Chapter 1

"No, you cannot be her.

She is far away….she is far, far away from me.

She walks in starlight in another world. It was just a dream….

Do you think she could have loved me?"

The words spun round and round in Tauriel's ears like leaves caught in a swirling breeze. She was by no means intentionally pondering their sounds. No, not at all. For days she had been consumed with her task of running. The sensations of air rushing by her face and the press of the ground beneath her boots were enjoyed, but certainly not dwelled upon. Only the firm desire to return to the forests of Mirkwood held the main occupation of her mind. And yet….the Dwarf's last words to her were like a haunting music; a tune that tinkled on underneath her thoughts regardless of her attempts to ignore it.

Strange warmth blossomed across her cheeks with each memory of that whispered question.

Tauriel frowned. Surely, she reasoned, it was the chillness of the air that caused such an effect on her person, and not the fine words of the passenger she now carried upon her back. She cast a quick glance over her shoulder to run them over his face.

The Dwarfling was still fast asleep, his cheek pressed comfortably into the nook between her shoulder and neck. She even felt his slow, easy breaths in her tunic despite of the crisp air that whipped through both of their hair. The length of his dark lashes and line of his jaw threatened to distract her for a moment... But only for a moment. Briskly, Tauriel focused her attention once again to the road in front of her and continued her run. Such concentration was not a necessity. The Elf maiden was certain that she could cross the terrain back to her homeland with her eyes firmly shut. As she sprinted, her nimble feet crossed grass, rock, brook, and branch as easily as if she walked over the polished floors of Mirkwood's palace. Such Grace was natural to her kind. Clarity of mind was also a unique talent of the elves, though Tauriel had trouble recalling the fact at the present.

The elf maiden sighed and steeled her concentration to the consistency of Mithril. She had no time to waste time upon idle reminiscing. She was on a mission. Her passenger Kili, Son of Dis- sister to the vagabond king Thorin Oakenshield- had been badly wounded during his escape from her forest's prisons not days ago. A malevolent Orc arrow had pierced his thigh and riddled his blood with a deadly poison. Tauriel had followed the dwarf company from Mirkwood all the way to the human village of Laketown. She had been in hot pursuit of the orcs that had not only killed many of her friends and soldiers, but had also wounded the dwarfling. Before she could exact vengeance upon the heads of the hated orcs, she ran into several dwarves of Oakenshield's company that had been left behind with the humans. Among this number, was Kili. He had been near death when she happened upon him- the poison nearly completing its insidious purpose. With the aid of the healing herb Athelas and her own inherent Grace, Tauriel was able to stop the toxin before it claimed the dwarf's life. But the evil was not completely destroyed. The arrow bore upon its head a dark spell; a vileness straight from the heart of Dol Guldur. It would take more than her ministrations to cure it completely. Only the accomplished healers of Mirkwood bore the skills to perform such a task.

So, with the blessings of the other dwarves lingering in Laketown, she had taken leave with Kili in her keeping to the forests of Mirkwood, back to her people with the means of saving the nephew of the king.

It was a noble enough of a task. She understood the tensions between the Wood Elves and the dwarves. Every elf of her homeland had been raised in its shadow. It was this very feud that had forced her King Thranduil to so quickly imprison the company in the first place. But the orcs, enemy to all peoples of Middle Earth, were a threat to elves and dwarves alike. If dwarves were wounded defending themselves from the creatures' darkness, Tauriel could find no reason why her kindred could not take sympathy upon them and treat them as allies- if only in the name of their mutual hatred of *Morgoth's creations.

I will take the dwarfling to the healers first, she thought. I will deal with Thranduil's wrath afterwards. And wrath there would be. Her king had, not moments before she set out to track and kill the orcs that plagued her forest, demanded the borders of Mirkwood closed. His son Legolas had bid her to retreat to the trees and forgo her vendetta. But she had disobeyed him, and in doing so, disobeyed her king.

Tauriel felt her lips form yet another frown. For all her life, she had served her forest as its devoted protector. She had made it her goal to run faster, shoot her arrow farther, and nurture the trees more deeply than any other elf. At the young age of 450 years, she had been inducted into the king's elite guard. With pleasure did she destroy spiders and other illnesses to Mirkwood, patrol the borders of the forest, and carry out the various commands of her *Grey monarch.

