*sigh* At long last, I finally finished this chapter. This one kept giving me trouble for some reason xD

Enjoy, lovelies! :D

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Struggling for breath, Aira tried to swim back to the surface, still in shock from everything that had just happened. However, she didn't get very far when she felt a pair of arms grab her underneath her arms and pulled her up. Once she emerged, she started gasping for air. Once her vision adjusted, she looked behind her and saw the arrow Bolg had shot at her sticking out of the side of her barrel and Bilbo was regaining his breath, his hand still on her arm as they both took hold of the side of Nori's barrel.

"Bilbo?" she asked, still in a daze.

He nodded. "I saw the Orc aiming for you, so I pushed your barrel over so you wouldn't get shot," he said.

If there hadn't any chaos breaking out around them, Aira would've hugged Bilbo gratefully right then. He had just saved her life.

But her sight drifted back up to the bridge where Kili was lying on the ground, wounded, and she gasped as she saw another Orc coming over the wall towards him. Then suddenly, an arrow came flying through the air and embedded itself in the Orc's neck. Aira whipped around and saw Tauriel running along the shoreline with her bow in hand.

Once again, Aira was unsure of what to think or feel at that moment. After the time that Tauriel had spent with Kili in the dungeons during his period of memory loss, she was sure that she didn't like the Elf with fiery red hair. But then, that was just it: what Elf would willingly spend that much time talking casually to a Dwarf, given the rift between the two races? Something about that one observation alone made Aira think that Tauriel was different. That and she had just helped save Kili's life, which Aira was grateful for.

She watched as Tauriel took out another arrow and launched it at a second Orc, killing that one as well, before expertly fighting a few other Orcs that were heading towards her on the shoreline.

"Kill her! Kill the she-Elf!" Bolg commanded his followers.

As a group of Orcs moved to obey him, the blonde Elf, Legolas, jumped out from behind some bushes, along with a small battalion of Elves, and started to fight the Orcs as well. There were small skirmishes going on, on the shore with Elves fighting Orcs with their daggers and bows and arrows.

Aira looked back up to the bridge to make sure Kili was still all right. She was astounded to see him bracing himself against the stone steps, trying to stand back up. He was still going for the lever. Then, with a slight lunge, he grabbed hold of the lever and pulled it down. As he did, the gate underneath the bridge opened the Dwarves could now get through. Once the gate was opened, Kili dropped helplessly back down the ground, crying out in pain as he landed.

The river current started to push the company forward and Aira watched as Thorin and a couple other Dwarves in the front dropped out sight down a waterfall in front of the gate.

"After them!" shouted Bolg to the Orcs on the other side.

Aira thought that perhaps she should get back into her own barrel somehow before she and the rest of her companions still behind the gate went through or else she was going to be in trouble. Her barrel was drifting towards her, but it was still tipped on its side. It was going to be filled a bit with water, but at that point, she didn't care.

"Dwalin!" she cried out as she pushed off of Nori's barrel over to his. He heard her and grabbed her hand as she approached, pulling her to his barrel.

"I got you, lass!" he said.

She gestured to her floating barrel with her head. "Once I'm inside, pull the barrel upright and quick!" she told him.

Understanding, he gave a nod in response.

Holding onto the side of Dwalin's barrel to keep herself steady, Aira lifted and extended her legs out towards the barrel. A couple seconds later, her legs were inside.

"Now!" she cried just before letting go.

With a hard jerk, Dwalin pulled Aira's barrel back into the upright position and she was back to sitting somewhat comfortably inside.

"Kili!" she heard Fili call out.

She looked up to see Kili inching on his side to the edge of the bridge and then jumping off into his barrel. As he landed, the arrow in his leg snapped off on the side and he grunted painfully, making Aira's heart wrench.

Within a moment, she and the rest of the Dwarves moved past the gate, down another waterfall and into the larger part of the river. They could hear the shouts of the Orcs running along the shore after them. Their barrels were bobbing up and down in the water as they floated along, being launched down waterfalls and submerging beneath the fierce rapids. Their barrels, now scattered about, were being filled with water quickly and were being shot at by the Orcs. Some of the Dwarves were almost attacked, but they either dodged the arrows that were shot or they pulled their attackers into the water. But then soon, some of the Mirkwood Elves arrived and began to shoot at the Orcs with their arrows from the trees.

