A Ruby's Shine (Thorin Oakenshield X OC)

60. Bard

Once I got a handle on my emotions and pushed them down, I pulled up my shields once more, letting the anger guide me more than the pain. The dwarves need me right now, Kili needs me to be clear headed, his life depends on it. I pulled myself up to standing once more in the barrel, the current beginning to slow from the fast rushing waters.

"Philomena! You gave us quite the scare, lass! We thought you had fallen out and into the water!" I heard Bombur call, looking around and spotting the dwarf reaching out of his barrel he could hardly fit into, paddling as the current is near non existent now.

"Been coughing up river water, breathed in so much after the fifth little waterfall that my throat burns." I said, not entirely lying because I did breathe in a lot of river water, my voice accentuating that fact by sounding hoarse. I leaned over my barrel and coughed up some more water, feeling like a cat coughing up a hairball.

I shook my head and began paddling as well, the river now calm enough that, through my water filled ears, I could hear the dwarves grumbling at wet clothes as they too began to paddle. I shook my head to try to clear my ears, annoyed with watery sound as I patted at them, sighing when the pressure of water in my ears finally lessened and sound rushed in, making me jump a bit.

With one hand I paddled, while with the other I try draining out as much water as possible from my hair, the braid completely gone. Great, when this stuff dries I will look like I have a curly red fluff ball on my head. No herbs left to save me from that mess. This is going to be great, the company will no doubt laugh at the sight when it dries.

I sighed as, with one hand, I am getting very little of the water drained out. So I threw the heavy weight of wet hair onto my back and turned back to paddling, listening for the orcs chasing us and hearing nothing but water and dwarves, not even creatures in the forest. I suddenly heard a croak and the flutter of wings as a messy Fairfin landed on the edge of my barrel, his feathers askew in all directions, but it seems like he did his best to adjust his wings so he could actually fly a bit. Must be from when he clawed at the face of that orc.

I smiled at the raven, turning back to paddling.

"Anything behind us?" Thorin called out from the front of the pack, all of us paddling now.

"Not that I can see." Balin said from my right, nearby me.

"I think we've outrun the orcs." Bofur said quietly, coughing. I looked back at Bofur with worry and saw him cough up a lot of river water. Seems like I am not the only one who breathed it in accidentally. Though I do think the dwarf is worse off than me, he looks completely soaked, practically dripping water. Did he fall out of his barrel at some point?

"Not for long; we've lost the current." Thorin pointed out, making me look back towards Thorin as I noticed Dwalin grab onto Bofur's barrel while the dwarf coughed up river water.

"Bofur is half drowned." Dwalin told Thorin the same thing I was seeing in the dwarf. Bofur definitely needs dry land to cough up the rest of it. I looked back at Kili, two barrels behind me, and grimaced at his ashy, pale face and slumped posture in the barrel as Fili continued pulling his brothers barrel as best he could while paddling. Ori on the other side of Kili, trying to help.

"Make for the shore! Come on, let's go!" Thorin ordered as I looked to the closest bit of rocky shore. I quickly began paddling, knowing Fili and Ori would need help getting Kili out of the barrel. I grabbed onto the rock and pulled myself out, grabbing the rope of the barrel with my other hand as I sat down on the rock and pulled the water laden barrel up onto the rocks, breathing heavy at the weight of it. I looked around as I stood, searching for Fili, Kili, and Ori over all of the company that were climbing out of the water.