To Love a Half-Blood (A Kili Fanfic)

Chapter 6: Acceptance... Sort of

The water in the bottom of the barrel turns red with Kili's blood. The arrow had broken off at the head when we jumped. "Mr. Kili! Mr. Kili! Look at me! Open your eyes!" I scream, trying to stop the bleeding. "No. no. no. You have to be okay! Wake up!" I sob, shaking him.

 "Kee?! What's wrong?!" A dwarf cries.  The barrel hits a rock and I fall off balance, landing on Kili's chest. He moans.

"Kili?!" I ask, my voice cracking. "Kili." I sigh, hugging him tightly to my chest.

"Hmm? What?" He mumbles.

"Stay with me." I beg. He nods sleepily in response. The sound of feet pounding against the ground to my left makes me look up.

"Nethig (little sister)!" Legolas shouts, struggling to keep up with the swift current that carries me away.

"Legolas!" I shout back.

"Jump! Come with me, we can run away. We'll live in the forest together, just like when you were little!" he yells.

"You know you can't leave your people! Thranduil would go mad if he lost you! Mirkwood needs your protection!" I shout back over the roar of the water.  

"I can't lose you again!" he cries, "I love you too much. I can't protect you out there!" he cries.

We both know I'm right, I can never go back nor can he leave.

"I'll be safe! You taught me well! I'll come back, I promise." I call to him. He stops running as the bank of the river ends. I see tears slide down his cheeks. "I love you!" I shout.

"I love you my nethig!" He yells back. The river turns and he's gone. My attention snaps back to Kili.

"I'm sorry." He says, obviously much more coherent. The bleeding has slowed significantly and I sigh in relief.

"For what?" I ask, relived he's talking.

"That you have to leave your brother." He continues in a weak voice. Tears stream from my eyes.

"You're sorry?" I laugh, choking on tears, from which horrifying situation I know not. "You're sorry?! You have an arrow in your leg and you're sorry I'm leaving home? Oh Kili!" I whimper, hugging him again, careful to avoid his leg.

He brushes the hair from my face and touches his lips to my temple, whispering "Shh, it going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay." We float down the river for a long time until a dwarf calls for us to stop at the next sand bank.

The sand bank is coming up quickly and the others begin to jump from their barrels and swim for the shore.

 How do I get Kili and I to the bank?! I don't know how to swim.

 I jump from the barrel anyway. I kick my legs and hang on the barrel's edge to keep my face above the water. We slowly veer towards the shore. I kick harder, throwing water into the air. My cloak is water-logged and starts to choke me. I cough and sputter as water starts to creep into my lungs with every kick. Then my toe brushes the rocky bottom. I stand, my mouth barely above the water, and start to drag the barrel towards the shore. We are within twenty feet of land now, and I sigh in relief.

We're safe.

I put my foot out to take another step, and I'm met with nothing. I lose my grip to the barrel and sink. I claw at the water. Flailing my legs, trying to reach the surface, but it is no use. I can vaguely hear shouting at the surface as I'm embraced by the icy water.

 An arm wraps around me and drags me to the surface. I gasp for air as I'm carried to shore where I'm roughly dropped. I shake in a fit of coughing, expelling the water from my lungs. Then I simply lay there, breathing.

 Kili! Where is he? Is he okay?! When Did I start calling him Kili?!

 I leap to my feet and look around to see him leaning against a rock nearby, being fussed over by a blond dwarf.

"Stop squirming!" The blond one shouts at Kili.

"You get shot with an arrow and try not to squirm a little when someone's ripping it out!" Kili yells back.

If he's feeling well enough to shout that has to be good, right?

I pad over to them, my soggy boots squelching as I walk. They look up as I approach. "Excuse me-err-" I say, looking at the blond dwarf.

"Fili ma'm, Kili's brother." he says, looking up.

"Fili, may I speak with you?" I ask. He looks back at Kili, reluctant to leave him. "It'll only be a moment." I continue.

"Don't move." He commands his brother as he walks over to me. We have a whispered conversation before we return to Kili's side. I kneel by Kili and lay a hand on his cheek tracing his jaw with my index finger.

"I'm so glad you're okay Mr. Kili." I whisper.

"Please, drop the Mr..." Replies.

He lifts a hand, placing it on my lower back and sending a tingle up my spine. I snake one arm around his neck and look into his eyes as he leans closer, our lips nearly touching. Then, I yank the arrow out and he yelps in pain, jumping back. He shoots me a nasty look.

"Sorry, I had to do it quickly. It hurts less." I say, genuinely sorry, but still mildly amused.

"Hurts less huh?" He snaps. "I find that hard to believe."

"Oh, don't be such a baby." Fili scolds, rolling his eyes. Kili is still highly offended but allows me to clean and bandage his wound. He ignores me though, refusing to look at me, pouting. Finally I stand and walk back to the center of camp.

The dwarves watch me advance to them. Their leader, the one with the dark hair with strands of grey meets my eyes. "Larien Telrunya, I do not believe we got to finish our conversation." He says gruffly.

"That we did not master dwarf. You know my name, what is yours?" I respond, trying to keep a calm conversation.

"I am Thorin Okansheild, King Under the Mountain." He says.

"My lord, it is a pleasure." I say with a slight bow.

A king?! I'm in the presence of a dwarf king! Would he know my father? No, why would a king know him?

"Enough with the formalities, when will you be leaving?" He asks.

"Leaving, what? No. I'm coming with you. I'm not going anywhere." I say, my back stiffening and my fists clenching.

"You will return to your family and leave us be. We appreciate your rescuing Kili but you do not belong with us." He continues.

"Then where do I belong?! I am not elf nor dwarf. Would you have me return to be thrown back into Mirkwood's dungeons?" I shout, taking a step forward.

"That is exactly the issue! We cannot have a criminal in our party." He responds, a firm tone in his voice.

"A criminal?! The only thing I have done wrong is living. I was punished for my existence, not a crime." I spit.

"How do we know that you are telling the truth?" he asks. I stop to think of something, anything that would prove my story.

"All you have is my word. I have no proof but my mixed-blood that I would gladly shed for your company, my kin." I say, shutting my mouth quickly before my voice breaks.  Thorin stops to consider what I have said and whispers something to the white-haired dwarf at his side

"Can you fight?" he asks.

"You saw me at the gate, did you not?" I say in response. He mutters something under his breath.

"Seeing as we appear to be down a fighter we will take you along, but do not expect to share in our food. We have no provisions as it is." He says reluctantly.

"You will not regret this, my lord." I say, suppressing a smile.