new chapter :)

(i do not own the Hunters of Artemis or the LOTR world, only my OC, Senna, and the plot of this story.)


The girls—Hunters, as everyone else would call them—stayed in Rivendell for almost a week. And in those seven days Legolas had come to learn more about them than before. He did not hear the answers he craved for in any of their mouths personally, of course. That would have been foolish beyond reason. No, Lady Arwen was the one who told him of their ways; the oaths that they had made to be bound forever to servitude, to remain maidens until the end of their time. It was for this reason, and this reason only, that Legolas could not look them in the eye or give them a simple greeting, a nod of the head, whenever he passed by them in the halls of Rivendell.

Arwen had told him too, however, of the time when the Hunters still very much respected the existence of men. Now, only the men who had proven themselves would gain the approval of the company. And as Legolas recalled what had occurred on that first day, he was still very far off from receiving their support. "Do not worry so much about such things, Greenleaf. You'll only have to bear with them for 4 more days. And it is always a while before they come again."

Aside from these, it was Lord Elrond who had told Legolas who Lady Artemis really was.

"She is Artemis," he had said, "daughter of Zeus and Leto, twin-sister of Apollo, patron of maidens, and goddess of the hunt. The moon is her companion in battle, and her maidens, the Hunters of Artemis, her sisters in siege." The elder elf had looked down upon Legolas, a smirk gracing his features as he said something that unnerved him, and he had not been unnerved ever since the Battle on Blackrock, in which half of his kin died protecting the boundaries of their city. It was since very hard to unnerve Legolas. But when Lord Elrond said these words, he was demoralized. The elf had said, "You have the respect of a goddess. Do not look so grim, Greenleaf. It is an honour to have her defend you from one of her own."

Should he have been proud? Should he have been happy that that had happened? Legolas was not sure.

And yet, fate seemed to be against his favour at the time, for as he was sitting in one of the many courtyards of the city, reading words jumping out of the crispy pages of a book from the library of the elves, he saw, from the corner of his eye, a figure flitting from view. It was human, that much he was sure of, but as a tiny ray of sunlight blinded him for a matter of seconds, it was already too late to tell who it was. But Legolas was also sure of seeing something else: a bow.

A bow and a sheath of arrows, to be exact. But that was enough; that… and the fact that a flowing ripple of silver hair followed it. He knew who it was then. And he was, as much as he hated it, utterly intrigued. If the Hunters carried around such beautiful and well-carved bows, they must have owned the great ability of using them skilfully. Why else would Artemis go to such extents, to craft such a majestic weapon if it wasn't going to be used properly enough anyway?

Sooner rather than later, Legolas found himself standing in the middle of a field, the same field in which he first met the Hunters of Artemis, as well as Artemis himself. But this was also where he first saw—or, rather, was first threatened, by Senna. Now, Legolas looked upon the same girl, in the same light, but in a very different view of things. He knew not whether to stay there, just watching her, for she was alone, like a dishonourable man, or to make his presence known. The latter was very much the most respectful thing to do. But Legolas knew, that if he did this, then the girl would not continue her shooting. And he didn't want that. He wanted to see for himself what these Hunters were made of. Yet still his inner prince told him to just turn away before his being there on the field made a mess of things.

Before he could make another move, before he could even draw breath that would always often make up any decision of his, Senna sighed. "I know you are there."

And just like that, before even a second passed, a millisecond before a sudden gust of wind descended upon them, making both their cloak's rustle behind their backs, the girl had shocked Legolas into silence once again. It was the second time now, the first being the time when she had been so straightforwardly honest with him. People past by him and left without ever telling him something about himself that only they noticed, that he, never in a thousand years, would find out. There this girl was, telling him how affronted she was in his presence. Not many of his kind would tell him that.

He knew not what to say. So, "How?" He wanted to know. As far as he knew, he had kept his pace slow enough not to make the birds fly, but fast enough for him to be able to keep the girl within eyesight. Compliments, he had gotten, even from the Lady Arwen herself, saying that even in a trek through the thickest layers of snow, he would have the lightest steps. He could not be heard.

"Thy footsteps are louder than a bear's trekking." And yet, here this girl, Senna, came, saying that he knew not how to keep his feet light. "You should be thankful my bow was not drawn, otherwise I might have killed thee."

Legolas nodded. But then a thought occurred to him, and he found himself swallowing a rather large lump in his throat as he asked, "Would you have been satisfied then? If you had killed me?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he wanted to take them back. Because the taste that it left had seemed too bitter, the feel of it rolling off his tongue had felt so strange, like it was dry ice slipping off his fingertips. "I—My apologies." He said quickly, stuttering. "I didn't mean it like that. I just—I—"

"Oh, don't make a fool of yourself." She interrupted. A hint of mirth laced her voice as she turned to face him. "Legolas, son of Thranduil, and Prince of Mirkwood."

His eyes widened, surprise clear on his face, because he had never thought that Senna would have paid attention while he introduced himself. She seemed bent on slaying him as he did. "You remember me?"

Senna raised her chin. "I do not forget a name once it has been told."

"Forgive me..." Legolas said, and after a moment of deep thought, he asked, "You hate men, do you not?"

"I do." Legolas didn't have to say anything more. She had already caught on. And when she did, which was soon enough, a smile graced her features. "I know what thee are thinking, son of Thranduil. You think that, if I should hate men, why should I go through the difficulties of trying to remember names that I do not want to hear?" She gazed up at me. "Are these words correct?"

"Yes."

Senna sighed, relaxing her hands, which had previously been gripping her bow so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "You are a smart man then, Legolas." She said, looking away from him and turning her gaze to the horizon, which was high above the clouds but still seen, and it looked majestic. "I do hate men. I hate them with every fibre of my being. They are cowards. They speak and tell tales of bravery, but what do they do when faced with a real enemy, a truly overpowering prowess? They run away with their tails between their legs, whimpering for their mothers!"

Legolas couldn't say that he wasn't offended, because, as much as he didn't want to be, he was.

Yet to his much unexpected glee, Senna followed that upsetting statement with: "But I do not hate you, Legolas, son of Thranduil." He had gained the courage to stand by her side, trusting that she would not stab his back with one of her arrows. She did not turn to look upon his face, though, and some part of Legolas was happy that she hadn't, afraid that it would have crossed the line. She did resume speaking, however. She said, "Lady Artemis has told me that your kin are an honourable people, that you, Greenleaf, are an honourable man—" amusement crept into her voice as she said the next and final line "—and that Lord Elrond would banish any elf who would dare lay their hands upon my sisters, or our mistress."

Legolas couldn't help but to smile, for he knew that these words were very true. However kind and gentle Lord Elrond was, he was not very merciful to traitors. "That is not a lie."

"I never thought it was." She didn't say anything else for a while. Just stared at the sky. Lost in the beauty of it. She didn't get to see such views very often. Her company was almost never stayed put in one place, always walking, always moving forward. And Senna loved it, the journey. She just wished she could have seen views such as this more frequently. "So why did thy kind decide to call thee 'Greenleaf'?"

"My father's name was Thranduil Greenleaf. He was also called the Elvenking." Legolas answered, remembering him as he used to look upon him during his childhood. The memory had never faded from his mind, not even after two thousand years.

"So," she continued, "you are the… Elvenprince then?"

Legolas' gaze dropped back down to the girl beside him. He replied with a quick, "Yes." She did not say more on the subject.

They were both very quiet for a short span of time, Senna looking upon the horizon, the sun floating high on the green hills, and Legolas looking upon her, trying to analyse her, trying to read her. It was impossible. Until finally: "Ye should stop staring at me, son of Thranduil." He looked away immediately, turning his gaze to the hills in front of them, and found someone walking on them. The first thing Legolas noticed was the shining autumn-coloured hair that lay upon the figure's head, and he only knew one person who had that kind of hair.

"Where is she going?" he asked, already starting to back away, ready to run to the lords of Rivendell as soon as Senna said the words.

But she did not say what he had expected she would say. Instead, what she replied was: "Hunting."

"She is not going to stay?" Legolas had thought her the kind of woman who would stay and guard her kinswomen. Was he wrong?

"Oh, she will come back." Senna stated, dismissing Legolas' inappropriate thoughts with a wave of her hand. "Right after she slays the beast that inflicted the fatal wounds upon Hayley. And trust me when I say," her head tilted to the side slightly, enough for her eyes to meet with his, only from the corners, "she will find it."

"I do not doubt your word about it."

A gust of warm wind fell upon them, and with both their hair windswept and glistening under the sun, Legolas felt alive. Because he had finally found out that this girl didn't hate him, that she seemed quite content in his company, and that neither of them felt awkward around each other. He hadn't found such a person since meeting Gimli, but he had returned to his kinsmen, to his kingdom. And Legolas was left to befriend Aragorn, king of Gondor, until the day that he would have to return to his city.

Legolas didn't like thinking about such things, because as soon as he started, everything else seemed so complicated than they were supposed to be. And he hated whenever that happened. So, wanting to get his mind off it, he asked, "So what are you then?"

Senna got the wrong impression, apparently. Her eyebrows furrowed and a shadow passed over her features as she warned, "Tread carefully, Son of Thranduil."

"I did not mean it like that." He said promptly, "Let me rephrase my question."

The girl beside him, to his great relief, softened her grip on her bow, and said, "Continue."

