Namir dragged himself up the rocky shore. The orcs were lost behind them but the current had also lessened. Around him the dwarves were pulling each other from the barrels and rolling their makeshift boats up onto the stone. They were all sodden and exhausted. The cold seeping into their skin from the water and the chill of autumn. Namir shook his fur out and changed. His bones shifting as he fell forward, human hands catching himself before he could hit the rocks. He gasped as the movement tugged on the arrow wound in his side. It was just under his ribs towards the right of his abdomen. He scowled at it, watching the red blood drip down his skin. "Fucking elves". 

"Namir!" Kili's voice called. Him and Fili climbed over the rocks towards him. The blonde brother holding a set of very wet clothing. Namir took it from him and began squeezing the excess water from the trousers. He didn't care much for modesty but the dwarves would probably prefer him to be clothed. "Thank you for getting the gate", Kili said as Namir pulled the trousers on. "I was going to jump for it if you hadn't gotten their first. Probably for the best since those orcs then surprised us. I would have been a sitting duck there. Thank you". 

"Don't mention it", Namir muttered as he began ripping his waistcoat into strips. He dabbed one on his wound and hissed in pain, an animalistic whimper catching in his throat. 

"Are you okay?" Fili asked, then he caught sight of the wound dripping from Namir's side. "You're wounded!" 

"Stray elf arrow", Namir forced a smile. "The elf soldiers had never seen a giant black beast before. Wouldn't be the first time someone has shot at me". For some reason this reassurance did not change the furrow on both dwarves' faces. Fili and Kili did not seem very happy. 

"On your feet!" Thorin called. The dark haired dwarf was up and moving round the group, counting heads.

"Namir has been wounded", Fili exclaimed. "We need to bind it". At the words, Bofur and Ori hurried over to see. Somehow Bofur managed to bat Namir's hands away and take ahold of the rags. 

"Give that here. Let me bind that properly. Sit down". 

"There's a orc pack on our tail", Thorin snapped. "We have to keep moving".

Namir sighed at the dwarf leader, ignoring him as he placed a hand on Fili's shoulder and lowered himself down onto the rocks. Bofur kneeling to wrap the strips of cloth round his abdomen. It tightened and a reflexive growl of pain left his throat as the dwarf tied the bandages tightly. "That will have to do", Bofur sighed. "There's risk of infection but we have nothing else". Namir made a grumpy noise. He was wet, the water chilly even with his increased body temperature, his sword was lost back in Mirkwood, and he was in pain. This was not very fun. 

"To where?" Balin asked Thorin, the old dwarf seeming just as fed up as Namir felt. 

"To the mountain. We're so close", Bilbo answered with a hopeful tone. Somehow the hobbit seemed to still have some cheer despite their dismal circumstances. No food, left in their under shirts, no medical supplies and no weapons. Exhausted, hungry and aching from their bumpy ride; they were in a sorry state and in no way ready to climb the mountain and face the dragon within. 

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

"So then we go round". 

"The orcs will run us down as sure as daylight", Dwalin huffed. "With no weapons to defend ourselves". 

Thorin stood through the group. He spared a glance for Namir and the small group around him. Namir stared up and met his eyes with his usual unblinking stare, one hand cupping the bandages over his wound. There were bruises colouring on his tanned skin, patches of red rapidly turning into blues and purples. Bruises that weren't noticed underneath fur. "Make sure he doesn't bleed out", Thorin instructed. "You have two minutes". Namir scowled and gave him a low snarl as the dwarf turned away, not in the mood for Thorin's bullshit. 

That was when he heard the soft red of a boot on rock. It sounded different than the dwarves and he whipped his head around as he caught scent of someone behind them. Namir's face fell into a fierce glare as he let out a sharp hiss. The dwarves all rapidly turning to see what had made him react so harshly. A man was standing on the rocks above them a few feet away. He held a bow aimed and ready in one hand. Dwalin snatched up a tree branch but before he could raise it, the arrow embedded itself in the wood. Kili snatched up a rock but it was shot out of his hand and another arrow was knotted before they could blink. "Do it again and you're dead", the man warned.

There was a brief second of silence as the dwarves all eyed the bow in consideration. The only sound being the rumbling growl emitting from Namir's throat. The skin-changer having shifted into a crouch on the rocks, bare feet balanced and steady despite the slippery surface. Cat slit brown eyes fixed on the newcomer with an uncertain intent. It was Balin who broke the silence. The older dwarf adopting a polite tone of voice as he stepped closer. "Excuse me, but, um, you're from Laketown if I'm not mistaken?" The man turned his bow on him and Balin held up his empty hands. "That barge over there, it wouldn't be available for hire by any chance?" 

