I do not own any of the characters or the Hobbit (just the AU storyline and my OC) those are the work of the esteemed and brilliant John Ronald Reull Tolkien, and without his genius,this and many other fan fics would not be in existence.

Please review! I love getting them-they keep me encouraged J

Kili looked at her for a moment, and Cirashala waited with baited breath as dark eyes searched her face. Slowly he nodded, and she let out her breath as quietly as she could.

"If we found the oakenshield, then that means we are going in the right direction," the young dwarf said quietly, swallowing heavily as he once again took in the red stains on the polished wood.

Cirashala nodded, knowing that, if they could find the Anduin, they would hopefully find the company. If they did not, perhaps she could persuade Beorn to let them stay to heal, and perhaps aid them in their search. From the book, she remembered that he generally didn't get on with visitors, but perhaps she could try what Gandalf did, and tell their story in the most interesting way she could think of. The skinchanger was supposed to be fond of storytelling, and that she could do.

Cirashala moved to stand up, hissing as her back flared up in pain, and her injured arm hampered her movements. Kili looked up, seeing her struggle, and stood up first. Masking his pain, he reached a hand down to aid her, which she accepted gratefully, and hauled her to her feet.

"Thank you," she said quietly, looking down at her toes as she drew her arms about herself. "And…I'm sorry about the stag. I really am." Kili saw how she closed off from him, much in the same way that she did with Thorin, and the young dwarf regretted his actions-and the temper he inherited from Durin's line.

"I am sorry too," he said quietly, glancing down at his own toes, before back up at her, regret in his features. "I…I lost my temper, and I shouldn't have."

The young woman still refused to look at him as her face remained downcast, though she nodded her head slightly in acknowledgement. Kili swallowed heavily, an unpleasant feeling settling in his stomach at her forlorn expression. He didn't know what the strange feeling was, but he was beginning to realize that he was feeling it more often. And he wasn't sure what to do about it.

"Come on," he said softly, eyes landing on her swollen hand again as she gently cradled it, pain flashing across her face as she winced. "I need to splint your hand before we continue on so you don't misalign the bones any further."

One thing the young prince knew for sure- he didn't want to cause her anymore pain.

XXX

Kili led her a bit further, until he spotted a slightly dense thicket of bushes. Motioning her to follow, the young dwarf crawled under an opening in them, coming up in the middle of the shaded thicket- and out of sight of unsavory eyes.

The young dwarf's eyes immediately began searching the ground and thicket around them for some thin yet sturdy sticks that he could use to splint her hand.

"A-are these what I think they are?" Cirashala said behind him, panting slightly from the effort of crawling under the bush with her injuries. The young dwarf turned, eyes following her finger until they landed on a bright red cluster of…

"Raspberries," he replied, eyes widening in surprise as he stared at the ripe fruit. He had not seen them from outside the thicket. Cirashala's eyes lit up for a moment as she beheld the fruit, before she looked hesitantly at the young dwarf.

"A-are the all right for…eating?" she asked tentatively, not sure if they were the same sort of edible wild raspberries that occurred in her world. Kili nodded, and she immediately began picking them off the slightly thorny bush with her left hand, gathering them in her lap.

The young dwarf breathed a slight sigh of relief. He didn't care overly for berries straight from the bush without any sugar, the young dwarf having a bit of a sweet tooth, but it was far better than no food at all. He spotted some relatively straight shoots on a bush to his left out of the corner of his eye, and began to use the serrated edge of his knife to saw them off.

The young dwarf sawed off one sturdy shoot from the bush and started with a second, before glancing over to her with a concerned expression. Dark eyes followed her movements for a moment, noticing that she wasn't picking any berries that reached over her shoulder, despite several plump and juicy clusters hanging above her.

"Why aren't you picking those?" he gestured to them, noticing that they were bigger than the ones in her lap. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, before her gaze fell to her lap.

"I-it hurts," she whispered, shuffling the berries in her lap slightly with her good hand. "M-my back…. it hurts to lift my arms above my head." The young dwarf closed his eyes and sighed, remembering the angry, bleeding welts from the night before.

"I wish you hadn't done that," he said quietly, before resuming his task in silence. He didn't need to elaborate on what he meant- Cirashala knew exactly what he was talking about.

