Sveilrun slept most of the day away, only stirring once or twice before falling back into a deep sleep. Eventually she ended up curling in on herself, her neck twisted in towards her stomach and her paws folded together in the centre. Thorin rested against the cell wall next to the wolf's sleeping form, not touching but close enough to feel the warmth radiate from her dark brown fur. He was on the verge of dozing off as well, boredom fogging his mind over, when a heavy weight dropped in his lap. His eyes snapped open at the sudden force pressed on his legs, but stilled when his gaze came upon the wolf's head. She had moved once again in her sleep so her head rested on the dwarf's lap, the end of her snout almost touching his boots and the fur on the back of her neck brushing against his tunic. Thorin wondered for a moment if she had awoken, but dismissed that thought when he noticed her closed eyes and deep breathing. The tip of the wolf's snout dug deeper into the cloth around his shins and she breathed in deeply, the same way as she had done when she had awoken in the dwarf's arms, making Thorin wonder if she liked the smell of him.

Thorin's blue eyes watched her as she slept, unable to move because of the weight on his legs, but not wanting to awaken her. He only noticed now that they were so close that the dark brown fur of her neck held specks of blond much like her actual hair. Her fur looked thick and course, and for a few moments he contemplated trying to touch it, but thought over possible ways that could end badly. Eventually he grew bored and decided to just do it despite possible consequences.

As slowly as he could, he gently rested his hand against the side of the wolf's neck. When the wolf made no move of waking, he pushed his hand further into her fur. Just as he suspected, the strands of dark fur were course, but the undercoat of fur was soft to the touch and radiated heat. The warmth and comfort that came from such a simple touch confused the dwarf king, but he banished those thoughts from his mind as sleep began to overtake him.

.

'What is wrong with me?'

The question floated around Sveilrun's mind when she awoke to find she had actually slept on Thorin's lap. She knew the moment she had awoken that something was horribly wrong when the scent of the dwarf king was practically wrapped around her, and a weight pressing on the side of her neck. She could faintly hear deep snores directly above her head, and turned her head slightly to peer up at him. Thorin's head was leaned back against the wall of the cell, his eyes shut peacefully as he slept, and his hand rested against the side of her neck. She was almost tempted to fall back asleep, pretend she hadn't woken up, and simply enjoy the peace of that moment, but she knew that was a bad idea. Being careful not to awaken the dwarf king, she slowly slid her head out from his lap, letting his hand drop back down into his leg. Sveilrun stilled when she felt his hand fall, but once she heard his continued snore she moved further away before sitting up.

"Growing fond of a dwarf, wolf?" A snide remark sounded from the cell door. Legolas stood, his eyes evaluating Sveilrun with an indifferent sneer. A growl sounded low in the wolf's throat as she stepped closer to face the blonde elf, "I wouldn't think you to sink so low, though I shouldn't be surprised, filth finds the company of filth."

"You would not be so arrogant if there were not bars between us," Sveilrun's voice rumbled through the caverns that made the dungeon, "Come a little closer and I'll show you how my people earned the title 'volatile'."

"No," Legolas responded with a taunting tone, "I think I'd rather watch you sit and rot away with your dwarves."

"Why? Scared to fight the big bad wolf?" the chuckling voice of the skin-changer could be heard even by the furthest of dwarves as she taunted the blonde elf, "Or do you simply enjoy hiding behind your guards? They're not exactly a challenge either. The last one's neck broke like a twig. If I had put in any more effort, his head would have come clean off."

Legolas' eyes narrowed and he hissed back, "I do not fear a nearly extinct half-breed who partakes in the company of dwarves."

"I am not 'partaking' in anything," Sveilrun responded in a lowered voice, her ears twitching back to hear the continued snores of Thorin.

"That's right, I nearly forgot," Legolas went on, "Your kind believed in intended ones. Tell me, how much longer do you think you'll have to wait for him to show up?"

Sveilrun held her tongue, not because the question caused her any form of emotional grief, but because she truly didn't know how to respond. She suspected she may have found such a person, but at the moment she was far from admitting it. Especially to someone she despises so much. There were few people she was willing to waist an emotion such as hate on - Legolas was one of the few. Right behind Thranduil.

Finally Sveilrun managed to respond in the same tone of mockery, "I prefer the thought of 'happily ever after' over an eternity of loneliness - that's what your kind is known for, aren't they? I may be wrong, but why don't you check with your father? I feel he would know."

Legolas' jaw twitched slightly as he clenched it in anger, and his blue eyes narrowed on the skin-changer, "Enjoy your cell, wolf."

