.:Part 2:.

Priya awoke the next morning at dawn, through her window she could see the pink sky as the sun was just peeking over the plains in the distance, giving the grass and trees an orange glow. The birds in up above were singing and chattering away in the early morning light as Priya quickly changed back into a comfortable tunic and dark green pants, poorly braiding her hair, and started out of her room towards the kitchen. Before her parents woke up, she had to begin her daily duties as the daughter of the household. She grabbed the biggest pot in the kitchen which held the day's water, she had filled this pot yesterday and just set the remains to boil in a smaller vessel, now that the bigger pot was empty.
She took the pot in her hand and headed out the door towards the stream to fill up today's water. This was the typical job of the woman or lady of the house, though she was not so typical; all the other women or daughters would go out to get water from the stream after the Sun had risen. They gossiped and discussed all these pointless things, Priya hated all this useless backstabbing, so she'd rather walk and get water before any of the other ladies did; embarking the nature around her, and giving her time to think in the morning was something she very much needed everyday.

As she walked, she breathed in the sweet smells of bread baking in the bakery of the village. The village maintained itself without money, they grew all their vegetables and crop in one common garden and had one bakery one blacksmith and pottery maker. They also had 3 cows and 4 pigs (which they would only cook once a year with a feast they shared... that wasn't so much a feast) though everyone had brought at least one of their own horses for the men to use to ride out to the forest.
She glared past the (for reasons she did not know) almost abandoned city of Edoras which looked merely like a speck to her, then to the White Mountains, and beyond that she thought of where the Men lived. Sure there were Men and people in her village but she had the urge to believe as if the Men who lived in the bigger cities were... different than the ones that resided here. Her heart craved to meet new people and creatures, to see new faces and meet different personalities; she knew almost everything about everyone in this village because she had known everyone since she was a child. The most recent 'new' face was a mother of 2 young boys who killed her husband... 3 years ago; she knew them well too. She thought for a second, were all the people out there as cruel as the ones who banished her father? No... Yes... maybe? She could never be sure. Were the Men in cities like Gondor or ones in Rohan always unjust to everyone, or were there really kind people out there? She hated the fact she couldn't get answers to her questions when she wanted them. She heaved, rolling her eyes at being trapped in Artanis Lissësúl, it wasn't bad, but she wanted to do more in her life.

After reaching Snowbourn, filling up the water twice, (the first time the pot had clumsily slipped from her hands back into the stream so she had to refill it) she sat under the dark green oak tree by the water, exhausted. She leaned her back against the thick, earthy feeling trunk, marveling at the small leaves and the way they swayed ever so slightly.
She shook her head vigorously, she had work to do at home, vegetables to cut and things to clean, then the medical class after. Priya stood back up, tilting slightly at the weight of the water on one side of her; after she balanced herself she began walking back to the village.

She took careful steps, not wanting to tumble as she came closer to the small houses. Priya saw the gang of women and older girls leaving with pots in their hand, sneering at her, but she paid no attention as she crossed them; she continued nonchalantly on her way back home.

"There's that rowdy girl Priya!" One mother whispered to the others.

"Yes, the daughter of the one who killed Amay! Strange she is!" Another lady rolled her eyes, "she's lived here all her life. I've had dinner with her family once, her parents are decent people but she doesn't talk to many girls, always acting like she's one of them boys!"

"She might as well be! Dressing in pants and belts instead of dresses and skirts?! Absurd!'

"Ya' know, I hear she has a sword," the women gasped as they continued walking," I' Hear she's been fighting like one'ov our boys! My son told me he thought he saw a woman practicing with 'em the other day! She'll ruin her family's reputation doin' that ya know!'

"Reputation's all they got left considering she's got no beauty to carry on!" Which was in fact, false, for she looked even more beautiful than most of their daughters, though they always found one setback to her, "Have you seen her skin?! Dark as dirt!" a woman sneered.

"And her hair!?" one lady, a year younger than Priya said, "Black as the night sky. She doesn't have light skin and blond and brown hair like us!" she scoffed, "I wouldn't be surprised if she never found love, no man's going to marry a girl who blends in with the ground!"

"Ya' know, I hear she has that disease... The one where if her skin turns pale and her hair turns brown then she has to apply some medicine on her! There are 1 in a hundred thousand who get this in Middle Earth and most of 'em die by the age of 30 'cause they can't keep up with it! It's a shame though, she's a nice laddie..." a mother sighed.

The others muttered in agreement, Priya had always been lively and bubbly, never had she done anything to upset anyone or given anyone a reason to dislike her; they couldn't disagree to the fact that she was a sweet young woman.

Priya swept the kitchen and with one forceful sweep, she shoved the trash and dirt out of the door. Her father had just headed out to till the small amount of community crop they had on the other side of the village and her mother left to the market to pick some of the best vegetables for today's meals.
She fell into a chair, exhausted after washing all the dishes and clothes, sweeping everywhere and making all the beds.
No one was home now... maybe she had time to practice a bit of sword fighting? Sure she couldn't practice her archery, she didn't have her own bow, most of the time Rúmil would bring his bow and they'd practice at night, soon she'd taken a real liking to the bow and arrow, though she was just as good with a sword.
Her desire got the best of her as she slipped into her parent's room. She closed the windows in their room and slowly opened the doors of their cupboard, the cupboard she was not supposed to touch but did anyways, and she had been doing so almost all her life. Small shelves for clothes were at the bottom, but at the top was just one shelf which held her father's weaponry.
She envied the sword pair that hung in the back, their casing a dark brown with black pattern engravings, and the other sword that hung there was in a light brown casing, the color creamy and soft. She unsheathed this one and could tell, one slice of this blade would have the enemy running. She sheathed it once again and placed it back, skimming her fingers along the mahogany curve of her father's bow. With one swift movement she snatched the bow up, tumbled forward, and with one knee on the ground and the other up, she plucked the string of the bow as if she had just shot an arrow through the wall, her arm only an inch from it. She sighed as she stood back up and put the fine weapon away, wondering if a day would come where she could stand proudly with her father, victorious on the battlefield. She stretched her arm to the back where he kept his arrows, just dying to grab one, just one... as she picked it up, the edge of the arrow caught along a cloth that sat as cushion for the shelf and pulled it down sending something falling to the ground underneath it. Afraid to do any further damage, she placed the bow and arrow back then picked up the cloth and folded it, placing it neatly where it had been. The item that was under the cloth and fell with it was a small dagger; Priya narrowed her eyes at the blade, she'd never seen it before. She gripped the handle, its dark brown wood seemed heavy but the dagger was very light. The handle had small green and gold leaf engravings, she traced a few with her fingers, it was beautiful. Slowly she began unsheathing it when she heard a shout from the front door,

"Priya! Do you not know what time it is? You're going to be late to class! Hurry!" Her mom stood at the doorway. Priya hurriedly shoved the dagger underneath the cloth and shut the doors of their cupboard, rushing to her mother.

"Here, I had a new dress stitched for you!" Her mother handed her a folded dress, "put it on now and get going!"

She quickly changed into the dress and headed out the door.

Priya shifted uncomfortably as she strode to her nursing class in the new dress (with her brown bag strapped across her chest) her mom had brought her; dark, murky green dress with frills around the neck, 3/4 sleeves with more frills on the ends, and the dress draping to her feet, MORE frills at the bottom. She groaned, this dressy look was going to be the end of her; though this green was her favorite color so she could not find a reason to argue with it.
Her mother tied her hair in a bun with an elegant white ribbon and she wore brown flat shoes, she was glad there were times in the day where she could show off her feminine side proudly and not hide herself under her cloak.

"... Now you all have a minute to cover and protect the wounds. Your basket is beside you and if you wish for my assistance or extra supplies, do not hesitate to call to me. Now... begin!" she commanded.

Priya, two 15 year Old's, a 17 year old, an 18 year old, and a 25 year old woman (only 2 years older than Priya) stood in the small tent where they practiced nursing or healing. Usually they would learn techniques but today they were allowed to treat actual patients! Well, in a way this was true... a group of seven small boys had been running around, merry-making by Snowbourn early this morning and had fallen onto the rocks that bordered the waters, skimming their knees, leaving their legs dripping red. Six returned injured and had been sent to the nurse of the village, , also their teacher; she decided to turn these boys into the women's lesson. They were given a basket of supplies they could need by the blankets the boys were laying on, each woman attending a single boy at the same time; though they were being timed to test their skills.

Priya immediately began reaching for herbs to place on the wound but there were none! She searched her basket and in fact, all that was there was bandages and cotton; where had her other materials gone? She looked to her right to see the 15 year old giving her a sly smirk holding herbs in her hand healing the wound of the dark haired boy she was treating. She had stolen her things! That was normal though, many of the rude women older (occasionally younger aging from 15-19) would tease her, or try to make her look bad because she was darker and uglier (at least according to them.) The 15 year old sneered at her as Priya's eyes wandered in search of an idea; what should she do? The small blonde, curly haired boy with the bloody scrape on his knee smiled at her,
"use your magical powers!" He whispered.
Many of the small children knew Priya could chant Elvish spells to heal wounds, though they didn't know it was Elvish, they found it fascinating and promised to never tell their parents about it. She had often healed their wounds to save them from being scolded by their parents or from a wound that was too bad and the materials to treat it properly were unavailable. In fact, almost all the children of the village were fond of her, they loved the stories she told, the silly jokes she'd make, her childish free, yet strong spirit; the young girls and boys overall admired her.
She beamed and winked at him, acknowledging that her 'magical powers' were a good idea and placed a finger on her lips; he couldn't tell anybody!
Under her breath she began saying intricate Elvish words as she held one hand above his knee, slowly the wound began disappearing!
"Light should shine upon you in a time of need... forget money, power, and greed... heal him now and give him the strength to fight... for he will defend his fellow people throughout the night..." her spell continued on in Elvish.
Unseen by the teacher and other women, she had caused all the boy's trouble to vanish, but just to avoid suspicion, she placed cotton on the area where he had scraped his skin and neatly wrapped a bandage around it; the small child understood.

"I am finished!" She raised her hand proudly and the young boys, Amras, sat up smiling from ear to ear, the other boys were jealous he had gotten Priya to heal him.

"I am impressed Priya!" strode over to the 15 year old next to her who had stolen Priya's herbs, she hurriedly began patching up a child's knee,
"You seem to think quickly," the teacher leaned down with a piercing gaze against the young woman though her words were directed to Priya. She dug her hand though her basket without looking away from the 15 year old and continued talking to the dark skinned girl, "...with the little material that was available to you." lifted the patch of herbs that had been stolen.

"This treachery amongst one another will not be tolerated! Miriel!" She shouted at the girl, Priya couldn't help but smile that she hadn't gone unnoticed for once, glad that someone had stood up for her; though she often stood up for herself... but it felt nice to see someone else stating wrong from right.

"Miriel!" The teacher repeated the girls name, she looked terrified, "because of your unnecessary, rude, folly, you will be spending the rest of your morning treating all these boys one by one and washing and drying each and everyone of these sheets! Class dismissed!" she released the women leaving Miriel alone in the tent to wrap the boys wounds and clean the white blankets the young children had been laying on during the treatment, Miriel was to finish wrapping the wounds the other women were force to leave halfway through.

Now it was Priya's turn to smirk as she walked by Miriel, feeling good that she had been punished for treating her badly. Miriel sneered at Priya once more but she brushed it off, she wasn't going to be the one spending their morning healing and washing.

Priya left the tent with her brown bag wrapped around her and Amras by her side. They held hands as the took a few steps forward and stopped by the side of a nearby home.

"So what are you going to do now?" She kneeled down and asked the adorable boy as she removed the bandage from his leg.

"I dunno!" the young 6 year old slurred upon his words and grinned.

"Well," she lifted him up in his arms, "how about we go to the market to go see Rúmil? Then we can return to the tent to meet with all the other boys after they have been treated, is that alright with you?" She asked. After all, Rúmil was also extremely popular amongst the children for his cunning personality and his blacksmith shop.

"Yay! I wish to speak with him now! He had told me he would show me his swords today!" Amras was nearly jumping in her hands.

"Alright, alright! Off we go then!" She headed towards the market.

They said hello to many other folk of the village in the morning as they searched for Rúmil; alas they returned to the tent unlucky as their search had rendered useless.
"Perhaps he had been forging a new weapon with his father and did not wish to be disturbed," she told Amras.
When they had returned to the tent, the boys were just coming outside, limping and poking at their covered wounds.
She set Amras down next to the 6 other boys, "goodbye Amras! I will be leaving now," she ruffled his hair.

"What? No! You can't! Not now!" All the kids moaned, "Please stay! Yes stay for a while!" They tugged at her dress and crowded her waist.

"Tell us a story!" One boy said.

"Yes! Yes! Please do tell us a story!" The children chanted around her.
She laughed and hushed them, "alright, I will! But only one this time!" She giggled.

They cheered as they followed her to a nearby home where she found a stool to sit upon, the children crossed their legs and sat on the side of the poorly paved, dusty road.

"Hmm, which story would you all like to hear?" She leaned forward and asked the group.

"Tell us the one about the lost boy!"

"No! The one about the three friends!"

"Oh how about the one about the Black Knight and the princess!"

"Yes! The one about the black Knight!" All the children nodded and agreed on that story.

She smiled and quieted them down as she recalled the story she had made, "Ah yes, the story of the Black Knight and the princess!" And she began,

"Long ago... far away in the vast lands of Middle-Earth, there was a large kingdom filled with many Knights ruled by their great king, King Trethnor. Now King Trethnor was a wise and noble King, very caring and he always had the best interests for his people. He was smiling around his kingdom but when he returned to his castle, he had always seemed so downtrodden, mainly because he had been haunted by the memory of his daughter, she had disappeared many years ago after an Orc attack when she was very little, he missed her dearly and thought of her everyday. He also had the biggest most advanced army in all of Middle-Earth! Their swords were as fierce as raging stars and their shields tougher than any rock!
They always stood clad in shining sliver armor, but among them was one who was much different than the others; a Knight in black armor! He was often put down or laughed at for his dark attire, everyone told him he was worthless, nothing but rust on the hinges of the doors to the kings castle! The black Knight had so much potential to do many good things, so he did not take these insults to heart, he simply awaited for the day where he could show everyone what he was truly capable of; and soon that day came...
One day, king Trethnor, after much thought, and a long sorrow-filled heart, but with faith that she was still alive, announced to his knights that whoever could trek the lands of Middle-Earth and find his daughter, had his permission to marry her if they found her.
Immediately, the Knights readied their best armor, gathered their best weapons, and saddled their horses.
When the black Knight began saddling his horse, the other Knights laughed uncontrollably,
"You wish to marry the princess!?"
"Why would she want to marry you!?"
"You are pathetic!"
"You'll never even be able to find her!"
They teased. He replied in a calm manner,
"my main purpose of this journey is not because I wish to become any sort of royalty, have any of you seen the Kings face after his daughter disappeared? All I wish to do is to bring his happiness back to him."
And with that he rode off.
Now, many of the Knights searched in places such as Gondor, or Rohan, some even through the dangerous Fangorn Forests! Only the Black Knight had the courage to cross the boundaries of Mordor! In fact, many others knew that the possibility of the princess being held in Mordor was strong, they were all just too afraid to step into the land so they searched elsewhere.
After a 30 day relentless journey, he arrived at Mordor, it was dark and the Black Knight often blended in with many of the rocks and such, unseen by other Orcs. He winced as he saw another Knight from the kingdom enter Mordor as well, but eaten alive for his shining armor caught the eyes of a few Orcs. The Black Knight stayed strong as he treaded through the dark place and swiftly passed many tall ashen towers and buildings.
He came upon a tall, abandoned, tower where he caught the sound of a feminine shrill from the top, the sound pierced his ears and instinctively he raced up the tower.
He swung his sword left and right as he fought pass the stampede of Orcs to get to the unknown female that was trapped at the top of the tower.
Their axes pierced his skin as he ran up the long staircase to the top; whichever fair maiden was trapped up there was in need of rescuing.
After battling at least 100 Orcs single-handedly, he reached the top room, exhausted yet eager to rescue whoever had been stuck here.
He opened the door and the beautiful woman, grown and tall, came racing toward him, hugging him and crying.
"I am the daughter of a king. I was brought here long ago. I have been here far too long and have much needed a savior. Will you please take me home? "She pleaded through tears.
"Dear princess that was my intention itself, to return you to safety. I have come to save you. Take you to King Trethnor." The Knight beamed.
Away they rode, across the never ending lands of Middle-Earth, back to King Trethnors kingdom.
They were married immediately upon their return and..."
Priya trailed off in thought.
Normally, she would finish this story, but this time, the feelings behind her words felt stronger than they normally did.
This story was in fact based upon real people, well to be exact the KNIGHT AND PRINCESS were based upon ONE real person; Priya.
As simple as that she had put together a story of her life about a year ago from the two different sides of her, the warrior and the locked girl.
No, she was neither a princess nor a Knight but her life was almost like the two lives she had described in the story. Therefore she was both the dark, furious fighter, and the lonely, trapped woman.
Led astray by her thoughts, she had forgotten to complete the story.
"Well you can't just leave us without the ending!" A child exaggerated his eagerness and threw his arms to the ground. The other children agreed in unison.
"Alright," Priya laughed as well, snapping back into reality, which was not that different from the story.
She opened her mouth to complete the last few sentences the children were awaiting when she heard... what was it? Almost... almost 25-30 horse hooves pounding towards the village. At their distance, they were specks among the grassy plains, but their direction was straight towards the village; they would reach here within 5 minutes at their pace.
Priya stood up abruptly and squinted her eyes as she attempted to distinguish the men riding to them; they were not men of her village.
Afraid for their safety, she hurriedly told the children to go away, ordering them to report immediately to their parents in their homes; promising to finish the story later.
She raced to the border of her village along with two other men and a woman, who were also confused by the squad of horsemen; no one had EVER come to their village, let alone in such a vast number, people do not just ride to the village of criminals...

