Disclaimer: I still own diddily squat
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to everyone who has followed and favourited my little story, it truly means a lot to me. Also, extra big thank you to my reviewers:
KHB123, Celebrisillweth, Butterbum and Hawk-Knight, keep doing what you doing.
Chapter 6: Less Wise, More Dangerous
Bilbo
If he hadn't known that dwarves were practically made from stone, he might've worried over their decent into the water, the water was a bit lower down than what he'd initially thought. But they would be just fine.
Watching the final barrel drop, he silently patted himself on the back, appreciating his own ingenious idea.
Right, now all he had to do was get into a barrel of his own and pull the lever again and…he realized that that wouldn't work because: A there were no more barrels and B there was no one to pull the lever for him. And as if to add insult to injury, he could hear the guards approaching as well.
But Bilbo Baggins liked to think that he had grown as a hobbit over the past few months (mentally and emotionally of course, he had reached his full potential height wise) and had come to the conclusion that the problem was never in fact the problem, but rather how you handled the problem.
Now, if he could just get the floor to tilt downwards again, he could swim to the company and get into a spare barrel…
When had he become so brave?
Nevertheless, he started (silently) hopping on the floor, begging it to give way, but to no avail.
The voices were coming closer.
He jumped harder.
Closer. Shouts. Angry, elvish shouts.
Come on, come on ,come on! He chanted in his head as he jumped frantically, no longer caring if he was heard or not.
The voices were right around the corner. The loudest voice was most definitely that of a woman, the captain of the guard most likely.
Terrified, his feet began to carry him backwards, and that was when the most peculiar thing happened. The floor tilted downwards at a 45 degree angle, and his hairy little feet provided little resistance, next thing he knew he was out of the cellar and into the water. The last he saw of the elves was the angry (and maybe even impressed?) face of the red headed elf. He did not regret breaking his friends out of the halls of the woodland realm, but he did feel a pang of guilt when looking at the she elf. He just made her day so much more troublesome than what it already was.
Ori
He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all. He never liked water, not even as a dwarfling. Kili used to tease him that he couldn't swim. Of course he could swim! But that didn't mean that he had to like it.
But this little dwarf was nothing if not brave, and early on in this venture he vowed to show courage, and to be an asset, not a liability. And so he found himself hanging on to his barrel for dear life. At least the flow of the river seemed quite gentle…
"HOLD OOOON!" yelled Thorin from the front.
Ori swallowed hard, and held onto his barrel with such might, he could feel the wood moan beneath his hands.
Oh dear, we've really done it this time.
Kili
He wouldn't lie, he was having the absolute time of his life.
The water was a little cold, but he needed a bath anyway. His only concern was that Bilbo couldn't quite get a grip on Bombur's barrel…
Just when he thought it couldn't get any better, they went hurtling over a waterfall. He skillfully navigated his barrel when they landed back in the water, avoiding the rocks as best he could.
The sound of a horn rang through the air, dampening (excuse the pun) his mood. The elves were onto them, and that could only mean trouble. Unless it was one elf in particular, but…
Nearing the gate, he could see an elf making a wild dash up the stairs to a lever, a lever that would no doubt seal the gate and trap them inside.
The gate closed as Thorin reached it.
Bugger.
The elves unsheathed their swords, readying for a fight. They barely had time to raise their weapons before an arrow was lodged into each of their necks, sending them hurtling into the water and onto the dwarves.
Their orc friends had found them.
Brilliant.
The orcs began to not only attack the elves, but the dwarves as well. Mind you, they were holding their own, Bilbo stabbed an orc that got to close with his little letter opener and Dwalin was head butting a fair few to death. But they couldn't stay here. It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.
He spotted the lever and got an idea.
Fili
Amidst the chaos, he saw his brother getting out of his barrel.
"Kili, what are you doing? Stay down!"
"I have an idea."
Following his brother's gaze, he understood.
He held his barrel steady as Kili used it to launch himself out of the water and onto the stone platform.
His little brother was almost instantly accosted by an orc, but he skillfully ducked out of the way, catching the sword Dwalin threw at him and ending the miserable creature's life.
As Kili ran up the stairs, fighting another orc as he went, Fili threw a knife which he pulled out of a dead elf's chest and speared the orc right in the eye. He promised his mother to look out for her youngest, and he intended to do just that.
