15Disclaimer: I own none of Tolkien's works, I just like playing with his world.
Fili: 67, Kili: 62. 16 years before the quest
Chapter 1 - Introductions
"The deer went this way." Kili said triumphantly, pointing to the left of a T-junction, after studying the tracks for a while. He looked at his brother for approval.
"Another deer went that way, but not the one we are tracking." Fili said patiently. Before Kili could protest, he elaborated. "There are definitely deer prints going in that direction, however, the hoof prints are slightly smaller and older. Only by a little though. I made the same mistake many times before." He added on the end in an attempt to cheer his little brother up.
"I guess you're right." Concluded Kili grudgingly, after looking at the tracks a little longer.
"I'm always right." Fili joked.
"Except for the time when you said that the current in the river was too strong and that I would be swept away, yet I stayed in the same spot for almost half an hour. And the time when-" Kili smirked, knowing that his brother had been joking, but couldn't resist the chance to make fun of him.
"Alright! Maybe not always...but most times." Fili admitted.
Whilst the brothers argued, two elves were hidden in the trees. They were not out hunting, nor were they spying. Their plan had been to explore parts of Middle Earth that they hadn't yet been to, excluding places like Mordor. They hadn't yet been to the Blue Mountains. Unfortunately, Thorin Oakenshield lived in the dwarven settlement of Ered Luin, which was located in the Blue Mountains. Thorin hated elves. Mirkwood Silvan had refused to help when Erebor was invaded by Smaug, and Thorin had borne a grudge against elves ever since. The two elves hiding in the trees were called Elladan and Elrohir, they were the twin sons of Elrond, Lord of Imladris, more commonly known as Rivendell and Last Homely House East of the Sea.
The twins had a reputation as pranksters back at home, so they thought that they could surprise some unsuspecting dwarrow before heading home. Their father had explicitly forbidden them to go within three miles of Ered Luin, in fear that they would damage elves' reputation even further. The twins had merely moved and waited for dwarves to venture outside of their invisible boundary.
They were in luck. Not only had two unsuspecting dwarves come blundering into their path, but they were of a young age and were less likely to be grumpy and actually find it amusing. Success!
Unknowing to the twins, Fili and Kili knew that two elves were in a tree, as they used that tree to surprise the other and then as they got older, used it as a meeting place. Therefore they always checked to make sure no-one was hiding, waiting to jump on them, like their younger cousin Gimli, or had discovered their secret hiding place. Now two elves had. Fili whispered to Kili a plan to prank the elves. Kili's face lit up when he heard it and had to stop himself from laughing. It was perfect. Fili suddenly took off his rucksack, and began rummaging through it, pretending to be frantically searching for something. Whilst Fili had the attention of the two elves, Kili silently squirreled up the tree until he stood behind the twins, making sure that he was partially covered by the leaves. He waited until the twins were completely absorbed with Fili's routine and then he shouted as loud as he could, mimicking Thorin's voice.
"What business do elves have sneaking around near dwarrow? What do you have to say for yourselves?" Kili boomed, very accurately mimicking the voice of his uncle in a bad mood. The twins jumped three feet in the air and almost fell off the branch they were sitting on! The twins looked horrified and shocked to be caught out be Thorin.
Kili could hold in his laughter any longer, dropping to the ground and doubling up with laughter, Fili joined him until both were rolling around on the floor in hysterics. The twins were still a bit shocked at the turn of events and were still sitting, dumbstruck, in the tree.
When the twins had pieced together what had happened, they too started laughing. They had played enough pranks on others, to know a good one when they see one, or in this case, are the victims of one.
"Hey, Dan, I haven't seen anyone thinking up something that good on the spot in years!" Elrohir chuckled.
"No, the last I saw anyone think that quickly on their feet was when Arwen caught us snooping around her room and you said you were cleaning it!" Elladan replied, still chortling.
"Yes, I had forgotten that."
"Roh, do you think that maybe we should recruit those two? We could teach them so stuff and they could tell us some stuff as well." Elladan asked.
"Yeah, I think we should. After all, you don't meet people like that every day, do you?"
"No."
The twins packed up their stuff and climbed down the tree. They had very serious expressions on as the approached the two brothers. Fili saw them first; immediately went pale, stopped laughing and elbowed Kili to get his attention. Oh dear. Fili thought. What would Thorin say if he could see them now? Fili and Kili had picked themselves up off the floor and were looking extremely sheepish. Fili hoped that they had a slight sense of humour at least, otherwise he and Kili were in deep trouble.
With no warning, the twin on the left spoke. "My brother and I haven't seen anything that good thought up on the spot in years."
The other twin started talking and Kili wondered if they knew what the other was thinking.
"We were wondering if you would consider sharing some of your best pranks with us. We often prank our father and sister-"
"Earning us a remarkable reputation along the way," His twin interjected. This was
"Yes, and we would like to make you a one-time offer."
"You tell us some of your best ideas and we will share some of ours with you."
"It doesn't just have to be pranks. It could be how to goad someone and how to get the best reaction out of a person."
"So, what do you say?"
Fili looked at Kili. He seemed quite confused at the fortunate, but strange, turn of events."So it is basically an exchange of ideas…about how to prank people?" He queried, needing to make sure that his brain hadn't twisted the conversation in his head. The twins nodded vigorously, looking delighted that they had got it.
"So, are you in?" One of the twins asked. Fili looked at Kili who nodded, obviously relieved that they weren't going to turn them into their mother and uncle.
"Yes, we're in."