Priya and the other adults agreed to summon the others quickly to this side of the village where the wide clearing was; these folk could mean trouble...
The four raced in different directions, shouting and calling for all to come immediately and gather in the clearing, leaving children safe at home, women may only come if they must.
This was definitely scary for all, but exciting nonetheless, the anticipation and fear was gnawing at them, who would arrive at their village?
Priya pushed her way through the crowd of men to the front, avoiding her father, she wouldn't miss this.
Her father was in the very front of the crowd along with Aegnor, Priya stood to the side, hidden from their view.
The hooves rode closer and closer... they finally came into the village, the men were shoved backwards as the horses and their riders came to a halt in the middle of the crowd.
She stared at the men in awe, beautifully clad in armor, helmet and swords, oh they looked wonderful! She only hoped that these men were here in good intent.

"VILLAGERS OF ARTANIS LISSËSÚL!"
Said the one who had been leading the men as he jumped down from his horse. He was the epitome of flawless...
His clothing was different, and unlike any other she had seen, his hair was long and blonde and his bows strapped to his side were the finest she had ever seen.
He did not wear armor, but you could tell by his posture, his stance, and the fire in his eyes, he was definitely a soldier.

"We come here with terrible news..." said another one of the leading men.
He too, did not wear armor, but the way he carried himself, his dark brown hair to his shoulders and sword at side, he was MORE than a soldier...
There was more than fire in his eyes, there was rage... and so much pain... and vengeance.

Priya paid sharp attention to them, why would such people come to tell them news?
She was told to leave by one man but ignored, how could she leave now?

"YOU ARE ALL IN GRAVE DANGER!" said the blonde sharply, "YOU MUST GET YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN TO SAFETY IMMEDIATELY! WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU!"

"HELP!?"
Priya winced, it was her father who had stepped forward to the blonde and asked, "why would we need your help!?"

The blondes eyes raced to the brown haired man in worry, he looked back at her father with that same worry, "Because in mere minutes, your village will be UNDER ATTACK!"

Song(s):

[Unwritten]

Natasha Beddingfield- Priya

[Breakaway]

Kelly Clarkson- Priya

A/N: ...ehhhh? Okay? Terrible? Please please please give me some feedback! So I've put a whole lot of thought into this story and I really hope it'll pay off, and I know she may come across as a Mary Sue but she has a lot of potential so give her a chance ay? Oh and I'm going to try something called a "Story soundtrack" where for each chapter or for the story as a whole I find a song that fits really well because I am an avid music listener and I love the way some songs work with stories and movies and stuff so that's what that is; and I'm not saying all the songs that are part of it are ones I really like, the lyrics just fit ya know? Oh and if you know a song that fits well too, leave it in a review and I'll update it in the chapter. That's all I have to say until next time so thank you for even clicking on this story, that means the world, please go check out the poll on my profile about my other LOTR story! I LOVE YOU! PLEASE REVIEW DOWN THERE!

Read. Review. Favor Enjoy.