Billana looks at the twins once the barrels have vanished, aware of Kili coming up behind her to wrap her in his arms against the chill of the room. She leans against him with a happy sigh, hardly caring that both of them are nude, and waits for one of the elves to tell them what they need to do next. Kili isn't quite so patient.
"What now?" He asks. "I'm hardly dressed for sneaking through the halls and I think your fellow elves would notice a raven flapping about."
"Much as I hate to agree with him," Elladan says, "I think Billana would be displeased if we locked him back in the cells and left him there." His brother hums. "There is a way, although I'm going to like it as little as you do," he continues. "Billana, the elves here are accustomed to your cat form, I suggest you use that for the moment. As for you, Kili, I hope in raven form you're capable of playing dead."
The plan, as it turns out, is for Elladan and Elrohir to steal a half empty jug of wine, take a few decent swigs, and then meander through the halls with raven Kili's 'corpse' bundled up in one of their cloaks. The story they will tell, should anyone come across them, is that they found the injured bird being mauled by the cat and they had decided it might be best to dispose of the thing. Neither hobbit nor dwarf had been all that impressed with the plan, able to spot too many holes, but while the twins are good at coming up with schemes and tricks when given ample time, they tend to come apart a little bit when faced with a more immediate problem. It probably has to do with the fact that they usually have all the time in the world to accomplish whatever it is that they want to, but Billana prefers not to think on it. She just wants to get out of this horrible place, find Fili, and rest.
Billana doesn't voice her objections to the plan, she trusts the twins after all, but Kili has thoughts of his own and he doesn't hesitate to share them.
"Surely a cat's eye agate with a veiling charm on it would be better," he says. "I can turn into a raven easily enough and you could put the stone on a cord around my neck. I'd rather be able to get out of the way quickly if something happens."
"A veiling charm would be fine under normal circumstances," Elrohir sniffs. "But as soon as breakfast is served they'll know that you're all missing, if they don't already, and a veiling charm won't stand up to scrutiny that intense. It would be all we would need to be discovered roaming the halls with an invisible bird on one of our shoulders. There are enough questions being raised about Billana's cat shape as it is."
"And there's no other way?" Billana asks before Kili can object further.
"Thranduil will use you both to get to Thorin if he catches you," Elladan replies. "Dawn isn't far away and the goods entrance isn't far from here. No one would question if we were disposing of a dead bird in that direction, but they would if we were headed there without reason, in our cups or not. I need you both to trust us."
"I don't think we have much of a choice," Kili mutters, his arms still warm around her. Then he spins her so that he can kiss her softly. It lacks the heat of the one Fili gave her, but it is full of promise all the same. "Be careful," he tells her.
"You too," she winds her fingers into his hair. "I'll see you outside."
She turns into a cat before he can say anything more and Kili follows her example, taking on his raven form and hopping into the centre of the cloak that Elladan lays on the floor. The elves at the table are beginning to stir and they all know that they need to move quickly. If they are caught in here someone will very likely make the connection between the escaped dwarves and the twins and Billana doesn't want that to happen. Elladan picks his cloak up once Kili is wrapped securely in it, slinging it over his shoulder and the raven bumps off his back, drawing an indignant squawk from him. Elladan hushes the dwarf quickly, his gaze turning towards the sleeping elves at the table. They're stirring and she sees Elrohir swipe a jug of wine quickly, following his brother as they slip quickly from the wine cellar. Billana doesn't leave immediately, she has recognised one of the sleeping elves as the one that accused her of being the Company's whore. She leaps onto the table, the twins will be easy enough to find, and she pads carefully through the half full glasses to the large jug that is still almost full to the brim. Obviously it never arrived at its destination and it doesn't take much to knock it over the elf that insulted her. Then, for good measure as he rears awake cursing colourfully, she knocks several glasses to the floor. The rest of them wake and she bolts, hearing cries of rage and frustration over the mess that they need to clean up. It keeps them busy, however, even as she hears several guards led by the prince approach from the opposite direction that the twins have taken.
She races after them, clearly able to hear Legolas demanding to know what has happened and why the barrels have been sent down the river early. That causes even greater confusion and she charges after the twins, catching up with them as they approach the tiny northern entrance to the halls. They regard her seriously, obviously able to smell the wine that had splashed onto her, but neither of them ask about what she has done. Which is probably a good thing, she doesn't want to have to shift any more than is absolutely necessary. She elects to change into a raven, the better to keep up with Kili, and settles on a branch while she waits for Kili to be released from his fabric prison.
He is obviously unhappy, and his confinement has mussed his feathers enough that it takes a while to set them straight so that he can fly with ease. Billana helps him, the simple act of grooming one that is almost as intimate for ravens as hair braiding seems to be for dwarves. Neither Elladan nor Elrohir say anything, settling instead under the tree that the two ravens occupy and passing their jug back and forth as they drain its contents. Not long after they have taken up their position the door bursts open and Legolas appears with about twenty elves in tow.
"The dwarves have escaped," he snaps as his eyes land on the twins.
"What dwarves?" Elladan asks, his voice low and dangerous. "I specifically asked your father about a party of dwarves the morning after we arrived and he told us he had no knowledge of them."