Aira, as she came back up from underneath another rapid, she saw an Orc jumping off shore towards Thorin, who had managed to obtain an Orc sword, who then slashed the weapon through the air and killing the creature in mid-air.

Just then, as she came up on another forceful rapid, Aira was jumped from behind by a snarling Orc. She fought and struggled to wrestle it off, pushing away its hands as it clawed at her face and hands. Then she reached around behind her and felt the hilt of a knife on the creature's belt. She grasped it firmly, pulled it from its sheath and then plunged it into the Orc's side, making it howl loudly. When its body went limp, Aira pulled out the knife, shoved it off her back and into the river. Then she tucked the knife underneath her belt.

However, as she was freed, Aira didn't see what was ahead of her and realized it too late. She slammed into a large group of rocks, which caused her barrel to tip over and she fell with a startled cry headfirst into the water.

Ori, who was not too far ahead of her, saw her fall and reached out behind him to grab her, but the current was too strong that she was swept away too quickly.

"Aira!" he shouted in fright.

Thorin heard Ori's cry just as he killed another Orc and he quickly whipped around to see what was going on. He spotted an empty barrel floating along near where Ori was and realized immediately what happened. His fear began to rise as he scanned the waters behind him and he couldn't see any sign of her.

"Aira!" he cried out with worry, which caused the other Dwarves behind him to look around while still trying to avoid the Orcs.

Now, Thorin was panicking. It was bad enough that they were floating in barrels down a dangerous river with Orcs attacking them and also Kili was badly injured, but now Aira was missing among the rapids and he couldn't see her anywhere.

"No…no…!" he muttered out loud, looking around desperately for her.

Just when he was starting to lose hope, he saw, a bit of a ways behind him, a hand appear from under the water followed by Aira's head, gasping for breath and attempting to call for help in a split second before being taken under again.

"Bofur! Help Aira!" Thorin cried out quickly, seeing that Bofur was the closest Dwarf to where he could now see Aira floating and struggling for air.

Right away, Bofur spotted her and reached out to grab hold of her. Just as she was descending upon him, her hand emerged again from the water and his own hand shot out and grasped it firmly, determined to not let her go. Mustering his strength to fight against the pull of the current, he hoisted Aira enough out of the water to where she could grab onto the edge of his barrel. She gasped and coughed frantically for air as she began drifting down the river hanging onto the side of Bofur's barrel.

"Hold tight, lass!" he said as she still tried to regain her breath.

Ahead of them, Thorin was greatly relieved to see Aira was all right, but he could not dwell on that feeling as he then saw an Orc jumping off a large log above them towards Balin in front of him. He thrust the Orc sword he had in his hand towards it and the weapon pierced its throat and pinned it up on the log. The Orc dropped its large pike and Thorin caught it. The pike was then passed down a line; Thorin threw it to Dwalin who passed it to Nori who then tossed it to Fili. Fili then used it to knock an Orc off its feet on the side of the river.

Aira's head was still reeling from being dragged by the river but she clung to Bofur's barrel, holding on for dear life. She looked off to the side and saw that Bilbo had somehow gotten on top of one of the barrels and was now riding it. Then she watched Dwalin head-butt an Orc who jumped him, knocking it into the water, and he took the creature's axe, holding it at the ready.

"Cut the log!" Thorin shouted to him as they were coming up on another hanging log, this one with about a dozen Orcs standing upon. Both he and Dwalin took a swing at it with their weapons and cut the wood, making it split in half and bringing it and the Orcs down with it.

Dwalin then launched his axe to Bombur who was launched into the air as his barrel as caught on the tip of an Orc's spear. He landed on the shore and started bouncing and bounding down the shoreline, knocking out any Orcs in his way.

There was a loud screech and Aira spotted an Orc archer on the side of the river, readying his bow and arrow and aiming it at them.

"Bofur, get down!" she cried.

Wide-eyed, Bofur dropped down into his barrel. Aira took the Orc knife she had tucked in her belt and threw it as hard as she could at the archer. The knife hit it dead in the chest, killing it before it could take the shot.