She still wasn't too sure what possessed her to stand up to the Great goblin like she did, but it didn't do any good to dwell on her past actions now. Her wounds were there regardless, and she couldn't undo them. Given the choice, she would do it all over again, if it meant that her friends would be spared.

And, based on what he had said back in the tiny cave that morning about allowing him to protect her instead of the other way around, she had a feeling the young dwarf knew she would.

XXX

Kili finished sawing the sticks off the bush, laying them down on the ground. Working quickly, he managed to clear them of any protruding twigs and sharp edges, before turning slightly to the young woman. The young dwarf was barely able to hide his wince as the movement shot pain through his broken ribs.

She glanced up, watching as he pulled a couple of the improvised "bandages" out of the makeshift bag tied to his belt that he had made the night before. Twisting them to get rid of the excess water in them from their tumble into the stream, the young prince looked up at her.

"Hold your hand out," he said quietly, not wishing their voices to carry and be heard by anything (or anyone) else, since he could not see past the thicket in any direction. She complied, and he scooted closer to her to be able to reach her hand comfortably, gently taking it in his left.

His dark eyes roamed over it as he gently felt with his right hand, nimble fingers lightly brushing over her swollen hand to feel if the bones were still in place. The young dwarf marveled at just how small the tiny hand looked in his large dwarf one, his thick fingers twice as wide as hers, despite them being about the same length. She whimpered as his fingers moved over her hand, instinctively pulling back, though he could tell she tried not to.

"Easy," he said quietly, tightening his grip ever so slightly to hold her hand still. "You will pull them out of place again."

"Sorry," she replied quietly, even though the dwarf could see that her teeth were clenched together.

"It's all right," he replied, removing his right hand even as he continued to hold hers steady with his left.

Satisfied that the bones were still set properly, he reached for the sticks, before placing them on either side of her hand.

"Hold them right there," he instructed, reaching for the bandages as she did so. He gently but tightly wound the damp strips of cloth around her wrist, then her hand.

"It has to be tight," he replied, not lifting his eyes from his task. "But tell me if your hand goes numb or begins to tingle, and I will loosen it." Cirashala nodded, watching as he finished winding it, before pausing and looking at her.

"Is it too tight?" he asked, and she shook her head. Tying off the bandage, he reached for two more, and tied them together at the ends. Placing her wrist in the loop, he reached up to tie the makeshift sling behind her neck, before the young dwarf looked up-and froze, his breath leaving him as he swallowed quickly.

Her face was mere inches from his, wide blue eyes looking at him with uncertainty as his arms wound around her neck. Kili felt his cheeks and ears heat up as his heart suddenly began to beat very rapidly, the young dwarf not having realized just how close that particular movement put him to her until now. Tying the sling off as quickly as he could, the young prince immediately moved away from her and averted his eyes, hoping she hadn't noticed his startled pause-or his bright red face.

"I," he said quickly, swallowing as he tried to keep his voice steady and not betray his nervousness. "I am going to—I-I need to visit a tree." He immediately got up quickly, before practically diving through the hole they had used to crawl in, and was gone in a matter of seconds.

Cirashala blinked owlishly, a confused expression on her face as she stared at the small hole with wide eyes.

What on earth just happened?

XXX

The young dwarf found a tree near enough to the thicket that he could still keep an eye out, but yet stay hidden from sight.

His ribs hurt badly, protesting his sudden movement, and he leaned against the tree for support. Shallow breaths came quickly as he hunched over, his arms wrapped around his torso as his face contorted in pain, eyes scrunched shut. The young dwarf didn't dare cry out for fear of attracting unwanted attention-both from the hunting orc pack in the area, and the young woman, who he was still determined to hide his injuries from.

But how long can I hide them? The young dwarf thought to himself with a bit of panic. She-she isn't stupid. Not in the slightest.

Kili groaned as he fought a wave of nausea, despite attempting to be quiet, when suddenly he felt something at the back of his throat. The dwarf instantly began coughing, trying his best to muffle the sound as he placed his hand over his mouth. Pain shot through his ribs, forcing the young dwarf to his knees with a slight gasp.

The coughing fit lasted for a minute or two, leaving the young prince gasping for air. A foul taste entered his mouth, and he spit whatever it was out, before wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Rising shakily to his feet after a moment, he quickly did his business, before heading back to the thicket.

Sugar or no, raspberries off the bush would taste a lot better than the awful taste in his mouth.