Chapter 31

*Fili*

If only troubles would stop following them around! Fili sighed as he watched his restless little brother pace their camp. The young archer's body language said everything and Fili knew what he was going to say before Kili even looked at him.

"Fili-" Kili began and Fili finished for him, "You want to go hunting."

Kili nodded as he waited for his brother to say his mind on the idea. The elder did not answer him immediately, though. They could always do with more food and there was nothing Kili enjoyed more than a challenge when he was bored. However, the sun was going down behind the mountain and everyone knew that it was never good to be alone in the Misty Mountains after dark.

"I don't know, Kee. I couldn't leave Mabel and Myrtle alone and you shouldn't be going by yourself either." Fili said slowly. Kili almost pouted. "Why?" he asked, "I'm not a child anymore."

"Kili, we're in the mountains and it's dangerous out there. Anything could happen to you while you're alone, you could get seriously injured and I wouldn't know what happened or where to find you. And don't even think about saying you won't be alone because you'll bring Coal. We both know that he could care less if he threw you and you broke your neck, in fact, he'd probably be pleased with his handy work considering all he's done to you since we left Erebor. On top of that, he's an animal, not a person."

For a moment Kili was silent and then he resumed his pacing, stopping at the edge of the ring of light the fire he had built earlier made, turning sharply on his heels and repeating the action until Fili had to stop watching him march back and forth. Finally, Kili stopped pacing and crouched by the fire, the dancing flames throwing odd shadows on his face. He was the very image of boredom as he studied the tree that Fili was leaning against like it was supposed to be moving. Fili looked up at him.

"Kili, please don't be like that. I know you're not happy with staying still for a moment, but could you try not to look so miserable?" Fili asked. Kili tossed a small stick into the fire, watching as the flames enveloped it.

"Fee, do you believe in ghosts?" Kili asked as he watched the fire. His brother shrugged. "Maybe, I've never seen one, personally."

"I know you've never seen one, because if you had, you would have terrorized me with your own horror story by now. I meant, do you think that some spirits will come back to the place where they died or where they longed to return before death?"

"I don't know, because if that's the case, Erebor must be full of ghosts."

"Maybe it is." Kili said quietly, making Fili glance up at him. "Are you trying to scare me or something?"

"No, I'm not, but, you could imagine it is sometimes. Like at night when the only sound is the guards changing positions or shifts and the halls are dimly lit. You have to admit that you don't always feel alone there."

"Of course I never feel alone, because you're right next to me the whole time I'm anywhere." Fili said with a smirk. Kili laughed a little. "You know I didn't mean that, you just had to say something of the sort. Really, why do you do that?"

"It was getting to solemn around here. I can't let you have nightmares because you scared yourself."

"Fili! It's not funny!"

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Fili guessed that Kili's questions would not end with the ghosts. It did not. The questions kept coming about all sorts of different things the ancient wars against the Dark Lord and the lost Seven Rings to Rivendell's many rooms and what would be an excellent way to prank Thranduil next time they are made to see him. In all, it was a very interesting conversation and both young travelers enjoyed it very much. But soon, thank Mahal, Kili began to grow tiered until he eventually went to sleep leaning against Myrtle's back who had lain down a few minutes before.

Fili was getting rather tempted to go to sleep as well, but he decided to stay wake and watch the injured pony just in case something might happen. He was not quite sure what could happen, but he did not trust the mountains at all for he still remembered that if they did not travel on the right path, they could get hopelessly lost and never seen again, not even to mention the fact that goblins were still at large and Fili was sure he did not want to see any of those awful creatures. Still, he was not sure where they should go, for the path they had been following had split into three different directions, so maybe it was not quite so bad that Myrtle was hurt, it delayed Fili's choice of which path to take, but it did not keep him from racking his brain for an answer as to what to do next. If only I knew these mountains like Gandalf, but I suppose that's impossible for anyone but Gandalf. Fili thought with an almost despairing look at the three paths.

A chill wind blew and Fili watched as Kili rolled over, burying his hands in Myrtle's mane and mumbling something indistinguishable. The golden haired prince smiled at his brother's action and pulled a knife from somewhere in his jacket. He looked the blade over, decided that it could use some sharpening and settled down to business. When he was half way done on his knife, Fili could have sworn that he heard something off to his right, but he couldn't see anything that might have made the noise and he would have just shrugged it off his mind as imagined if they were not in those mountains.

After a few hours of deep thought and careful watching, Fili felt his eyes growing steadily more and more tired. Although the young Dwarf tried to stay awake it was obvious he was fighting a losing battle with sleep and about ten minutes later, he was deeply sleep, facing his brother and the ponies and his back still against the tree.

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Usually, Fili was a very heavy sleeper and would only wake if he absolutely had to, but that night he was woken by the sound of something moving carefully in the tree right above him.

Almost immediately, Fili's warrior sense had him fully aware and ready for action, adrenaline was flowing through his veins as he tried to stay still and figure out if the noise was a threat or if it was something to not be bothered by. He was just beginning to relax when a soft voice from the tree said, "Drat! I think you've woken him!"

Now Fili was more than bothered by a sound in a tree.

A/N I'm really, really, really sorry for taking so long! New York was great but I was homesick within the first ten minutes of being out-of-state. I LOVE YOU OHIO! I love you guys too and I missed you all very much!

Mira Meliandra helped me get this chapter done, so a big thanks to her! Also thanks to leggomygreggo2, ACreativeHobbit, Lady Hobbit, jaymzNshed, and kirallie for their reviews and all the followers/favoriters out there somewhere. (: