The young girl squinted her eyes in the shadow, smiling softly to herself. Her scouts were never wrong and she was glad of a chance for action.

Her heart quickened at the sound off hoofbeats off to the right and in front of her position. The blonde-haired beauty smirked. Her Elven ears pricked in anticipation…waiting for the group of enemies to appear through the trees.

She held her hand up flat, a signal to her archers to ready their arrows and wait. She closed her fist and they aimed.

The group of hostiles appeared through the snowy trees.

She brought her fist down and the archers leapt from their positions in the trees to encircle the enemies.

She herself leapt last, her green eyes glittering from the dark recess of her cloak. An Elf, an Istari, four Hobbits, and a Dwarf.

"What a strange companionship…" the young girl thought to herself.

Aloud she asked, "Who are you and what business do you have here in this place?"

The blonde Elf looked slightly confused and whispered, "Verca?"

The young girl breathed in sharply. "Legolas?" she asked quietly.

Both Elves stared at each other, ignoring the strange looks they were getting from the others of both parties. Finally, Legolas broke the spell of stillness by running toward Verca. He reached her and enveloped her in a hug.

The other Elves pulled at the bow-strings and made to shoot him full of arrows...but when they saw their leader's smile, they resisted and lowered their weapons, slightly confused.

Verca's POV

I looked over at Legolas, who has been following along the tour of camp sliently. I was showing the Fellowship around the camp, as I had been sent by Lord Elrond to protect and guide them safely home.

But, that was over six months ago. My Huntresses and I had almost given up hope on them.

I shook my head, suddenly aware that the others had wandered away while I was daydreaming.

"I guess they would be very tired after their battle and journey…" I thought to myself. I walked toward the stable-area to visit the animals.

I walked silently down the path, contemplating how freaked-out Lord Elrond would be at our lateness home.

The smell of horses greeted me as I walked through the tent flap and into the barn. I looked around for one horse in particular, but was interrupted only moments later by Legolas.

"I thought I might find you here." He said laughing slightly. "Which one is yours? Or, should I say, which one are you riding?"

I pretended to be offended, but it was common knowledge that I refused to call a horse my own until I found the perfect companion.

"Come on! I will show you!" I said excitedly, grabbing his arm to pull him along faster.

He laughed good-naturedly, having put up with my antics for the last thousand years or so.

Finally, I spotted my horse.

"Ebonui! Nin mellon! I am coming!" I called to a large black stallion near the back of the tent.

He whinnied in response.

I looked over my shoulder at Legolas, who happened to be gaping in awe at my horse. I giggled.

"So you did find the perfect horse?" He phrased it as a question, but he stated it like a fact.

I nodded slowly. "Come on, he doesn't bite…mostly."

Legolas cracked a smile.

We reached the magnificent steed and stopped. Legolas reached up to stroke his muzzle, and then it hit me.

I laughed again. This time because I realized how small Legolas was next to Ebony. Indeed, Legolas stood a decent height at 5' 11'' while I stood as a little over 5' 2''. Ebony, on the other hand, stood taller than both of us at about 25 hands from the ground to the tip of his ears. In feet, he was a little over 8 and a half feet tall.

I could only imagine what I looked like next to this magnificent stallion.

It suddenly occurred to me that Legolas had asked me a question.

"Hmm?" I asked.

"How did you come by him?" Legolas repeated. I decided to share my memories.

"It was late in summer, I had just left the marketplace in a hurry, hoping to escape my daily torment. To no avail. My tormenters had given me no rest since Legolas had left for the Council, and I had received no peace. Finally, I came to a stop in a clearing of Mirkwood, panting heavily from my sprinted run. Resting myself against a tree, I suddenly realized how silent it was. A large spider broke the silence with a screech and sprang from a branch above me. I screamed, realizing that I had forgotten my weapons. I closed my eyes, thinking I was to die. A shadow passed over my head and after a cut-off scream, a soft muzzle nudged my head. I opened my eyes and took in the sight of the magnificent beast before me. I looked deep into his eyes and knew he was the perfect steed.

All too soon, the moment was over, ended by my tormenters crashing through the underbrush to find me.

'Dur gul! Foeg er!' they cried to me, throwing small stones in my direction.

A tear slipped down my cheek, but they did not stop.

'Strange hin! Never na guin- lain!'

Another tear slipped down my cheek, and they laughed. After a moment, however, they were running. For my dark horse had stepped toward them with a glare that could kill twenty times over and still be deadly.

He nosed me, and in that moment I knew: his name was to be Ebony, for he was dark in many ways, and beautiful in others."

I released Legolas' head from my fingers, but turned away, knowing that I would only see pity. I was angry. Angry at myself for wanting that pity. Angry at Legolas for giving it to me.

Someone entered the stables and I turned away, stormed over to Ebony, mounted and looked to the scout who had entered.

"I'm scouting around. Don't get into any trouble while I am gone." With that, I nudged Ebony forward through the tent flaps and galloped through the camp and into the forest.

I sighed to myself, hoping that things would go back to normal…hoping that things between Legolas and I could be the same as they always were…

a/n: This is my first chapter, more are on the way soon! I hope this is acceptable for what happens after the journey to Mordor… Anyway, I am sooo glad to be writing this, but you will have to bear with my really slow updates, because school is evil to me… anyway thanks again!

-silverwolf22002 out