Kili leaned back against his father's chest and looked out at the fading sun in the distance as the two rode back towards their village. Today has been a good day. His brother had gone off to train with their Uncle, and their Mother had gone to take care of a sick friend for a few days out of town. He thought he was going to get stuck all alone with their stuffy old neighbour the whole day, but at the last moment he has pulled out his trick of sad watery puppy dog eyes and managed to convince his father to take him along to the next town for the day. His father was merchant and often got to travel to interesting places. Kili on the other hand was rarely able to leave their village.

His father had dropped off a few wares at customer's houses and then they had spent the rest of the day wandering through the market stalls. Kili sighed contently at the feeling of his full belly and the thought of all the delicious treats he had eaten that day. He hadn't wanted to leave but his father was worried about them traveling home in the dark.

Cracking branches just off the road made his father's pony toss her head up, ears pointed forward on high alert. Kili felt his father stiffen behind him and reach for his swords. Suddenly the road was abuzz with activity as a dozen orcs and a couple wargs leaped out from the trees. His father leaped off the pony, twin swords drawn.

"Whatever happens Kili, just try to stay in the saddle. I love you so much."

Before Kili could even begin to choke out a reply his father slapped the pony hard on the rump with the flat edge of one of his swords and the creature bolted forward into the woods. Behind him he could hear orc shrieks as his father cut them down. He looked back just in time to see his father fall, the group of horrible beasts all diving upon him, except for two orcs he could see running after him into the woods.

Kili frantically fisted one of his hands into the pony's mane while the other gripped tightly to the pommel of the saddle as the pony streaked wildly through the forest. He had never ridden alone before, not really. A few times he had convinced Fili to lead him around on his pony Ruby, but he was pretty sure that didn't really count. At the very least it was nothing like what he was experiencing at this moment. He had never travelled so fast in his life. Shapes flew by in a blur and branches ripped as his face. Kili could feel the tears streaming down his face but he couldn't tell at this point if they were from the wind, the pain from the scratches, or the pain he felt gripping at his heart when he thought about his father. His vision fuzzy from crying he didn't even see the low hanging branch until the last second.

Sharp pain exploded through his body unlike anything he had ever felt. He could scarcely draw breath into his body, let alone move. The cries of orcs and wargs in the distance soon filled his sense though and spurred him back to action and he forced himself upright. Standing on shaky legs he tried to take stock of his injuries. Blood tricked down the back of his head where it had collided with the ground. His shoulder felt sore from landing on it. Most upsetting was his throbbing ankle; he knew he had little chance of outrunning the vicious creatures at the best of times on a pony. He had no chance when he was restricted to a hobble. Not knowing what else to do he climbed a tree and tried to turn his thoughts to the happy times with his family.

Thorin felt a weird feeling clutch at him when he and Fili arrived back at his sister's house to find it dark. He would have expected his brother in law and his youngest nephew to be back by now.

"Fili, go run and see the guard at the gate to see if your father and brother have been seen coming back this evening." The golden haired child nodded and ran off.

Thorin in the mean time tried to occupy his mind and ward off the worried thoughts that plagued him by lighting the lamps around the house.

Fili ran in breathless a few minutes later, eyes wide with fear. "They haven't been seen since they left this morning. There was a sighting of orcs and wargs today between here and where they were travelling!"

That was all the information Thorin needed to hear and he bounded down the steps of the house towards the barn to tack up his pony. Fili trailed along behind begging and pleading to join him. Thorin could not bear the thought of losing both of his though, and managed to convince Fili that he need to remain behind in case his brother and father returned.

The moon hung high in the sky as Thorin passed through the gates of the village and trotted his pony swiftly down the wide road. Unfortunately he didn't have to go too far to find what he was looking for. In the middle of the road lay his brother-in-law, golden hair shinning in the moonlight amongst several dead orcs. Thorin dropped to his knees beside him; he had seen enough death however to know that the light had long gone out of his eyes. Thorin choked back a sob as he got back to his feet thoughts now turning to his little nephew. He quickly scanned the surrounding area; the darkness clung to everything however making it hard to pick up any clues.

"KILI!" he screamed into the night, we aware the calls were more likely to draw enemies to his position than reach his nephews ears.

