I've decided to dedicate this chapter to Eva, the Fili to my Kili, who seems to think along exactly the same lines as me and already had art for this AU without me knowing. Glad you like it, nadan

The instant Bilbo's head was underwater, his instincts took hold, flailing his arms, holding his breath, forcing his eyes open. He could see the surface, where the light was coming from, but his wet clothes and heavy bag weighed him down like rocks. Slowly, the little oxygen he had left was running out, and soon, he was forced to gasp for air, inhaling water saltier than he ever expected it to be. Sheer panic overtook him and now he lost his bearing, not even thinking which was up. He couldn't move, he was helpless and drowning.

"Bofur, where are you going?" asked Gandalf when he saw the former stand up in the rowboat.
"I swear I heard and saw Bilbo. It must be my imagination." He replied, shaking his head and sitting back down.
No, wait, there it was again. He was hearing Bilbo's voice, clear as day, and he didn't like what he was hearing. Ignoring how far away the cobbler sounded, Bofur dove in the water, using the current of the waves to his advantage, moving towards the little brown dot that was Bilbo's head. When Bofur resurfaced, the brown dot was no longer there. He started swimming with a renewed sense of urgency. Scanning with his eyes near the surface, he spotted the helpless cobber flailing about. Please don't open your mouth , Bofur thought, and of course that exact instant, Bilbo attempted to breathe underwater. He was three strokes away. Two. One.
"Gotcha!" Bofur exclaimed, breaking the surface, holding the floundering burglar. "Can't you swim?" A still shell shocked Bilbo shook his head. "Well, kick your legs to help me. You don't need to, we have boats."
Working together the two reached the nearest rowboat. A pair of hands helped Bilbo up.
"I see you have decided in joining us, Master Burglar." Thorin sounded mildly amused.
Bilbo was still waterlogged when they reached the ship.
"Glad to see you onboard the Sirene, Bilbo." Kili winked "Uncle, Balin said he want to talk to you about the charts and maps."
Bilbo was expecting more than just the fourteen people he's met to crew the ship, and was surprised to find his expectations were not going to be met. After Kili showed him to his cabin, he was given a full tour of the Sirene, from front to back. Ten minutes after arriving, they set sail, and Bilbo –standing at the prow- was glad he had come along. Since Hobbiton was located in a gulf, Bilbo had never seen the vast openings of the sea, and standing there, with nothing but blue to as far as the eye could reach at the same time scared him and made him want to look more. Behind him, the company bustled, doing what needed done.
Fili kept glancing up from his job to the small man. He remembered the first time he'd come aboard the ship, twelve years ago, when he was still a child of five. It had been awesome, the sheer scale of the world, which couldn't be seen from the safe cove of Ered Luin. He still wasn't used to it, but had learned to ignore it, with more pressing matters at hand.
"Fili. Psst, FILI" his brother hissed.
"Hm?"
"You know he" Kili gestured at the burglar " can't swim right?"
"It didn't escape my notice. What are you thinking?" a sly smile playing across his lips, knowing the direction his baby brother would take this in.
"D'ya think Uncle would let us teach him?"

Three or so days later Bilbo wasn't stumbling around as much. He didn't lose his meal over the side as often either. He could say he was getting used to all the rises and falls as the ship's keel broke the waves. The compass he had been given indicated they were headed North East, and there seemed to be a dark shape appearing in the horizon.
"Gandalf, what's that?"
"That, Bilbo, is the port of Shaw. We're going to stop there to restock. Maybe even stay a night."

"Bombur, get down from the mast!" shouted Nori "It's my job to check the sails!" From his awkward position of swinging on a rope, there wasn't much he could do rather than yell at his friend and try not to fall. Not that he was going to fall, but Nori disliked not being near anything solid. In one movement, Bombur managed to tear the sail and loosen it enough near the top. Now we'll be stuck here for hours, just perfect . The pickpocket really wanted to reach Shaw. He'd heard much about the place –and its hidden wealth- to set of his imagination. They wouldn't miss a bag of gold coins, now would they? Sadly the sail predicament set them not to reach the port until at least nightfall, and so Nori's schemes would have to wait, as the group set about repairing the damage.

Sorry it's a bit of a filler really. :/

I'd like to thank a friend of mine for coming up with the name for the ship.

AND LOOK POV THAT ARENT BILBO!

I promise, the troll shaws will show up in the next chapter okay?