Thank you so much for your support and the reviews you wrote :)

I'm totally proud you like this not so ordinary idea and I hope I'll be able to fulfil your expectations. Also thank you so much for your encouraging words. Please note: English is not my mother tongue but second language. I'm sorry for any mistakes you may notice, don't hesitate to tell me if you do.

Thanks goes to my Beta-reader Lisa who tries her very best so this story doesn't become a total mess.


The present can't be enjoyed without being understood and can't be understood without knowing the past.

- Siegmund Freud, Psychoanalysis

xXx

Two eyes, a nose, a mouth. The eyes were strange, they didn't seem to fit in. Their colour was held in the darkest black, the irises almost seemed to be one with the pupils. Actually dark hair belonged with such black eyes… And in the memories Leo shared with her, her hair had a dark brown colour, almost black. Oh her cheeks were little dots, she remembered they were called freckles. She didn't like freckles but she was so pale they were only noticeable within a small distance in her face.

The chest long white hair was straight but still somehow… messy. In her lower lip stuck something, a little ring was on its left side. A piercing. It was called piercing. Carefully she touched it. Did it have a meaning? Was it of any importance?

Her right arm was decorated, there were drawings on it with colours which did not wash off. It seemed they were drawn inside her skin. She could not remember what this art was called. There was a clock, a mirror, a feather, a lion… Somehow everything blended in another. She carefully traced the lion's teeth until she reached the sleeve of her shirt. It was black, as were her boots and the leatherjacket she wore. Next to her lay a large bag but she didn't have time yet to work her way through all the stuff inside.

On her right's hand fourth finger stuck something that she guessed was once the ring, Leo's Master had worn. She had tried to take it off more than once but it just did not work. The metal seemed to have melted on her skin and as much as she tried she always failed to remove it. Leo told her, it was due to the jewel's effect she could talk to him. But it also seemed it was its fault she could not remember everything before her blackout took place.

Finally, she got up with a sigh. Staring into the water would not erase her amnesia, neither do anything else even remotely useful. Apparently, Leo did not like the river, he was staying only for her sake… Well, actually right now she was alone. He took up, looking for food and asked her to stay here. So she took a few steps before getting down again and stretching in the grass. The afternoon sun warmed her skin, she felt terribly cold but the warmth felt nice.

Hollow swings announced Leo's return and she stood up. She was hungry but many fails showed that fishing was definitely not her strength. She tried to catch some fish after Leo made his way but in result she slipped and fell into the water. Now she was drenched and her pants, that were tight anyway, clung to her legs.

Leo got down next to her and let something fall out of his claws. With a heavy impact a body fell down to the ground and the winged beast landed by her side. It was not nearly as bad as the moments Gormlaith ordered him down to earth…

"Uh… Leo? What's this?" Carefully she stepped closer. Whatever he brought her had two arms and two legs. But that was pretty much the only thing she could recognize because the whole body was hidden inside a heavy metal armour… except the head. And that was certainly the most disgusting thing she had ever seen in her life. Well at least as far as she could remember. The face was torn in an abnormal way, the nose only consisting of two holes located somewhere between the yellow and much too long teeth and the too big, fishlike eyes. The skin was in a greyish brown. Pure disgust filled her as she starred at the creature.

Ork, Leo answered. Eat.

Her mouth fell open and she did not know whether to stare at this Orc-thing or Leo. In the end she decided to throw her friend a shocked look. "I'm supposed to… eat that?"

Orc. Orc good. Elf better… But no elf there.

"This is an Orc?", she asked and as Leo confirmed this she swallowed. "I can't eat that", she said. "It's really nice but…" Her eyes flashed back to the apparently dead creature. Everything about it repelled her. "I… I think I eat different things than you. I tried to catch a fish but as you can see it did not work out." She looked down at her clothes, unhappily, and Leo screeched disgusted. He really did not like water.

Rai looked up and sighed. "I guess I'm just useless", the judged rather hard to herself.

Me eat?, Leo asked and she blinked. He went through all that trouble of getting something to eat and she refused it… Damn, she felt bad. "Uh… If you want it…"

xxx

The splitter of metal was an awful sound and she shuddered when Leo bit the body into two. Just like this, as if the black armour was made out of paper instead metal. And the body under it did not consist out of flesh and bones.

To distract herself she dug into the insides of her bag. Maybe she would find anything useful, something about her past -or in the best case food.

