A Hand To Hold

A/N – For full disclaimer and any introductions, please see chapters One and Two.

Alright, so you've been given an introduction to Fodien, and I'm glad that you guys don't think that she's too much of a Mary Sue and that she is unique. Now, in this chapter, the story is beginning to start, and I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed writing it. Here we go.

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Fodien had been walking all day long, and so far she had been able to avoid any more close encounters with the wild men that she knew to be scurrying around the woods. It seemed funny, for it often felt as though she were being protected by something. Some force that she could not see or be sure of, but one that she could feel all around her.

Too bad that force hadn't been there seven months ago.

The leaves crackled beneath her feet as she made her way through the trees and foliage. The sun had already set, and Fodien knew that she needed to find a place to spend the night. She had grown up around elves, so she knew very well that the safest place to make camp would be in the tops of the trees. Luckily, in her twenty seven years of life, Fodien had become an expert with them. She knew to respect them, and how to settle within their branches with ease and comfort. It was a skill that she was very proud of. For trees were her only sanctuary now that she was away from home.

Quietly, she gathered some fallen wood from the ground, and made her way up the braches of an old oak, quickly making herself a suitable flet for her night's sleep. She was really in no hurry to get to her destination, so she made sure it was good and comfortable, allowing her a full and deep slumber.

Only, she would not get that tonight.

A loud crash made her to shoot upwards with a quiet gasp of fear as to what might have caused such a noise in the woods below her. It had to have been something close, for Fodien was a very sound sleeper, and could go unaware of most things when sleep took her. She got slightly nervous, and hoped against hope that it was just an animal of some sort, scurrying through the grass, or a branch falling from a tree.

Scanning the surroundings, she immediately spotted a glow of a fire a little ways off into the distance, maybe twenty feet or so. She could not see clearly, for it was still very dark and another giant oak blocked her view, but Fodien was certain that she could see a group of men surrounding the glowing fire. And not just any group of men. With an added squint, her guess was confirmed and her nervousness doubled. It was the men from earlier that day.

"Perfect" she grumbled under her breath, as she turned around and started to throw all of her belongings back into her sack, rolling her blanket and throwing her cloak back over her shoulders. Over the last few months of traveling, one thing that Fodien had become very good at, was leaving in a hurry. Within minutes only, she was already back upon the forest floor, hitching her pack a little higher, ready to put some more space between herself and the men.

She found herself jealous of the men's fire, as she shivered when the cool wind met the skin of her face, waking her in a most unwelcoming way. Oh how she wished she could just go over to them and ask for a spot next to the warmth and maybe a bite to eat, but now was not the time, and they were definitely not the people she would ask for help.

Her teeth grinded away as she felt her body tremble, pulling the cloak tighter and tighter around herself. She knew that she needed to find a new place to cozy down for the rest of the night, but she would not be satisfied until she was far away from her recent neighbours. "I want to go home" she whispered to no one, willing herself not to tear up again. "It was always so warm there."

She shook her head. No, it would never be warm there again.

Unconcously, she reached up to grab hold of her mother's necklace. Something she always did when she felt lonely, only to find that it no longer was around her neck. Instantly she panicked as she quickly scanned the ground behind her. She knew it must have fallen off in her quick escape. With a deep sigh of worry and fear, she then began to swiftly retrace her steps, hoping to find the piece of jade fast, so she could get as far away from this place as possible. Who knows what she would do if those creepy men picked it up.

Her pace quickened, as she moved closer and closer to the tree from which she had just come down from. Still she saw nothing. It was almost as though it had just simply disappeared, but that was impossible, things didn't just disappear. Perhaps it was in the tree.

It wasn't.

Fodien started to go to pieces. "No, no, no, come on, where are you?" she questioned quietly with a tinge of annoyance in her voice, followed by an almost inaudible curse, when suddenly she spotted something shinny at the base of a nearby tree. With a breath of relief she scooped it up and placed it to her lips. Over and over again, in between rants of "thank you, thank you" to no one in particular.

