To Love a Half-Blood (A Kili Fanfic)

Chapter 9: Laketown

Our motley group sneaks through Laketown. We all scuttle along after him through back alleys and abandoned houses. Laketown is not exactly a beautiful place. The rickety wooden building cram too close together and the roads are horribly narrow. There is quite a bit more lake than town, and you can get almost everywhere by boat if you choose to. We come to a halt.

"Why have you stopped?" demands Thorin. "We were promised weapons and a place to stay the night."

"And you will have them. However, I cannot have an odd party of dwarves seen entering my house." Bard replies calmly. "Now, all of you, jump in." He says gesturing at the lake.

'"Wait?! What! You expect us to swim there!" Shouts Bilbo.

"Hush! Keep your voice down. And yes, my home in only a block away, there is a small dock underneath it, I'll come get you there. Now, jump!" Bard commands again.

The dwarves slip, grumbling, into the water. As it gets nearer and nearer to my turn my panic heightens. My throat gets dry and all i can think of was my last enouter with water.Finally it is only Bard and I on land. Kili and Fili watch me expectantly, treading water.

"You're trembling." Kili says, nearing the boardwalk again.

I look down and, sure enough, my hands are shaking, badly. I swallow and force myself to take a step towards the edge. Then another, and another, each step harder than the last. A tear slides down my cheek.

"Come on, don't be so prissy, you'll dry. Hurry up!" Bard says, getting impatient.

"Don't yell at her!" Kili snaps. "What's wrong Lari-sar? It's just water. There's nothing to be afraid of."

I open my mouth to explain but my tongue is dry with terror, so I just whisper, "I can't swim."

"It's going to be fine, you can hold onto the dock the whole time." Kili says, offering his hand.

Be brave. Be brave Larien.

I take Kili's hand and jump into the water. The cold water numbs my limbs almost instantaneously. I do my best not to panic as my head plunges beneath the murky surface. There is a strong yank on my wrist and Kili pulls me to the edge of the dock. Kili, Fili and I all slip under the edge of the boardwalk. Kili keeps a protective hand on my back as I use both of mine to hang to the support beams underneath the dock. We swing from one beam to another, like tree branches. It is a rather slow process, and I know that Fili and Kili could easily have swum to Bard's house by now. However, Kili never leaves my side and eventually my fear goes away. I'm not saying I was enjoying myself, but the terror was gone. Fili peaks out from under the boardwalk and spots Bard's house a few meters away. We clamber up onto the dock under the concealment of Bard's many nets and barrels surrounding his back door. I squeeze my hair to try to get the water out, and wring the edges of my dress as Kili knocks on Bard's back door.

The door swings open quickly and Bard rushes us inside. It is a rather small wooden house with two stories. The bottommost story, however, is filled with herbs, tools and provisions. I notice an interesting array of rather menacing tools piled in the corner. We climb up the steps to the second-story living quarters. I look around. The room is packed with the rest of our party. I stand on my tiptoes to see over their heads, the layout of the room. In one corner there's a small kitchen area, in another a chest, presumably of clothes. I look up to see that there is an assortment of jugs, pans and other miscellaneous items hanging from the ceiling. I continue to turn, taking in the surroundings before my eyes fall on the last corner of the room. I gasp. In the corner there are three miniature humans.

"Da, what are they doing here?" asks one of them. She is the tallest and steps protectively in front of the other two.

"They are just customers; they'll be spending the night." Bard says, putting a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She looks at him skeptically and she and the others sink back into the shadow of the corner to watch us suspiciously. I turn and look at Kili, wide eyed.

"Are they children?" I ask in a whisper. He smiles at me and nods. "The youngest is so tiny." I murmur to myself. Kili chuckles. "What?" I demand.

"Nothing" He says, "It's just a bit ironic for you to be amazed at tiny things." I open my mouth to chastise him but my attention is stolen by the sound of metal crashing. Bard had dropped the strange tools I had noticed earlier onto the table in front of Thorin.

"What is this?! You promised us weapons!" Thorin bellows.

"They may not be of the fine quality that dwarves create, but they are all I can get." Bard retorts, unintimidated by Thorin's temper.

"What are you talking about? These are not even the crude weapons of men. Look at this, it is just a hammer!" Dwalin roars, brandishing the item in question.

"But it will still crush an enemy's skull will it not?" Bard says, staring him down.

"We need something better than this if we are to succeed." Thorin scoffs, gesturing disdainfully. "Where can we buy real weapons?"

"There are no weapons in Laketown that would be sold to me, or a group of troublesome dwarves for that matter." Bard snaps defensively.  

Thorin pauses for a moment."Then is there anywhere we could steal it from?" He asks.

"I would not encourage it, but there is an armory near the center of town. There would be plenty of weapons there. However, I would not rob it until you are ready to depart. Once it is discovered missing the town will be teaming with soldiers." Bard says.

"I see. Tonight then." Thorin decides, after a few moments of contemplation.