Note: Italics is thoughts, unless specified otherwise i.e flashbacks or visions. / is timeskip
Once everyone had been released, they all gathered around the staircase that they had came down many, many, many days ago. All talking in good merriment, awaiting further instruction. During this, Alexa was catching up with Nori and Bofur.
"Thank force we are leaving, ugh I never want to see that blonde prick again," she muttered to the two.
"Ye, I'm happy te be out of 'ere. I was stuck with me brother. Now, I love the fella, but Mahal!" Bofur groaned, causing a chuckle to leave Alexa.
"You see I didn't have that problem, having my own cell and all," Nori said, glancing as his nails as if bored; his tone cocky. His comment made Alexa shove him playfully, which got her a 'hey' and a stuck-out tongue in response.
"Speaking of, how was being stuck with Dwalin go? Didn't hear much from yer cell after we first got in 'ere, and the whole Elf ruckus of course," Bofur asked, looking at Alexa curiously.
"Err…"
"Up the stairs," Thorin whispered, breaking everyone from their chats. A sigh of relief left Alexa at his instruction.
"Ye first. Ori," Dwalin grunted, pushing the ginger Dwarf forward towards the stairs.
"Not that way. Down here. Follow me," Bilbo said, quickly moving on his Hobbit feet down another set of stairs.
Trusting his judgement, Alexa followed after the Hobbit without question. The others, however, were a little bit reluctant. Realizing they weren't following, Alexa turned back towards the company who were currently exchanging a few looks between each other; deciding whether or not they should follow.
"We don't have all day, hurry up!" Alexa whispered harshly, causing all of them to seize their discussions and look at her.
"Well come on then," Alexa said once she had everyone's attention. Nodding her head towards a departing Bilbo.
"Go," Bofur breathed, looking to his fellow kin for a brief moment before padding down the steps to Alexa's side.
After sending a thankful look to Bofur, Alexa continued down the steps as quietly as she could towards a waiting Bilbo. The company all trod as softly as they could down the steps, though some were louder than others. Cough Kili Cough.
Soon, snores filled the companies ears as they came to the end of the staircase. Alexa looked around the room that Bilbo had led them to, it was the cellars.
"This way," Bilbo whispered, standing to the side of the steps with Alexa.
"Come, on," Bilbo said, as he waved his hand for the Dwarves to walk past him.
"I don't believe it. We're in the cellars!" Kili scoffed, ignoring the need to be quiet once again. No sooner had he muttered the words; the once thankful Dwarves fell into a bad mood. All scowling and bitter as they took in their situation.
"Ye were supposed to be leading us out, not further in!" Bofur said,
"I know what I'm doing," Bilbo replied,
"Shhh!" Bofur reminded him, holding a finger to his mouth. Being completely hypocritical.
"This way! This way!" Bilbo led them once more, as he walked further into the wine cellar towards a load of barrels.
Alexa walked side by side with Bilbo until they rounded the corner. There just beyond the stacks of wine bottles and passed out Elves was over a dozen large wine barrels. As she looked over the weirdly familiar barrels, a sharp breath left Alexa as she knew her vision was soon going to pass.
"Everyone climb into the barrels quickly," Bilbo ushered, once all the company was standing before them.
"Are yer mad? They'll find us," Dwalin spat, pushing his way through his fellow Dwarves to Bilbo and Alexa.
"No. They won't I promise you. Please, please. You must trust me," Bilbo says, trying to convince the stubborn Dwarf.
Alexa watched as the Dwarves around them all muttered to one another; hesitant. Before she could say anything, Thorin bet her to it.
"Do as he says," Thorin whispers, breaking the chatter around him. A mere second passed before the once hesitant Dwarves followed their leader's orders; quickly climbing into the barrels.
Swallowing thickly, Alexa padded towards the barrels. This was not going to end well. "Come on lass, get in," The gruff voice of Dwalin sounded beside her. His knees bent as he squatted next to the woman with his fingers weaved together; ready to lift her.