Yet despite nearly 150 years of loyal service, she always found herself lacking in Thranduil's eyes. She knew the reason for this mal content. Legolas harbored an affection for her. The two had been dispatched on numerous missions together. Many a day had been spent between them in clearing webs from branches, hunting down egg sacks and setting a torch to them, and cleansing the trees from their perennial filth. When such tasks were done, Tauriel would often retire with Legolas to some lofty branch and enjoy the glow of the stars. They talked of many things in the starlight. Of the way the world was, back when its air was bright like sunlight on dew. Of the dark future that loomed over the treetops… Sometimes, it was not until many dawns and sunsets had passed before they finished a conversation. But the elf maiden hadn't dared let her heart wander.

She knew of the distance between their names. Legolas, son to the king, was 2,000 years of age. He was of royal blood and destined for great deeds, worthy of a place in the annals of the *Arda. At least, that was what his father had in mind for him. Tauriel, on the other hands, was a mere wood elf. She was the best archer of her rank, as well as a captain of the Guard. But she was young compared to the Prince. To his fire, she was but a mere candle flame. Nonetheless, Legolas was a kind kinsman and a trusted comrade to her.

She knew though, always, that the king was wary of this friendship.

This is why he told her to never return Legolas' gaze. This is why he let her excel in missions away from his palace, but rarely let her roam its halls at her leisure. And this was ultimately why he would lay a very singular brand of anger upon her head at her return to Mirkwood after defying his orders to never leave it.

Tauriel jumped lithely over stream and landed on the other side without stopping. She continued her race over the grasslands with only a small sigh interrupting the smoothness of her lopes. The return of the dwarf will surely only fuel his frustration. Alas, there is nothing to be done. She had refused to abandon the dwarfling to his doom in Laketown. He was her responsibility now, and she would see him healed. With or without the consent of her king.

The elf adjusted Kili's position, settling his body more firmly against her back. His arms unconsciously tightened their hold around her. Suddenly her frown was gone. In a flash, her stormy ruminations were banished and in their place shined a light amusement. She smiled, daring once more to look over at him. It surprised her to find a similar smile upon his own lips. The dwarfling was still lost in sleep.

Tauriel wondered, for the first time, if her flight from Mirkwood had been caused by anger at the orcs, or a very different reason…

The smell of leaf and loam recaptured her attention at once. A warmth rose in her spirit and permeated her entire being at the sight. Before her, a thick expanse of dark, green trees rolled like the coast of the largest river. She could not help but notice the grey tint of the forest's bark- such was the taint of Dol Goldur. But it was still a beautiful sight. The leaves still clung to greenness and the branches reached high for the sun and stars. The forest was strong. The forest was home.

Tauriel doubled her speed, her vast energy far from spent since her departure from Laketown, and sprinted towards the boundary of the Mirkwood Forest.

Hey all!

Just some vocabulary, since I have been reading a bit of Tolkien's literature here and there and would like to include what the average fanfiction reader might not know:

*Melkor/Morgoth was an enemy to Middle Earth during the First Age. A terrible threat, he lured Elves who first walked upon Earth into the darkness and twisted them into the corrupt beings commonly known as Orcs.

Sindar is a title for *Grey Elves: Sindarin Elves. They are an old, and noble breed that were of the Elven Kindred called the 'Teleri' that chose to remain in Middle Earth instead of sailing to the Undying Lands (Valinor) with the other two Kindreds. The Sindarin Elves made their homes in the forest kingdom of Beleriand. Later, Thranduil left Beleriand with his father and became King of Greenwood the Great (later Mirkwood) after the death of his father.

*Arda is the name for Earth during the age of Elves, Dwarves, and men.

Also, since there are so many repetitions of proper names like Elf and Dwarf, I have spared our eyes the trouble and capitalized the names upon my first usages of them. Then, from then on, I have left them lower case.

So this is just a little tale about Kili and Tauriel. Angst is to come! But so is corny-ness.

Please review!

-Kirinlover