A/N: Inspiration struck suddenly. Quick and quiet, no noise, just lots of ideas! XD So please enjoy this very fast (fast considering my past history) update! :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing of Tolkien's

My Brother's Lullaby

Revelations, Rain, And Rivers

As sad and somewhat frightening as it was to leave the Shire, I felt a thrill of excitement run through me. I was on an adventure with Bilbo! And while all the adventures I had ever thought up or planned for me and Bilbo to have didn't include twelve other dwarves I had to say it made the ride far more enjoyable. We laughed and sang songs and told stories in the warm sunshine. I spent a good deal of time talking to Fili and Ori, who more than willing to tell me of their home and the dwarven life. Neither laughed or mocked me for the little knowledge I had and answered what questions I asked. I courageously asked if a headbutt was a traditional dwarvish greeting, and explained, after I caught their confused glance, that I had seen Balin and Dwalin headbutt each other when I first met them. The pair laughed at that and explained that only very close family or friends did that to one another. I filed that away for future reference: Do not headbutt dwarves you do not know. I listened eagerly to every tale the Company told and they, especially Ori, seemed just as eager to hear my tales of the Shire as I was to hear theirs. Granted, I had few to tell and not many were as exciting as some stories I had heard from Bofur, but the Company seemed to enjoy the tales and especially of Old Bullroarer Took.

"And so it was that in the Battle of Green Fields, Bullroarer charged the goblin ranks with nothing but a wooden club. He swung his club so hard that he knocked the goblin king's head clean off and it sailed a hundred yards and went down a rabbit hole. And thus the battle was won, and the game of golf invented at the same time." I finished spectacularly, grinning at the laughter that erupted at the end of the tale.

"Is that really how it happened?" laughed Bofur.

"Who can say for sure now? That was years ago, nearly two hundred years ago now that I think on it! I'm sure that story got exaggerated over the years, but it makes for a good tale. It was the first and last battle ever to be fought in the Shire. No hobbit has ever had the need to fight since."

"Well, sounds like the ideal place to live!" joked Bofur "I would like to see it and the Green Fields where the battle was fought if we survive this quest!"

I paled at Bofur's seemingly harmless words and fell behind the rest of the group allowing them to laugh about what they wished. The thought of never again seeing my home again had stayed ever present in the back of my mind, but Bofur's carefree remark of not surviving had brought it rushing full force to the forefront of my mind. I may not have been born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire as Bilbo had been, but I may as well have. I had once tried to explain to Bilbo how conflicted and torn I felt about having been raised in the Shire and grateful for it and yet regretful that I had never known my own kind. He hadn't understood how I would have felt that way and had for the most part dismissed my feelings on the subject. I was just as conflicted now as I had been back then. I was happy, no ecstatic, to be on an adventure with Bilbo, but I still felt the twinge of regret that I had left my home behind. I supposed that I only felt this way because it was the first time I had ever really left the Shire. I sighed and began to hum a little tune of a song that Bilbo had written years ago. It was my favorite song and I used to sing it when Bilbo and I would go on walking holidays. Ori must have heard it for he dropped back beside me again and asked in his quiet voice,

"That is a nice tune, a good traveling tune. What are the words? I should like to learn them."

Instead of replying back I let the song itself be the answer.

The Road goes ever ever on,
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone;
I'll follow it if I can.

Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way,
Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say.

I was surprised by the applause that followed the end of my song. Bofur and his brother, Fili, Ori and, surprisingly Dori, clapped loudly. I smiled and bowed as much as I could while in the saddle. I turned to Ori and asked if he needed me to tell him the words again so that he could write them in his ever present journal. He smiled and turned the book so that I could see it. Written in neat dwarven runes was the song, just as I had sung it. I laughed, well it was not for nothing that he was a scribe. He hadn't missed a single word. He grinned shyly and put away his book, before pulling up ahead of me to ride with his brothers.

