It had taken a long while to calm Fili down. Thorin had tried tirelessly to convince him that what he had seen had been nothing more than a trick played by the forest. But for ages he remained knelt enveloped in his uncle's arms, trembling from head to toe and sobbing into Thorin's shoulder. Even if it had been an illusion, it felt all too real to him. The pain and hatred in Kili's eyes, the betrayal in his voice had sent shockwaves through his body and his mind reeled. In the darkness beneath his eyelids, he saw the way his brother had looked at him, the way his face scrunched up in loathing as he screamed at him. He saw the blood spilling through his fingers and his unseeing brown eyes. These images would haunt him. He had just began trying to free himself of the guilt he had been feeling but now it crashed back down upon him like a landslide. And he felt suffocated by it. It was as though someone had reached their hands through his chest and were squeezing at his lungs. The air was so much heavier now, and it weighed down upon him so that Thorin had to help him to his feet. His head spun, and he swayed slightly on his legs. The trees about him bent in unnatural positons, as if the high branches were reaching down to him. Thorin placed a hand on his shoulder to steady him as he tried to breath normally again.

Dwalin watched from the treeline, the staunch warrior trying to keep his features impassive. As he had been trying to do every day since he learnt of Kili's death. There had been many times where he had almost failed, his deadpan mask almost cracking. And as he watched the sight before him, it almost fell away again. He hadn't openly mourned, but inside he grieved for the company's loss. He had been quite fond of the mischievous lad he had watched grow up. He never admitted to having favorites but he had a particular fondness for Kili. Perhaps it had been the playful glint in his eyes, or his impish smile, or maybe the way the boy reminded him not to take life so seriously. No one had made Dwalin's hard exterior crack so many times. Dwalin sighed and leaned back against the tree trunk, cursing the damned forest under his breath. Had Fili not suffered enough that he may be spared from the tricks played by the sick air of the trees? Never had he seen the eldest – and now only – heir be so severely weakened and distraught. It wasn't right. It wasn't fair.

When the six dwarves finally walked through the gloom and back to the others, they were met with worried faces which all seemed to relax and breathe a sigh of relief as Fili emerged from the trees, seemingly unharmed – if indeed much paler and trembling, tear tracks down his cheeks.

"What happened?" Balin asked as his brother came to stand beside him. Dwalin crossed his arms over his chests and sighed.

"Ghosts." He said flatly. And that's exactly what Fili looked like he'd seen. It looked as though he had stared into the very eyes of a spirit, and it was obvious whose eyes they were. It was written all over his face; he had seen his brother in the trees. Thorin lead his nephew forward with a gentle hand on his shoulder and sat him down against the base of a tree. For many moments he remained knelt in front of him speaking softly and quietly, Fili nodded but his vacant stare indicated that he was not hearing a word Thorin was saying. His mind was a million miles away or still trapped in the forest with the ghost of his brother. After a little while Thorin stood.

"Did you locate the path?" He asked, his expression blank.

"No." Balin shock his head and shrugged, "it's as though it's disappeared."

"We have to find the sun." Bilbo said, looking up towards the canopy where streams of light were fighting a losing battle to break through the leaves. "I could climb a tree, see if we're heading in the right direction." He suggested. If anything, he just wanted to breathe fresh air again. He had grown tired of the stagnant and oppressive air of Mirkwood. For some moments, nothing was said. The other members of the company gazed at each other. Thorin had tilted his head back to look up at the leaves above. He couldn't recall the last time he had seen the sun properly, nor the blue sky. Any light that had broken through had been tainted by the colours of the autumn leaves.

"It is a good idea." He nodded, Bilbo looking rather stunned that the stern king had agreed with him, his brows raising slightly. He shifted on his feet and cleared his throat with a small cough and it wasn't long before he began to carry out his task.