Alexa peered up at the empty barrel above her, they were really about to do this. Blast! Taking a deep breath, Alexa planted her left foot on Dwalin's intertwined fingers as well as a hand on his broad shoulder for balance. With the extra height, she reached for the rim of the barrel. When she got a decent grip on it, she nodded down to Dwalin who got ready.
After a quick test bounce, she pushed off on her left foot, her right following. That, with Dwalin's extra push, got her head-first into the barrel. Unfortunately, only her torso and up got in, with the other half sticking out awkwardly.
Though after a little shifting and fumbled movements from yours truly, she had finally got in. Thankfully the barrels were massive, so it took little to no effort to turn around till only her head poked out. Though, it was a completely different story for the others.
She stifled a giggle as she watched four Dwarves try to push Bombur into one of the bottom barrels. It also seemed that Dwalin had deemed himself 'the company's helper' as he went around shoving everyone into the barrels. Poor Bifur got shoved face first! A few minutes of this passed, before everyone bar, Bilbo was in.
"Everyone's in," Dori said; getting noises in agreement.
"Wha' do we do now?" Bofur asked, sticking his head out to look towards Bilbo who had yet to get into a barrel.
"Hold your breath," Bilbo said as he grabbed the lever beside him; trying to hide the smile that was growing on his lips.
"Just get it over with Bilbo. Rip the band-aid off," Alexa breathed, crawling deeper into the barrel till she couldn't go any further; her body tense.
"Hold ma breath? Wha' do yer mean?" Bofur asked, slightly worried after hearing Alexa's words. What was Bilbo going to do to them?
No sooner had Bofur uttered the words, Bilbo pulled the lever; causing the floorboards to tilt and roll all of the barrels into the river below. Shouts of fear and surprise erupted from the Dwarves as they fell, no doubt alerting the Elves of their escape.
Surfacing from the icy depths, Alexa breathed in gulps of air; having been completely soaked. It wasn't long before Bilbo had joined them, without a barrel none of the less. Alexa had managed to smile at Bilbo, though it did little to assure the drenched Hobbit - whose kind were known to dislike water. Yeah, me too Bilbo Alexa thought as she shivered.
"Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin breathed, beaming at the Hobbit.
Bilbo, the poor thing was forced to cling onto the rim of Nori's barrel as the company descended the river. The gentle current soon turned to rapids, tossing the barrels from side to side; making it hard to stay surfaced. It wasn't long before the familiar sound of an Elven horn sounded in Alexa's ears. It wouldn't be long now.
"No!" Thorin shouted as the metal gates closed; effectively trapping the company in the boundaries of the Mirkwood Realm.
As the barrels piled against one another, Alexa tried desperately to gather her courage. The Orcs would soon be upon them; she couldn't let her fear of water and inability to swim get in the way of the mission.
The familiar whoosh of an arrow didn't escape Alexa's notice. Her face paled as the Elven Guard who had closed the gates fell forward, dead, into the river in front of her; a black arrow embedded in his back.
"Watch out! There's Orcs!" Bofur shouted, warning the company.
Between the gate and being wedged in-between the company, there wasn't much one could do. Alexa watched helpless, as Kili climbed out of his barrel.
That was when an Orc jumped down onto the barrels and lunged at an unsuspecting Alexa. The Orc snarled at her, holding up a nasty looking dagger. But before he could land the killing blow, Bilbo thrust his shining blue elven blade, stabbing the Orc in the neck; killing it. Dwalin promptly elbowed the dead Orc into the water below, snatched its weapon and threw it to Kili; who was in dire need of it.
Alexa looked at her friend with wide eyes "You saved me," she whispered, shocked. Bilbo just looked at her with eyes just as wide, holding his glowing sword tightly.