Without Ori as a distraction my thoughts turned again to what might happen at the end of this quest. What if I really never did see the Shire again? What if me and Bilbo didn't make it back? What if I did and Bilbo didn't? I shuddered. I would never be able to forgive myself if that happened. I wasn't entirely convinced that Bilbo hadn't signed that contract partly for me. My hands clenched around the reins and I willed my thoughts elsewhere. Shaking my head to clear it, I leaned back to allow the sunlight to hit me full on the face. That was miles away! There was no danger at the moment, no orcs or goblins, no dragons guarding hoards of gold, everyone, including myself and Bilbo were perfectly safe. I pushed those thoughts to the furthest corners of my mind and allowed myself to enjoy the the nice leisurely ride that still lay before us...

...I couldn't have been happier when we made camp for the night. We had been pushed far by Thorin. I had begun to get tired and so had the other dwarves, they had long since ceased to laugh and joke, being to weary to do so, and poor Bilbo had looked exhausted. He had looked ready to slump over and fall from his saddle. I had leaned over and asked Fili when we were going to stop for the night. A mistake on my part. Thorin had heard me and turned in his saddle and sneered at me saying that the Company wasn't going to stop just because it was past little dwarflings bedtimes. I had bristled at his remark but Bilbo who had been jerked fully awake at the sound of Thorin's voice, dropped back to where me and Fili were and whispered not to pay his words any mind, to which Fili agreed, stating that he too, was tired and so that was Thorin, which made the dwarven leader, as Fili put it, cranky.

It was with that thought in mind I settled down to clean out my pipe as I sat beside the fire. The rest of the Company had either already settled down to sleep or were enjoying the quiet of the camp, though to me there was nothing quiet about the camp at all. It was a wonder that we didn't have every wild creature and foul thing from the Misty Mountains descending on us with all the racket that the dwarves were making with their snores.

"You should rest." said Fili, as he walked up and sat beside me. "It'll be another hard ride tomorrow and we wouldn't want our little dwarfling to get to tired." I threw a rock at him and scowled when he caught it easily. He smirked at me before saying. "It was a hard day, even I was tired. And so was Thorin, and he's worse than dwarfling when he's tired." he grinned at me before ordering, "Rest, you'll need it."

"I can't! The rest of the dwarves snore to loud for me to sleep. And I'd be careful if I were you!" I said, pointing over to where Thorin sat nearby, leaning against a rock.

"I have no need to be careful. Look again." said Fili.

I did as I was bid and smirked. The day's ride had seemed to have taken it's toll on the great Thorin Oakenshield after all. I saw that he had leaned his head back against the rock he was sitting on and had closed his eyes. His soft exhales of breath, told me that he was already asleep. I smirked, for all the berating he gave me earlier, it just became apparent that he had been just as tired.

"Worse than a dwarfling." I laughed and Fili joined me.

A loud snore disrupted our laughter, causing me to look over at the sleeping dwarves with a scowl. They were all loud but one was worse than the others and I rolled my eyes. Bombur snored like a cave troll with a chest congestion. I snorted as I was apparently not the only one Bombur was keeping from their much needed rest. I saw Bilbo pop his head of from his bedroll and glare at the dwarf, before getting up and stretching. He walked over to his pony, the same creature he had previously been so apprehensive of, and snuck it an apple. I smiled at him and went back to cleaning my pipe. Fili lit his own pipe and said that it had been a coming of age present for him. I showed him my own and said that it too had been a coming of age present. He smiled and puffed on his pipe and blew a smoke ring in my face. I mock glared at him and, at his self satisfied look, opted for dignity and resolutely ignored him.

A loud screeching in the distance disrupted the quiet of the night. I jerked my head up. I knew that sound, granted it had been years since I had heard it, but I remembered it clearly. I had heard it after I had run away from Bilbo when I was a dwarfling and the grey clad men had saved me from wolves. We had been on our way back to the Shire, when we had heard that same screeching. And I, like the the little dwarfling that I was, clung to the nearest man and demanded to know what was making that sound. The man had told me that they were orc cries. He had scooped me up in his arms and we had hurried on our way. It was not a sound I particularly wanted to hear again, even though I knew that the screams were in the distance. Thorin startled awake at the sound and looked around trying to see if the enemy was nearby. The sound had also caused Bilbo to suddenly straightened up from Myrtle and asked confusedly,

"What was that?"