The blond elf turned and swept from the dungeons angrily, earning stares from the dwarves as he passed. Sveilrun huffed before turning back to face Thorin, and finding him wide awake with his arms crossed over his chest and a single brow raised questioningly. Sveilrun's head raised slightly in surprise and bumped the ceiling of the cell. She growled in frustration before saying to the dwarf, "I thought you were asleep."

"I was," he responded.

Sveilrun watched him with a leveled gaze before slumping down onto the floor, "And how long were you awake for?"

"Before you were," he replied again with an even tone.

Sveilrun's eyes widened slightly. He had seemed genuinely asleep enough to fool even her. She went over everything she had done since awakening before chuckling, "Clever dwarf, that's a new one."

Thorin's lips twitched into an almost smile before being smothered, "You know him well?"

"We've met once or twice," Sveilrun replied, "Neither of us made a very good first, second, or third impression. He made the selective list worthy of hatred."

"Impressive," Thorin quipped, "What did he do to earn such an esteemed position?"

"That's a story for another day," Sveilrun averted, not in the mood to speak of past transgressions.

There was a pause as Thorin collected his thoughts. He knew by now that when the woman avoided subjects of conversations it would be difficult to pry any further; when the wolf avoided something, however, it may have well not been brought up at all. The dwarf watched as the wolf set her head heavily upon her front paws, most likely to keep from hitting the roof of the cell again, but kept its cunning eyes fixed on the dwarf.

A sudden thought came to Thorin. He hesitated for a moment before asking, "What are intended ones?"

The wolf raised her head, but didn't respond. Instead her yellow eyes evaluated the dwarf as she thought of a way to answer.

"The elf," Thorin continued, "He mentioned them. Said that your kind believed in them, what are they?"

Sveilrun stalled for a moment before finally responding in a lowered tone, "Intended ones are those my kind are meant to wed. The wolf skin-changers used to be distant, even with each other, and they were becoming scarce because of it. By myth it was said that they prayed to one of the gods for a solution, so we were given intended ones to ensure future sons and daughters. There are other words to describe them; soulmates, companions, but intended ones was the prefered term in my village."

"What happened to yours?" Thorin asked.

Sveilrun's pause this time was much longer before she replied in an emotionless tone that signalled to the dwarf king the arise of her barriers, "I never found him."

Thorin quickly changed tactics of making the skin-changer talk longer, and attempted to lighten the mood slightly by quipping, "Perhaps it's me- we have slept together twice."

Thorin quickly realised he only made her retract even further when her eyes became rather blank and she looked away towards the cell door. With an indifferent voice she commented, "The sun shall set soon. I will have to sleep in human form, going past time limits too soon could prove to be challenging."

"How will you know?" Thorin asked suddenly, breaking Sveilrun from her thoughts.

"I can usually just sense when I have to-"

"How will you know when you find him? Your intended one." Thorin cut off her words.

Sveilrun hesitated, humming low in her throat with thought before responding, "When a skin-changer reaches the age of sixteen they lose their sense of smell until they find their intended one. If the one you're looking for is the only thing you can smell, he is easier to find."

Thorin nodded in understanding but not before Sveilrun affirmed, "The likelihood of finding one's intended one was a lucky occasion when my village flourished, the chance now is near impossible. It is best not to think of such things."

That night Sveilrun didn't sleep. Too many thoughts were crossing her mind, and being forced back into her human form left her with a certain vulnerability that the wolf could have fought with fangs and claws. She rarely slept in human form because of it. Human form was inherently weaker, even if she were stronger than any woman from a man village, and the thought of sleeping that way made her feel unsafe. Sveilrun didn't know how she could have fallen asleep in such a form with the dwarf king, and decided to conclude that exhaustion can prey on even the worst insomniacs.

As she sat in the relative silence of the night, her only comfort coming from her thick traveling cloak, she thought of all possible escape plans. She couldn't kill another guard, none of them were stupid enough to get within reaching distance of the woman. Even Legolas kept a few steps away from the cell door. Unlike the shackles, the cell doors would not be easy to pick, and if it were possible, Sveilrun thought that Thorin would have already suggested or tried. She most definitely wouldn't be able to knock down the door, even if she were in wolf form and had a nasty temper going. As she thought, planned, and basically daydreamed, her plans became more and more outrageous until they eventually reached: train a bird to steal keys. Even if she had a bird, which was highly unlikely given where they are, and the bird was intelligent enough to know what keys are, and could handle the weight of the keys - it would most certainly be seen by a guard.

"I'll wager the sun's on the rise," Sveilrun could hear Bofur sigh, "It must be nearly dawn."

"We're never going to reach the mountain, are we?" Ori asked with a dejected tone.

