Kili walked through the door of the Durin's modest little home to find Dis and Fili sitting at the dinner table, waiting impatiently for him. The archer kept his hood up to cover his face, and pulled his jacket tighter around his body.

"Good evening," Dis said sternly. "And just where have you been?"

"Nowhere," Kili muttered.

"Of course," she replied sarcastically. "Well, go wash up and join us for dinner." Kili stalked off towards the bathroom and slammed the door shut with a thud.

Fili and Dis shared a look of concern. "I'll go talk to him," the blonde dwarf said, standing up from his spot at the dinner table to follow his brooding brother into the bathroom.

Kili walked over to the candle stand by the bathroom mirror and quickly lit it with some flint resting near the sink. Staring at himself in the mirror for the first time since his . . . incident, he slowly removed his hood to take a look at his face.

Bruises were starting to form across his jawline and with close examination he saw that he had a split lip. Better than I thought it would look, Kili thought. He was just about to look at the real problem, his torso, when he heard the bedroom door open. Kili quickly moved and blew out the candle right before Fili walked in.

"Any particular reason you are sulking, Kili?" Fili asked to the vast darkness.

Kili made to move past his brother, but Fili heard Kili's footsteps and grabbed his arm. Kili flinched at the pain it caused him.

Fili's face turned from annoyance to concern as he heard Kili wince in pain.

"What's wrong, Kili?" Fili anxiously tried to look into his brothers eyes, but the lack of light prevented him. Why Kili felt the need to blow out the candles, Fili knew not.

"It is no concern of yours," Kili retorted.

"You're my little brother. Everything is my concern." Kili just stalked back into their bedroom and pulled his hood up again. Fili briskly followed him into their room.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" And for a moment, Kili did want to tell Fili what happened. But only for a moment. Kili felt that he wouldn't be able to face the shame that telling would bring him. Nor would he wish to see his brothers face marred by disapproval.

"Kili." Fili pulled his brother's hood back to look Kili in the eyes when he saw Kili's face covered with bruises and a split lip. "Who did this to you?" Fili asked quietly through clenched teeth. He would make whoever did this pay for touching his little brother.

"Look, everything's fine. I-I can handle this."

"Oh, I can see that," Fili quipped sarcastically. "Look, just let me help you."

Fili held onto his brother by his shoulders, hoping Kili would see sense if he could stare directly at his worried brother's eyes. But this action only caused Kili to whimper. "What happened to you?" Fili asked, looking to find what caused his brother such discomfort. Kili just looked to the floor in shame. Slowly, Fili removed his brothers jacket to see Kili's tunic stained with blood. The blonde dwarf gasped at the sight of his brother so beaten.

"W-Who?" was the only thing Fili could say in his state of shock. How dare anyone come near his little brother! The poor little dwarfling wasn't even 33 yet.

"Nereim and his gang," Kili replied softly, defeated and wishing nothing more than for this whole ordeal to be out of his mind.

"What did they do to you?"

Kili remembered their encounter with remorse . . .

Kili was walking home after archery training, thinking about how he would soon be better than Fili at something, when he heard a familiar and unwelcome voice echo through the dark alley.

"Hey look, boys, it's the elf," Nereim said.

Kili walked faster, trying his hardest to block out the taunts thrown at him.

"You know, I'm surprised Thorin even took you in. I thought that he hated elves," said another dwarf.

"Thank Durin you aren't first in line for the throne. I don't think I could live in a kingdom ruled by an elf," another dwarf teased.

"I don't know," said Nereim. "I mean, it's not like his big brother looks like the heir of Durin either. What with his blonde hair, I wouldn't be surprised if he was adopted as well."

"Fili is the rightful heir to the throne," Kili said coldly and without feeling. "There is no question. Now if you will excuse me-"

"Oh, but were not finished yet, are we boys?" Nereim looked back to his gang, who shook their heads quickly. "No, I think we should tell his highness what we really think of him and his little family." Nereim approached the young dwarf as his gang started to take out various knives from inside their jackets. Kili made a move to run, but was cut of by Nereim saying, "- or maybe we should express our feelings to your brother instead."

Kili's eyes widened. No, not Fili, Kili told himself. They could do whatever they wanted to him, but they could not harm his big brother. He slowly turned around to face his tormentors and silently took out his own knife. "What do you want with me?" he said quietly and calmly.

"We just want to give you a little message. Think of it as a way to show you what we truly feel about our king." The dwarves approached poor Kili, their knives glinting in the torchloght, and they attacked.

Kili told his brother what took place earlier that night, and was particularly ashamed when he told Fili how he tried and failed to attack the dwarves with his small hunting knife. But while Kili felt shame, Fili felt fury. He was probably more furious than he had ever been before in his entire life. Fili always knew that Nereim was a cruel excuse of a dwarf, but this? This was worse than anything the callous dwarf had ever done before.

"C-come on," Fili said, suppressing his anger as he moved to help his little brother. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Fili guided his injured brother towards the bathroom and carefully removed his stained tunic. Fili's heart melted at the sight of his brothers' blood and wanted more than anything to be able to make it so this night never happened. But, seeing as this was not possible, the best Fili could think to do was to promise Kili that he wouldn't tell mother, at least for now. Though Fili didn't understand why his brother felt the need to 'protect his pride' from his mother, he obliged his wish.

Fili slowly and carefully began washing away the blood that covered his brother's torso, and made a vow to avenge his brother, even if it was the last thing he ever did.