The Hobbit Imagines

#19~ Kili

PROMPT: You live at Mirkwood with your brother, Legolas, and your overbearing father Thranduil. Since you have never been allowed to leave Mirkwood, you are always excited when people from the outside word enter your home. So, when Thorin and his company are brought in as prisoners, you can't help but to hang around the cells and notice one dwarf in particular...

Things in Mirkwood were not as interesting as you would have liked. Of course it would be boring, though; you were never allowed to go anywhere besides Mirkwood. While you brother, Legolas, got to roam the lands beyond the elven escape you had to stay there with your father. Legolas would tell you tales and such about what he had seen, but they were nothing compared to what it was really like. You would ask your father to let you explore with Tauriel, but his answer would always be the same and you knew that.

You were watching over the daily hustle and bustle of Mirkwood on the day that the company was brought in. Your feet kicked back and forth as you sat on the highest dirt bridge that you could find and hummed a tune that Tauriel had taught you months ago. She said that it had been passed down through her family and the sound of it was awfully pretty so you were eager to pick it up. A few people would pass by and muddle the rhythm of it with their own songs that they sang while they worked, but it went largely undisturbed aside from that.

When you heard the slight commotion at the entrance of Mirkwood you couldn't help but to perk up. You were up and on your feet quickly; Legolas had gone out earlier in the day and you were hoping that the noise was stemming from his return. Quickly, you jumped and ran down bridge after bridge, walkway after walkway, just to get to the entrance. A slew of elves were coming in and they were dragging dwarves along with them. You couldn't help but to gape at the sight; you had never actually seen a dwarf before. Your eyes locked with a younger looking one with jet black hair but your focus was soon drawn away.

"Autumn," your brother's voice called from the entrance just as it was being closed behind him. With a small smile stretching out your lips, you rushed to your brother and practically tackled him in a hug.

While he was holding you in his arms with a laugh, you spoke up, "who are those dwarves, brother?" His grip tightened ever so slightly at your words, but he brushed the reaction off soon after and pulled away from you with a smile.

"They're not important; just a few wanderers that father will take care of soon," he shrugged before throwing his arm around your shoulder and walking further into Mirkwood with you by his side. Your eyes followed the group of dwarves as they were led through the twists and turns of the elven city. You watched one particular black haired dwarf most of the time.

"Will they be in the cells?" you wondered as your neck strained ever so slightly to follow the path that they took. Legolas looked down at you after hearing your question and a frown replaced his smile. He was aware of how curious you were about things and people from that entered Mirkwood. So, he was already worrying about how you would try to see the prisoners.

"Father wouldn't like it if you were to speak to them," those words alone were enough to tell you that they would be in the cells. Legolas' tone was as serious as could be, but you paid no attention to that. Your focus was still on the dwarves. You could only imagine the stories that they would have about the place that they came from.

"Father doesn't like a lot of things," you mumbled back as you slipped away from your brother's arm and began to walk towards where the prisoners were going. Legolas sighed heavily as he watched you go; there was little that he could do since he knew that advising against your actions would be useless. You were going to do what you wanted to do regardless of what he said.

Skipping slightly, you managed to reach the cells just as the guards were shoving the dwarves into them. You watched with furrowed brows and waited patiently for the guards to leave the area before you slowly and carefully walked towards the cells. You could hear the small chatter between the dwarves; they spoke with each other in hushed words until one of them saw you walking closer and hushed the others. After that it was almost unbearably quiet; with each of your hesitant steps the dwarves seemed to get quieter and quieter. Part of you wished that they would begin to speak again so that the atmosphere wouldn't seem so thick.

You peeked inside each cell at least once until you got to the last one that was by the stairs; the young dwarf with the kind face and black hair was sitting in that one with an almost bored look on his face. He clutched a sleek black stone in his hands and he threw it up into the air every once in a while. Your eyes followed it each time he threw it until you finally asked, "What's that?"

The young dwarf jumped in his spot as if he hadn't noticed that you were there. The stone, which had been in the middle of its ascent in the air when startled him, knocked against the ground and rolled out of the cell. It hit your foot with a barely noticeable force and you leaned down to pick it up off of the floor. Turning it over in your hands, your thumb ran over the letters engraved on the front of it. Once you were done inspecting it, you held it back out to him and he eagerly took it back while keeping his eyes on you. "Just a silly talisman that my mother gave to me before I left our home," he answered your original question once the stone was safe in his hands again, "laced with suspicion and ghastly tales."

"What sort of suspicion?" you wondered with slightly wide and curious eyes.

The corners of his lips turned up in the smallest of smiles, "well, it's said that it has a very powerful spell on it; if anyone besides a dwarf reads what is engraved on it, they will be cursed forever." His words were joking and you couldn't help but to grin along with him.

"Oh, say it isn't so," you faked a worried and frantic whine that only made his smile grow, "if it's true then I am cursed, for I read what was on it."

"I'm afraid there is nothing that you can do then," he tried to snuff out his laughter as he shook his head and gave a heavy sigh as if in defeat.

"Then tell me, you evil dwarf that has cursed me with that stone of yours, what will the curse do to me?" there was a giggled at the end of your words because you couldn't keep it back any longer.

He grew very serious for a moment and answered, "You'll grow a beard."

"Oh, anything but a beard!" you exclaimed in playful protest, "I'd rather die than grow one of those scraggly things!" Neither of you could hold in your laughter after that; you both sputtered with the joyful noise slipping past your lips and filling the area around you. After the jovial exchange had been made, you took a seat on the stairs next to the dwarf's cell and looked at him through the bars. "Where was your group going before we took you hostage?" you questioned with your curiosity making another appearance. The dwarf didn't seem to be bothered by your questions; he was actually enjoying your presence. It gave him something to think about other than the fact that he was stuck in a cell in Mirkwood.

"We were heading towards the Lonely Mountain," he replied honestly as he settle into a somewhat comfortable position that also allowed him to see you while he talked. You asked him why he would be going to such a place and waited eagerly for his answer. After that, he told you the story behind the mountain. It was a story you had heard before, but it had been told differently when you heard it because your father was the one who had told it to you. The dwarf, who you discovered was named Kili, had a much more interesting view of the event and he told the story with such conviction that you couldn't be bothered to pay attention to anything else.

You were absolutely enthralled by him, and the feeling was mutual as he watched your face contort with different emotions during his tale. He couldn't take his eyes off of you.

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Ayo! I am so sorry for being gone for so long. I know I say that a lot whenever I update but I genuinely mean it. I had to take some AP tests just recently and I wanted to get them done before I updated again. This was a requested prompt for Wattpad user Autumn_is_an_Angel ; I hope you enjoyed the snippet!

-cow_queen