"Orcs." I answered quietly, looking around.

"Orcs?!" Bilbo squeaked, as he hurried back over to the fire.

"Throat-cutters. There'll be dozens of them out there. The Lone-Lands are crawling with them." said Fili, in a far to serious voice.

I saw his almost perfectly hidden smirk and caught on to what he was doing. I couldn't pass this opportunity up, especially not when I had a ally.

"They strike in the wee small hours when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet, no screams, just lots of blood."

Bilbo's eyes grew wide and and he started to look around as though expecting to see orcs popping up from the ground itself. We had really gotten him spooked and Fili and I exchanged amused looks and I started to chuckle.

"You think that's funny?" I turned towards the speaker. I cringed as I met Thorin's glare. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

There was something in his voice that made me suddenly ashamed of my thoughtless fun at Bilbo's expense. I hadn't meant anything by it and I told him so.

"No, you didn't. You know nothing of the world." he snapped, as he walked away.

His words stung, but I couldn't refute them. Thorin was right, I didn't know anything of the world. I was only slightly better equipped than Bilbo was to handle the dangers of the world. I stared at my boots, I had just proven how ill prepared I was to even be on this adventure if I could joke about orcs coming in the dead of the night to murder all in their path. I felt even more ashamed after I considered how many of these dwarves would take such careless words.

"Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs." said Balin, as he came up beside me and Fili. "After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain...King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient dwarf kingdom of Moria..."

Balin's tale was somewhat humbling. I had read in one of my history books, the Battle of Azanulbizar but it was not quite written the same way that Balin was telling it. Books didn't touch on the horror of the battle, only the glory of it. I had never imagined a battle to ever go in anyone's favor but the hero's. Evil was not supposed to be stronger than good. I listened horrified as Balin spoke of the legions of orcs that claimed countless dwarven lives. I shuddered as though feeling for myself each and every life that had been lost. And curse my vivid imagination, I saw the battle played out in my mind as Balin spoke. I could see the far too young dwarf prince standing alone against the mightiest of the orcs, grief stricken and weary, armor torn and nearly defenseless, and yet triumphing over this terrible foe...

"And I thought to myself then...There was one who I could follow, there is one I could call king." finished Balin.

"As could I" I silently agreed.

"And the pale orc?" asked Bilbo, breaking the dwarves and my own solemn reveries. "What happened to him?"

"He slunk back into the hole from whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago." said Thorin, as he rejoined the Company near the fire, taking back his previous seat.

If I had felt ashamed before then I even more so now. Of course I knew the history of the dwarves, and yet I hadn't thought to much of it. But here, standing along side the very dwarves that had graced the pages of my study books, on a quest with them that would no doubt land another page in my study books, even if it was only to say: 'And thus they met their ends.', I had had the gall to frighten Bilbo with a joke about the very creatures that had probably killed my own descendents, and had killed Thorin's? I could not blame Thorin for his angry words. If our places had been switched I would have been just as angry. I wished that I could recall the words back, but as I couldn't, I did the only thing I could. I turned to Thorin and said.

"I-I'm sorry Thorin. Sincerely." I added, seeing his disbelieving look. He had no doubt remembered my last 'apology'. Taking a deep breath, I continued. "It was just a thoughtless joke just to tease Bilbo. I didn't mean to offend you. I truely meant nothing by it."

