Bilbo shifted as soon as he hit the frigid water. Silently, he cursed himself for being so foolish as to not secure a barrel for himself as he had the Dwarves. Sneaking the company through the halls of Mirkwood unseen had been a challenge in itself, loading them into barrels just in time for them to be dropped into the rapids below had been even worse. He'd no idea why the Elves dropped the barrels into the river, only that he'd heard the word 'Lake Town' and that they'd be expecting them.

His sharp senses floundered under the water, he could see nothing but white foam and black water, no sunlight to guide him to the surface but somehow he burst through. He could see several of the Dwarves and their barrels ahead of him, moving quickly through the rapids, unlike him however, they had barrels to protect them from the various boulders in the water when they slammed into them. Bilbo did his best to swim around them but as strong as a wolf's body is, he'd never swam in such wild water, it didn't take him long to amass several bruises.

"Elves!"

Dwalin's cry only just reached Bilbo's waterlogged ears but the sound of a warning horn pierced them. They'd been caught!

"Look ahead, the gate is closing!" Kili cried.

He was right, the river was blocked ahead by a bridge and iron gateway, if they got out of their barrels now, by the time they got their speed up the Elves would have them, well, not Bilbo, but he was hardly going to abandon them.

Bilbo found himself slammed into the gathering barrels, trapped by the bridge and he could hear the yells of the Elves guarding it. Without hesitation he heaved his soaked body out of the water and leapt at them. He did his best not to seriously injure anybody, it wasn't hard. The Elves easily dodged his snaps and swipes, but he was keeping them busy, that was the main point. If he could just push them back far enough that he could find the lever that opened the gate…

Suddenly a sharp pain struck his foreleg and Bilbo found himself yelping with shock. A black arrow was embedded in the ground between his feet, it having scratched him on the way. The second embedded itself in the closest Elf's shoulder.

Azog's Orc's had caught up. Now of all times!

"Kili!"

Bilbo whipped his head around to see Kili in front of him, he'd used the Orc attack as cover to pull the level and open the gates! Bilbo was about to congratulate him when his ears pricked, the sound of an arrow in the air, instinctually he dodged and instead of embedding in his shoulder blades as he was sure the archer intended, it flew into Kili's leg.

Kili yelled and fell against the bridge as the barrels and the rest of the company passed under and more arrows began to fly, both Orc and Elvish.

"Kili! I'm so sorry, it was meant for me!" Bilbo apologised, helping the weakened dwarf onto his back, "Hold on, I'll get us out of here."

It took precious seconds but once he felt the Dwarf had a good hold on his long fur Bilbo took off. He'd never had a passenger before, he'd never imagine how much it would throw off his balance and speed but he did his best. He could feel the arrow in Kili's leg against his side as he ran and the guilt pooled in his stomach.

"We can head into the forest." Bilbo suggested, darting between the trees, "We can catch up to the others once I'll looked at your leg."

"We can't leave them!" Kili insisted, "There are Elves and Orcs after us, we have to go back to the river!"

"Kili one or two at a time I can handle but there are two whole divisions on that river bank! And with you on my back I can hardly fight! Thorin would want you to go to safety!"

"My brother is there!" Kili yelled furiously, "I'll jump off and limp back myself if you don't turn around!"

Bilbo sighed, he was right. He didn't feel right leaving either, even if he had an injured party.

-oOo-

Thorin fought as best he could from within his barrel but the battle was hard going, if they could fend them off a little longer, the fast water would carry them away. Especially since the Elves now seemed more occupied with stopping their forests Orc guests. The King blocked yet another arrow with the tree branch he'd been using as a make shift sword, only to have it finally split. With a growl of frustration he hurled it into the water and looked for another only to lay eyes on a bloody Orc with its sword drawn, ready to strike as Thorin passed him by in only a few seconds.

Thorin braced himself, ready to leap out of his barrel and put up a good fight when suddenly a brown and black blur collided with his would be opponent, knocking him into the water. Thorin couldn't help but give a triumphant laugh to match Bilbo's howl as the wolf and his rider ran along the riverside with them. Any orc in his way was quickly dispatched with a flick of Bilbo's claws or snap of his teeth. Not dead, but certainly not following.

He was right, after nearly an hour, an exhausting hour, their pursuers had long disappeared and the water had calmed. Enough that they were finally able to drag their soaked forms onto dry land where they all finally got to stretch their legs.

Bilbo and Kili had fallen behind slightly and seemed grateful to see the rest of the company on dry land with them. Kili practically fell off as Bilbo slumped to the ground and Fili was at his side in an instant, looking at the arrow stuck in his leg.

Bilbo made a few more wobbly steps to the side of the river before dropping his entire muzzle into the water and drinking before finally slumping against the ground with a low moan and changing back to his Hobbit form.

"I…made a…mess…of your…cloak Thorin." He panted, indicating to the torn and muddied fur that had only just managed to cling around his neck through their run.

"I'll fix…it…later…"

"This leg is bad." Fili fussed, grabbing hold of the shaft "Sorry but this will hurt."

Kili yelled as it was ripped from his skin but bit his tongue as his brother bandaged it.

"It doesn't smell right…" Bilbo muttered, "We should get it checked."

"No time." Thorin interrupted, glancing over his shoulder, "We need to find a way out onto the lake so we can be sure we've left the orcs behind."

"Thorin, Kili is injured and Bilbo's exhausted." Fili argued, "They can barely walk right now, we can't keep going.

Thorin knew they were right, Bilbo was practically asleep against Bofur and Kili looked paler than the moon.

"A few minutes." He sighed, "Then we drop those barrels back into the water and follow them. Somebody must be here to pick them up, we're going to need to use them for a ride."

I figure Bilbo really isn't much of a warrior, even as a wolf so all that exertion would really take it out of him.