Two Brothers

~ The treasure ~

Thorin walked through the house he shared with his sister Dis and his two nephews. He had worked in the mines all day and couldn't wait to get to bed. Tomorrow would be another long, hard day for him.

Just as he was about to walk into his bedroom Dis called him from the other end of the house. 'Thorin have you seen Fili and Kili? I haven't seen them since dinner and I can't find them in the house. Can you go outside and look if they are playing somewhere?' Thorin sighed. Of course he couldn't go to bed early. Of course his nephews had to get lost at this exact moment. But Thorin knew that Dis wouldn't agree with a no as an answer.

'I'll go looking for them! Don't worry, I will find them soon enough.' Thorin put on his coat and walked outside. Now, where could his nephews be? 'As long as they haven't gone to the river they should be fine' Thorin said to himself. But just in case he went there to check anyway. But they weren't there.

Maybe they were at Balin's house. They loved his stories about the gold of Erebor and the games their uncle's had played decades earlier. Balin's house wasn't that far away from the river. When he got there Balin was sitting outside his house. He smiled when Thorin approached him. 'Hey laddie, what's with the worried look on your face? ' Balin asked.

Thorin looked at him and shook his head. 'I'm looking for my nephews. Have you seen them?' Balin's forehead wrinkled a little as he tried to remember if he had. 'No, no, I don't think so. Or my mind would be playing tricks on me. But have you checked the orchard yet? I saw them playing there yesterday and it appeared as if they had found something.' That must be the place they were.

Thorin knew his nephews. If they had found something they liked they wouldn't forget about it very soon. Whatever it was they wouldn't let go of it without a struggle. If they would even show it to him. 'Thank you Balin. I will go check the orchard then. Take good care of yourself.' Thorin turned around and left Balin alone sitting outside his house. 'You take care of yourself there to laddie.' Balin said with a little smile on his face.

The orchard was filled with apples that were almost ready to be eaten. Just a few more weeks and they would be ready. It wasn't a big orchard, but big enough to get lost if you didn't know where you came from. Thorin figured his nephews would be in the back of the orchard if they were there. If Balin was right and they had found something they wouldn't take the chance of anyone stealing their new treasure from them. So in the back of the orchard it was. Thorin became a little worried now. What if they weren't in the orchard? Where else could they be?

Thorin tried to walk as slowly as he could while he got a little nervous. They just had to be here. Fili was 17 years old and Kili was only 12, but Thorin knew that they could take care of themselves if needed to. When he came near the back of the orchard he heard little whispers coming from nearby. He walked slowly towards the end, not wanting to let anyone know he was coming. He looked around an apple tree and saw his nephews.

'Kili you have to dig deeper!' Fili commanded to his younger brother. 'But me tired Fili.' Kili pouted. Thorin heard his older nephew sigh. 'Then I'll help you with the last part. We have to dig deep so that it can grow strong.' 'Do you think it will grow as tall as uncle Thorin Fili?' Kili asked his brother wide-eyed. 'No, of course not Kili. It will grow even taller! Our tree will grow and grow until we can climb it all the way to the moon!' Fili said while he was digging in the shallow hole. Kili look at the sky in awe.

He must really think a tree can grow that tall, Thorin thought to himself. But now he understood what his nephews were doing. 'Do you need some help?' Thorin said as he walked towards them. Fili turned around quickly as he heard his uncle's voice. Kili duck behind Fili. 'U-uncle... we were just....' Fili stuttered, but he couldn't finish his sentence. 'Am I that scary?' Thorin asked Fili. 'No of course you're not uncle!' Fili quickly replied.

'What he said!' Kili's muffled voice replied while pointing a finger towards his brother. Thorin showed a little smile. 'Then what are you doing digging a hole in this orchard that isn't yours?' Kili's eyes were shown when he carefully looked over Fili's shoulder. 'We were gonna grow our own tree uncle! It would go all the way to the moon! Right Fili?' File elbowed his younger brother. 'No we weren't! Uncle we would never grow a tree in an orchard that isn't ours!' Fili said while avoiding Thorin's eyes.

'Are you allowed to lie Fili?' Thorin asked with a firm voice. Fili blushed and looked at the ground. 'No I'm not uncle. I just wanted to show Kili how you grow your own tree.' Thorin shook his head. 'You can't do that in a place that doesn't belong to you. You know you could have planted it in our own garden if you would have asked' Thorin said while walking closer to his nephews.

They both looked at him and Kili came behind Fili's back. He walked up to Thorin holding his arms up to him. 'Can we really grow a tree in our garden uncle?' Kili asked him with a big smile on his face. Thorin picked him up. 'Only if you'll promise me you won't be digging holes in random places again!' Thorin said while trying to sound a little irritated. But he didn't succeed. Fili also walked towards Thorin and took his hand.

'Look uncle! We were gonna grow this seed we found in our apple this evening!' Thorin gave a little smile. 'Well, shall we bury it in our own garden then?' Both his nephews screamed in agreement. With Kili in his arms and Fili holding his hand Thorin walked home to plant the seed with his nephews. 'Just promise me you will tell your mother I gave you a hard time about leaving without telling us where you were going.' Fili nodded, 'Of course we will uncle, we always tell mom that you have!'