Thorin's face remained as stoic as it ever did, and the only answer I received was a single nod of his head but I saw his eyes soften at my genuine apology. The dwarves, after a few more somber moments, resumed their former activities of either sleeping or sitting quietly. As for myself, I picked up my pipe from where it had lay forgotten beside me and tucked it back in my pack, before wrapping up in my coat and settling down to sleep. It was a few hours later when I finally fell sleep and even then it was an uneasy sleep, filled with dragons, orcs, and dying dwarves.

oOo

Rain. I never knew I could despise rain so much. It was no where near as pleasant when I was in the torrential downpour itself, as opposed to looking out at it from the cozy window's of Bag-End. I pulled my hood up further around my ears and kept my head down. It was beginning to wear down even my usually unconquerable high spirits and it seemed to be dampening everyone else's as well. Well, almost everyone's. I chuckled at Bofur. I had to give him full points for optimism. Only Bofur would try and continue trying, to smoke his pipe in this storm. I nudged Ori, who was riding beside me and pointed at Bofur. I earned a small smile from the little scribe, but he was too wet and too tired to do more than that. Fili's prediction had turned out to be true. It had been another hard ride and I vow I think that Thorin had pushed us even farther than he had the day before. It was long after everyone else was ready to halt for the day did Thorin finally mention something about supper, with a "And where shall we get a dry patch to sleep on?"

We traveled a little further in the hopes of finding a decent place to stop for the night. After some fruitless scouting the Company decided just to camp near the river that we had been following. Ori pointed out a group of trees near the banks that we could make camp under. It wouldn't provide much protection from the rains but any would be a welcome. I stiffly slid off of Daisy's back and tethered her to a tree before I began to remove her saddle. After seeing to Daisy I found myself a comfortable patch near the base of a large oak tree and dropped my pack beside it. Supper was a simple affair of cram, since the everything was too wet from the rain to make a fire, though Gloin, who was remarkably good at starting a fire, could have probably gotten one going. I said nothing about it though. I had no wish to called a petulant, whining dwarfling next. After the meal was over and the watch had been assigned to Dori, I hunkered down among the roots of the tree and listened gratefully as the rain began to stop. I knew that it would rain again, I could smell it in the air, but the reprieve was well welcomed by all.

I jumped at the sound of the thunder and was pulled out of my half asleep state. I sat up and grumbled at the sky for disrupted, what had been promising to be a good sleep. It's response was another painfully loud clap of thunder. A pony's scream mixed with the sound of the thunder and I turned to see Myrtle scream in fright as only a pony can, and bolt. She was running straight for the river but she would have to run past me first. I leapt to my feet and I managed to grab onto the reins before Myrtle charged into the waters, but the animal was too scared to stop despite my calming words and I felt myself be pulled along with it. The river was icy and deep, but I couldn't let go, not while the river was raging this fiercely. I felt the current carry me and Myrtle downstream, before the two of us stopped with a jerk. I went underwater for a brief moment before I surfaced. Myrtles's baggage had gotten caught on a tree root halting our journey down the wild river ride. The waters swirled up around my chest and my feet couldn't find the river bed, all that was keeping me from slipping under, was my death grip on Myrtles reins. Pulling myself up to her head, I tried to calm the spooked pony. It worked to some extent. At least Myrtle wasn't thrashing wildly anymore. I whistled at the dwarves before turning back to the scared animal. I patted her shivering neck with my free hand and told her that she was a good girl, keeping her calm as the dwarves ran towards us. It was Fili and Nori that reached us first.

"Hey lad, what's the poor beast caught on?" shouted Nori, trying to make himself heard above the river.

"It's her baggage! It's stuck on that root that's sticking out there!"

"Toss me the reins so I'll be able to pull her free after I cut her loose!" said Nori, as Dwalin ran forward to assist him.

"I can't! My hold on the reins is all that's keeping me from going under!" I shouted back.

"Hey! Someone give me a rope!" called Fili. After being handed the thick cable, Fili threw the line out to me, "Catch Kian!"

I did manage to grab ahold of one end of the rope before I tossed Myrtles reins to Nori. He easily cut the straps holding the bags of supplies on her back and pass them off to Dwalin, who got all the gear on the banks without them getting too wet.

"Let go Kian!" said Nori. "Get clear while I pull her out!"

