The Unknown Past of Rohan
Disclaimer- I do not own anything LOTR!!..except a Two Towers vhs :-P
Chapter 1
The rugged-looking man crept quietly through the dark, moonlit forest with his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to attack if need be.
He stopped and listened but only heard the sounds of the wind rustling the leaves of the tall trees.
He took a few more steps and looked around. Suddenly he saw a figure in a black cloak with the hood covering its face in the dark shadows of the tree next to him.
He quickly drew his sword, pointing it menacingly at the figure. The mysterious figure immediately drew a long elegant sword and leapt forward beginning the fight.
Each of them jabbed at their opponent and dodged the swords with great ease.
Then the figure spoke with a sly tone, "Why have you threatened me?"
As it asked this, an arrow whizzed down piercing its left arm near its shoulder.
The man gave a small gasp as the figure's hood dropped revealing a beautiful fair-skinned lady wearing a white dress under her black silk cloak.
She had deep brown eyes and medium length brown hair. She winced as the arrow hit her, but she continued to fight.
Soon they both had their swords at each other's necks and they both paused.
The lady sheathed her sword and looked at him for a moment with a mysterious glint in her eyes as the cold metal of his sword ran against her throat.
"Are you going to kill me now?"
He looked at her questioningly and a few moments of silence passed before a tall elf clad in green jumped out of the tree, landing next to him.
The lady examined her arm and carefully removed the arrow, she looked at the elf sadly and spoke in elvish, though she was obviously not an elf, "Mellon, Friend"
She looked at both the men and spoke in a strong, yet gentle voice, "I am sorry if I frightened you but I meant you no harm…My name is Cassandra but you can call me Cassy."
She slowly drew her sword again, holding the handle towards the elf.
"I am also a friend of the elves," she spoke as he examined the sword with beautiful elvish markings along the silver-laced blade.
The sword at her neck was sheathed and the man spoke, "I am Aragorn, son of Arathorn. Forgive me m'lady for I did not know."
The lady gave a soft smile, "All is forgiven m'lord, for one can not be too careful these days."
The elf looked at Cassy's arm as he handed the sword back to her, "I am Legolas, are you alright?"
Cassy lifted her hand away from the wound, the blood dripping down her sleeve as she looked at it and winced slightly. "I will be fine, it's not that deep and I am used to wounds like this by now."
As she said this two horses could be heard in the distance. The three became very silent as they listened.
They heard a far off voice call out, "Cassy! Where are you?"
Cassy smiled and replied, "I am over here!"
She looked at the alert faces of the two men in front of her, "It is alright, it is a friend."
Soon a figure emerged from the leaves, there stood an elven lady with long brown hair and hazel eyes riding a black horse and leading a pure white horse behind her.
Legolas smiled as the lady dismounted her horse for the Mirkwood prince knew that face all to well.
The elven lady smiled and jumped into his arms when she saw him, "Legolas! I am so glad to see you!"
He smiled at her, he had met her in Mirkwood and they had spent many happy times together at the palace, "As am I to see you."
He gestured toward Aragorn, "I would like you to meet my friend Aragorn."
The elven lady studied Aragorn's face for a moment and smiled, "I am glad to meet you Dúnedain, my name is Elizabeth."
She then looked at her friend, "Cassy! What happened?"
Cassy winced as her friend tied a bandage tightly around her wound, "We just had a little incident."
Legolas blushed, "Sorry."
Aragorn looked at the two horses, "Are you going away somewhere?"
"Oh, no, we are simply on our way back toward Rivendell after a day outside the walls of the city," Cassy said as she walked over and patted the horses. "You are welcome to come with us, if that is where you are headed."
He nodded, "It is, and we will gladly welcome the company."
Elizabeth smiled, "As will we, though Rivendell is but a few miles from here."
Cassy looked at Aragorn and Legolas, "Choose a horse to ride, Elizabeth and I shall walk alongside."
Aragorn was amazed by the horses, they looked as if they belonged to royalty, "Where did you get these horses from?"
He walked over and mounted the white horse, his favorite of the two. As Aragorn mounted the horse it became a little spooked.
Cassy whispered to the horse and stroked its muzzle to calm the horse down, "This is Angel. I found her on the side of the road about a month ago, but I think she is the one who found me. I have taken care of her ever since and she doesn't let anyone ride her except me, unless I tell her otherwise. She is a good horse."
Legolas looked at the other horse and smiled. This was the horse he had given to Elizabeth as a gift. The horse's name was Shadow of Death, but Elizabeth had nicknamed it Shin.
He was about to mount the horse when he stopped and thought, "Cassy, you are hurt, you should ride."
Cassy looked at Legolas with a smirk, "My arm is hurt, not my legs, I will walk."
Aragorn grinned at Cassy's response as Legolas mounted the black horse and they started on their way.
Aragorn silently watched Cassy as she walked next to the white horse, there was something about her but he couldn't quite place it. His elven wife, Arwen had been killed by orcs about one and a half years ago, yet Cassy's presence made him think of even happier times.