Just after that, a figure soared above them and a pair of legs landed on top of Dwalin and Dori's heads ahead of them. It was Legolas. He had followed the Orcs on land, taking them out, and decided to stylishly take them out while standing on two Dwarves' heads. In any other situation, Aira would've certainly laughed at the sight. Legolas was carefully balancing himself while shooting Orcs on the shore with his bow and arrow and then he jumped up, spun around, landed perfectly back on the two heads and went back to shooting. After taking a couple more shots, he jumped off of Dwalin and Dori and back onto the shore, landing on an Orc and using it to surf down the terrain before taking out a couple more. Then he started making his way back across the river, using the other Dwarves' heads as stepping stones, until he jumped onto a hill on the other side.

Despite him being an Elf, Aira had to admit that he was skilled and had quite a style in combat. He was fierce yet elegant in his fighting; clever yet deadly.

There was another Orc coming up behind Legolas, ready to strike him from behind, when suddenly a spear came spiraling through the air, killing it on impact. Aira looked and realized Thorin was the one who had saved Legolas, which surprised her.

She looked back to Legolas, who was now standing on the hill and watching the Dwarves as they continued to drift down the river. Even from a distance, Aira suddenly noticed the strong resemblance he had to King Thranduil; the same color hair and facial structure and expression.

Then it dawned on her.

"By Mahal…! I think he's Thranduil's son!" she concluded.

Thorin had just unknowingly saved the son of his arch-rival.

The Dwarves continued to drift down the river, the current taking them away, and the Orcs were falling even farther behind. Soon, the company felt as if they were safe, at least for the time being.

After what felt like forever, Aira felt Bofur's hand on her arm. When she looked up at him, he asked her, "Are you all right, Aira?"

She gave him a small nod. After almost drowning, she found herself getting tired. Much of her strength had been drained from fighting the strong current and struggling for breath. It almost amazed her that she was still able to hang on to Bofur's barrel for this long even though she could feel her arms getting sore.

She then asked a little drowsily, "Kili…is he all right?"

Bofur looked around for Kili and spotted him not too far ahead. His head was tilted down against the edge of the barrel, his eyes were closed and he was breathing a bit heavily, which Bofur assumed was because of the pain he was most likely feeling from his wound.

"Oh, he's just fine," he answered as brightly as he could. "He's a tough lad, he'll pull through."

Aira let out a sigh of relief. As she did, her hold on the barrel slackened and she began to sink down in the water, her remaining strength starting to give way. Bofur quickly grabbed her by the arms, pulled her up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders to keep her up. To his luck, he noticed her empty barrel, which was floating in their direction.

"Aira, here comes your barrel," he told her, giving her a light shake.

Then, just as she had done with Dwalin earlier, she positioned her legs outward towards the barrel until they were inside. Bifur was the nearest Dwarf to them, so Bofur called him over to help lift her barrel upright. Once she was back inside the barrel, Aira collapsed back against the inside and heaved a deep, tired sigh.

"You're all right now, lass," Bofur said to her. "We've got you."

"Thank you…," Aira whispered.

Bifur then laid a very gentle hand on her head and said to her sweetly in Khuzdul, "Rest now, little bird."

Already, her eyelids were getting heavy and she couldn't find the strength to fight the tiredness that was now taking its toll on her. It only took mere seconds for her to succumb to her exhaustion and she passed out into a deep sleep.

Her eyes opened and she was back in her cell in the Mirkwood dungeons, sitting in the back corner. It was quiet; a bit too quiet. Cautiously, Aira stood up and walked to the cell door.

"Hello?" she asked loudly.

There was silence.

She placed her hands on the door and found that is unlocked as it started to swing forward. She pushed it open all the way and stepped out, listening and looking carefully for any signs of movement. A moment passed and she heard and saw nothing. There seemed to be no one there. She was alone.

Where was everyone? Where had they all gone?

It was then there was a wind that started to pick up, blowing her auburn curls over her eyes. When she moved them out of the way, she looked to the side and saw that a wall of glass had suddenly appeared. Behind it, great swirls of white and gray mist were forming. She watched curiously as an image formed inside the mist behind the wall. What she saw was her and Thorin standing before King Thranduil and the Elf's deep taunting voice spoke out.