I nearly had to pry my fingers loose to let go of Myrtle's reins and as soon as I did the river tried to sweep me away. I tried to tighten my grip in the rope that Fili had thrown to me but my numb fingers didn't want to hold on to the wet cord. I felt it slipping through my fingers and I yelled to Fili, but it was too late, the rope slid out of my hand and I hurtled down the river. I heard Fili scream my name but a wave crashing over my head prevented me from hearing if he had said anything else. I gained the surface again and almost breathed a sigh of relief before I smashed into something hard. I had knocked my head against rock making my vision go blurry before I slammed into a tree branch that caught me in the ribs though I did manage to latch ahold of it, gasping in pain, and praying that my ribs weren't broken. I hadn't been carried off far and I was still in sight of the dwarves. I yelled to alert them to where I was and I saw Bofur and Bifur sprint towards me. Bifur braced himself against a tree and held on to Bofur who held his arm out to me.

"Grab on laddie! We'll pull you out!"

I reached for Bofur's extended hand and caught it with a triumphant yell. Bofur grinned at me and began to haul me out. My joyful cry turned into one of pain.

"S-st-stop! Bofur stop! "

"What's wrong lad?" I could hear the concern in his voice.

"M-my leg. It must be caught on something!" Bifur growled something in Khuzdul and Bofur answered him, but I couldn't catch what was said over the noise of the river. "Just give me a minute!" I shouted. "I think I can get it loose!"

I gripped the tree limb tightly in one hand and let go of Bofurs, sucking in a deep breath. I saw Bofur's eyes widen as he realized what I was about to do.

"No! Wait lad!" I heard Bofur yell but I had already ducked my head underwater.

I opened my eyes and felt the water sting them for a minute before they became accustomed to it, and looked down at what was holding me in the frigid water. It was a tree root, that had somehow snaked around my lower calf and ankle. I jerked on it with my free hand and tried to pull my leg free. I got it looser, but my lungs screamed for air so I resurfaced long enough to greedily gulp some fresh air before diving back down. Working quickly, I tried to twist it so that I get out of it's hold, and it took me the better part of a minute to get free of it. As soon as I was, however I almost wished that I hadn't gotten myself free. The current had become ten times stronger and seemed to have made it's mission to drag me under into it's cold depths. And now with the tree root, there wasn't much that would stop it from doing so. I felt myself beginning to panic. I didn't know how to swim and I knew just how easy it was for someone to drown. Pulling myself up as fast as I could, my head broke the surface of the river.

"I'm free!" I gasped out to Bofur.

"Good! Now give me you hand laddie!" he yelled back.

I reached out and almost managed to grab his hand when my other hand slipped off of the tree limb. Bofur grabbed at me but without the tree root holding me in place or my grip on the tree branch, the current dragged me under. I cried out in surprise only to choke on water. My lungs burned from the water that I had inhaled and I kicked out wildly to try and find the surface. Everything was pain in this swirling, roiling whirlpool of dark murky water. My lungs burned, my head ached, my ribs throbbed. I tried to reach the surface again, but my inability to swim was making that difficult. I never thought that I would die from drowning. Fear settled in my mind. I was scared. I didn't want to die. Fate was cruel to take me the same way she nearly had sixty-four years ago when Bilbo had found me. Bilbo. I wanted Bilbo! I needed Bilbo! I called out for him but more of the deadly liquid was forced into my mouth and the world faded into darkness...

...The Toddler screamed as the coracle tilted to one side, nearly throwing him into scary water. It had been pouring for days and it had made the little river dangerous for the child. He huddled in the bottom of the boat and cried. The thunder made his ears hurt and his heart pound. The lightning scared him and made the water look like monsters. He wanted to be home where nothing could ever hurt him. He wanted his Fee, who would frighten away the monsters and command the battles in the sky to stop. The Toddler pulled his knees to his chest and cried for his Fee...

