LOTR/Hobbit Imagines

Kíli - Hostage (part 2)

He should never have let you go. Not on your own.
Kíli paced through the makeshift campsite, worrying about you. It was well past sunrise and you still hadn't returned.
There was a reason they scouted in pairs, him and his brother. Truth be told, it got them in trouble a few times because there were two of them, but still... He should've gone with you.

His brother kept an eye on him from where he was sitting, but let him be.
Why didn't he go with you? Kíli groaned in frustration, repeating the question over and over. His hands went through his hair like they had so many times in the past hour.

The others started gathering the supplies and their things, packing up to leave. When Kíli noticed this, he turned to his uncle.
"We're leaving?"
"Aye," Thorin answered.
Kíli couldn't believe what he'd heard. "We can't leave!"
"Kíli," Thorin warned. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Fíli getting to his feet, ready to interfere if he had to.

"But Y/N isn't back yet!"
Kíli's voice got louder with each word, challenging his uncle. He couldn't believe they were just going to abandon you like that! Thorin stood right in front of him with a few strides, his face inches from his.
"Don't you think I haven't noticed?" he hissed.

Kíli was about to say something he'd probably regret later, until he noticed the concern in his uncle's eyes. He tried to hide it, but it was there.
"We'll find her," Thorin promised, before he resumed his packing.

Fíli placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You're not the only one who is fond of her, brother," he said. "Uncle feels responsible. He's the one who sent her to scout in the first place."
"Yes, but I should've gone-... Wait, what do you mean by that? I'm- I'm not...!" Kíli stuttered, trying to deny anything Fíli was implying, but horribly failing.
His brother just smiled at him, a playful twinkle in his eyes Kíli hadn't seen in a while.

The Company trudged through the forest, trying to follow your trail but finding it hard to do so. You were a good scout, so it seemed. They had more trouble tracking your movements than they had anticipated, making their progress rather slow. A lot slower than Kíli had wanted.

He tried to calm himself by repeating over and over again that you knew how to fight, you knew how to defend yourself, you knew how to remain unseen.
You probably fell asleep in your hiding place or something, that was a very Y/N thing to do after all.

After an hour and still no sign of you, the silence among them became deafening. Eyes and ears were peeled for any sign of their missing scout, each of the dwarves' worry growing with every step they took.

Kíli constantly had to fight the urge to call out your name. He didn't know if they were going in the right direction, and what if you went back to camp only to find them gone?
Brown leaves crunched beneath their steps, a branch broke with a dry crack when he stepped on it, making him flinch.
He felt a hand on his shoulder and when he looked behind him, Fíli squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.
"Stop worrying nadadith, we'll find her," he whispered. Kíli nodded in return, but couldn't shake the feeling that something was horribly wrong. (little brother, brother who is younger)

Their surroundings had changed, seeming to match the looming thoughts in his mind. It was no longer the calm, inviting forest it was this morning, almost comforting with the bright colours and the typical woodsy smell.
Instead there were thin trees which clung to mossy rocks, the footing made slippery by the dampness underfoot.

"There's evidence of a struggle here," Nori whispered, pointing towards the ground. "Orcs, most likely."
They looked up at looming pieces of stone that seemed to have been piled by a careless giant, left as a testament to long-gone fun. The warm colours were gone, replaced with greys, dark greens and black. This whole place felt wrong.