Hello! :)

Alright, now this is my first Hobbit-story, or to be more precise, the prologue to it. I don't know where this might go since I only got a vague idea of the plot, but I hope you'll give it a try.

By the way, it's AU, and you will soon realise that, but I couldn't help it... And I don't want to reveal that much now. :)
Anyways, I also have to tell you that English is not my native language, so I hope you'll excuse my mistakes. :) Nevertheless, I'm trying my best, and if it isn't that good now, it will only become better if I practise... ;)

If there are questions or suggestions, please tell me though (alright, what a lame way to ask for reviews... but I'd love some encouragement or even criticism - well, I don't love criticism that much, but without it, there's no progress, right?)

Okay, guys, in a nutshell, enjoy reading, tell me what you think and now the story begins:

Prologue

Kili didn't know how many times he had wondered how foolish it was to go on this journey on his own. Seriously, what had possessed him to do this?

Of course, he could name many reasons but if he considered his current situation, none seemed to be worth the trouble he was in at the moment.

First of all, it was not only raining, no, it felt like the rain clouds had decided to flood the whole land – to say that he was soaked through was an understatement! Additionally, it was night – not a problem itself, because the change of day and night was something he was accustomed to. But this night was incredibly dark. Thanks to the rain clouds (again), there was no moon which could have provided at least some light. In fact, it had been raining all day and Kili was so cold that he thought he might never stop shivering. He couldn't even start a fire because there was nothing in sight that could work as shelter for him. And thanks to the cursed rain he couldn't make a fire out in the open. That also meant he couldn't get a nice, warm meal, but that wasn't only the rain's fault. Because of getting lost a few times, he nearly didn't have any supplies left. Speaking about getting lost – he was lost again, somewhere in the wilderness between the Misty Mountains and the Blue Mountains. His intention had been to stop in Bree for at least a night, but he had lost his map earlier and after looking for Bree for a day or two, he had given up and headed for the Misty Mountains (or the direction where he thought the mountains were) – not his smartest idea.

Now, he was cold, hungry, more than wet and completely miserable, but what disturbed him the most was that he was utterly alone. He had never been so alone, never in his whole life.

His brother, Fili, had usually been around, and when he didn't, his mum was near, or his uncle Thorin or some other dwarves. But now, there was nobody! Nobody to talk to, nobody to laugh with, nobody who could help him regain some hope or even his usually good mood, nobody to be just there so that Kili wouldn't be alone anymore.

The young dwarf had no choice than to go on – to walk another mile or two, and maybe he would find something or someone that could actually help him. Briefly, he thought about going back to the Blue Mountains, back home. But he wouldn't. He would never turn back, never! Because turning back meant giving up, meant surrendering. And Kili, nephew to Thorin from the line of Durin, the great king of the dwarves, was far too stubborn to ever give up!

So he marched on, more stumbling than walking down the hill he had been on. He cursed the darkness, the stones that had been placed just for him to trip over them (at least it seemed like this), the rain which made the ground muddy and caused him to slip more than once, the coldness which made him shiver and all the other things that just seemed to have the intention to hinder him and to slow him down.

Of course, Kili's stubbornness couldn't result in something good, and with his luck, it didn't. Tripping over a particularly large rock, he fell forward and would have landed in the mud face-first, but of course he wasn't that lucky again. Instead, his head collided with a tree and for a moment, he could finally see the stars. Before he realised that they only were before his eyes and not in the sky, he felt a sharp pain exploding in his head. The darkness came back and Kili knew no more.

When he came to again, the first thing he noticed was the horrible pain in his head. It felt like a dwarf was in there, digging for mithril with a particularly big and pointy pickaxe. The next thing he noticed that it had stopped raining. Thanking Aule for small mercies, he also realised it was still dark – but wait, he could help at least that.

With what seemed like a great effort to him, Kili opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the mist invading his vision. Carefully turning his head, he looked at the landscape around him which was bathed in the gentle light of dawn. The air he inhaled was fresh and clean, but also cold. He shivered a little, the movement coursing through his body was hurting his poor head even more, but he couldn't suppress it.