...The boat smashed into a rock and the Toddler cried out as he was thrown from the wrecked coracle. He was tossed and thrown about in the rough waters disappearing below it's depths and then flung back up by the heaving river. The Toddler cried and swallowed water into his lungs, cutting his cries off short. His head felt fuzzy and he tried to cough up the water but another wave hit him in the face and more water forced it's way where it didn't belong. The River gathered the Toddler in it's waves and pulled him down again, but then apparently changed it's mind and flung him away. The Toddler hit the ground hard and threw up water. He coughed and heaved until he was exhausted and slumped to the ground unconscious...

..."Hey little one, open your eyes. That's it. Breathe, just breathe for me. You'll be alright."

The Toddler's eyes flickered open and he saw that he was being cradled by a strange looking creature with fuzzy feet that was gently rubbing his back. He coughed and shivered and began to cry.

"Hey now, my boy. There's no need for that. Everything's fine now. I've got you. Shh, shh." said the Fuzzy Footed Person. "Now, little one, can you tell me your name?"

"K-K-Kee..."

"Kee? Is that your name? Are you Kee?" The Toddler nodded and the Fuzzy Footed Person continued. "Is that your nickname?" again the Toddler nodded. "Can you tell me your real name?"

"Kee! Kee! Kee!"

"Alright, then Kee, I'm Bilbo Baggins, nice to meet you."

"Hi..." The Toddler whispered before he began coughing again.

"Come on now, just breathe! Breathe!"

"Dammit! Come on, you little fool! Come on you reckless idiotic child! Breathe!"

I felt somebody pushing down hard on my chest. I was vaguely contemplating asking that they stop, if I could have dragged myself from the state of half asleep that I was in. I had been having my dream again though I had never seen this part of it before. I suddenly heard Bilbo's hysterical voice in the distance.

"Please Kian! Wake up! Please be alright!"

I wanted to jump up and reassure him that I was indeed fine but my limbs seemed to be weighted down with lead. My eyes wouldn't open and I felt like I was suffocating. I heard someone nearby growl and snap angrily.

"Get him away from here! Restrain him if you have too!"

"Please let me go! Kian needs me!"

I wanted to leap up and help Bilbo but whoever was beside me had begun to push against my chest again, hard. It was becoming painful, I winced and a particularly rough shove caused me to sit up as I choked on the water that was trying to expel itself from my lungs. I was turned over on my side and someone thumped me on the back to make sure I coughed up all the water. I gagged as I was hit a little too hard between the shoulder blades, sending me into another long coughing fit. When the heaving had subsided I collapsed, exhausted against the strong arm that was supporting me. I forced my eyes to open though all I longed to do was sleep. I was surprised to see that it was Thorin who was looking down at me. He was soaking wet, as though he himself had been in the river. I blinked slowly as the realization hit me. Thorin Oakenshield, King of the dwarves, had jumped into a freezing raging river just to save me and my recklessly insane hide. I confess it made no sense to my non-functioning mind, Thorin could barely stand the sight of me and yet he had saved my life. Perhaps he felt responsible for me because I was a dwarf and he was, by technicalities, my king. Whatever his reason was, the fact remained that I would never have lived long enough to even be eaten by a dragon had Thorin not risked himself for me and he was more than deserving of my thanks. I tried to speak but all that came out was a croak and something that sounded like 'Thags' rather than 'Thanks'. Thorin growled at me and I vow I had never seen him look so angry.

"Oh, I wouldn't thank me, boy! I've half a mind to take you to task for being so, so, stupid! Are you trying to yourself killed? You reckless idiot!"

I winced as his frustrated roar had made my ears ring but I was in no position to say anything about it nor likely would I if I could. I had effectively disrupted everyone's, would have been, quiet, albeit soggy evening, nearly gotten myself killed, and somehow managed to put the dwarven leader at risk also. Well, I may have well just begged to be sent back to the Shire along with Bilbo. Thorin would surely not want someone as reckless as me with the company. I hadn't even made it three days into this venture. I closed my eyes in defeat, not wanting to look at Thorin, the Company, or Bilbo. They flew open in shock as Thorin turned and ordered,

"Gloin get that Valar be damned fire going before this fool boy freezes to death! And hand me that cloak!"