"And for what reason would the King of the Dwarves adopt a simple girl like you?"

There was a tremor in the scene and Thranduil then said, "Clearly, your father does not love you enough if he has brought you on such a dangerous and perilous journey."

Aira's hands clenched into fists. She had hated when Thranduil said those things to her.

The image then transformed and she saw Kili sitting in his cell, glaring through the bars. His voice was heard speaking over the scene:

"If we ever really had anything and you were really my One, I would know it!"

It changed again to Aira in her cell, leaning against the wall and sobbing.

Her voice: "How can you not remember your feelings for me? How can you not feel what I feel for you?"

"What is this?" Aira wondered.

The scene shimmered and Aira now saw her and Kili standing together with their eyes closed and their foreheads resting against each other.

Kili's voice spoke: "I feel you, my love…you saved me."

Then the mists swirled around and formed an image that Aira did not recognize; something she had not seen. It was her and Kili again, only this time they were both in different clothes and Kili looked a little paler than normal. She was sitting in the end of a small boat that was beginning to float away and he was kneeling on a dock next to it, holding one of her hands in his own with Fili standing next to him. Both Aira and Kili were looking at each other with sad, hurt looks in their faces.

She drifted further and further away, never letting go of his hand until finally, their arms could not stretch anymore and their hands slowly released their hold on each other.

"No…what is this? Why is this happening?" she asked out loud, laying a hand up against the glass. What was going on? Why did she and Kili look sad? Why were they drifting apart like that?

Then she heard his voice again speaking even though, in the image she was watching of him on the dock, his mouth did not move. This time, his voice sounded tired, sad and weak.

"She is far, far away from me…it was just a dream…."

"No…!" Aira whispered. Why was she hearing Kili say that? What did he mean, "it was just a dream"? Her heart rate was starting to speed up a bit with worry.

The mists spun around again and formed a new image and Aira gasped in shock. She saw Thorin and Bilbo inside a large, dimly lit room with stone pillars and it seemed that there were piles of gold behind them. Were they in Erebor, she wondered. They too were dressed differently. What made her react was that Bilbo was trying to walk through a doorway, but Thorin suddenly lifted a sword and blocked his path, glaring at him suspiciously.

"Thorin? Thorin!" Bilbo cried, startled, as he backed away.

Thorin started walking towards him, pointing his sword at Bilbo's chest. There was a mad, almost insane look in his eyes and in his face; a look Aira had never witnessed before.

Never in her life had Aira felt afraid of him, but watching him in that moment scared her. She had never seen him look like that before.

She started slamming the glass with her hand. "Father, no! Stop!" she cried out. "What are you doing? Stop, don't! No!"

The Dwarf she was watching threaten her friend was not the Dwarf she knew, revered and loved; he was not her father. He would never threaten Bilbo like that. He wouldn't!

As the scene continued, the voice of Lord Elrond was heard:

"A strain of madness runs deep…can you swear Thorin Oakenshield will not also fall…?"

The scene changed again; this time Aira saw her and Thorin standing together on the edge of a rocky cliff face. His face was lowered, shadowed with what appeared to be regret, while she was right by him stroking his arm. She looked like she was comforting him. Her lips were moving, but Aira couldn't hear what she was saying.

Then Gandalf's voice was saying: "Thorin also has Airaním…she is the key to Thorin's resistance against the madness…."

Elrond's voice spoke again: "How can you be so sure if even she will be enough in the end…?"

Suddenly, in the image, Thorin ripped his arm away from Aira and his eyes were wide with unease, his face twisted with anger towards her. Once again, she could not hear what was being said, but it looked like he was almost yelling at her. She had jumped back, startled, holding her hands out to her sides. She looked frightened as he glared at her angrily.

Just then, the scene disappeared as the mists twisted and came together before suddenly growing brighter and erupting into flames. Aira felt the glass wall grow hot and she jumped away before it could hurt her. Then, in the fire, she saw the terrifying silhouette of a dragon appear, spreading out its wings.

As she drew back in fear, a deep, menacing, booming voice that shook the ground beneath her feet roared out:

"You…will…burn!"

