As Legolas walked down the garden path he instinctively scanned the path on either side for orcs. He knew that it was silly; there were no orcs in Mirkwood. There had not been any for quite some time. Not since the war of the ring. It had ended a hundred years ago, and yet he still could not help but scan for orcs wherever he would go. He had changed since the war. Instead of seeing the good in things, all he saw was the corruption, or potential for corruption.

Now he was walking down a cobbled path with flowers on either side. During the war of the ring all no one had had time for petty trivialities such as flowers. Who knew just how much one could miss such a simple thing?

There were overhanging trees with moss on their bases, slowly reaching for the tops. He was on one of the many paths that made up the tangled web of Mirkwood. He was currently trying to escape his "princely duties" as his father so eloquently put it. But how could he focus on drinking tea with ambassadors when he had killed orc after orc? Seen his own friends be killed, one by one.

He was now the only one of the fellowship left. Frodo and Mithrandir had sailed for the undying lands. Sam, Merry, Pippin, Estel, Gimli, and Boromir had all left for the halls of Mandos. He was left behind in the world that no longer held anything for him. Numerous times he had thought about leaving for the undying lands himself, but he could not do it. He could still feel the earth call to him; tell him he could not leave yet.

All of a sudden Legolas's warrior instincts were practically yelling that someone was coming. He heard faint footsteps slowly, but surely coming his way. Legolas nimbly jumped on to a branch that was hanging over the path and proceeded to scale the tree in a cat like way. He peered through the branches to see Elros, his best friend coming toward him, cursing under his breath. Legolas knew just how much it took to make an elf curse. Chuckling, Legolas swung down.

He was immediately met with a very angry looking Elros who immediately spewed, "What were you thinking? Were you attempting to scare me? Didn't work. (Legolas kindly ignored the fact that Elros was considerably more pale than he had been before) You know your father is searching everywhere for you, right? He told me that I would not be allowed back into the castle until I found you! I have been looking for you for hours!"

Somehow he managed to say this all without taking a breath. Legolas inquired in a polite tone that only one who had grown up trained to be a prince could pull off, "How fare you, mellon nin?"

Elros growled and grabbed Legolas by the ear, knowing how sensitive it was and started dragging him back to toward the castle.

However, he was no match for Legolas who quickly threw him off and started running lithely away, his feet barely touching the ground. He called back, "Forgive me, but I do not wish to return at the moment! I bid you farewell!"

Legolas heard some footsteps behind him but they quickly faded. He was a seasoned warrior, and though the war had ended, up until a few years ago he had been working on expelling vile creatures from the forest surrounding the castle and villages.

He had planned on slowing down, but found that for the first time in years that he actually felt some sense of exhilaration. He eventually came to the end of the path, but instead of turning around, he just kept on running into the forest. Suddenly he tripped and fell flat on his face.

He looked around anxiously, trying to gain his bearings. He found laying at his feet a small ring. It was a single strand of silver, with a startling ruby droplet in sharp contrast with the silver placed in the center. On either side facing outwards were moons. Legolas noted that they fit the exact cycle that the moon was currently in.

Legolas could feel the power radiating from it. He immediately cringed and pushed himself away from it with his forearms. He vaguely thought about how silly he must look, and elf prince, with mud all over his silver tunic, and his braids in disarray. However, he pushed these thoughts from his mind and realized that he must be having a breakdown.

The fact of the matter was that this ring was radiating power in the same way the One ring had. Legolas cringed at the memories of death and destruction that were stirred up. Battlefields, strewn with bodies, the balrog, contests of to see who would hold on to life the longest.

Legolas tentatively picked up the ring and all of a sudden there was a flashing light. Legolas, crown prince of Mirkwood had vanished without a trace.

I rubbed my eyes. What had that been about? Who was that weird blond guy? Where the heck was Mirkwood? Ugh. I must have drunk caffine before going to bed again. I have been known to have weird dreams, but this one took the cake.

I looked at my alarm clock and was startled to see it was only 2 in the morning. I rolled over and tried to get back to sleep, pulling my blue stuffed dog closer to me.

Right as I was about to fall asleep I heard lightning. I don't know why, but for some reason I wanted to get out of my apartment. No- I didn't just want to get out, I needed to go out. It was as though something was controlling my actions. Before I knew it, I was at the door to my room. I didn't even notice when I left my bed. When I tread slowly toward my door, when I bumped my knee on the coffee table, when I opened the door, when I stepped out into the hall, when I called the elevator, when the elevator pinged, when I walked out of the door of the apartment building. No, it was not until I felt the crisp fall breeze across my face that I realized what was going on. I also realized that I was out in the streets of New York, in only my pajamas. I didn't even have shoes on!

I was about to turn around and go inside again when I heard a small moan. For some reason, much the same as why I came outside in the first place, I turned around. The sight that met my eyes shocked me. It was the man from my dream! The blond bloke!

He looked hurt. His eyes were closed and he was lying on his side in the fetal position. Not only that, but he was in the middle of the road! Not smart! He will be run over before you can say "New York taxi drivers are insane!" Without thinking I ran over to him, no longer noticing the cold. I ran over to him and knelt over him, protectively. As I got closer, I could swear that I smelled the forest. Living in a city all my life, I cherished the smell of trees whenever I could get it.

I yelled, "Wake up!" He must have been out cold. I slapped his cheeks a few times, progressively getting harder and harder. This was so dangerous! But I couldn't leave him! I had to call an ambulance! I pulled out my cell phone and was about to dial the number when all of a sudden many things happened at once.

A dog barked, the man's eyes flew open, and I was looking up the shaft of an arrow that was pressing into my throat.