A/N: Hello everyone, I deeply appreciate all the wonderful reviews you left, and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

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The Daughter and Prince of the Forest
by twilight . memoirs

Chapter Two

Legolas~

As we made our way back to the kingdom I couldn't help but let my eyes wander towards the Elleth at my side. Her strides were long and graceful to keep up with the unit and myself, her friend close on her heels, though not as graceful due to the length of her dress.

I kept replaying the memory of her fending off the spiders, protecting herself and her friend from the foul creatures. I remember how her movements were sharp yet elegant, her aim never trailing away from missing her mark. It made me ponder as to why she wasn't part of the guard. With her skills, she could certainly climb the ranks and become an amazing warrior and valuable asset to the Mirkwood Guard. It still baffled me that a mere healer such as herself had this skill-set with a blade. This left myself wondering if she had any other skills that she concealed, perhaps she was as good with a bow as with her blade?

As a small gust of wind passed us her scent drifted towards me and caressed my nose. Her scent left me relaxed and at ease. She smelled of an apple orchard during the harvest season, with a hint of cinnamon. I quickly stole a glance of her over my shoulder as we rounded a corner. Her long deep auburn red hair illuminated in the sunlight, it curled into ringlets near her behind. I'll admit my eyes stayed in place a little while longer than they should have.

The shape of her legs were clearly visible and defined by her leather leggings. A rare sight for an Elleth, who usually dawn dresses. Her skin showed the suns kiss, a peach bisque color, also a sprinkle of freckles that dashed over the bridge of her nose.

Sensing my eyes cast upon her she quickly peeked up at me then immediately cast her eyes downwards towards her boots. Her eyes reminded me of the emeralds stashed in the castle treasury. Her mouth was full and perfectly shaped, the color of pale pink. Her lips suddenly curved into a small smile when she looked up at me with a faint blush to her cheeks.

I suddenly realized I never asked for this mysterious Elleth's name. I bit my tongue from doing so. It should be no immediate concern of mine. I let my mind wander too much.

Tauriel~

I couldn't help but imagine myself as one of the guards as we walked back to the kingdom. We were all in a perfect order, Santiel though was close behind me trying to keep up without stumbling. Prince Legolas was at my right side while the other guards followed quickly and obediently behind their Prince. The basket of herbs and plants on my side reminded me of my duties and to get these back to the healing halls as quickly as possible.

I peeked over my shoulder and looked at the Prince, greedily drinking in his features. Never have I been so close to him. Only on rare occasions have I seen him in the healing halls twice. But those moments were quick and rushed. Either someone was screaming in pain, or someone was dying, neither situations were appropriate for me to look and ogle at the Prince.

I eyed his build and suddenly had a secret appreciation for how he's not slim like most other elves in the healing halls. The prince actually had an ample amount of muscle to his body. His hair was pale as was well as his skin. His eyes though were as blue as the sky on a clear summer day. Something I wanted to stare into and study. He was taller than me, though most people were, my head meeting his nose in comparison.

As we approached the gate I noticed a couple of young boys walking into the forest past us, I then remembered the main reason I was in the forest. There were a group of young elflings waiting for me in the healing halls. They were young boys wrestling for good sport, but they were dueling and rolling around in a poisonous weed. That resulted in them receiving an itchy red rash and achiness in their bones. I remembered them walking in early this morning with sheepish looks on their faces as they continued to itch and rub themselves raw.

The memory of their sheepish looks made me smile to myself and look down at my boots.

"May I ask what the lady finds so amusing?" Prince Legolas asked from beside me. His voice brought me back to the present and away from the remembrance of the elflings who are most likely impatiently waiting for me.

Smiling back down at my boots I replied, "The reason why my friend and I were out in the woods is because we were collecting herbs for medicine since we were running low. And it reminded me of these boys waiting for me because they accidentally were wrestling in Stinging Spurge."

Prince Legolas let out a throaty chuckle. A sound that I immediately took a liking too. "Well, they should be relieved of their misery soon since we're close to the gates."

Looking ahead the large gate doors came into view as we neared our home. I felt a little saddened as I realized that my duties called to me and take me away from this small moment of happiness. I was able to fight and protect my friend and that was something that filled me with adrenaline and made me feel somewhat complete.

"This is where we shall part ways my lady." Legolas gave me a curt nod with a small smile before he and his unit walked away, leaving me alone with Santiel. Leaving me disappointed that I never had the chance to properly thank him.

"This was certainly a highlight of my day," Santiel commented to me as I stared at the Prince and his unit leaving. Letting out a sigh I started making my way towards the healing halls with the basket of herbs at my side.
"Tauriel, I'm going to say it again. I think you need to reconsider the thought of trying out for the Woodland Army."

This time I actually agreed with Santiel. "I will." My response was short and quiet, but it elicited quite a reaction from Santiel. Her eyes went wide and her mouth curving into a grin. "Really?! You're not joking are you? You'll actually become part of the army-"

"I didn't say I was going to join, I said I'd think about the tryouts, besides I still have to get through the tryouts to even be considered for the army." I walked faster, not even believing my own words, I already had a feeling I would most likely try out for the army anyway without her persuasion.

"Oh Tauriel, I already know you're going to be chosen and given a good ranking." I gave her a smile of appreciation of her confidence in me. It was good to know that she believed in me and thinking I could easily pass the tryouts.

"There you two are! I thought I'd have to send out a search party to find your asses." The head healer, as well as my past mother figure, said with disdain.
"We're sorry. We kind of ran into trouble along the way, err actually it kind of ran into us." Santiel tried explaining to the grumpy head healer.

She sighed in annoyance, "And what could possibly hold you two up for the past three hours? I simply sent you two out for tree sap." This time I tried defending ourselves.

"We decided it best to also get other herbs since were running low as it is. And there was a pretty big spider problem when we were about to come back."

Raina, the head healer then tsked. "I thought I told the both of you to stay East of the forest," Santiel and I then looked anywhere but Raina's shrewd eyes, knowing that this is where we were at fault. She sighed before walking towards us. "I'm grateful that you two are safe and have brought back a mighty good amount of herbs. I'm just tired of listening to these little boys whine much longer." Raina took the basket out of my hands, taking out the tree sap and handing it to me.

"Go and make some salve for those elflings. They sound as though they have dragon fire raining on them." Raina walked away as Santiel and I both headed towards the medicine room to start the task of making the salve for the boys moaning in their cots.

It was near supper time by the time Santiel and I both left the healing halls. The group of elflings were sent back to their mothers with the salve that took us all day to prepare.

"I swear I could eat a while chicken pot-pie." Santiel proclaimed as we made our way to the baker to pick up dinner since neither of us felt like cooking.

"I couldn't agree with you more."

Both Santiel and I turned around to greet our friend Sif. "In that case, we'll get three pot-pies to go then." I smiled at my friend who I haven't seen in a couple of days. Sif walked in between Santiel and I and laced her arms through both of ours. "Sounds like a plan."

"A hot bath and a whole day of sleep sounds just as good too," Santiel complained as all three of us walked towards the bakery.

"Oh! Guess what!" Both Sif and I turned our attention to the bubbly brunette. I had an inkling of what Santiel was about to tell Sif, or the whole realm in that matter with the pitch of her voice.

"Tauriel finally decided to participate in the Woodland Army tryouts!"

Sif turned her head to me with her wide blue eyes filled with shock. "And what in Eru's name made you come to this decision?"

I gave Santiel a pointed glare. She just gave me a cheeky grin in return, the tips of her ears turning slightly red. "It's kind of a long story, but I never said I would. And before Santiel decides to run her mouth again. I said I would consider doing tryouts for the Woodland Army."

Santiel jutted her tongue out at me and Sif nodded taking in the information.

" Actually no, you're not going to try out for the Woodland army. No way am I going to have you try out for them." Santiel stopped dead in her tracks. "What the hell-" Before Santiel could finish, Sif cut in.

"The Woodland Forces are a complete mess right now, these recent recruits don't even know the difference between a long and a short bow,"

"What is the difference between a-" Thankfully before Santiel could finish her sentence again.

"The point is, is that the Woodland Army is the laughing stock of our military at the moment." Sif groaned as we entered the bakery. The smell of freshly baked bread and pastries hit my noes, momentarily making me forget about our conversation and my hunger hit me again with full force.

"Three chicken pot-pies please?" I asked the baker as she gave me a smile and a nod, acknowledging my order as we headed to take a seat on the patio.

"Well then what do you suppose Tauriel should do? She's basically wasting away in the healing halls." Santiel said, a slight jab to my ego. "You make it sound as though I'm poisoning and killing off my patients,"I gave Santiel a pointed glare I before crossing my arms.

"Hey, all I'm saying is that you shouldn't let your combat skills go to waste! I mean you're a good healer- an amazing healer. But I -and I definitely think Sif would agree- that you have another calling, a calling to combat." Sif gave me a smile and nodded in agreement with Santiel.

I just sat back and bit the inside of my lip. I didn't disagree with either Santiel or Sif, but I also still felt as though healing had a calling to me. I've worked this hard to get to where I am. Why stop now? Why just drop everything and start rock bottom again in something I'm not even sure I want to pursue.

I thought back to my mother. I wondered what she would say and what consoling words of wisdom she would offer me in this conflict. I didn't know her or my father long enough to know what they would advise. But the vivid memory of my mother dying in combat to protect me did give me a sense of which path seemed more apparent.

"Well since the Woodland Army is made up of a bunch of buffoons. What do you propose I should do?" I asked Sif, putting the pressure of this conflict onto her. She though already had a conclusion since it didn't take her a minute to think about it.

"In a couple of weeks, there will be a tryout for the Woodland Guard. Not many know about it since you have to be referred or recommended by someone already in the Woodland Guard or by someone with a high enough rank."

Santiel turned to me with an excited smile already painted on her face. "See Tauriel! It all works out perfectly! In a week, we'll have our healer exams and then you could focus on the Woodland Guard tryouts!"

When Santiel put it that way it sounded simple and easy. But to me, it sounded like two weeks of hell. One week will be spent worrying and constantly studying for my healer exams. Then the next week would consist of gruesome training that would no doubt leave me dead tired and sore.

"I'm more than happy to give you my recommendation Tauriel. But if I do give you my recommendation, I need to know that you will give this opportunity your everything. The Woodland Guard is no joke, it's the most competitive branch we have here in the realm. Only ten out of almost a hundred make it into the guard." Sif turned to me, with all joking aside and seriousness painted across her face.

I sat there and thought about it, taking in all the information just placed in front of me. I knew that if I did decide to do the tryouts, I would no doubt give it my everything, but the problem was if I could bring myself to do it. It was the repetitive fact that I've worked this far to become a healer, why stop now?

Because you want to live up to your mother's legacy and her memory.

That simple statement made me make my choice then and there.

"I'll do it." Santiel gasped and clapped her hands. Sif gave me a toothy grin of victory. And to increase the jolly excitement of my decision our pot-pies were brought out to us steaming hot and ready to be eaten.

But my hunger was no comparison to the feeling of excitement I felt. I knew that this was going to be a hard path, another hard road of sleepless nights and determination being my only source of fuel. But anyone who knew me knew that I always loved a challenge.

A/N: I hope you guys enjoyed this short chapter and my two characters Santiel and Sif. Those two are going to be Tauriel's storm and her rock.