It wasn't until she slipped the necklace back on that a thought came to her mind. 'How did it get way over here, I wonder.' It was also at this exact moment, that she noticed a stunning set of intense ocean blue eyes locked directly onto her own.

With a gasp, she jumped backwards, falling right onto her backside in one ungraceful heap, but their eyes never parted. She felt frozen in place, worry still filling her mind. She had been seen. She had been caught. She was surely dead now. The look terror must have been showing clear as day on her face, but upon the face of the other, only the expression of slight amusement was visible.

She was surprised that she could see him at all, given that he was at least five feet away from her and they were in with such low light, but she could see him perfectly. His skin was pale, almost like ivory, with gentle and soft features, that would almost seem feminine on anyone else except for him. His long golden hair hung loosely around his shoulders, and his eyes, they were just…. so blue.

She ignored his smirk, and just sat there, continuing to study him for a moment longer, forgetting about the dangers for a quick second. He looked quite slim, and she guessed he would stand an inch or two shorter than herself should they ever stand side by side, but she accounted that to the fact that he looked so young. She was certain that this man could be no older than twenty. She finished her observation once again on his face, his lips were moving, slowly, mouthing something she assumed, but she paid no heed, for it was then that her eyes trailed towards his ears. They were pointy.

'Iluvitar' she exclaimed softly, placing her gloved hand to her lips, 'He's an elf!'

She scanned him over once more. His hands were bound, tied to the trunk of a white birch, with some sort of rough rope. A gag which he had obviously gotten off, hung around his neck, and he though he sported no clear injuries, his clothing did look rather dirty and scraped. She looked to his left and saw that the group of men she had seen earlier sat around the fire pit, some smoking, while the others ate or spoke to one another. There were fifteen of them from what she could see, which was why when she turned back to the mysterious elf, whom she now guessed to be the one that had eluded the men prior that day, she was confused to see that the smile had not faded from his blooming face.

"What could possibly be funny?" she groaned, perplexed by his behaviour. He was a captive, there was no humour in this situation. She ended her train of thought when she saw that his smile had grown, doubled actually, as he nodded his head in her direction, mouthing one word.

"You."

Fodien felt her eyebrow raise at that, when she realized two things. One; that he must have heard her, and two; that she was still in her ungraceful heap. With a slight glare on her part, she dusted herself off, and got back on her feet, though still remained crouched, as not to alert the men of her presence. If he saw the glare, he pretended that he didn't, and instead, used his blue eyes, that reminded her of crystals, to direct her line of vision behind him. She caught on.

"Free you?" that was all she could say. Fear was still so present, and it would be so easy just to run now, doing this could get her caught.

He returned her question with a look as if to say, "um…yes. You're not too bright, are you?"

She gulped, and began to fidget with the chain around her neck again, casing him to chuckle of all things. She shook her head again. This elf was strange indeed.

"Right now?" she asked, knowing how silly her question sounded.

He mimicked his previous expression, and that gave to her, her answer.

Fodien began to glance back and forth from the elf to the group of men, who were still so close. Surely she would be caught. They would definatly see her if she tried to help him. No, she couldn't risk it. He would just have to get himself out of this mess on his own. She moved to stand, when she caught his eyes once more. His head was tilted, and his smile had faded into a slight frown, his bottom lip quivering slightly, and his eyes, they were wide and pleading to her.

She stopped, her brow creasing again, as she placed her hands on her hips, shaking her head at him, wanting to groan and laugh all at the same time. "And I thought giving the puppy dog face was limited to human and children use only" she whispered with sarcasm, knowing full well that he heard her.

He laughed again, only to be quieted as one of the heavier built men came over and gave him a swift kick to the ribs, resulting in a low groan coming from the elf, as he lean forward as much he could taking in the blow. This immediately caused Fodien's fear to be replaced with anger. She certainly didn't know who this elf was, but he was still one of the Eldar, and the elves were very important to Fodien. She took greatest hurt and offence when ill was said or done upon them, any of them, even this rather bizarre one.