I felt myself be suddenly wrapped in warm fabric and lifted off the ground. Valar save me, but Thorin had actually picked me up as though I was no more than the dwarfling that he believed me to be. If I could have spoken I would have demanded that I be put down, but as it was, I was in a state of shock and did nothing more than gasp at the pain that flared up from my ribs. I did not have to endure the humiliation for long, as Thorin only carried me to where a bedroll had been spread out beside the small blaze that Gloin had managed to coax to life. He laid me down surprisingly gentle, considering how angry he was, and stepped aside so that Oin could take his place and examine my wounds.

My injuries consisted of bruised ribs from when I slammed into the tree limb, a nasty cut along the hairline, and a twisted ankle. Considering my near death encounter, I was relatively unharmed. Oin easily stripped me of my wet clothing and spread a salve across my protesting ribs before saying far too loudly.

"Well I'm pleased that your rib's aren't broken! After slamming into that tree and Thorin's compressions, I quite expected a broken rib or two. Here sit up and let me bind them."

I gritted my teeth as the old healer wrapped my ribs and then slipped a spare shirt over my head, closing my eyes as he began tending to my other hurts as well. I was extremely lucky to be alive and apart from my burning lungs and throbbing ribs, not in too much pain. I could easily continue on tomorrow, if Thorin would even let me accompany them tomorrow. I would have worried over it further if I hadn't been so exhausted. I wanted nothing more than to sleep and I almost succeeded until Oin pulled off my boot and began to tend my ankle. I jerked awake with a half muffled cry of pain.

"Will he be alright?" I heard Bilbo demand.

"He's an asinine, foolish boy, but I reckon his senseless self will live to see another day. Let Oin tend to him, Master Baggins." said Thorin.

"I can't thank you enough for saving him! I don't know what I would do without Kian!"

If Thorin had answered Bilbo I didn't catch it, but that was hardly my first priority. The pain in my ankle was growing and it was all that I could do to keep the tears that burned from behind my tightly shut eyes from slipping down my face. I felt someone brush my damp bangs back from my face and I opened my eyes. It was Bilbo. I tried to smile at him but it must have came across more of a grimace of pain, for Bilbo suddenly turned to Oin and asked if he had anything to help with the pain. After Oin assured Bilbo that he did, he rummaged through his bag for a moment and drew out a leather flask. He handed it off to Bilbo before going back to my ankle. Bilbo gently held it to my mouth and I swallowed some of it. It tasted horrible and I almost spat it back out, but Oin suddenly looked up and gave me a fierce glare that made me drink the rest as quickly as I could. Bilbo grinned as I made a face and pulled my head down to rest on his shoulder. I sighed gratefully, and waited for the brew to take effect.

"So how fares our little dwarfling Oin?" asked Thorin, as he came up beside us again

"I'll be well enough to travel in the morning." I said hoarsely, before Oin could speak, hoping that if Thorin believed that I could still keep up with the Company that he would be willing to let this one little reckless incident slide.

"Well then, I'll expect you up all the earlier to help break camp tomorrow. And since you'll be feeling so well you can spend tomorrow learning from Oin how to tend to injuries, you obviously need to know the art. " growled Thorin.

Oin grinned as he finished with me and stood up, turning to Thorin and saying.

"It might do you good to learn some too, that way you would know to change out of wet clothing to ensure that you don't catch your death from cold."

Thorin sniffed a smile and turned away, no doubt to acquire a change of clothing, but turned back around as I called to him. He raised a brow at me and I whispered.

"Thank you."

It was all I could manage but Thorin understood all that it meant and again I saw his eyes soften at my sincere words, despite his stern expression. I laid my head back down against Bilbo and felt as exhaustion finally gather me up too tightly for me to struggle against. My eyes slid shut and I drifted to sleep.

A/N: Let me know what you thought! I think I did a good job with keeping the movie parts to a minimum!