He heard no reply as he paced around the site once more. He was fairly accomplished tracker but in the dark here he felt lost. There were so many tracks muddled abound in the dirt. He could see a set of pony and a couple of orc tracks leading into the woods, and other group went up the road away from their town. He had no way of knowing which group Kili was with. Was he still on the pony or was that a couple orcs trying to chase down a meal of horse meat? Thorin needed reinforcements, and daylight. With a heavy heart he headed home.

Kili sat in the tree he was hiding in a tried not to let the crushing despair overwhelm him. He missed his father terribly; he didn't want to believe the horrible thing he witnessed back on the road. He bit his lip harder to stop from crying. The orcs had passed by not long after he had gingerly climbed up here. They had stopped right at the bottom of the tree for a minute and he had felt his heart leap into his throat. Fortunately neither of them were smart enough to look up and eventually they had moved on again in the direction the pony had departed.

His whole body throbbed with pain. He wanted so badly to go home, but it was so far on foot still, and he didn't know what else was lurking out there. The night was cold, he could see the clouds of his breath in the dim moonlight. Eventually he gave in and just let the shivers and sobs rattle through his body.

It was just before dawn when Thorin and every available man he could gather set off back up the road. He already felt drained of all his energy. Fili had tried to put on a brave face, but eventually the stress had become too much for the little boy as the night wore on. His father's pony had returned home alone a little before Thorin had. By the time Thorin returned empty handed Fili was frantic. Thorin had eventually sat by the fire for most of the night cradling the little boy in his arms as he sobbed into his chest after being told the horrible news about his father. It had been early in the morning hours before exhaustion had finally won out over the little one and he had fallen into a fretful sleep.

The crew arrived at the battle scene shortly and after they gathered for a moment of silence and a quick prayer Thorin quickly barked out some directions. Most of the crew was to fan out to cover as much as possible of the forest. The others would head up the road. That left Oin and Gloin to deal with his brother-in-laws body and dispose of the dead orcs.

Thorin moved with the crew through the forest. They moved slowly trying to pick up any sign of the little prince. Time seemed to drag on forever before he finally hear a shout off to his right from who he quickly recognized to be Dwalin. His heart beat widely in his chest, torn between trying to find out what his friend had found and putting off possibly devastating information. Eventually he broke through the bushes to find his friend, but saw nothing else. He threw a harsh glare Dwalin's way and his friend replied by gesturing up to the tree tops.

Thorin let out a deep breath he didn't even realise he had been holding as he saw the little brunette clinging to the high branch. Poor little Kili looked terrible, his fingers were bleeding from clinging to the rough bark so hard. He had blood running down his face and numerous bruises and cuts covering his body. His little body trembled, Thorin couldn't tell from exhaustion or cold.

"Kili."

His nephew looked at him with glazed unfocused eyes.

"I'm going to come up and get you, ok?"

Kili gave no reply. Thorin slowly started up the tree until he reached his goal. He brushed the brown hair back from his nephews face and Kili replied with a look of pure grief. Thorin felt his heart break at what his little nephew might have witnessed. Gently he pried he little hands from their death grip on the tree and gathered the little oen in his arms. Kili let out a sob when they reached the base of the tree, and then the emotional flood gates opened.

"You take him home and I'll inform the others" said Dwalin.

Thorin nodded and pressed a gentle kiss into dark brown hair of the precious one curled in his arms.

Kili sobbed the whole way home and the sobs continued as he was reunited with his brother. Thorin was at a loss for what to do except gather the two sad little darrows in his arms and rock them gently. He wished his sister was home, she was much better at this sort of thing. They had sent word for her to return that morning but she was still probably a day away. Eventually the two of them had cried themselves out for the time being and Thorin tenderly tucked them into bed.

Watery eyes looked back up at him as he sat on the edge of their bed. It was Fili who broke the silence.

"What do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Whose going to take care of us now? Da always worked to put food on the table, and protected Mama, and he made me my first sword, but Kili hasn't gotten one yet..."

"Any he always checked under the bed for goblins" piped in Kili.

Thorin gave them both a sad smile and placed a kind hand on each of their chests. "Don't worry little ones there will always be someone to take care of all your needs, you will never have to go without. No one can ever replace your father, he was a very special dwarf. But you still have many people in this world who love you. I know the pain is strong now, but it will get easier with time."

The three shared a hug before the two little ones curled around one another and quickly fell asleep. Thorin paused at the bedroom door a moment looking over them. It would be a tough road ahead, but he felt certain they'd make it through ok.

Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks to everyone who read and favourite my last story, and anyone who reads this one.