It hadn't taken the hobbit much time to scale one of the trees. He climbed the trunk, pulling himself onto thick branches with ease. And it wasn't long before he vanished into the dense, leafy canopy. Once he had disappeared from sight, the company sat themselves down on the ground and upon rocks and logs. They sat close together, in an attempt to ward off the chill that had begun to swirl around them. Dead leaves scuttled across the forest floor, pushed along by an eerie cold breeze. Many sets of eyes had fixed themselves upon the canopy, watching patiently. They could not guess what time of day it was, the dim light was far too grey to indicate whether it was nearing midday or if it was closer to sunset. Time felt non-existent in the bleak gloom of the trees. Thorin dragged his eyes away from the leaves above him – the burglar was well out of sight now – and sat down beside his nephew, who had been the only one not to take any notice of Bilbo as he scaled the towering trees. In fact, he didn't seem to be taking much notice of anything, his eyes staring into the gloom but focusing on nothing. Thorin could tell by the way they seemed glazed over that his mind was wandering, and he could tell by the white of his face that it was wandering somewhere dark. Fili was still trembling, as though shivering from the cold and toyed subconsciously with a loose thread from the end of his sleeve.

"Are you alright, lad?" Thorin asked. Fili said nothing, and made no sign that he had even heard his uncle speak. He wound the loose thread around his finger. "Bilbo has gone to discover which direction we should head." Thorin said, "We'll be out of here soon." At least he hoped so. I hadn't liked the forest even when he was stood outside it, and liked it even less for the cruel trick it had played on his nephew. Thorin was aware of Dwalin watching them from where he was stood. The two dwarf's eyes met and Dwalin gave him a look which asked "is he alright?" Thorin gave Fili a quick sideways glance, Fili was still wearing the vacant expression, and hock his head sadly. Dwalin offered a smile, but Thorin simply sighed and pressed his back deeper into the tree trunk, feeling the uneven ridges of the bark through his coat. 'Is he alright?' is not the right question, Thorin thought, but rather will he be alright? Would Fili ever go back to how he was before? Or had he truly lost himself? It was clear to Thorin, and to the others, that a piece of Fili had died along with his younger brother. The orcs had stolen away two heirs.

"Something is coming." Gloin's voice made Thorin's head snap up. There came the rustling of leaves and the trees around them appeared to quiver, twigs and leaves falling to the ground as though someone – or something – was breaking them from the branches.

"Bilbo?" Bofur asked, looking above him. A branch snapped and fell to the floor, sending dirt spiralling into the air.

"It's not Bilbo." Thorin cried, getting to his feet and pulling out his sword, which caught the faint light. "Arm yourselves," he instructed, blue eyes flicking about him, searching for whatever it was that was approaching. "Fili to your feet." He said. His nephew was still sat against the tree, eyes slowly coming back into focus as he let go of the loose thread. He looked dully at the forest around him, as though he wasn't sure where he was. "To your feet!" Thorin growled, kicking his boot. It was no longer the time for empathy. "Now!" Fili's shock his head as though to rid his mind of the haze that had settled there, his blue eyes alert as he jumped to his feet.

"Above us!" Dwalin shouted, head titled back. He span in slow circles, axes raised and ready. Large shadows materialised against the canopy, looming closer and shaking the treetops. As they came closer, sounds of branches cracking and bending, it became clear what beasts the company were facing. And as the monstrous spiders landed on the ground with hardly any sound, they charged at them.

Fili's movements felt sluggish. He wasn't as quick as before, and he had missed his mark with his throwing axes more than once, the blades whirring haphazardly through the air above the spiders and lodging themselves in tree trunks or simply losing momentum and falling to the ground. His attacks felt lazy and unrefined, and he cursed each time the spiders evaded him. It was like the past decades of unremitting training had counted for nothing. He used to move as though his swords were an extension of himself, like fighting with them came naturally, in-built into his person. But now, he moved clumsily, his weapons disregarding what he wanted them to do, taking on their own lives as though they were fresh from the forge and had never experienced a fight. Fili also found himself growing weary and breathless quicker than before. He wiped glistening sweat from his brow with the back of his gloved hand, drawing in a deep inhale of bitter air. Suddenly he dropped both swords to the ground, gasping as he felt a sharp pain in his back. The pain spread itself across his body, like a burning heat in his veins. His muscles quickly became rigid and his legs gave way. His vision began to blur, the trees around him becoming fuzzy and distorted, as he gasped for air again. Then the world went dark as the ground rose up to meet him.