The wall of glass shattered, sending shards of it flying her way. Aira's arms flew up in front of her face, shielding herself. Most of the shards bounced off of her, causing no damage, but the flames were flying fast towards her. She started backing away as fast as she could, but she was not fast enough. But then, as the flames descended upon her, they transformed into huge waves of water seeking to drown her like the river in Mirkwood.

The young Dwarf-woman was overcome by the waves. The strength of the current was too strong, keeping her under while she struggled in vain to get her head above water. She could feel the air being driven from her lungs and her body. Her chest was constricting from lack of air. She kicked and pushed and struggled but her strength was nothing compared to the force of the water.

In her head, she could hear multiple voices saying and calling out her name: Thorin, Kili, Fili, Bofur, Gandalf, Balin, Dwalin, Galadriel, Beorn, Maori; they all kept repeating her name along with other voices she knew until they were all overlapping madly in her ears.

Then she heard Bilbo cry out above all others:

"Aira! Wake up!"

Aira awoke with a start, causing her barrel to tip slightly, but she balanced herself out. She looked to the side and saw Bilbo next to her, lying on his front on top of a tipped barrel. He had a hand grasping the edge of her barrel which then moved to her shoulder when she awoke, gasping.

"It's all right, Aira," he said softly to help calm her. "You're all right. You're safe now. You're safe."

It took a moment, but soon Aira's scared panting ceased and she began to breathe normally. She was grateful for how patient Bilbo was. She looked ahead of her and saw that were slightly behind the rest of the company, just drifting along the river as the current had now slowed down.

Turning back to Bilbo, she replied breathily, "Thank you, Bilbo."

He gave her a nod in return. "You were flinching, groaning and crying out in your sleep," he said. "I thought it best to wake you."

"I'm glad you did."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She shook her head. "It was just a bad dream, that's all."

"Aira…judging from your reactions, I don't think it was 'just a bad dream'."

"I'm fine, really…I just saw again some things of the past and…other things I haven't seen before; things I hope won't actually happen in the future. Those, I think, were just my mind toying with me and playing with my fears."

In truth, those really were thoughts Aira was having about the scenes she hadn't seen before, but at the moment she only said those things so Bilbo wouldn't worry about her. She didn't want to worry him, especially since one of the things she had seen involved him.

Bilbo seemed to believe her because, after that, he just shrugged and said, "Well, at least it's over, now, and I'm glad you're all right."

"And the same to you," Aira replied.

Just then, she heard Thorin call out from up ahead, "Anything behind us?"

Balin then replied, "Not that I can see!"

Bofur, after coming up out of his barrel and spitting out some excess water he'd gotten inside it, cried, "I think we've outrun the Orcs!"

"Not for long," Thorin said back, "we've lost the current."

"Bombur's half-drowned!" Dwalin cried out, pointing out that the overly-large Dwarf's barrel was starting to sink down.

"Make for the shore!" Thorin ordered. "Come on, let's go!"

The rest of the company followed Thorin's command and began to paddle themselves towards the rocky river bank. Once they got to the shallows, they all started clambering out of their barrels. Some of the others, like Ori and Bombur, needed an extra hand getting out, so Dwalin helped Ori while Dori got Bombur out. They all were just glad to be back on land.

Aira climbed out of her barrel and then went back to give Bilbo a little help in getting his barrel to shore. She grabbed both sides of the opening and walked backwards, pulling it onto the rocks, with him still on top of it. Once it was secure, Aira offered Bilbo her arm; he wrapped his around her shoulders while she grabbed him around the waist and gently hoisted him down.

"Oh, it's good to feel solid ground again!" he exclaimed breathily.

It was then Aira heard a loud, deep grunt of pain and she turned just in time to see Kili dropping down to his knees, clutching at his leg.

"Kili!" she said in alarm as she rushed over to him, dropping down to her knees by his side as he sat himself down. She looked down at his leg and saw the hole in his trousers which was stained dark and red with blood. She could barely see his wound as it was covered in the dark fluid.

Carefully, Kili placed a rag over the wound and winced painfully as the cloth made contact with his skin, making Aira's heart wrench at his suffering.

