Note: At the end of every chapter, translations for the text will be provided. For right now, however, I'm going to give translations for all the wacky what-the-hell-is-happening stuff that just went on in the prologue.

"Un sourire vous devient fille. Ne laissez pas votre âme être ramené. Rappelez-vous."

Translates to:

"A smile becomes you, daughter. Do not let your soul be brought down. Remember."

And...

"Vous et vos sœurs restera à jamais dans mon cœur."

Translates to:

"You and your sisters shall remain forever in my heart."


There! A flash of purple in the trees. He took aim slowly, carefully, and shot. A loud screech emitted from the brush. He raced towards the noise, wanting to know exactly what had caused that shriek.

Upon finding it, he noticed three things: one, she appeared to be a very, very short elleth with black hair that had odd purple underlayers. Another thing was that she had removed the arrow and wrapped the wound from her arm where he had shot her, and lastly, that the arm that he could see and her neck had many scars, some newer, most old.

"Who are you?" he asked, feeling curious, but suspicious.

"Who are you?" she retorted, not wanting to tell her real name.

"You answer first."

Silence.

"Fine, we shall do this the hard way, if that is what you wish. Although I do not wish to imprison a wounded person, especially such a young elleth," he commented, expecting her to succumb immediately.

"Do what you believe must be done," she told him.

He did a double take at her answer. What exactly did she mean by that? Why was she simply letting him capture her? He didn't know, but he decided to take her to his father, for surely he would know what to do with her.


When he returned to his father's house, dark-haired girl in tow, he found the banquet hall being cleared, his father nowhere to be seen. No, neither the great hall nor in his study, nor even the throne room. That only left one room left: the king's private bedroom. The young elf entered quietly, and finding his father asleep, wrote a short note, saying:

Atar,

This evening, I found a girl in the woods while I was out walking. It was very odd, for she said some strange things and simply allowed me to capture her! She put up no sort of resistance. I have had a maid set up a room for her, feed her, and care for her wounds. I should like to talk to you about this matter further tomorrow morning.

Legolas

After ensuring that all was taken care of, the elf went to bed, sleeping with questions flooding his dreams.


The next day, once again, his father was nowhere to be found, not even in his bedroom. This time, though, neither was the girl. This odd turn of events had him befuddled, and he searched the whole place thoroughly, only puzzling himself further. Finally, he sat down on a stone bench in the courtyard to think.

Presently, as he was thinking unnecessarily hard, a guard interrupted, whispering, "Is there something wrong, my lord?"

"No, nothing important. Just... do you know where my father is? And the girl I found in the woods, she was wounded. Where is she?"

The guard settled himself down beside the blonde, replying, "Your father left for Rivendell this morning with some important business, saying he had something that absolutely could not wait and he would return day after tomorrow. As for this girl you speak of, I do not know. What was her name?"

"She did not tell me."

"Ah."

The two elves sat in silence, enjoying the sound of the baby birds in a nearby tree chirping for their morning meal, until the guard (whose name was, in fact, Gondien) broke the silence.

"My lord, may I ask why you are so interested?"

The Elvish prince let out a breath. "I... do not know."


The king came back the next evening, but as he had just completed a very long horse ride with no stops, he ate and went to bed hurriedly.

His son found this annoying, but knew in his heart that it wasn't his father's fault. He, as well, went to bed, and slept fitfully, with dreams about purple hair and ice eyes.


The next day, just as soon as he was awake, the prince rose, dressed, and smoothly plaited his hair within the span of fifteen minutes. He then rushed out the door to seek out his father and get answers. He stepped into the throne room, and found his father, talking with his chief advisor in low, hushed tones. As soon as they spotted him, though, they stilled. Silence filled the room.

"What do you need, son?"

"Answers, father. I need to know. What was your urgent business, where is that girl I found in the woods, and were your errand and her disappearance related?"

"Slow down, child! I can not answer so many questions all at once!" The king rose from his throne. "Polengoldur, you are dismissed for the time being." The official nodded, bowed, and left.

"Legolas, shall we go out to the courtyard to speak? Most likely in here, we would be interrupted." His son nodded, and the two pale haired men walked out the large archway in the south wall, stepping into a sunlit courtyard.

"Now, son, what is it you would like to know?" He chuckled. "And only one question at a time, please."

"Why did you have to go to Rivendell so suddenly?"

His father's brow rose. "I had assumed you knew! I simply had some business which needed immediate tending."

The young elf (for he was only 2007 years of age) gave a heavy sigh. "Yes, but what business is so urgent that you had to leave in the night, not even telling your own son?"

The elder closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, obviously reluctant about relaying this information to his son. "I had to escort a person of importance to Lord Elrond so we, along with Lord Celeborn, could discuss what to do with them."

"What do you mean, what to do with them? They are their own being, are they not?"

"Well, yes, but they have a certain power which they... know not how to control." Thranduil settled himself on one of the stone benches of the courtyard, his son following suit. "Now, next question."

His son sighed again, annoyed, but knew not to push his father's limits. "Where is the girl I found last night, and are she and your urgent business related?"

"That's two questions."

"That you're avoiding."

Thranduil chuckled. "Fair enough. Alright. She is in Rivendell, with Elrond, to learn how to master her power, as well as the art of using the bow and the sword."

Legolas' brows furrowed. "Why should a female need to learn how to use the sword or bow?"

"For protection…?" His father's answer was tentative, and the young male noticed.

"Really?"

"Alright, you have me. She is… to become a warrior."

"A female warrior? Such is unheard of!"

"That is what I said when Elrond suggested it." Thranduil stood. "But what was I to do? Celeborn concurred. Now, shall we go to the morning meal before we miss it completely?"

Legolas sighed, but stood with his father. "Uma, atar."


Note:

"atar" translates to "father"