Fathers and Sons

Chapter Six

They walked the entire day until they couldn't walk anymore. Fili wasn't sure where they were; he had never been this far away from the village. But he led them on. He hoped they would run into some sign of civilization soon.

Sometime near dusk, Fili could swear that he heard the sounds of rushing water somewhere close by. A river or a stream. The day had brought misery in this relentless heatwave, and Fili's wound throbbed in pain. Finally, hope for some direction.

"Are you alright, Brother?" Kili asked as they arrived in a small clearing. Fili tried to suppress a wince and smiled reassuringly at Kili.

"Yes," he said. The wound hadn't been that deep and had stopped bleeding long ago, but the dull ache that resonated from the wound was slowly growing more painful. Fili knew that infection was a possibility, but with no supplies, there was not much he could do about it. Besides, he was the leader of this group now; he couldn't afford to be weak and falter because of a small wound. There were more pressing matters to attend to.

Kili didn't look convinced but didn't press the issue. He didn't feel much like talking anyway. They were all still shell shocked over the events that led them into this situation. There had been no further signs of orcs, but no signs of dwarves either. Fili hoped that Thorin had survived, but that hope began to dim.

"We will camp here," Fili said firmly, turning to look at Ori and Gimli, "Ori, go find that water source, Gimli, you can help me start a fire, and Kili, I'll need you to hunt for something to eat."

"I don't have many arrows left," Kili said, holding his bow, "I used them all on orcs."

"Well then, make sure you don't miss," Fili snapped harshly. Kili gave him a look of surprise but sighed and hurried off to do as he was told. Fili squeezed his eyes shut for a brief moment to try to compose himself. He could feel the pressure mounting inside of him. He had to lead them; he had to take care of them. He'd never been in this kind of situation before, but he knew he couldn't fail.

Ori whimpered a bit as his arm dangled painfully to his side. Fili sighed.

"Ori..." Fili said, and the young Dwarf looked at him, "Nevermind, Gimli can go get the water. You stay here and help me with the fire."

"No, I can do it," Ori insisted, "it's just... I don't have anything to carry it back in."

"We should camp on the river itself," Gimli put in as he wandered the small clearing, gathering firewood.

"No, we'll be easier to track down that way," Fili explained. "Animals and orcs could be traveling along the river and see our fire."

Gimli grumbled and put the wood down and hurried off to carry out Fili's instructions. Fili turned to Ori, "Here, let me see your arm, Ori," Fili instructed, coming over.

"No, it's fine," Ori insisted, looking a little scared at the thought, "It's fine."

"No, it isn't," Fili snapped again. He wasn't in the mood for any challenges. He hoped it wasn't too apparent to the others how stressed he felt.

Ori winced and sat down in the grass and allowed Fili to inspect his arm. As Fili kneeled, he felt the stabbing pain in his side again, but bit back a wince and ignored it. Ori's dark eyes gazed at him with concern.

"I'm fine," he assured him, looking over his arm. It was broken, the bone was visible just under Ori's elbow. Ori winced hard as he tried to move it. Fortunately, it hadn't broken through the skin.

It was good that Oin had taught the young Dwarves the basics of wilderness care. Thorin thought it necessary since they spent so much time out in the forest. Today, Fili was grateful that he paid attention to Oin's boring lessons. Set the bone, he remembered. Set it and get a splint.