"Kili…," she said, gently placing a hand over his arm. In her heart, she could feel her guilt rising for causing his injury.

"I wasn't thinking…," she thought to herself. "I'm the one who should've been shot, not him! I let myself show weakness in front of Bolg when I should have known better! If I hadn't, then maybe Kili wouldn't have been hurt. It's all my fault…!"

She heard someone approach and she looked up to see Bofur kneeling down in front of them, looking at Kili very sympathetically.

When Kili noticed, he straightened up and mumbled, "I'm fine, it's nothing."

"No, darling, you are not fine," Aira said back to him just as Fili came up to him. She was about to add to that when Thorin telling everyone to get on their feet interrupted her.

"Kili's wounded. His leg needs binding," Fili told him as Kili handed him the rag he was using.

"There's an Orc pack on our tail. We keep moving," Thorin replied stiffly.

"Is he mad?" Aira wondered. "We can't keep moving yet, not when Kili is like this." Fili, however, ignored him and started to wrap Kili's wound with the rag anyway.

"To where?" Balin asked in regards to Thorin's last statement.

Bilbo, walking past him, answered, "To the mountain! We're so close."

Balin sighed. "A lake lies between us and that mountain. We have no way to cross it."

"So then we go around," Bilbo suggested.

But Dwalin interjected, looking to Thorin, "The Orcs will run us down as sure as daylight…we've no weapons to defend ourselves."

Thorin shook his head and then looked back to the three younger Dwarves. "Bind his leg, quickly," he told Fili in a stern tone. "You have two minutes."

Something about Thorin's rushed and demanding tone of voice wasn't sitting well with Aira. He wasn't being very sensitive to the fact that one of his own kin had been badly hurt and seemed to be more concerned with journeying on.

"Father, what is wrong with you?" she asked a bit firmly, standing up to face him. When he turned around, giving her a questioning look, she went on, "Kili is hurt and you treat it like it is of little concern; like it isn't a priority to make sure he's all right and his wound is treated. You act as if giving us a couple of minutes is a hindrance."

"If we linger too long, the Orcs will gain on us," Thorin replied.

"But sparing only a moment to tend to a wounded member of your company; your own nephew will not delay us by much!"

"Every moment lost hastens our defeat, Aira."

"Father, you cannot be se—"

Aira stopped short as she saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She looked and saw, up on a higher ledge, there suddenly stood a tall, mysterious figure whose face was cloaked in shadow. In his hands, he held a large bow and arrow and he was looking towards Ori, who was sitting at the bottom of the riverbank, emptying the water out of his boots. When Aira spotted him, everyone else turned to see what she saw.

Dwalin grabbed a large stick and jumped to Ori's defense. Suddenly, the mysterious archer fired his arrow right at him and the arrow embedded itself in the wooden stick. Kili then picked up a rock to throw at him, but in one swift, flawless move, the archer pulled out another arrow and fired it, shooting the stone right out of Kili's hand before he could even process what had happened. Everyone froze nervously in place as the stranger withdrew another arrow, aiming it at them.

Then he spoke, in a deep, gravelly voice, "Do it again…and you're dead."

.

So I got ya'll pretty good with the cliffhanger from last chapter, huh? well, GOTCHA! Aira wasn't actually shot! xD

Lots of things happenin' now...things are gettin' good!

So a quick little notice here: I'm going to be taking a break from fanfiction for the next few weeks. I've been busy with school and have a lot of work and I find that fanfiction has been becoming a little too much of a distraction for me. I find myself wanting to write instead of doing schoolwork, which puts me behind and it's been affecting my grades lately. Plus I have two bigger projects due by the end of the month and I haven't started either of them yet :P I'm going to need as much time as I can for those as well as everything else and I just think that trying to write my fanfictions are too distracting and I can't afford that right now. I'll be finishing school and graduating around the second week in May...after that, I can get back to my stories without any worries :) Please don't be mad with me, this is just something I really feel I need to do!

Please, as always, leave a review or send me a PM with any thoughts you had regarding the chapter! :)

I'll be back in May, my dears! :)

Until then, mukhuh Mahal udnîn zu ra sanzigil umkhûh zu! (May Mahal keep you and mithril find you!)