The first thing falling to the ground were two books and she picked up the first one. 'Logical Investigations ', was written on the cover. Some person named Edmund Husserl seemed to have written it but that name did not ring a bell. At least not any longer since it was obvious the book head been read. The second one was 'Being and Time' by Martin Heidegger but it was not of any help either, even though the book was scratched and some pages ripped. It had definitely been read and some little notes were written on the sides. With a sigh she put the books aside. She would try to read them later, maybe it would help a little.

The next things were a few pencils and a small bag with some paper notes on it, five, ten and one that said twenty. Two papercards but nothing that was written on them made any sense (at least not to her) and a small card which contained a picture of herself with dark hair and some data. Rai Carrington, born the 12th of November. Also a few notes, for example being born in a place named Hampshire. Carefully she put the card back. Whatever it said, it was about her and her origin.

Besides this she found a bottle which was almost empty, a few keys, a lighter and a knife that could be snapped in and out. The blade was as long as her hand, half as wide and apparently the weapon she killed Gormlaith with. These were the last items she found, the bag was now empty. She was not sure what she had expected but not this.

No good?

Rai sighed. "I've no idea", she confessed but drew back when Leo came closer. "You smell", she complained and the beast seemed to roll its eyes. Orc smells.

Her stomach growled again and she pulled a face, before another idea came up. She looked around. "Hey Leo. Can you snap that branch?"

With a single snap the beast bit of a branch, half as thick as her arm and watched her curiously. She let the knife spring out and started sharpening the tip. It could not be that difficult to forge a spear… or a fire.

xxx

"I'm so happy."

Fell in water, stick in foot, finger burned, Leo reminded and she slapped him half-heartedly. Yes, she had tried to catch a fish with her self-made spear. And yes, she fell into the river while trying. Twice. And when finally a fish appeared, she somehow managed to stick the spear in her own foot instead of the prey. And when she made a fire, she somehow burned her thump. But in the end she caught three fish. She even remembered taking out the guts, even though this wasn't a pleasant experience at all. Now two of the fish roasted above he fire while she took a bite out of the remaining. It did not taste for much since she had no spices to add but she couldn't care less. If was something to eat and it was no Orc.

Leo sidestepped the slap he probably would not even have noticed effortlessly. Go away. Wet.

Rai grinned. "Shudder in fear for I am the Mistress of wet water!"

He let out a shrill sound, which seemed to be his version of a laugh and she pulled back. Now she laughed, too, and fell down gasping when his absolutely not pleasurable breath flew in her face. "Oh, God!" She groaned as his heavy head lay on her chest and pinned her to the ground. "I surrender", she laughed. "I surrender, Oh Leo, Lord of everything smelly!"

He blinked. Never before someone had called him something like that. It sounded funny. A small hand patted his jaw and he lifted his head. She got up and leaned against him to watch the flickering fire.

"Where are we going anyway?", she asked at some point and he snuffled. To be honest he had no idea either. West, he finally answered. Away from Mordor.

She nodded. This seemed like a good plan. Mordor was not a nice place… But where were they anyway?

Gondor. Humanland.

Gondor? She was a human but that was not helpful at all. Frustrated she threw some branches into the fire. "I don't know anything", she said. "If Gondor is Humanland, shouldn't I be from there?"

No. No way to Mordor. Were just there, not from Gondor.

Okay so it was not Gondor -whatever Gondor was exactly. She sighed heavily before giving a lopsided smile. "At least I've got you. I'm not alone."

Not alone, he confirmed and she closed her eyes. Her right hand hurt and she moved her fingers a little to help their stiffness. Maybe some sleep would be of any help? She was not actually tired but still felt weary somehow.

xxx

When she woke up, the fire was still burning but it was bigger than before. Leo had added some wood but the pieces and branches he used were way bigger than hers. She stretched and stood up to splash some water in her face to wash off the sleep. At least she did not fall back into the river, she noticed drily and refilled the bottle. It was a good thing she found it in her bag.

Behind her Leo stretched, too, and lay down to the ground with his wings spread to let the sun warm his spiked back. He copied this from her, obviously, but she had been laying on her back. Rai laughed. "You look like a too large bat."

Leo wheezed. Human small like too pretty dwarf.

She chuckled and crawled on his back. The spikes on it were sharp and long but they were wide enough away from each other for her to sit comfortably between them. She thought for a moment before hanging her bag on the spike right in front of her and laughed. She also grabbed the wooden spear as it was pretty useful to catch some slippery fish.

"On to the West?", she asked and Leo approved before he swung himself in the air.