony leaped right in to a gallop having pulling back on Coal's reins when his mount wanted to follow his friend's lead.

"No you don't. We'll let her go without us. For now, that is." Kili told him but the pony was not satisfied with this answer and flicked his ears back. When his master still did not let him run after Mabel, he snorted and kicked. It seemed to have no effect on the young Dwarf, so this time Coal put more effort into his actions. The results were that Kili almost bit a chunk off his tongue and muttered some words in Dwarvish that Dis would not have liked in the least.

Just as Kili was about to give into Coal's desires and chase after his sibling, Fili turn Mabel back towards them and trotted back. Coal gave Kili one last kick for good measure before greeting his other companion with a low whinny. Fili turned Mabel once more until he was going the same way as his brother was and took Myrtle's reins from Kili with a wide grin.

"Did you enjoy that?" Kili asked.

"Yes, I did. Very much, but it would have been better if you had come too."

In answer, Kili grinned and said, "Have fun. Coal got jealous, so now he wants to leave you behind."

"Kili!" Fili said but he did not have time to say anything else when Kili let Coal's rein go slack and the pony took off into a lively canter which switched into a run using all the speed he could muster. The wind snaked its spirit-like fingers though Kili's wild hair making it even wilder and he laughed. All too soon, he slowed Coal and went back to Fili. His older brother took one look at his disheveled appearance and laughed so hard he almost fell out of the saddle which in return made Kili chuckle.

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The day wore on and Kili found himself hoping that it could go on forever until he felt like stopping. But of course, against the young prince's wishes, the sun began to sink behind the Misty Mountains somewhere ahead of them.

He wanted to see those mountains again, for it would mean they weren't going around in circles and actually reaching their destination. But also there was the fact that that particular mountain range held high adventure in store for the two of them.

Kili glanced at Fili, but his brother was busy fiddling with the horn of his saddle and did not see the mischievous glint in Kili's eyes. When Fili turned to see if Myrtle's reins were caught on one of the saddle's buckles, Kili leaned over and gave Mabel a good slap on the rump which did not hurt her but sure did surprise the mare.

The dark-hair Dwarf clapped his hand over his mouth to stiff his laughter, but it did not work. When Fili got his pony back under his command, he shouted, "KILI! You are so dead! I am going to get you for that!"

Kili did not seem to care though and just smiled at Fili who gave him a glare that looked like he had inherited from their uncle.

A/N Well, I guess that went ok. Now for the revenge of Prince Fili of Erebor! This took me all day, so I hope it's good. The reviews were amazing guys! Please send more! And by "guys" I mean: leggomygreggo2, Mira Meliandra, Alicia457, Akeea, Wraven, jaymzNshed, ACreativeHobbit, GregsMadHatter, .3954*, Syblime, Lady Hobbit :D, and Apophis god of chaos. Fili and Kili really enjoyed reading the last bunch of reviews! (:

I am also now a Beta reader for anyone out there who needs one.

*When I put the dots in last time, the website ate your name! Oops!