Author's notes: Thank you thank you thank you for the reviews!
Staples: You rock, and so does your writing. ;)
Jess Marylin: Well, thank you! Thank you very much! :D The update is finally here!
Guest: Thank you for the review! There's actually quite a bit already written: more than 34 pages Word Print Layout 12-point double spaced. I'm just spacing out the updates.
Now the inevitable disclaimer: neither I nor Staples own LOTR or Star Wars…unless there's something really awesome that you haven't yet told me, Staples?
"Uhhhh, hi!" That was Ahsoka. She hated awkward silences.
Gandalf smiled slightly, though no one could see it under his beard. "And hello to thee as well, young one."
Ahsoka bristled. "I'm a Padawan!"
Gandalf cocked an eyebrow, and then Ahsoka realized her mistake.
"Oh, I thought you said 'youngling'! I'm so sorry!" Her skin turned darker orange as she blushed with embarrassment.
One of the Elves laughed, a beautiful tinkly sound. "Thou art a young child compared to us, but surely a brave and powerful warrior among your own kind!" The other elves seemed to think this slightly amusing, and laughed in their dignified way. Ahsoka was encouraged; these people had a sense of humor. She could work with that. They also seemed much smarter than they had sounded before. "Um," she spoke up again, "We have a lot of wounded people in the ship. We just came from a large battle. If we are going to be here for a long time, we will need to give them medical attention. Do you think you can help us?"
Haldir bowed his head. "I am sorry. Certainly we will help them. Will you allow us into your ship?" Ahsoka thought a moment, then nodded. Using the force, she sensed that they were not hostile, and they didn't seem rambunctious or mischievous. Haldir motioned to two other elves to follow, and the four of them went into the partially destroyed ship and then to the med bay. Anakin was lying nearby, groaning in pain. "Ahsoka! Who are they?" he mumbled.
"They're um..." Ahsoka wasn't sure what to call them.
"We are the Elves of Middle Earth," Haldir said. "I am Haldir the Younger, and these are Legolas the Younger and Larinor the Fair, skilled healers of our people. We have come to make you well." The elves took herbs and flowers out of the pouches on their belts, and Larinor, a very beautiful Elf-girl with blonde hair, said, "Is there water we can use?" Ahsoka hurried to get some, and the elves went to work making pastes and strange liquids. Then Larinor spread some paste on Anakin's wounds, had him drink a dark juice, and then told him to close his eyes. She put her hands on his forehead and said some soothing words in a strange language. Then she said, "He will be well by the morning." The elves went to each of the wounded and did something similar. Ahsoka watched with raised eyebrows. What was this hippy stuff? Oh well, she thought, we'll see in the morning whether it works.
"Come." Haldir straightened up, having finished treating the last wounded man. He motioned to Ahsoka, and exited the ship. Ahsoka left with him and the other Elves, who, having been finished tending the wounded, had been waiting by the door.
"Now that your wounded friends have been tended to, you and your fellow travelers must be made comfortable as well." Haldir motioned to the clone troopers, about fifteen of them, to follow him as well. They all went into the woods.
Ahsoka had never seen such huge, towering, old trees in all her life. The circumference of the trunks was so immense that the entire party of elves could hardly have reached around it. They also creaked and moaned... This was particularly eerie since there was hardly any wind. It seemed as if the forest had a mind of its own. The elves walked peacefully ahead of her, talking to each other sometimes in their musical language. Ahsoka had fallen a little behind while staring at the trees, so she hurried to catch up. Lovely as the landscape was, she didn't relish being left behind to soak up whatever enchantments might be floating around.
Soon they reached a place with a lot of tents - or rather, grand pavilions made of ornate tapestries that were beautiful and not at all heavy, but apparently durable enough since the elves appeared to have been living there.
"Come." Larinor motioned Ahsoka to separate from the rest of the group and follow her.
They went into a small tent, along with a few other female elves. Inside there were elegantly carved basins of water and a large pile of silky cloth. There were also a lot of flowers and plants just sort of sitting around, as if the elves couldn't bear to be anywhere where they couldn't see a piece of nature... Ahsoka thought of Coruscant, and had to pretend to cough so she wouldn't laugh at the ridiculous comparison. Before she knew it, the elves had her out of her clothes and into a tub of water scented with flower petals. Ahsoka realized that she must have been a bit dirty from the crash and her walk in the woods, but the elves seemed to think it was an urgent state of affairs.
Meanwhile, Gandalf and the leading elves, including Haldir, were discussing what to do with the wounded and the other creatures who had been in the ship. They decided to send a party of elves to retrieve anyone still inside the ship and bring them to the camp, where the fresh air and lack of technology would undoubtedly speed their recovery and do them good.
Author's notes: Please leave a review!