During this Kili fought his way to the lever, with the weapon Dwalin had thrown at him. A sense of DeJa'Vu suddenly hit Alexa, glancing towards the bank of Orcs. She watched as the brute looking Orc from her previous visions notched an arrow.
The words Master Qui-Gon said to her echoed in her head 'You have a gift young Alexa, but you must be wary. Do not change all that you see, for some things are meant to be.' Alexa then recalled what her Master Ki-Adi Mundi had shown her. A lump grew in her throat, as she realized what had to be done.
She had to let Kili get shot by the poisoned arrow. Unable to watch her vision come to pass, she cowered in her barrel, her eyes clamped shut. A tear rolled down her cheek as she heard the telltale sound of metal meeting flesh, followed by grunts of pain and distress.
"Kili!" Fili yelled, unable to do anything as he watched his brother collapse; an arrow sticking out of his thigh.
Between Kili getting shot and the Elves coming to the rescue. Well, not to rescue the company from what could've possibly been their deaths, no more like getting the Orc scum off their borders. Got to draw the line somewhere, I guess?
Anyway, with the Elves proving to be a great distraction for the Orcs; Kili had managed to reopen the gate and had since gotten back into his barrel.
The company was swept downstream, away from the Elven kingdom. Unfortunately, the Orcs had followed. Even though the Elves were proving rather useful, killing the Orcs in quick succession. The Orcs continued to attack the company, with every one of the barrels having at least three arrows embedded in them.
Alexa cowered inside her barrel, with her head just showing. Whilst the rest of the company were fighting back against the Orcs; stealing their weapons, chopping a thick log in two hits. Even Bombur was contributing - not that he usually didn't - and managed to fight off force knows how many.
It was so awesome! Though Alexa made a mental note not to get on his bad side. Also, Legolas did some leaping between the barrels. Using some of the Dwarves heads to get from one side of the river to the other. To put it simply, Dwalin was ready to murder the prancing Elf.
Alexa mostly kept silent throughout the entire event and barely got involved in the fighting. As she was more uneasy about the water around her, not wanting the barrel to tip or force forbid submerge.
Though she did look out for her counterparts. Sensing if any of them needed immediate help and the occasional toss of a weapon. But, so far most of them didn't require her help. The only close call, was when an Orc aimed an arrow at Thorin, though Tauriel had taken care of that.
/
Hours had since passed. The company had managed to outrun the Orcs and Elves with the current. However, the further out they all got, the calmer the water got till they were no longer in any rapids. When Thorin had declared that they were to head to shore. Alexa, personally, was ready to start kissing the ground. She was completely drenched and had been shivering for the past hour. That and she was feeling a little under the weather, motion sickness and all. The constant rolling around in the river and the lack of heat and general comfortlessness the barrel gave her was just icing on the cake.
Half drowned; she stumbled her way to shore. Falling short a couple of times, Dwalin sort to help her out. So, he had taken ahold of the back of her tunic and threw her over his shoulder. Not that she was complaining, her legs had stiffened over their trip down the river.
A sigh of relief left her when Dwalin dropped her off on the shore. She quickly thanked the Dwarf, who went to help, no drag Ori to shore. Once he had left, she had collapsed and just breathed.
"Enjoying yourself?" a deep voice sounded beside Alexa, startling her; though she didn't show it.
"More like recovering, I'm not a fan of water," Alexa said, whispering the last part; though he had heard it.
"Are you alright?" Thorin asked concerned, he offered a hand to Alexa.
"Yeah, just tired and wet. Very wet," Alexa muttered, taking the Dwarf's meaty hand.
"Yes, I can see that," Thorin said, helping Alexa stand; a smile twitching on his lips. Huffing a laugh at his words, Alexa held back a grin; her eyes flashed. Cheeky bugger
AN: Finally, out of Mirkwood. Shame Alexa didn't do much er fighting per say in this chapter. But she can't swim and is afraid of water, so? yeah. Anyways, hope ya'll enjoyed it.