Mere metres from his destination, Kili froze, and so did Fili.
His brother had an arrow sticking out of his leg. But something was wrong. His brother had injured himself numerous times, but he had never frozen in pain. Pain never shut his brother down. Never.
"Kili!"
Stumbling forward, Kili grabbed the lever, but did not seem to possess the strength to pull it. Something was terribly, terribly wrong.
Collapsing from what appeared to be pain, another orc went in for the kill.
Fili had never before, felt such fear as he did then.
Tauriel
She saw a dark haired dwarf collapse to the ground. Her dwarf.
Without making a conscious decision, she slipped into warrior mode. She withdrew an arrow, notched it and fired it at the oncoming orc before he even noticed her presence.
Kili spun around and their eyes met, just like in the forest. That's the second time I've saved you, dwarf.
She notched another arrow and sent it flying into the chest of an orc. And then another. And then another.
She was in her element. Never did she feel as comfortable in her own skin as when she was in a fight, bow in hand. She did not know what that said about her as an individual, but for the moment, she did not care. She had saved him. She had saved Kili.
The orcs were now too close to be able to be dealt with with a bow and arrow, so she unsheathed her sword.
Slamming her left arm into an orc's chest, she decapitated it with the sword in her right hand.
Legolas
He was not fluent in Black Speech, but he understood enough to know what the leader had commanded.
Kill her! Kill the she-elf!
Over my dead body. With that thought, he sent an arrow straight through the skull of the nearest foul creature. In the next breath, he dealt with another. With his white knife in hand for close combat, and his bow in his other hand, he was equal parts gracious, and deadly.
Kili
She had saved him. Again. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. Twirling her daggers, her green eyes flashing and her red hair whipping around her, it was impossible to take one's eyes off of her.
He shook himself out of his awestruck state and made for the lever. Pulling himself up by the stairs, saying that his leg felt as though it was on fire was an understatement. His entire body seemed to pulse and throb with every move that he made, and with a scream of frustration and agony, he finally got the blasted lever down.
The company squeezed through the gate as Kili collapsed in pain.
Gritting his teeth, he dragged his thrumming body to the edge of the ledge and with a grunt he pushed himself off, and fell into the barrel, snapping the protruding arrow in the process.
Tauriel
Mind yourself. Focus on your own fight. She repeated the words which she had drilled into the heads of countless members of the guard. Never had she struggled so to follow her own rule. But of course, she never had to worry about him before.
She was doing incredibly well for someone who was painfully aware of a certain dwarf's whereabouts.
Until he cried out.
Her attention was drawn away from the fight long enough for an orc to gain the upper hand, but she came to her senses and disposed of it quickly.
She watched as the dwarves were carried away by the strong current, orcish arrows flying in their direction. Miraculously, other than Kili, none of them seemed to be injured.
Hacking her way through mutilated flesh, Tauriel along with the prince ascended the wall which separated Mirkwood from the rest of the world and jumped over, firing arrows at anything that moved which wasn't in the water.
The elves made quick work of the orcs in their path, but she had to admit, so did the dwarves. And they didn't even have proper weapons. She felt guilt clench her chest as to why they didn't have weapons, but reminded herself that they weren't supposed to be escaping in the first place.
Bombur
The metal spear acted as a catapult, sending him hurtling into orc after orc. Once the barrel finally stopped moving, his arms and legs shot out, weapons at hand. Within a few moments, he went from flattening their foes the good old fashion way, to dicing them up. He resembled something of a spinning top assassin.
Dwalin
What nerve that fairy princess had! Using their heads as a means of crossing the river! Regardless of their circumstance, it was completely uncalled for. He didn't think that he'd ever live down the humiliation of being a woodland sprite's glorified foot rest.
Thorin
He did not know why he sacrificed his only weapon to save the life of the filthy elven prince. He had not deliberated before hurling the spear through the air and into the orc's chest. What he did know, however, was this: He would not ponder on his misplaced kindness.
Tauriel
The orc let flew an arrow. Her own snapped it in half before it could reach its intended destination. Her dagger was at the orc's throat within seconds.
"Tauriel! Wait. This one we keep alive."
Well, that's chapter six! I'd love to get some feedback, as I've never written anything from so many POVs before. Also, I'd like to know if you thought everyone was in character.
Lots of Love,
ArtOfWords xxx