Sveilrun could faintly hear the muted sound of bare feet and the slight jingle of keys coming towards her and Thorin's cell door. Her eyebrows creased together in confusion as she stood, catching Thorin's attention. Suddenly Bilbo's face appeared outside of the cell door, in his hands the keys to their cells, and said with a grin, "Not stuck in here, you're not!"

"Bilbo!" Sveilrun exclaimed in a hushed tone as Thorin stood and hastened to her side, "How did you get past the guards?"

"Now's not the time we have to hurry," Bilbo whispered back, "Before any guards come."

While Bilbo fumbled with the keys, Sveilrun quickly grabbed her harness off the floor and clasped it around her waist like a belt. Once Thorin and Sveilrun were freed from their cell, Bilbo moved onto the rest, unlocking all of the cells one by one. As the dwarves streamed out, they hugged and patted eachothers shoulders happily. Both Kili and Fili were set loose from their cells and rushed to Sveilrun and Thorin's side. Kili lightly grabbed the woman's elbow to get her attention.

"You alright, Veili?" Kili asked in a hushed tone, the sincerity behind his question shocking the skin-changer, "How'd you manage to break your hand?"

"I'm fine. It was just an accident," Sveilrun responded with a lie, her hand brushing against the top of his head in assurance before she could stop herself. Thorin and Fili both looked confused by her sudden display of affection, but Kili didn't seem to pay any mind. Catching herself a moment too late, she quickly dropped her hand before muttering, "Time to leave."

Sveilrun and the dwarves all swarmed towards a set of stairs that looked to lead out of the dungeon, but stopped when Bilbo called, "Not that way, down here. Follow me."

Bilbo lead the company down a long staircase and through the Woodland Realm. The dwarves followed in a line, whispering amongst each other as they snuck along, and Sveilrun followed at the back so she could listen for any approaching guards. Eventually they came down another set of stairs to find a large wine cellar. Shelves filled with large bottles of wine were set up, filled with enough wine to sate even the most greedy of trolls, and large barrels were stacked along the walls.

"This way," Bilbo whispered as he lead the company further in. Sveilrun just dipped her head low enough to see down into the room when her eyes caught the group of elves slumped down onto a table.

"I don't believe it; we're in the cellars!" Kili hissed, trying to keep his voice lowered and not being all that successful.

All of the dwarves start grumbling angrily, their faces beginning to turn red, and Bofur whispered angrily, "You were supposed to be leading us out, not further in!"

"I know what I'm doing!" Bilbo whispered back frustratedly.

Sveilrun shushed them when she saw one of the elf guards move slightly, but his movements stilled as he fell back into a wine induced sleep. With more urges from Bilbo to follow, they crept along the cellar until they reached a large stack of empty barrels in the middle of the room, hidden from the sleeping elves by a long shelf of wine bottles. All of the dwarves stood alongside the stack of barrels, looking around with confused and shocked expressions.

"Everyone, climb into the barrels, quickly!" Bilbo whispered to the company.

"Are you mad!?" Dwalin protested in a barely hushed tone, "They'll find us!"

Sveilrun noticed the lever on the floor and quickly realized why the barrels were stacked in such a way and what Bilbo intended to do.

"No, no, they won't, I promise you," Bilbo exclaimed in a rush, "Please, please, you must trust me!"

The dwarves all turned to each other and begin to whisper furiously, trying to decide whether or not to trust the hobbit. A commotion sounds above them, and Sveilrun could hear a group of elves approaching. Turning to Thorin, who stood slightly to the side with her and Bilbo, she hissed underneath her breath, "There are guards approaching, there's no more time for arguing."

Thorin only looks at the skin-changer for a brief second before turning and whispering to the group of dwarves, in a tone surprisingly commanding considering how hushed it was, he called, "Do as he says!"

The entire group of dwarves instantly listened to their leader and begin to climb into the barrels one by one. As they climb in Bilbo counts them all to make sure they're all there, and Sveilrun stood off to the side, her dagger made of a stag's jaw held at the ready for any approaching elves. Finally all of the dwarves had been stuffed into the barrels, and Sveilrun quickly climbed into one furthest away from the lever and closest to where she knew the floor would open up, sitting in between Thorin and Kili.

Bofur stuck his head out from his barrel and asked Bilbo, who was just finishing recounting all of the dwarves, "What do we do now?"

Bilbo stepped towards the lever, making Sveilrun shrink back into her barrel already knowing what is to come, before responding, "Hold your breath."

"Hold my breath?" Bofur questioned, "What do you mean?"

