Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.R.R. Tolkien's works. If you do not recognize a name then it is an Original Character. Enjoy :)
Chapter 1
The deer lowered its head, grabbing a mouthful of grass, knowing this could be its last. Not far from it an arrow had been notched onto a drawn bowstring, ready to be released, ready to kill its prey. Sea grean eyes, set on a fair face, sighted the arrow onto its target. The owner to the blue eyes took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she had been taught. Suddenly, before the Elvin maiden could let her arrow loose, the deer looked up in fear before taking off.
Turning to the North, the maiden listened to the sound of heavy footsteps. Placing the arrow back into her quiver, she headed North to investigate. Coming over a hill she looked down at a terrible sight. A pack of Orcs were running freely through the edge of Lorien's woods.
Anger clouded her eyes and hardened her jaw. The Elf maiden notched an arrow once more, preparing to kill her prey. A different prey than that morning. This time the Elf's prey wasn't a deer, but several Orcs. She released her arrow to find its mark, the neck of the foul beast. Running to another tree, she notched another arrow and let it fly also.
The Elf maiden continued running to different trees, dodging arrows and returning fire. As she fired at the last Orc, she sighed. Her victory was short lived however. An arrow flew and struck her in the side. Reaching behind her, she grabbed the second to last arrow in her quiver. Notching it she pulled the bowstring to the ready. Searching with her eyes and listening with her ears, she searched for the foul beast who dared to live and breath.
An Orc walked around several trees, exposing himself as he searched for the person who would dare defy Lord Saurom. The Elf let her arrow fly. She watched as it struck true, finally killing the last Orc.
Looking down she grabbed the shaft of the Orc arrow and snapped it in two, leaving the arrow head in her body. Starting to walk in the direction she hoped was home, she spoke in Elvish, praying she would make it in time.
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"When will we leave this blasted forest?" a red haired Dwarf asked, "We have been walking through this forest for two blasted days and we haven't seen one blasted living creature."
A dark brown haired man, who was leading them through the forest, turned to look at the Dwarf. "It takes several days to get to the heart of Lorien, Gimli."
"Something approaches." This time it was a tall blond haired Elvin youth that spoke.
The dark haired man walked up to the Elf, "From what direction Legolas?"
Legolas nodded in the direction light foot steps were coming from. The man stood next to Legolas. Legolas glanced over at him, "Aragorn," the man looked at Legolas, "it is something light of foot."
Aragorn nodded before turning back to the group. Gimli and four hobbits were sitting on the ground building a fire. A light red haired man stood off to the side.
"We will camp here for the night." Aragorn said.
"That's good. I was beginning to think we would be walking even into the night." said the medium brown haired Hobbit.
"Aragorn would have stopped to let us eat Pippin." a light haired Hobbit said as he started to dig through his bag. He paused. Looking up at Aragorn, he said, "We don't have enough meat for all of us Aragorn."
Aragorn walked over, "What do we have left, Sam?"
Sam spread out the remains of their provisions, "Do you think there is any fresh game in this forest?"
Legolas walked up and holding onto his bow looked at Aragorn, "I'll go see if I can find anything."
Aragorn stood up, "Take Merry with you."
Legolas shook his head, "He'll be too noisy."
"Better him than any of the others." Aragorn laid his hand on Legolas' shoulder, "He'll also be more help than Frodo or Pippen." Aragorn leaned close to Legolas and whispered, "Also see if you can find out what is out there."
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Holding onto a tree for support, the maiden watched as the Elf youth and Hobbit walked through the forest. The poison had taken effect faster than what she had thought. Notching her arrow, she stepped out and drew her bow, pointing it at the youth.
Legolas quickly drew his bow at the sudden movement. Merry stopped behind him and gasped. Standing beforethem was an Elvin maiden. Merry thought she was Nimrodel brought back to life. But then Merry noticed her skin was pale and sweat was on her brow.
"Why does a Woodland Elf and a Hobbit travel through Lorien's woods?" The Elf maiden asked in Elvish.
Merry looked at Legolas in confusion. "What did she say?"
Legolas didn't say anything. He noticed the maiden's eyes were filled with pain, her face pale, and the slight tremble in her hands. Lowering his bow, he said in man's tongue, "We are friends of Aragorn, son of Arathorn. We are camped not far from here."
The maiden lowered her bow when Legolas mentioned Aragorn. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you were Aragorn's friends." the maiden put her bow and arrow away. Turning back the way she came from, she smiled back at Merry and Legolas. "I hope you find what you are searching for."
She turned back to head deeper into the forest. Taking a step forward she collapsed, falling to her side. Legolas went to her side, followed by Merry.
"What's wrong Legolas?" Merry asked as Legolas turned the woman onto her back.
Reaching for her side, Legolas touched the arrow's shaft. "She was shot by Orcs. Probably the ones that had been trailing us." He brought his bloody fingers to his nose. Scoffing in disgust, he picked her up. "They used poison."
