Yet another wonderful review from CoffeeRanger, who I'm really wishing had an account on here right now so I could send a long and grateful reply, but I suppose I'll have to settle for this. Thanks ever so much for the great reviews, and for sticking with this story despite the terribly erratic updates! Hopefully all your questions will be answered at some point, though it may not be for a while yet. May I just say, I really do love angst. *evil smirk* Anyway, my sincerest gratitude as well to everyone else who's reviewed, commented, favorited, followed, left kudos, or read this story! Enjoy!
Asta had ceased her pacing, content to listen to the steady thrumming of Fíli's strong heartbeats. The wolf fell into an exhausted half-doze, her recent lack of sleep due to the full moon combined with the following battle had drained her reserves of strength, and though they were in a strange place, none of her pack was in immediate danger, so she took what rest she could while given the chance. Her eyes fell half-shut, but she continued to listen to the gentle rustling that was the elder Durin prince readjusting himself before settling down again.
The rare moment of tranquility was broken when a familiar set of footsteps broke away from the revelry a great distance above them as the elves celebrated, and Asta sat forward, human-blue eyes open and bright as the red-furred Captain came into view. The Captain moved on nearly silent feet as she glanced at each of the cells, ensuring the prisoners weren't up to anything, and the wolf met red-fur's gaze unflinchingly. The female Elf paused for a moment, raising an eyebrow, but Asta did not drop her gaze. This elf was not pack, and the wolf saw no need to submit to her in such a way. After a moment, the Captain tipped her head slightly in what might have been acknowledgement, before moving on.
Curious as to what she might be doing so far from the raucous celebrations of her people, Asta listened as the Captain continued her patrol, and tilted her head to hear better when red-fur spoke to Kíli. The youngest prince's voice was quieter, and far darker than Asta was accustomed to, and she grinned at the sudden spike of fear in red-fur's scent when the dwarf told of the supposed 'curse' on the rune-stone. Her grin quickly turned to a slight frown of confusion when affection suddenly filled Kíli's voice, and he told red-fur of his mother.
As the two continued to speak, and red-fur seated herself, the wolf blinked, wondering what on Arda the alpha would think if he discovered his younger nephew becoming so… friendly, with one of their captors. She tried to listen and pay attention to their conversation, but as they spoke of starlight and walks above the earth itself, the wolf was distracted by even lighter footsteps than those of the Captain approach from above. Red-fur, it seemed, was not the only elf who found little pleasure in the celebration above, for on one of the higher stairways into the dungeons, the son of the Elvenking stood, silently, and his usually pleasant scent was now tainted by jealousy and resentment.
Asta, content that Kíli was in no immediate danger, rose to pace again, keeping on ear on the odd pair who seemed blind and deaf to all else but their conversation, and the other on the elven prince, who it would appear was content to lurk in the shadows and eavesdrop.
It was some time later when the prince drifted off, and hours more before red-fur rose, quietly bidding Kíli a good evening, at which the dwarf snorted ironically, and departing. A few moments after the Captain was out of earshot, Bofur spoke loudly enough for all of the Company in their various cells to hear, "I'll wager the sun is on the rise. Must be nearly dawn." The normally cheerful dwarf's voice was deadened and listless, and Asta almost whined at the despondency in his tone. It was just wrong hear a dwarf like Bofur sounding so hopeless, but it wasn't until Ori murmured despairingly, "We're never going to reach the Mountain, are we?" that the wolf's heart nearly broke.
Fili sat back, the thudding noise of his back colliding with the rock behind him jarring the werewolf into action, and she moved on silent feet to the bars of her cell, grasping the solid iron bars in a vicious grip and bracing herself to pull them apart. I am getting my pack out now!
Just before she could set her strength to destroying the Elvenking's prisons, Bilba's scent suddenly returned, much sharper and more present than it had been since the spiders had attacked, and then the hobbit herself came into view, and Asta could have cried in relief. "Not stuck in here, you're not!" Bilba proclaimed cheerfully if quietly to Ori, as she began to unlock the cells the dwarves were trapped in.