"We said to stop moving!" the man who had done the kicking yelled as he made dark eye contact with his victim. The elf didn't move, didn't make any sign that he was going to rebut or fight back, verbally or otherwise, and so the man laughed at him. "Yes, that's right," he began in a tone one would use on a child, "you're learning, aren't you, ferret? That's cause now you know what will happen to you if you try anything again" he finished as he patted the elf on the head, as though he were a pet of some sort. Fodien could have sworn that she saw thunder in the fair being's eyes at this, but as quickly as it was there, it was gone again. Two seconds later, she knew why.

Just as the man turned around, gloating to the others about how obedient the elf as being now, he received a sharp and firm kick from behind, causing him to fall forward suddenly being proven dead wrong. Fodien both wanted to cringe and laugh when she saw this. The elf had made his point, bringing out another big smile as the angry man turned back to him with blood lust in his eyes.

'This elf has a death wish' she thought to herself, unaware of how many times she would repeat this in the future.

"Why you disrespectful little…" the man shouted as he grabbed the pot of boiling water from the fire, and made his way over to the elf, who looked very proud of himself. "I'll teach you you're place, ferret, by cleaning that pompous look right off of ya" he continued, as he prepared to empty the pot of sculding water right onto the immortal captive.

The elf shied away, closing his eyes, preparing himself for an unbelievable amount of pain, but it never came. The leader, the one with the chain around his neck, halted the other man, by grabbing his arm, before the liquid could spill a drop. "Put that down, you fool" the leader scolded. "I'll not have you cook the thing before I've worked up the appetite to eat it" he continued, earning himself a disgusted look from both the elf and from Fodien. "Besides" he continued, as he kneeled down in front of the young firstborn,

grabbing it's chin with his fingers of his left hand, "I like my food raw."

The elf rose an eyebrow, much like the way Fodien had done minutes ago, with no sign of fear in his eyes what so ever. "Seems to me, from the size of you, I wouldn't have assumed you had any criteria about what you shoved down your throat."

This was earned with the elf's skull being shoved backwards, hard against the trunk of the tree. His golden head then fell forward, and Fodien panicked once again, her colour draining as her mind scrambled for ideas, especially when she heard the leader's next words as he turned around and faced the group of his men.

"Make big the fire, lads," he said, giving once last glance at the motionless form he had tied to the tree, "I've worked myself up an appetite."

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A/N – Thank you reviewers! Thank you readers! Chapter three is finally here, and chapter four is on it's way. I hope you enjoyed it, and please, let me know what you think, for I love very much to hear or read rather, what you think.

Ms. Unknown – Thanks, I think she's pretty special too.

A Crazy Elephant – Well I hope you do keep reading.

The Luckiest – Thanks so much!!

Lordoftheringsfanficreader – Galadriel was always a favourite of mine as well. Her, Eowyn and Aragorn And yes, I am glad you think that she is unique, I really wanted to try and make her different. I'm a little worried that she may appear ditzy though, because I've pretty much made her react to dangerous situations that way I would in some parts of this story. LOL

M.A.D. – I've noticed that too.

Butterbees and Bumbleflies – I'm very happy that I have impressed you, cause I've had this plot line in my head for a while now.

Sick Little Friend – Thank you! And not to worry, the fact that she's pretty will have no real impact on the story. It's not really going to be an important or influential aspect of my plot. I appreciate you two cents, and I hope to hear from you again soon.

iSpeekyGreeky – I thought the curse thing was interesting too. I was hoping you guys would like it, so it's good to know you do. And I'll be sure to check out your story, I'm actually off to work now ,but hey, I always have time to put of my homework and read a good story. LOL, bad habit, I know, but a fun one.

Bye for now everyone, until next post.

Elrohir