The man paused and slowly lowered his bow. Now that the weapon was down, Namir could see that the man was in his middle age, with dark hair and a moustache on his lip. He smelled slightly of fish and damp, but also there was a scent of youth. He must have children, for children smelled slightly differently to adults. Namir stopped growling as the bow was lowered. The man's eyes darting over them briefly. "Help me roll those barrels over to my boat and we will talk", he stated. Then he turned with a swish of his coat and began heaving the barrels along the shore. 

"Go on then", Balin waved at the others and the dwarves all hastily headed for the barrels and began doing as he said.  Namir pushed himself to his feet with a wince, Kili hovering at his side. Fili doing the same but a few feet away. 

"Stop giving me those looks", Namir groaned at the young dwarves. "I am fine". 

"But we owe you our lives", Kili stated. "Let us just make sure you're okay". 

"You don't owe me anything", Namir huffed and wrinkled his nose. He began walking towards the barge after the others, one hand still cupped over the wound in his side as the movement pulled. (It had hurt less when he was a cat. Different admiral muscles). 

"Nonsense", Fili huffed. Both brothers walking on either side now. "There were half a dozen times a orc could have killed us along the river but you constantly got their first. Even if you did use me as a stepping stone". The last part came out a grumble and Namir chuckled. 

"Also with the spiders", Kili added. "I saw how you beheaded the one going for uncle Thorin". 

"Ridiculous", Namir sniffed. "I just hate spiders". He stoped on the edge of the lake where the stone had been carved into a jetty. The barge was bobbing in wait for them as the dwarves lined up the last of the barrels. 

"What makes you think I would help you?" The man spoke as he began loading the barrels on board. 

"Those boots have seen better days", Balin pointed out. "And that coat. Uh, no doubt you have some hungry mouths to feed. How many bairns?" The last question as said with a friendly chuckle.

The man eyed them with a unreadable expression. "A boy and two girls". 

"And your wife, I imagine she's a beauty". 

The man paused for half a second. "Aye. She was". 

Balin's smile faltered. "I'm sorry. I did not mean to-" His words were cut off by a grumble from Thorin. 

"Argh come on, enough with the niceties". 

The man turned. "What's your hurry?"

"What's it to you?" Dwalin retorted. 

"I would like to know who you are and what you are doing in these lands". The man approached them in long easy strides. He was the same height as Namir but physically broader. Namir pushed his wet hair from his eyes and watched the man unblinkingly from his position behind the company. The man's eyes flickered up and caught on him, lingering on the bare and bruised skin on his chest and the youth of his face. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the bandages wrapped around Namir's abdomen then they widened at the points of his ears and the cat-like eyes. 

"We are simple merchants from the blue mountains", Balin replied, bringing the man's gaze back to him. "Journeying to see our kin in the iron hills". 

The man raised one eyebrow and began moving the last barrel. "Simple merchants, you say?" His disbelief was obvious. 

"We need food. Supplies, weapons", Thorin announced. "Can you help us?" 

The man rose and looked down at the chipped wood of arrows and sword marks along the barrels. "I know where these barrels came from". 

"What of it?" 

"I don't know what business you had with the elves, but I don't think it ended well". The man stated. "No one enters Laketown but by leave of the Master. All his wealth comes from trade with the woodland realm. He would see you in irons before risking the wrath of king Thranduil". 

"I wager that there was ways to enter that town unseen", Namir spoke up. Several heads turned to him but his gaze was watching the Barge man. 

"Aye", the man nodded. He seemed to be trying to figure out what species Namir was, for the young man did not look human. "But for that, you will need a smuggler". 

"But you are a smuggler", Namir tilted his head and grinned. "And we can pay you double". He reached into his trousers and pulled out a thick golden coin that was heavy in his hand. It shone bright in the light and the dwarves all gasped. It was an old coin, one of a bag Namir had picked up from a traveller killed by spiders in Mirkwood before Erebor fell. It was a thick golden coin from the mountain. 

"Where the hell have you been keeping that?" Fili gasped. "You don't even wear trousers half the time!" 

Namir shrugged with a mischievous grin. He had actually sewn half a dozen of them into secret pockets of his trousers. The thick leather hiding their shapes. The elves had been too unnerved by him and had taken his lack of clothing to mean that he did not carry anything else. It was a surprise that Fili didn't feel the coins when he had handed Namir back his clothes but the dwarf must have attributed the heaviness to the water. The boatman looked up with renewed interest. Th coin was worth probably a hundred coppers and could feed his family for a year. "I can offer this", Namir smiled and flicked the coin over his knuckles. "And four more if you will take us to Laketown and provide us with food, weapons and supplies". 

The boatman nodded. "Alright then. You have yourselves a deal". 

unedited

Namir is full of surprises.