Me: disclaimer: I do not own LOTR, obviously. I'm not half as talented as Tolkien…

Merry & Pippin: We Know!!

Me: that was sarcasm, guys.

M&P: pardon?

Me: sarcasm

Pippin: bless you?

Merry: now make me a sandwich!

Me: …grrr

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Part 1

It was hard to believe she was no longer in Rune. Everything seemed the same, except that the terrain had become rockier. No people yet though.

She had left her tribe not 2 weeks ago. She had figured it would be easy to find the forests of her people. The elves; a race she had never met. The green of the trees would be simple to spot on the golden horizon, she had thought. She could see mountains. No trees, no green, no forests.

Wiping her golden-red hair away from her sweaty forehead, she scanned the area for higher ground. From a higher point she would see trees. She was sure of it.

-:-:-:-:-

Legolas paused for a moment to wait for his human friend. He glanced over his shoulder at the young man. For a ranger, he sure wasn't very good at hiking.

"Hurry up, Estel. I can see the Plains of Rohan from here." The elven prince smiled. "It's not much farther."

The ranger grumbled something about elven sight, and then tripped on a root, landing face first in the dirt beside the blonde elf. Legolas helped his friend up, chuckling. It really wasn't Aragorn's day.

"Is it just me, or are the trees out to get me?" the brown haired man asked, dusting himself off and almost falling, again.

"Aragorn-"

"Well, then, what do you call walking into 3 branches and falling over only Iuvitar knows how many times?" Aragorn cried, throwing his arms up for emphasis.

"Bad luck?"

"Legolas!"

The prince laughed. "You're just having an off day, Estel. Don't let it bother you."

"I shouldn't let it bother me? When, pray tell, was the last time you walked into a tree?!?"

"Well, never-"

"EXACTLY!!!"

"Aragorn, calm down." Legolas put a hand on the distressed mans shoulder. "Getting angry won't do us any good. Now, can we continue on to Rohan?"

"I'm considering calling it quits for the day."

"But in Rohan, there are no trees for you to walk into."

Aragorn sighed and nodded. "Fine then. To Rohan."

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Okay, just so you know, Estel is Aragorn's nickname.

Review please