The next thing Fili was aware of was falling. He could feel himself plummeting down, his stomach doing summersaults as it tried to keep up with the rest of him. His eyes were still closed and he willed them open, but not before he hit the ground with a thud. He lay unmoving and winded for a while, all air pushed from his lungs and his body aching. Fili's head swam and as his eyes opened he wasn't quite sure what he was seeing. It was like a white veil was draped over him, through it he could see the tall shapes of trees and a dim light shining down from beyond him. He sucked in a deep, wheezy breath. He tried to raise his hand to rub his bleary eyes but found both arms trapped at his sides, like the white veil had been wrapped tightly around him like a cocoon. He groaned and wriggled trying to kick his feet, but they too seemed trapped.

"Fili." He heard the muffled voice of his uncle and unsteady footsteps grow louder, approaching from his right side. He saw the shape of Thorin leaning over him through the white and reach towards him. Thorin tore the webbing from around Fili, who pulled in a long breath once his face was uncovered. Once he was free, Fili sat slowly up with a groan.

"What happened?" He mumbled, eyes squeezing shut and hand going to his head.

"The spiders got you." Thorin told him, "And the rest of us." Fili looked about and saw the others freeing themselves from the sticky spider webs which clung to their hair and clothes. Each looking as unimpressed as the next, faces crumpled up in disgust.

Fili let Thorin help him get unsteadily to his feet, he swayed slightly once he was stood as if he had been spinning around in circles. He groaned and breathed deeply again. He had to check on his brother, to make sure he wasn't hurt. It was instinctive for Fili to do this whenever the company faced danger. Kili was his responsibility, or so he told himself. Fili looked around, eyes flicking about the small glen, his gaze settling briefly on each dwarf before moving onto the next. As he searched he felt himself begin to panic as he couldn't locate the familiar, untidy mop of raven hair. Where was he? Fili opened his mouth to call his brother's name when he remembered. The realization crashed down on him like a landslide, and he took a staggering step back to prevent himself from falling back to his knees. The voices around him became muffled and he stared at the ground in a daze. He let out a shaky breath. How had he forgotten something so terrible?

"There are more coming!" Dwalin called, seeing a shadow move in the canopy, and the company immediately grouped together in a defensive circle, Thorin pulling Fili, still unfocused, towards the middle. But there were no more spiders. Now there were something worse. Elves. They leapt soundlessly and effortlessly from the trees, appearing from the shrubbery like phantoms, encircling the group and pointing their bows threateningly. Fili didn't seem to even notice them despite his eyes appeared to be fixed on a light haired elf that was crouched on a low branch. He didn't shout like the others did when they approached and didn't fight them when they stripped him of his weapons, pulling each knife and dagger from his many pockets and hidden scabbards inside his coat.

But suddenly his eyes focused on something that made a desperate rage boil in his stomach. One of the elves was holding Kili's bow, holding it as though it was just a common object.

"Don't touch that!" He growled at the dark haired elf. He went to lunge forward but felt himself being held back, an iron grip on his arm. "Give it back!" He roared, pulling against whoever was holding him, teeth bared like an animal. "Take your filthy hands off that bow!"

"Fili!" It was Thorin. His uncle's voice was firm.

"Don't touch it!"

"Compose yourself, Fili!" Fili looked at him with frantic blue eyes, which were threaten to tear.

"They have his bow, they have Kili's bow." His voice shook as he spoke, eyes flicking to the weapon that had meant so much to his brother. The elf holding it regarded it with curious eyes and ran his fingers along the geometric designs either side of the grip and plucked the string. The blonde dwarf growled and tried to pull forward again.

"Fili."

"It's all I have of him, Thorin. It's all I have left."

"I know." Thorin repeated, his words soft as they left his lips. "We'll get it back." Fili's shoulders slumped and his head bowed. He said no more, not even when the blonde elven leader ordered their hands to be tied behind their backs and hoods to be placed over their heads. He didn't fight. He didn't yell. As they were marched blindly away, he couldn't get the image of the elf seizing Kili's bow out of his mind. He had to get it back. It was all he had left.


-AN-

And here you have it; Ch.23! This is all Fili and the company, I wanted to get the spiders and the elves out of the way. More Kili next time!

Also, how DARE the elves take Kili's bow! Poor Fili. But hang in there, Fee! Just 2 more chapters! (I'm very excited.)

I hope you enjoyed this part. Let me know what you think because reviews are the best thing ever! I love hearing your thoughts! And your recent reviews have been so amazing! If I could hug you I would.

So yea …

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