Trotting after Legolas, Merry asked in concern, thinking about what had happened to Frodo on Weathertop, "Will she be all right?"
"If Sam still has some herbs, one of them ought to draw out the poison." Legolas said, answering Merry's question.
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"What is taking that Elf so long?" Gimli asked as he smoked his pipe.
Aragorn turned towards the fire. He had been staring off into the oncoming darkness where Legolas and Merry had vanished, "He might have had to go a fair distance to find game."
"I knew we shouldn't have sent Merry with him." Boromir said as he carved at a stick.
Frodo, Sam, and Pippin looked at each other. Frodo looked back at Aragorn, "You don't think something happened to them do you, Aragorn?"
Aragorn looked at Frodo in reasurance, "They'll be fine. Legolas is with him. And Legolas informed me before we stopped that the Orcs were no longer following us."
Frodo looked up into Aragorn's eyes. Smiling, he said, "You're right. Merry will be safe with Legolas."
Aragorn stood up and looked towards Sam. He was about to say something when they heard a shout. Boromir and Aragorn drew their swords. Frodo, Sam, and Pippin stood together in fear. Gimli grabbed his ax.
"Bring them to my ax and I'll cut them to pieces." Gimli said as he rotated his ax.
Aragorn squinted, looking deep into the forest. Using the moonlight to see, he noticed Legolas and Merry hurrying towards them. Seeing Legolas carrying something, he sheathed his sword and rushed over.
Seeing the maiden, Aragorn asked, "What happened Legolas?"
"She apparently killed the Orcs that had been tailing us." Legolas looked at Aragorn in anguish, "She's been poisoned."
Aragorn rushed back to the camp, followed closely by Legolas and Merry. Digging through Sam's supply of herbs, he pulled up a familiar plant. He turned to look at Sam.
"It's athelis. I thought we might need some more of it." Sam said.
"Good thinking." Aragorn started to chew some as he opened her tunic around the wound.
Merry held her hands, "Aragorn, they're getting cold."
Aragorn grabbed the arrow shaft and pulled it out. Removing the athelis from his mouth he placed it into the wound, "Don't you die on me now Celebriel."
Merry and the other three Hobbits looked at him in surprise. Pippin asked what all four of them were thinking, "You know her?"
Aragorn continued packing the wound, "Yes she is Lady Galadriel's and Lord Celeborn's daughter. Younger sister to Lady Celebrian, Lord Elrond's wife." he bound the wound tightly with strips of bandages. "But because of the increasing darkness, she was not raised by the Lord and Lady. She was raised by my good friend, Haldir and his wife."
Merry looked at him, "Why?"
"Haldir's wife was barren. Unable to conceive. Lady Galadrial took pity on them and allowed them to raise her second daughter." Aragorn held Celebriel's head up, forcing her to drink some of the boiled athelis.
"When I first saw her, I thought she was Nimrodel. The Elf maid Legolas was telling us about." Merry said as Aragorn covered Celebriel with a blanket.
Aragorn looked down at her, "She is beautiful." Aragorn turned to look at Legolas and spoke in Elvin, "Even though we are in the woods of Lorien, I would like you to keep watch first."
Legolas nodded, "I understand."
As they settled down for the night, they didn't notice that high in the trees they were being watched.
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Aragorn opened his eyes to quiet voices. Slipping out of his blankets, he noticed Boromir had taken over the watch. Legolas and Merry were sitting with Celebriel and were talking quietly. Walking over, he laid his hand on Celebriel's forehead.
Merry looked at him, "She isn't going to make it, is she?"
Aragorn shook his head sadly, "I'm afraid not. Not unless we can get her to Lorien's healers."
Suddenly, drawn arrows appeared in their faces. A blond haired Elf appeared in the fire light in front of Aragorn. Gimli woke and seeing the arrows pointing at him he said, "Aragorn, I think we are in trouble."
The Elf who was standing in front of Aragorn said, "The Dwarf was breathing so loud we could have shot him."
Aragorn stood and spoke in Elvish, "Celebriel is hurt bad Haldir. We need to move quickly."
Haldir looked at Aragorn, "I know." Aragorn looked at him questioningly, "She has the same gift as Lady Galadriel." Aragorn nodded as Haldir bent over Celebriel. Touching her fever-ridden face, Haldir scooped her up and spoke swiftly in Elvish to the other Elves, "Stay with them and guide them."
Merry grabbed Haldir's tunic, "Where are you taking her?"
Aragorn laid his hand on Merry's shoulder. Aragorn shook his head when Merry looked up at him. Haldir looked at the young Hobbit. Finally he spoke, "You may come with me but we must make haste."
Legolas bent down and said, "Hurry Merry. Climb on and I will carry you."
Haldir and Legolas took off swiftly, carrying their burdens, leaving the others to come at a slower pace.