When the mist seemed to clear from his mind as well, he decided on slowly getting up. He propped himself up on his elbows and immediately felt sick. At the same time, he was also hungry, no, he was starving. And thirsty.

Kili closed his eyes, swallowed hard and hoped the world would stop turning anytime soon.

After a few minutes, it actually did and he opened his eyes again. He blinked in the increasingly intense sunlight and tried to look around. Kili simply had to get an impression of his surroundings, and deep inside he hoped he would see the mountains somewhere on the horizon.

Kili was in a small valley, surrounded by hills. There were even a few trees, but that wasn't what caught his eye right away. There, even hidden in the mists of the morning, far away at the horizon, there were the Misty Mountains. They were majestic, probably covered in snow (he couldn't tell for sure, but he imagined them like that), and let his heart beat faster even at the thought of them. Kili couldn't help but smile when he imagined himself exploring those mountains, probably finding Moria, the big dwarven city from the legends he had been told, with its big halls, many forges and all its treasures. Surely, the Misty Mountains were only some sort of a milestone on his way to his destination, but nevertheless, a part of him had never expected to come this far, so he had been indeed lucky in that respect!

With renewed hope, Kili managed to properly sit up and ignored the increasing nausea. His next step was to completely get up and he used the tree which had caused him that much trouble as a help.

Finally standing on wobbly legs, he looked around for his pack and, more importantly, his bow, the fast movement causing the nausea to increase again. Clutching the tree with both hands, he prevented himself from falling down again and after a few minutes and some really deep breathing, he even trusted his body enough to keep him on his feet.

Kili sighed and his mood darkened again. He couldn't fool himself anymore: He didn't know where he was (well, somewhere not that far away from the Misty Mountains, but that wasn't helpful since that was a rather long mountain range), he didn't have enough supplies left to survive for long, let alone survive the long way over the mountains (provided he found the way), his head hurt like hell (he didn't even have something to ease the pain – he cursed himself for not thinking ahead properly, persons like him simply seemed to attract danger and accidents) and he was so alone. Nobody knew where he was. He hadn't told his mother, he had merely left a letter for her explaining his intentions, thanking her for everything that she had done for him and telling her that he loved her. He hadn't been able to tell Fili, the brother that he trusted with everything, because Fili had left him at home while going on a particularly dangerous but also highly adventurous journey – to say that Kili felt betrayed because of that, not only by his brother but also by his uncle and all the others, was an understatement. He had been hurt by this action as well, but stubborn as he was, he had chosen to follow them.

Fili had only left a letter which was now hidden in Kili's pocket, explaining that they were going on a long journey (he hadn't exactly told him where they were going, but to Kili, it was clear that their destination was Erebor – where else would a band of dwarves, especially his uncle, the last King under the Mountain, go?) and he had almost pleaded with Kili not to follow them. Of course, the younger dwarf didn't think of obeying his brother even once and after packing a few things and waiting a few days – he had known that his mother had been suspicious, but after a week she had let her guard down a bit – he had set out to follow his brother and uncle.

Kili couldn't help but feel a little guilty whenever he thought of his brother. Fili had meant well, he just wanted his younger brother to be safe, but then Kili also had the impression that Fili didn't trust him that much. After all, he had left him alone.

But before he could continue his brooding, Kili got a strange feeling that made the hair in his neck stand. He knew this feeling, he felt watched. He held his breath and listened intensely, not daring to move a muscle and then he heard it.

It was merely a little rustling of the grass, but it came nearer and nearer. That was when Kili, heart beating wild in his chest and not being able to think of something smart to do, reacted on pure instinct. He forgot his head injury, his nausea, even the sword at his side and turned around as fast as he could.

Of course, his vision turned black almost instantly and he felt himself falling, but before he could hit the ground, strong arms were catching him. And then he went unconscious.

Nooow... again, what do you think? :) (I'm just curious, nothing more ;) )