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Italics are other languages but I will state what language beforehand.

LOTR: Retold.

3rd person P.O.V.

They had walked for the entire day uninterrupted but tense at all times. Now, as they sat at the edge of the forest in the shade of a colossal oak with a fire crackling. The sky was painted a mix of peach and berry hues. The group began to relax but no-one really knew each other and until they did they wouldn't work effectively as a team. Knowing this Elleanorí decided to start a conversation.

"If we are a team should we not know each other more? Different cultural stories, myths, legends, that sort of thing."

Boromir agreed, "It would help. We have many stories in Gondor."

Gimli nodded, "What about you? Where are you from, the city of Corsäirs or perhaps the hills of Evendim?"

Elleanorí laughed, "I am not 'from' anywhere but I have stories from all of those places should you wish to hear them."

Gimli wouldn't admit it but he was rather annoyed about how much secrecy came from the girl who decided they should share.

The next few hours were spent sharing stories from all over Middle Earth. There were tales from Gondor, Rivendell, the mountains/mines, the Shire and hundreds of places Elleanorí had been. They then moved onto nicknames both past and current.

Hannahlosa started, "So… Tithen'las, are you still a little leaf?"

Legolas sighed and shook his head, "No, Hannahlosa I am not. That was a nickname from when I was a child."

Elleanorí laughed and muttered, "It was especially fitting when you fell out of that tree like a leaf on a rope."

The whole group laughed at this and Legolas looked embarrassed before he said, "what about you Hannahlosa? Or should I say laceration?"

Aragorn now looked up, "Laceration, I thought that name faded out?"

She laughed and said, "Not with these two as friends, Strider." pointing at Legolas and Elleanorí. "How about you six, Boromir, Gimli, Sam, Frodo, Merry, Pippin? We all know Gandalf's. The Grey Pilgrim."

They all shook their heads but Merry and Pippin laughed and said, "Unless troublemakers count."

Boromir suddenly looked over at the hills and paused. He turns back to the group and asks, "Does anyone know the legend of the Shadow Shifter? I have obviously heard it but I don't know it off by heart."

Sam spoke up, "I have never heard it at all. It's not a story told in the Shire."

"Oh" Hannahlosa beamed, "Its brilliant. A figure appears and disappears in day and night its shadow changing shape and moving around without boundaries. It has also been seen to save lives and it's been around forever."

Gimli followed on, "It also goes by the nature's child."

Legolas continued, "It is said to be blessed with the spirits of life."

Elleanorí finished, "And yet it is still just a tale."

Legolas countered, "Just because you have never seen the Shadow Shifter?"

Gandalf spoke the thoughts on their minds, "A wanderer who has never seen the Shadow Shifter. Surely that cannot be."

Elleanorí sighed before retorting, "I would have seen it if it existed."

Hannahlosa muttered incoherently so only Legolas and Elleanorí could hear, "or if you looked in a mirror." And then stated, "You guys sleep. Orí and I will take first watch."

The fire crackled as one by one the fellowship succumbed to sleep.

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Elleanorí's P.O.V.

We rose and left in record time. Only at mid-day did we stop for lunch. We stayed on a rocky outcrop near the mountains and a debate started. It focused on going either through the Gap of Rohan, over the mountains or through the Mines of Moria but I was too busy listening to the sounds around me. Nature was telling me there was something was awry, something I hadn't noticed. The hobbits laughed while they were practicing with their swords and the sight of them attacking Boromir was one of beauty but I was still unnerved.

I heard Gimli scoff, "It's just a wisp of cloud." And my attention snapped to them.

Legolas indicated, "It is moving too fast and against the winds."

I used my senses to hear, see and smell that it was no cloud, "Crebain from Dunland, Hide!"

We all hid behind rocks and bushes but I knew they would have seen movement so I took a huge risk. I shifted into beetle and moved away before shifting into a red fox and slipping across the rocks tilting my head while I looked at the birds before moving behind some other rocks. I then shifted back into a beetle and returned to where I had originally hidden.

Once they were gone Merry exclaimed, "Did you see that fox?"

Aragorn nodded, "It seemed oddly intelligent."

Hannahlosa agreed, "It saved our lives. The Crebain would have seen movement and would have known we were there. I wonder where it went."

Gandalf sighed, "The Gap of Rohan is blocked. We must go over the mountain. We must take the path of Caradhras."

I sighed but agreed. It was the only way. I was glad no-one suspected me and that those who did wouldn't voice it. Despite being alone all my senses were straining to keep our group safe.

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Up on the mountain the bitter cold bit at all the exposed flesh they showed but I remained immune to its chill wearing nothing but the tunic and leggings I started in. I would have loved to shed my humanoid form for one with fur and padded feet like a wolf but if I had my secret would be a secret no longer even though I had the feeling of foreboding, like it wouldn't be a secret much longer anyway.

As we climbed higher a foul voice cut through the air. Legolas voiced this to the group and Hannahlosa nodded, "Saruman." Our climb slowed further as the storm worsened and soon I realised the hobbits were freezing and they would soon die. The foul voice rang out again, clearer and louder than before. Rocks and clumps of snow fell onto us.

Aragorn pleaded, "He is bringing down the mountain. We must turn back."

As he said this, an avalanche collapsed down on top of us and I felt myself being pulled over the edge.

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. (Do I leave it here on a cliffy, nah?)

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As I fell I twisted and shifted into a falcon as I fell, opening my wings before soaring upward into the skies and then diving, landing and shifting simultaneously so my feet touched down onto the snow as human ones rather than talons.

Gimli's P.O.V.

I saw the snow pull Elleanorí off the mountain and I would have yelled her name had I not almost suffocated on snow instead. We pulled ourselves out and I almost sobbed when Boromir asked where Elleanorí was. I started to tell him she fell but only a few seconds after I started a falcon shot past me and high into the air. It then closed in its wings and plummeted, apparently about to land when it blurred and became the last thing any of us expected. Or at least that is what I thought.

Elleanorí yelled out above the winds, "We must leave now. This will be the death of the hobbits and should someone fall, the death of them as well."

Gandalf stated, "Let the ring bearer decide!"

To everyone's relief Frodo stuttered, "We will go through the mines."

Gandalf frowned, "So be it."

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As we reached the entrance, Gandalf set about opening it and I went to confront Elleanorí to find she was talking to Hannahlosa, Legolas and Aragorn in elfish, meaning I didn't understand.

L: The secret is out.

A: They will want the full truth.

H: They can want it but you don't have to tell them. Give them a half-truth, just a shape shifter, cursed at birth, something like that.

L: You could tell them you are the Shadow Shifter but after your blatant denial last night you would need a good excuse.

E: This isn't good. Not at all.

L: The situation is not unsalvageable.

E: Not for me. You however…

H: Someone is listening aren't they?

E: Yup. Gimli would probably love to know how much you knew.

A: Ahh, but that is your secret to tell, not ours.

E: Time to face the music…

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Next time Elleanorí explains and Hannahlosa finds it highly amusing.