The dwarrows began to call out her name, ecstatic, but were quickly hushed by the hobbit, who declared, "Shh! There are guards nearby!" She moved to Thorin's cell first, and the look that passed between the two would have been cause for a lifetime of merciless teasing had any of the Company witnessed it. She then moved to free Balin, who graced her with a broad smile before hurrying on to Nori's, passing the key to the Spymaster to finish the job once he was freed.
When the red-haired thief reached Asta's cell, she was out almost before the door had opened, sparing a tiny, sharp grin for Nori, before hurrying to Bifur's side, following right on the war-wounded dwarf's heels as the pack rushed as quietly as a group of dwarves can out of the dungeons. She very carefully did not look behind her, as she could sense Fíli's warm and reassuring presence very close by, and focused only on the salt-and-pepper mane of Bifur as she followed him down the stairs, all the dwarves following Bilba's lead as she guided them.
They crept farther down into the depths of the Elvenking's halls, and the wolf trusted Bilba, but she became mildly concerned when they approached two elven heartbeats. As it turned out, she needn't have worried, for both 'guards' were heavily intoxicated, and had in fact lost consciousness due to indulging in too much wine. The Company crept past them, and then Bofur exclaimed in a whisper, "We're in the cellars!" Asta ducked her head quickly, suppressing a grin. What? No! I thought we were in the throne room. No way we're in the cellars. We haven't just been going down several staircases from the dungeons, or anything.
As the dwarves whisper-yelled at Bilba, and the hobbit argued right back, Asta shook herself from her thoughts and then blinked in surprised confusion when Bilba instructed them all to get into several of the large wine barrels stacked in the middle of the room. "Are you mad?" the Second demanded, and the wolf took a step back from Dwalin's frustrated anger, before instantly obeying when the alpha overrode his Second, commanding the pack to , "Do as she says."
They all scrambled to comply, and once all of the pack save Bilba had found a barrel and climbed inside, they all peeked back out, and Bofur asked, "What do we do now?" Bilba visibly braced herself as she reached for a previously unnoticed lever, and muttered, "Hold your breath." Asta's eyes widened, and she instantly ducked back inside her barrel, bracing herself against the sides in anticipation of what was to come. Bofur was still confused, however, for he asked, "Hold my breath? Why?-" before he was cut off as the hobbit pulled the lever, and the floor opened up, dropping the barrels into the waterway below.
Asta tensed, the fall and subsequent impact as the barrels struck the water disorienting her for a moment, but she retained enough sense to realize that Bilba had not come with them, and the wolf leapt from her barrel, trying and failing to land on the rocks beside the water, and crashing back into the river instead. Swimming quickly to the water right below the entrance, she had only just begun to consider how to climb the slick, steep rocks, when the trapdoor opened again, and the hobbit came falling through it, landing in the water right beside the wolf with a splash.
She fought her way to the surface, and the werewolf stayed beside her as the hobbit floundered to the nearest barrel, Nori pulling her close when she came within reach. As Bilba clung to the side of the thief's barrel, the alpha's scent spiked with a dangerous joy, and he grinned sharply. "Well done Mistress Baggins." Bilba just groaned softly and waved a hand at him as she clung to the side of the barrel.
"Go! Come on, let's go!" one of the pack cried, and they moved their barrels along with their hands to hasten their movement with the river's natural flow. Far above them, Asta could hear shouting and yelling of the Elves as they tried to assemble a team to retrieve their missing prisoners, and the wolf paddled faster, thanking the Valar that she was a strong swimmer. She kept close to the hobbit, who in turn clung tightly to Nori's barrel as the dwarves hurried along the river. They were making good time, and Asta dared to believe that they might yet escape with their lives and freedom. Then, they went over the waterfall.