Bilbo didn't respond, and instead pulled the lever. Almost instantly the floor beneath them began to tilt open, sending that stack of dwarf-filled barrels rolling down the trap-door. Being at the front, Sveilrun is the first to feel the crisp water of the underground river, but the company of dwarves soon followed after. The dwarves all let out loud howls and bellows as they tumbled down the ramp and landed into the harsh water. Sveilrun managed to quickly right herself out as her barrel began to float with the flow of the current, and grabbed onto the nearest rock ledge to bring herself to a halt. As the last of the dwarves fell from the tilting floor, it shut behind them and immersed the river tunnel in darkness. The first dwarf to float down near Sveilrun was Thorin, and she held out a hand to catch him before he could float any further. He reached his hand out as well and she quickly clasped onto his wrist. His hand followed suit and wrapped around her thin wrist to securely lock their arms together. Next Thorin grabbed onto the rock ledge opposite of Sveilrun so they formed a barricade to catch the other dwarves and make sure they were all alright.

Sveilrun counted the dwarves out loud, making sure they had all resurfaced relatively safe. Noticing who the missing member of the company was, she asked aloud, "How is Bilbo going to get down?"

Just as the words leave her lips, the trap door swung open once again and out came Bilbo, who landed in the water as stiff as a plank. When his head arises from the chilled water, he sputters loudly and quickly begins to paddle his legs and arms in an attempt to stay afloat. He managed to grab onto the closest barrel, Nori's, who grabs onto him and attempts to pull him up.

"Well done, Master Baggins," Thorin praised, and at Bilbo's sputtered 'go' commands his fellow dwarves, "Come on, let's go."

The company began to paddle down the narrow underground river, following the hint of light showing somewhere down the tunnel. Sveilrun's arms are slightly longer than the dwarves so she's able to stay at the front, but the creaking discomfort in her bones telling her to shift began to come back. The chill water makes her fingers go numb, along with the discomforts of not shifting, leave her in a rather bad state, but she tries her best to ignore the negative sensations and continues paddling forward. Eventually the light became an opening in the tunnel back to the outside world. Sveilrun was almost able to appreciate the sense of freedom and joy seeing the sky again brought, but it was quickly squashed by the sight of the waterfall up ahead.

"Hold on!" Thorin bellowed, spotting the quickly approaching hazard.

Sveilrun ducked down further into the barrel to the best of her abilities, her hands clutching onto the rim of the barrel, but it didn't help as well as she would have wished. She felt the drop in her stomach as she went over the edge, and braced herself for the sudden plunge into the water below. If she hadn't been completely soaked the first time, she definitely was now. She had to hastily swipe wet hair from her eyes as she coughed up a mouthful of water. Her barrel twisted and turned, bumping into anything and everything in her path, and making her thoroughly dizzy. The rapids sent the company in all different directions, the currents pushing against them mercilessly. Luckily the ride through the hazardous waters soon began to calm as a guardpost built over the river comes into view. Fortunately, the metal gate that would normally close in the river and prevent departure was currently wide open. Unfortunately, the sound of a horn rang through the air- alerting the guards on the post of the barrel-riding dwarves.

Sveilrun could already tell that they won't make it through the gate in time. With quick trembling hands, she undoes the harness strapped around her waist and pulls it off, calling out as she does, "Thorin!"

When the dwarf king, whose eyes are wide with panic, caught the skin-changers gaze, she tosses the harness to him. He easily catches it from the air and looks at her with confusion.

"Lose that bag and the elves will be the least of your problems," Sveilrun yells, "I have some business to attend to. Hold it until I'm done."

Without waiting for a reply, Sveilrun threw herself forward. The force pushed the barrel into dumping her into the chilled water- effectively disappearing from the dwarves and elves sight.

"Sveilrun!" Thorin shouted, his eyes scanning over the water for the woman's form, but found nothing.

He can only stare for so long before he, and the rest of the dwarves, reach the closed metal gate. Thorin's barrel is the first to slam into the gate, his hands reach out to grab onto the metal, and he shouts out an angry and defeated, "No!"

The barrels piled into each other, unable to move because of the pushing currents and blocking gate. The elven guards draw their swords and advance on the trapped dwarves. One guard steps towards the bank of the river, having seen the woman suddenly disappear from sight and into the rushing waters. He didn't even have the time to defend himself as a giant form surfaced from the depths of the water and attacked him, knocking him to the ground and ripping out his throat before he could shout for help. The giant wolf form of the skin-changer stood, lips pulled back in a savage, bloody snarl as she turned on the rest of the elves.

Sveilrun doesn't even have time to attack as one of the elf guards is suddenly shot in the back with a black arrow. Her great yellow eyes widen in surprise as a group of snarling, growling orcs swarm over the guardpost and begin killing the elven guards. More orcs appear from the bushes, weapons wielded at the ready. Sveilrun is shocked still for a moment, a flood of memories taking her over before she can snap out of it and turn on the nearest orc.

Their situation just became so much worse.