Legolas pauses and Billana watches next to Kili, her beak still running through his feathers.
"Now, brother," Elrohir slurs, though Billana knows he isn't as into his cups as that. "Perhaps this is a different party, one that didn't have a hobbit in its number." Legolas shifts uncomfortably. "I see," he continues. "Well, either way, if we had seen them your father would already be aware of it. The hobbit is a dear friend."
The warning is clear and Legolas at least has the grace to look a little bit uncomfortable in the face of the twins displeasure. Billana isn't entirely certain that they have managed to convince him, but instead of challenging their words the elf and his warriors take off along the cart path, evidently determined to catch the Company rather than work out whether the twins are telling the truth. Billana and Kili take the hint, already probably at least an hour behind the barrels, and take off. They head in the direction of the river, swooping low when they finally spot it until they see the barrels. The others have made better time than they had thought, already into a section of rapids just outside the heavily guarded river gate. It cannot be pleasant, she thinks, spotting the odd miserable head above the top of the barrel as she flies above them. She moves slightly faster than they do, as does Kili, and they keep having to double back to keep pace with the rest.
Ultimately she decides that keeping pace with them isn't going to work and when she pulls ahead Kili follows, evidently curious about her intended destination. She doesn't go far, finding a branch that hangs over a part of the river where the current is obviously slower. Leaving Mirkwood this way may well have saved them days, provided they find a way into Laketown, and if the barrels don't stop here there will be a spot further down. Someone will have to collect the things after all.
The barrels don't slow enough for their occupants to paddle to the bank until half way through the following day. Billana takes wolf form as soon as it looks like night is going to fall and hunts down their dinner, keeping half of the doe she manages to fell for herself while leaving the rest for Kili. She doesn't change back, the night will be cool enough as a wolf anyway, to spend it shivering in her own skin is a thought she can hardly tolerate. Her fur will keep her warm, with the added bonus of being about to curl up around Kili to keep him warm as well. He wastes no time in building a small fire to cook his share over, though he struggles to dress it without a knife and has to make do with a sharp rock. The fire comes to light with such flare and heat that Billana yelps and leaps away from it, shooting him a reproving glare.
"There are ample drawbacks to having a gift as powerful as mine, Kundith," he chuckles. "I never did get the hang of just lighting a candle. I tend to incinerate them instead." She shakes her head, curling up next to him once she has finished eating and he douses the fire in case of pursuit, wrapping himself around her.
It isn't the most pleasant night they have shared, but when morning comes they continue onward, Kili as a raven and Billana still as a wolf. She is becoming more comfortable with that form now, remembering the power that comes with it and the strength it gives her senses. There is not, however, the loss of self that she had feared she might encounter after spending an extended period wearing this skin and by the time the rest of the Company make their way ashore she is as settled in this form as she is in that of a cat, dog or raven.
The barrels, though water tight, have not protected her friends from the worst of the elements and most of them are at least damp. Kili settles on his brother's shoulder when Fili almost collapses against an outcrop of rock, his tunic soaked still from the trip down the rapids and even though she knows that dwarves don't tend to feel extremes of temperature in the same way that hobbits do, she curls around him and he pulls her close gratefully. He lays his head against her shoulder, digs his fingers into her fur and she feels a slight tremble in the action, though whether it is from the cold or something else she doesn't know.
"You two, change back, we need to move," Thorin orders as Billana lets out a low growl.
A scent has reached her nose. Sweat, wood, leather, the musty damp smell of someone who spends a lot of time working on or around water and never quite manages to get truly dry. The dwarves are immediately on the alert, raising their weapons as Kili takes flight, presumably to see if he can discover what has alerted her. There is a yell from above them, the sound of rapidly beating wings and an arrow glances off the stone at Billana's feet. Fili is instantly in front of her, his own blades drawn, and she hears a Man's voice cursing ravens to the depths of the void and back.
-Tell your friend to stop- she hears a small voice say and spots a thrush fluttering above Fili's head.
-He tried to kill me- she replies. -Why should I?- The belief that people mostly mean well is something that she long lost the ability to hold as true.
-Only because the raven startled him, but he doesn't hear. What kind of creature does not hear us, flock leader?-
-One who is not truly a creature at all, he is stone-dweller who knows the way of the wing- She considers the situation, looking at the Man as he emerges from his hiding place, still holding his arms over his head as he curses the raven that is attacking him.
Kili's sharp beak has drawn blood, though Billana knows that none of the wounds are fatal or even that much more than an inconvenience. It is the tiny flash of copper, however, that convinces her that there might be more to the request of the thrush than she had thought.
-He hears you?- She asks.
-He is of the Dale flock- the thrush replies -The offspring of their great leader, they have always heard us-
She grumbles, Fili and Kili have told her much of what they know about Erebor and the way things once were. She knows about Girion of Dale and she expends some of her magic to give herself her own voice rather than the rumble of the wolf.
"Kili, stop," she calls. "According to the little one, this is the heir of Girion."
A.N: We're getting there. Although I am now well and truly over my original chapter plan.