"It's just something I've noticed, but…" he looked at his companion expectantly, waiting to find the impatience in her eyes, but he found none. And Senna smiled, nodding for him to resume. So he did. "You follow her wherever she goes. I've seen you in the halls, trailing behind her, no matter how furious her face seemed." Legolas didn't want to know why she looked that way, so he didn't ask. "When she tells you to do something, you do it, without question. But when she tells you to leave her to be alone, you are very… reluctant." Senna opened her lips to speak and explain everything, but Legolas stopped her short, just as the words were escaping her throat. "Also," he said, holding a finger up to Senna, effectively making her shut her mouth once more. And though the smile had faded, she nodded. "You look upon her face as if you were looking at a god." The girl laughed, and Legolas did as well when he noticed the error in his words. "Alright, I know that she is, in fact, a goddess, but the way you look at her…"

He couldn't find the right words to express how he imagined it in his head. And when he finally did, he grew afraid that they might have been the wrong words to say. He said, "You look at her as if she was your whole world."

For once in her life, Senna was speechless. Because as the elf continued speaking, she realized that he was describing to her everything she knew about herself. "When you follow her, I see a glint in your eyes that is just what I see whenever you look upon the sun. When you are speaking to her, I see your chin held high and stomach held in. There is always a curve to your lips when I see you watching her talking with Lady Arwen and Lord Elrond. It's as if…"

She could have begged him to continue, but as the situation showed, she could only wait and stare at him, wait for him to tell her who she was. Because she didn't want to forget, ever.

"It's as if a babe was looking upon her from the first time, still raw and red and wet from coming out of her womb, but as soon as it sees her face, her eyes, everything just seemed alright in the world. And then the babe started crying, because it thought that it was being carried away from her mother and into the darkness beyond into which it could not see. But the truth was, it was only being prepared to be suitable for its mother."

Senna stared at him, looked at him in shock and surprise, because everything that he had said to her, it was her entire life.

Should she tell him? Should he reveal everything to him? Would it have been safe? She saw nothing dark about him. Everything was honest, and kind, and gentle. Everything she would have seen in her best friend was within this man. And then her decision was made.

"She is not my mother, nor I her daughter." Senna started, turning her gaze to the hills, though she knew that Artemis was not there anymore. "But she is everything I knew my mother would have been.

"My mother died when she gave birth to me. I never got to stare upon her face. I grew up without a parent, wandering cities and roaming empty towns, until finally the day came when fate was in my favour." Senna remembered everything so clearly in her head; it was as if she was living the experience again. "I found her, Artemis, walking in the halls of her temple. I looked at her and said, 'Who are you?' And she answered me, smiling, and I swear I had never seen anything so beautiful before. She said, 'Anything you want me to be.' That was the day I said the oath, binding myself to her, for I had nothing else to live for. But as soon as I got to sleep in a warm bed, surrounded by sisters I never thought I'd have, I knew that life wasn't as cruel as I thought it was."

She was finished, Legolas knew. And then all of a sudden, he saw her in a whole different light.

"Until now," Senna said, clearing her throat, avoiding the elf's eyes, it seemed, "I don't see her as some merciless goddess of the hunt." She looked up at the sky, then, as if she was thinking of what to say next. Legolas was just about to say that she didn't have to continue, but before he could, she did anyway. "I saw her as my mother, as a sister, as a friend, as someone I could talk to when I had no one else…" There was a pause, and Legolas couldn't help but to look at the girl who was now revealing everything about herself to him. He thought of stopping her, because who was he to know all these things? He wasn't anybody to her, surely! This was only the second time they had talked, the first time she hadn't tried to kill him. He didn't need to, he didn't want to know these things about her, because he wasn't sure that he could be a good friend and keep it just between her and him.

Senna finally looked at him, the truth about herself behind her eyes. She was going to put down her guard, pull away the curtains that was all that stood between her and the world. Legolas watched in wonder.

"She was everything I wanted her to be."

Legolas had no idea what to say, honestly. Everything that he had heard was all he saw in Senna now. A baby in her dead mother's arms, an orphan cradled in the darkness of an empty street, a kid who had found someone to look up to, after years of living alone and unloved. What was he to say?

They stood there on the pale white tiles of Rivendell, their eyes never meeting, their skin never touching, yet the mere presence of each other was enough as they let silence change the course of their exchange.

Senna sighed, closing her eyes and praying to the gods that all that she had said, all that she had revealed, was safe and kept away in this elf's subconscious. "Does thee have anything to say about my life story, son of Thranduil?"

He didn't. So, he just dismissed it with a slight smile and a shake of his head. "Only that my past isn't as enlightening."


again, sorry for any OOC-ness or any inconsistencies, but please, REVIEW. :)