Until now, the idea that when Sauron was defeated, not all the orcs were destroyed had not crossed Morwen's mind whatsoever. Therefore, when a small group of traveling orcs attacked Legolas, who had gone to collect wood (it was his turn; she had insisted), she was quite unprepared.
She had left her bow and quiver back at the campsite, along with her sword. As a precaution, she had, however, kept her small, shimmering dagger at her side and she drew that now. He was already fighting them, shooting them down one by one, but it wasn't enough, because the group had been reasonably large, and they all attacked at once.
Now, she was there, and tearing into their enemies ruthlessly. Her dagger flashed as she raked it through orc flesh, adrenalin driving her on. Her eyes glinted as a bit of lingering sunlight from the west hit them, and for a split second, he could have sworn they gleamed red. Her slim body moved effortlessly, dancing among the awful creatures and stabbing left and right.
Between the two of them, the group of orcs were pushed back into the forest, many orcs dead or wounded. The orcs soon realized their fatal (literally) mistake and retreated as quickly as they could, Legolas shooting a few extra arrows after them for good measure. Morwen tossed her thick mane and sheathed her dagger.
"Let's get back to camp. Hopefully they didn't storm it while we had our backs turned." She leaned down to gather the wood he had dropped when the orcs attacked. He helped her, and together, they gathered all that wood, plus a little extra.
She turned back towards the small encampment; he found his eyes caught on her smooth, slim legs. She had slipped on her night-shorts and her undershirt for the evening, and all of the porcelain skin below mid-thigh was revealed to his eyes. He was, after all the armor came off, just a normal ellon, and attraction was imminent with a beautiful female near him constantly. He just wondered why he hadn't realized it sooner.
"You coming?" Her voice broke through his reverie, and his head snapped up to look her in the eyes. He nodded, and they headed back through the brush.
The attack was naught but an annoyance. They had little trouble the remaining distance, and made good time the last day, arriving at the gates of Moria a little after dusk.
Gimli, being the gracious host that he was, was waiting at the gate for them to arrive. He brought them in as quickly as possible, practically dragging them along through the streets to his home. He rushed them along, shouting things like, "It's not too far now!" and "I'm glad to see you, laddie."
Morwen chuckled softly to herself when Gimli called Legolas 'laddie'. Legolas heard, and whispered in her ear, "Not a word of this."
She laughed harder. "Of course, Prince Legolas," she managed, then burst out in laughter again.
The dwarf led them to his house and pushed them in before hurrying to remove the food he had cooking from where it was in the kitchen to the table.
Legolas set down his pack by the door, and motioned for Morwen to do the same. She raised an eyebrow, but did so, settling her bag beside his. She then stood by him, feeling a bit proud to be taller than someone as she looked down upon the dwarf.
"Now, laddie, who is this fair young lass?" Gimli asked.
"This is-" Legolas began, but she pushed him aside to bow to Gimli.
"I am Mordollwen of Ithilien, adoptive daughter of Lord Elrond. I am here to accompany Prince Legolas on his journey as per his father's wishes."
Gimli blinked, obviously surprised by how formal and sharp she was, but grinned. "Glad to meet you, lass."
She nodded simply.
"Now, shall we have some supper?" Gimli suggested, pushing them to the kitchen table. "Sit, sit. Eat! I have prepared plenty."
So they did. The food was good, Morwen noted, for a dwarf without a wife.
After the meal was over, Gimli pulled out three mugs of ale and his pipe and smoked contentedly, pausing to sip on his ale every now and again. Legolas lifted his ale to say cheers to Morwen, but- "Wait. We must have a contest to see who can drink their ale faster."
He raised a dark brow. "What?"
"You heard what I said. Now come on!"
He looked skeptical, but agreed. "Gimli, would you be the judge?"
"Aye, laddie. I wouldn't miss this!" he snorted. "Now, ready… begin!"
And they did. Morwen sipped quickly, but Legolas was faster, having some semblance of practice with drinking as quickly as possible with that horrid drinking game he and the dwarf had had at Helm's Deep. He finished but a split second before she did, slamming his mug down on the table.
"Finished."
She smirked at him. "You won this time, but we'll see who wins next time."
He smiled at her mention of 'next time'. "Yes, we shall see."
And so went their time at the halls of Moria. Drinking contests, eating, chatting, and various games occupied most of their time. Morwen distanced herself from most of what they did, but would join them if either male asked her.
In the time she wasn't spending with them, she would stroll through the city, sometimes venturing outside the gates to wander through the trees, making sure to stay close, but not too close, to the gate. She would spend hour upon hour reading, climbing through the highest branches of some of the huge, old trees, or wading in a small stream that was nearby. At times she would have conversations with fish, birds or other animals, once even a full-grown moose.
During one of her times in the woods, she stood on a heavy branch of a particularly large tree, leaning against the trunk, a soft smile tracing over her lips. Legolas climbed up beside her, standing with a hand on a small overhead branch to steady himself.
"Is the game over?" she asked, the smile never leaving her lips.
"Yes." He glanced at her, noticing her look of complete and total tranquility. "What have you been doing?"
"Just… being, I suppose. I was climbing among the trees when the sun started to go down, so I came here. It's been my favorite spot to watch the sun set for the days we have been here."
He nodded. "It is always good to have a place of solitude." He began to climb down. "I shall leave you."
"Wait," he heard her whisper.
"What?" he asked, stopping in his motions.
"You needn't leave." She sank down to sit on the branch. "Come, watch the sunset with me."
He almost climbed down the tree, but stopped himself at the last second. What did it matter? She had only asked him to watch the sunset. He slipped up onto the branch beside her.
They silently watched until it was completely dark, then clambered down the tree and went in the gate back to Gimli's house.
