Somewhere along their journey, the company happened across a spring that flowed into a pool as it splashed over the edge of a waterfall. Gandalf suggested they stop, sensing the magik in the water, as the day was beginning to grow quite hot. Initially, Thorin refused but Halien was quick to try and convince him.
"Sire, we can take some of the water with us in the water skins," Halien suggested. "These waters possess rejuvenating properties, which will help to ease an aching body and give energy back to the others if they grow weary."
Halien could hear Thorin going over it in his head. He knew that she was being logical and was glad to see her thinking of the others in their company. Thorin looked over at the others as they practically stripped completely naked – having naught but their underclothes on- and dived into the pool. A smile crept into the corner of his mouth and he sighed. "Very well."
Halien bowed and grabbed the water skins and a few jugs, taking them to an empty side of the pool. Opening the water skins, she filled each of them to the top, sealed them, and then did the same with the jugs. Then, when the jugs were full, she sat on her legs and breathed deep, tuning out the sound of the dwarves' merrymaking, and summoned her healing magik. She spread the magik outward so that it would enchant all of the jugs at once, and when the water was enchanted, Halien closed the lids of the jugs and hauled each of them back to the horses.
Ori had gotten out of the water to grab an apple from his pack and saw that Halien was going back and forth, carrying the heavy water jugs and skins. "Would you like some help, Halien?" he asked her when she came back from her third trip.
Halien smiled. "I would greatly appreciate it, Ori. Thank you very much."
Ori helped her carry the remaining jugs and skins to the horses and ponies, then helped her secure them to the saddles. When they were finished, Ori asked if Halien would care to join them in the pool. He nodded when she kindly told him that she might later and ran to the edge of the pool, jumping in and making a grand splash.
Halien went to sit underneath a tree and rested her head against the bark. She hummed softly to herself and began sharpening her weapons and those of her companions while they enjoyed a moment of carefree frivolity.
"Thorin, you must admit that she is trying," Balin said as he joined Gandalf, Thorin, and Bilbo.
Thorin nodded. "I do see that she is trying, much as she did with the children in our village, but that does not mean that I trust her. She is the daughter of the man who betrayed our people, Balin. She should have been there to stop him."
"She's not like her father, Thorin, and she was not even there to stop him. She couldn't have known you were going to see her father. She didn't even know if you were alive or not," Gandalf said. "She is quite the opposite of her father. Since she was a little girl, she had wanted nothing more than an adventure- much like our Bilbo Baggins here. She refused to go along with the proper upbringing her father set for her, she would sneak out at night to go and speak with the animals- finding more company with them than her people- and to explore the wonders of Greenwood."
As Gandalf was telling him this, Thorin watched as Halien talked to each of the horses and ponies. They had gathered around her, nuzzling her, and seemed to talk back to her as she began to sketch the dwarves enjoying the pool. He had never seen anyone so happy, not even in the days before Smaug came. Sighing, he knew that he should give her as much a chance as he gave Bilbo. "She will still have to earn my trust once more, as much as the burglar does," he said.
Sometime later, Dwalin got out of the water and beckoned for Thorin to join them. Seeing no harm in it, Thorin pulled off his robes and boots and dove into the pool in his underclothes. He was not usually the type of person to do such a thing, not since Erebor fell, but he needed to relax and the water felt wonderful as it washed over his body. He and the other dwarves began to play a game of chicken, hoisting each other upon their shoulders.
Halien watched from the tree and laughed when Ori knocked over Dwalin and Nori. She stood and stretched, unaware that Fili and Kili had hopped out of the water and snuck up behind her. Before she could react, the dwarven brothers ran up and pushed her into the pool, making her land with a loud splash.
The other dwarves winced, as it had sounded like she landed belly first in the water, but cheered when she sprung up from beneath the water and dragged the brothers into the water. Her shawl had slipped off her head and hung wet around her neck and she laughed when they spurted up from the water, surprised at her.
"Serves you right, lads," Dwalin called to them.
Fili and Kili laughed as Halien dove out of their reach when they lunged for her, trying to dunk her. She swam underneath the dwarves to the deeper parts of the pool and found an outcropping of rocks. She swam to the surface, hoisting herself out of the water, and looked at the dwarves having fun. She pulled her shawl from her shoulders and tied it into a sash at her waist, smiling when she watched Thorin join in the frivolities, even if it was just for a moment.
"Elf, come here," Thorin called to her. "It is your turn to join this game of chicken."
Halien smiled. Standing, she called back, "And who is to be my opponent?"
Thorin smirked. "I am."
Her grin grew and she dove into the water with grace, swimming to the dwarves. When she resurfaced, she was nose-to-nose with Thorin. "Is that a challenge, little king?"
"Aye, that it is," he replied, ignoring the pet name she used.
"Very well," Halien said and stood. Fili hoisted Thorin onto his shoulders while Kili hoisted Halien upon his, surprised that she felt light as a feather. They faced each other and when Dori called for the round to start, they raced at each other. Fili and Kili steered Thorin and Halien towards each other, holding fast to their legs to steady them. Halien and Thorin locked their hands together and began to try and push each other down.
"You will not win this round, elf," Thorin said, rather confidently.
"Is that so?" Halien replied.
Thorin saw a glint in her eye, a gleaming sign of her determination that sparked as he challenged her. Halien tightened her grasp on Thorin's hands and arched her back. She squeezed Kili's sides gently to let him know what she was going to do and he grinned, tightening his hold on her legs. Halien took a deep breath and pushed as hard as she could, wriggling her hands free just as Fili and Thorin fell back into the water, the round lost to them.
The others, including Gandalf and Bilbo who had been watching from the fire pit they had dug, cheered as Halien slid off of Kili's shoulders and waded over to the fallen dwarves. Kili helped his brother up and Halien offered her hand to the dwarven king. Thorin looked up at her in frustration and accepted her hand.
"Well done, Halien. No one has been able to defeat Thorin at a game with hand-to-hand combat before." Bofur said, laughing.
Thorin smirked and threw Halien into the water, pinning her down in the shallow waters. "Perhaps you win at this, but I do not think you could beat me at wrestling."
Halien laughed and slid out from underneath him. The other dwarves watched as their king and companion began to wrestle in the water, surprised that Thorin would challenge her so quickly to another game and even more surprised that he was having fun.
"Do you think that your brawn can beat my speed?" Halien asked.
Thorin shrugged. "I guess we shall find out," he said, then lunged for her.
Halien smiled and spun out of his grasp, but he managed to grab hold of her braid as it whipped around. She winced, but she ran around the dwarf king in circles a few times until her long braid tied him in place. He struggled to get free, letting go of the end of her braid in the process. Halien stopped in front of him and lifted his chin with her finger.
"It may not have been a fair match- you pulling a sneaky trick like that- but I think that it is safe to say I win this one as well. Don't you?"
Thorin sighed and nodded. "You have bested me."
Halien gently unwrapped her braid and set the dwarf king free, bowing to him and thanking him for the games before she went to the edge of the pool and got out of the water. Behind her, the dwarves were muttering amongst themselves how much their king and the elf seemed to enjoy that spat, wondering if there was more to be seen between them that went far past being companions. When Thorin looked at them, they began to laugh and he threw a fist full of water at them.
