LOTR x Male OC insert.

Lake Town

The river has calmed down, and the dwarves paddle along in their barrels with their hands.

Thorin:
Anything behind us?

Balin:
Not that I can see.

Thorin:
Any sign of Derrim?

Balin:
No, we lost sight of him, and Kelpie aways back.

Bofur:
I think we’ve outrun the orcs.

Thorin:
Not for long; we’ve lost the current.

Dwalin:
Bombur is half drown.

Thorin:
Make for the shore! Come on, let’s go!

The dwarves and Bilbo paddle to the riverbank; they climb out onto a slab of rock jutting out a bit into the river.

Dwalin:
Come on!

When Kili is on the rocks, he falls to his knees in pain from the arrow wound in his thigh; it has been bound with cloth, but blood is seeping through. Bofur looks at him concernedly.

Kili:
I’m fine, it’s nothing.

Thorin:
On your feet.

Fili:
Kili’s wounded. His leg needs binding.

Thorin:
There’s an orc pack on our tail; we keep moving.

Balin:
To where?

Bilbo:
To the mountain; we’re so close.

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

Bilbo:
So then we go around.

Dwalin:
The orcs will run us down, as sure as daylight. We have no weapons to defend ourselves.

Thorin:
Bind his leg, quickly. You have two minutes.

While they bind Kili’s leg, some of the dwarves sit down and Ori kneels by the river to empty his boot of water. Unbeknownst to them, a man, Bard, sneaks up over the pile of rocks and aims an arrow at Ori. As the dwarves realize a man is there, they jump up, and Dwalin, holding a branch, leaps in front of Ori. He raises the branch and begins to charge the man, but the man shoots his arrow and it embeds itself right in the middle of the branch, between Dwalin’s hands. Kili raises a rock to throw, but the man shoots the rock out of his hand too.

Bard:
Do it again, and you’re dead.

Balin, who is standing near the edge of the group, sees a barge floating in the river behind Bard. He talks to Bard, approaching him slowly with his hands held in the air. But suddenly he heard a growling behind him, the Dwarves were now smirking at what was behind him. Bard slowly turned his head to see a giant Warg mere inches from him. He then felt a hand touching his shoulder.

Derrim:
I'd put that down if I were you.

Bard slowly puts down the bow and arrow.

Bard:
What do you want?

Balin:
Excuse me, but, uh, you’re from Laketown, if I’m not mistaken? That barge over there, it wouldn’t be available for hire, by any chance?

Bard climbs aboard his barge as the dwarves approach.

Bard:
What makes you think I will help you?

Balin:
Those boots have seen better days.

Bard begins loading the dwarves’ empty barrels into his barge.