"This is everything I have." Agarwaen gave Balin her coin purse. A dense fog had settled upon the icy lake, and she remembered just how cold she was when her fingers started to go numb. She rubbed her hands together in an attempt to warm herself up.

Remnants of a long-since destroyed town loomed menacingly over the boat, providing dangerous obstacles in the water. After receiving frightened shouts from Bofur, and a sceptical comment from Thorin, Bard assured them that he had no intention of drowning the party in the waters he was raised on.

"I've had enough of this lippy lakeman." Dwalin grumbled. "I say we throw him over the side and be done with him."

"What, like you tried to do with me?" Agarwaen crossed her arms.

"You fell."

"And you walked away."

"The past cannot be undone." Thorin cut in. "But we can surely learn from our mistakes. And that means we have to trust the man."

"Oh, Bard. His name's Bard." Bilbo said annoyedly, also trying to keep himself warm.

"How do you know?" Bofur asked.

"Uh, I asked him."

"I do not care what he calls himself. I don't like him." Dwalin was still wary.

"We don't have to like him, we simply have to pay him." Balin said from where he sat, counting out their coins. "Come on lads, turn out your pockets." Everyone patted themselves down, coming up with nothing more. Balin informed them that they were ten coins short.

"Gloin..." Agarwaen crossed her arms at the one dwarf that didn't bother searching for anything else in his pockets. He looked up at her, feigning outrage.

"Don't look to me, elf, maybe those earrings of yours could be enough to settle the difference. I have been bled dry by this venture!" He then went on to rant about the subject. The other dwarves all started to rise however, when they caught sight of the mountain in the distance through the fog. Agarwaen smiled slightly and stepped back, letting them have their moment. She'd seen the mountain plenty of times, but for some of them, it was their first glimpse of it. Standing there in awe, Gloin simply handed Balin the rest of his money. That was when Bard crossed the boat, looking ahead of them.

"The money, quick, give it to me."

"We'll pay you when we get our provisions and not before." Thorin protested.

"If you value your freedom, you'll do as I say. There are guards ahead." Everyone looked forward to where the faint outline of Laketown began. Silhouettes of people milling about changed Thorin's answer.

"Give it to him and get in the barrels." Agarwaen stepped into the barrel closest to her, grimacing at the returned pressure on her cracked rib as she slid down and sat with her knees to her chest. As Thorin looked over the barrels, he saw her look of pain.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Yes. I've just got a cracked rib, that's all." Thorin felt the rage he had toward the other elves return, and clenched his fists.

"Thorin, I'm fine. Get in a barrel." She said when she noticed the look on his face. She wasn't sure where all this concern for her had come from all of a sudden. Even while they were in the forest, he'd been nice to her and comforted her a couple times. That was all fine and dandy, but now? Instead of having someone else support her on their way out of Mirkwood, he did it himself. He gave her his shirt for Iluvatar's sake, and now he was acting all concerned whenever she dared show a small sign of pain. She was thankful for having people who care about her, but this was unlike the Thorin she knew before. In all honesty, the change was slightly annoying. She wasn't used to people asking her if she was alright.

She'd grown to like the dwarf king in a way. All he wanted was to look out for his family and take back what was rightfully his. He fought with honor, and if he managed to eventually look past his feud with the elves, he'd make a good king. One that actually cared about his people. That's what the world really needed.

Agarwaen listened as Bard tied the boat up and walked across the docks.

"What's he doing?" Dwalin asked. Bilbo, who had a hole in his barrel, answered.

"He's talking to someone. He's pointing right at us!" Agarwaen rolled her eyes. She was trying to listen, but couldn't over all the whispering. "Now they're shaking hands!"

"What?" Thorin whispered.

"He's selling us out." Accused Dwalin.

"Would you lot calm down? He's talking about fish." Agarwaen hissed. "Fill...fill those barrels, there." She repeated what she heard. As the sound of machinery moving came from above them. They all looked up as fish began raining down on them. It was cold, slimy, and smelly, and she did her best to keep the things from going down her shirt. She had to keep herself from gagging once the barrel filled above her head and fresh air was completely cut off from her.

After being stopped at the front gate and almost being discovered, they were eventually let into the town and Bard started kicking over the barrels, letting the company out. Most of them jumped out on their own, but there was one barrel that went undisturbed. Thorin looked over the group to see who they were missing, and froze when Agarwaen wasn't among them. He sprinted over to the barrel and knocked it over, watching as an unconscious Agarwaen slid out with the fish.

"Sar em gabura." He muttered under his breath as he knelt down beside her. "She couldn't breathe in there." She was still breathing now, but very shallowly.

"You all could breathe fine. They weren't packed in." Bard came over, also concerned.

"She has weak lungs." Thorin replied, trying to get her to wake up while holding her top half up slightly. She jerked awake coughing and gasping while holding her chest.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow." She sat up and squeezed her eyes shut. "Nîdh!"

"Are you alright? Can you stand?" Thorin asked her. She tried to tame the throbbing in her head and the pain in her chest, and in the process of doing so, let her tongue loose.

"I was just beaten up by elves and then suffocated by fish, pe-channas. Do you think I am alright? Do I even look alright? Leithio nin." She pulled her arm from Thorin's grasp and stood up, wincing all the while. "Where to now, Bard?" She asked.

"My home. Follow me." He led the company around a corner, and away from the docks before running into someone else, a boy.

"Da! Our house. It's being watched." When the boy saw the group, he looked back at his father with wide eyes. "Who...who are they?"

"Guests. We must get them inside without being seen." Bard replied. The boy wasn't sure what to think, but he knew he had to listen to his father.

"But every door and window is being watched. How are we supposed to get them in? The toilet?" Even though he hadn't been serious with that option, Bard saw it in a completely different light.

"Exactly." Bard turned to the group and told them exactly where his house sat and where they would have to swim. Agarwaen looked at the freezing water with an annoyed look on her face.

"I swear I'll be dead before we even get there." She muttered.

"Into the water, let's go." Thorin ordered, and slid in after everyone.

"Raich! It's so cold." She said through clenched teeth. "Why can't I have dwarven skin? You're all basically furnaces with legs."

"Calm down, lass, it's only for a few minutes." Bofur whispered as they silently swam beneath the wooden city above them. Maybe Smaug should burn this cursed place down. At least then it would be warm.

A few minutes later, they all climbed up, one after another, through Bard's toilet. The cold air hit her like a ton of bricks, and she could barely move as Bard's son helped pull her up. She waddled up the stairs along with the rest of them, and was met by two girls.

"An elf too? What's next, a hob--A hobbit!" The youngest one's smile widened when she saw Bilbo.

"Sigrid, can you lend some of your clothes to her?" Bard asked.

"Of course, da. Come with me, miss..."

"Leithiandes, or Leith if that's easier for you." Balin eyed her, wondering why she wasn't using her normal name.

"I'm Sigrid." The older girl introduced herself as she led Agarwaen up another flight of creaky stairs.

"And I'm Tilda." The younger one said from behind her.

"It's nice to meet you both. Your father is very kind to offer us help."

"If I may ask, why are you here?"