Le gasp! You, my dear reader, were brave enough to travel on to the next chapter! My thanks and bravo to you. Hopefully in this chapter it'll spice up a bit. If any of my mentionings are incorrect (ex. Town names, etc.) Then please inform me and the correct changes shall be applied. Oh, and nothing belongs to me except for Josie and her family. Lord of the Rings belongs to JRR Tolkien. I'm just a rabid fangirl. Oh, and the song in this chapter belongs to Steely Dan.

When Josie comes home:
So good.
She's the pride of the neighborhood.
She's the raw flame,
the live wire,
She prays like a Roman,
with her eyes on fire,

Uh huh!

When I opened my eyes, I questioned my actions, for it was so dark that it hardly seemed that I had opened my eyes at all. Blinking rapidly, I sat up, listening to the calm breathing of my family. It seemed that, in my absence of being awake, they had returned, and were now sleeping fitfully on the ground. I glanced around, our few possessions scattered in a mishap around the small hut. Taking care not to wake anyone up, I retrieved the rest of my body from the floor and stood, tiptoeing quietly to the door, which I edged open. Bit by bit, I slipped out of the door, into the cool air.

The sky was a dark blue, almost black, like the pigment of a bruise flowering. I breathed in the air, rich with the familiarity of this town I called home, and rested against a fence a few feet away, shivering as the wind fluttered. I felt as if I had forgotten something important. But what…? I shook my head, letting sleep rid itself from every pore and my heart stopped as it remembered: Legolas.

Interesting, really, how the human mind worked. Memories were a way of telling time, a visual storybook inside your mind. Unlike most things, you did not have to learn it; it was built in and at times, could be a blessing or a nightmare. If you really wanted to, you could recall almost anything. But then again, if you suppressed it enough, things could also be forgotten just as easily as remembered. But for me, it never seemed to work that way.

I couldn't suppress my feelings; I had always worn my emotions on my sleeve. It was, in a sense, a curse. If I did not watch myself, I could spill my past to a stranger within a quarter of an hour of meeting them. How then could I keep myself safe in these times? Was I weak? Sighing, I watched the first signs of the sun glow across the horizon. I had once been rather carefree, before all this war was about. I partook my fair share in jokes without much particular thought.

At the end of everything, there is always something to be learned. At every remark, there is a truth buried deeper to those who seek it. Life is lived on labels and categories, merely to convenience every individual.

I was content. Although I meant nothing to society; I was nothing like any of my friends who had talents… I was fine just being who I was. I could not sing beautifully, nor dance gracefully, I could barely lift a sword, but I was alive, and that was enough. But now I was a young woman, keen with interest of the world. I was expected to wed soon. But Legolas… well, I had never experienced "love" before him. Was it even love?

That's the reason why I hid it for as long as I could – I did not know if I was just being silly. My feelings tend to hinder me more than the practical decisions I probably should be making.

Believe it or not, everyone has something that they hide. Believe it or not, everyone keeps most things inside. Believe it or not everyone believes in something above.
Believe it or not everyone needs to feel loved. In these dark times, who could be trusted?

I've seen it a lot; every time the world turns upside down. Most of us feel like we're losing ground… Believe it or not everyone hates admitting fear. Believe it or not, most of us want to know why we're here.

Without Legolas, who was I?

The sun had risen, and I had left to go fulfill the chores of that day: Feed the horses, help my mother, and then keep my brothers out of trouble, or worse, harm, until father came back from doing whatever he was doing. He never told us, and my instincts told me a while back to just not ask. Seemed it was better that way, I suppose.

Sighing, my thoughts turned to Legolas. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he thinking about me? I stroked the main of one of our few horses, Sunglow. I had named her when I was little, when fairy tales still existed. One of my favorites had been the story of Sunglow and Wing.

They had fallen in love, but were taken from each other. Despite their attempts to reunite, it was years before they saw each other again.

How familiar did that sound? I rolled my eyes and walked down the road towards the center of the village. My chores were done; it had been years since I had felt the need to ask if I could leave. Acknowledging a few others, I searched for Legolas.

No, my mind seemed to say, don't look for him. Don't weaken yourself for somebody you barely know.

"Shut up," I mumbled to myself, receiving a look of indignation from one of girls near me. Ah, great, now I looked like a lunatic. This week just kept getting better and better.

And of course, now that I was sufficiently insane and off guard, there he was. He was, as always, decked out in his traditional elf clothes, his arrows and bow shining beautifully in the midday glow of the sun. There were other elves, as well as a dwarf and a man. The trio had trooped into town earlier that week, and more elves had shown up just a while ago. Most people bowed briefly, as was customary at the time, but my eyes were too busy fixing themselves on Legolas. If he noticed me, he did not acknowledge it. My heart sank even further than it had already been doing, shrinking into the pit of my stomach.

Legolas was on a brown steed with the dwarf riding behind him, while the man was on a black one. The elves were on horses of their own of various colors, a rainbow of flesh and fur and, most importantly of all, life.

Without a word, the man edged his horse into a gallop, and Legolas followed suite, giving me a glance as he passed. The most acknowledgement he had given me all day, my heart jumped. The elves followed.

No fancy speech was needed without looking like a fool. Everyone knew they were off to try and gain back the land that had once been middle earth.

Watching Legolas fade into the distance, I ran back home. I was going to loose everything. Grabbing a saddle and a horse, I began to ready myself.

There was no fortune here for a girl of an adventurous mind.

With that, I rode off.

AN: Hope you all liked it! I'm not sure where some of the things in this chapter sprang up from, but that's my mind for you. R&R!