I own Nothing from the Lord of the Rings, (Sighs sadly) just the OC's Elhíni and Elkal. Takes place after Return of the King.

Antan len sina nyárë vanyó az nírion az laliewa az melmëo az lendó az estelo

I present to you this tale of a beauty and tears and laughter and love and a journey and hope.

A/N: This is 10 years after Elhíni set out from Mirkwood. We finally learn the story behind Elhíni's vendetta, why she's so violent. Hope you guys like it!

Chapter 9

Trenaro

Tell the tale

"It began about ninety years ago…"

"I was but a young elf," Elhíni began, "When my parents were murdered by the same band of Orcs you saw me fight,"

She watched the mortal Man's face, his dark eyes seemed full of pain.

"I do not have to tell my story if you wish not to hear it," she amended, "We could begin with yours,"

"No," Elkal said, shaking his head, "I just…I presumed that that was how you became the way you were, you lost someone close to you."

"And you would be correct."

"Continue, please," he asked softly.

Elhíni gave a small sigh.

"I was naught but ten years of age, very young by elven standards. My parents and I had journeyed to the outer Northern reaches of Mirkwood to watch the spectacle that would occur that night…the moon was to disappear on that very night, my parents wished for me to see it.

"I was greatly excited, for I knew it would be a rare sight. My uncle had told me that the moon would become red as blood and then slowly disappear. Like the honey cakes at the Summer Festival! Oh how I wanted to see it!

"The moon was akin to a round, silver coin that night, and I was growing impatient. We had been sitting outside the eaves of Mirkwood for hours on end waiting. The stars began to glow brightly as the spring breeze blew through our unbound hair.

"It was paradise, or as close to Mandos' Halls as one can get upon Arda."

Her face darkened slightly.

"The moon suddenly turned red as blood on a battle-ready blade…And then, right as it vanished…they came. Like a swarm of flies upon the carcass of a stag, they came. Black and mottled and twisted, the Orcs of Mordor, sent to find the One that was lost.

"How they had managed to get this far, I will never know, but they had. I was the first to spot them, my eyes sharp and keen for a blood-like moon. I raised an alarm, and my parents reacted.

"My father grabbed his bow, nocking many arrows to the string and fired upon the Orcs. My mother picked me up and began to run back to the forest, we would be safe there. But we never made it.

"It seemed that the Orcs are just as keen with a bow as we are, for as soon as my mother began to run, an Orc archer shot her in the back."

Tears streamed down Elhíni's face as she remembered the look in her mother's eyes.

"She spoke to me, before she died. She told me that she loved me, more than anything Ilúvatar could have given her. She told me to run, 'Run as fast as you can Elhíni,' she said. But I could not, what of father? I could not leave them!

"I heard my father's screams of pain and he finally collapsed, falling next to my mother. I never got to say goodbye to him, Elkal!

"I picked up his bow…he had dropped it when he had died, and I killed them,"

Her eyes flared in anger.

"I killed as many Orcs as I could. But I still would have died, it was the will of Ilúvatar that my uncle, Thranduil, came to my rescue. Apparently some revelers had witnessed the whole ordeal and had sent for him. But it was too late, my parents were dead and the Orcs had been put to flight by the both of us. He took me home and treated me as his own daughter. I grew up around the palace, haunted by the horrible ordeal until I decided I was going to avenge my parents.

"I followed the Orcs for many miles and many years, ten years since I last saw Mirkwood. I had traversed from Mirkwood, to the border of Lothlórien, through the Gap of Rohan, all the way to the banks of the Anduin, where I finally had my chance to exact revenge. And where my folly caught up to me.

"Where you found me, dying with a knife in my side,"

She began to sob, and Elkal put his arm around her.

"I-I am s-such a-a f-fool," she sobbed, leaning into him.

"I do not see a fool, Elhíni," Elkal said softly, "I see a brave young elf who values her family above all else, I see a huntress who is undaunted by the thought of death, only the fact that she will lose that which she holds dear."

Elhíni's sobs died down into nothingness over the next few hours, Elkal lifted her chin.

She stared into his dark blue eyes, surprised to see tears beginning to well up in them.

"Now it is my turn," he said softly.

She straightened the folds of her shirt, embarrassed with her emotional outburst, but she looked at him, interested all the same.

"You have no need to feel ashamed, Elhíni," Elkal said softly, "We should not keep feelings of hatred, anger, or sadness bottled up inside us, for in the end…it will destroy us."

"I…I am ready to listen," she answered, watching him closely.

"Six years ago," The Man began, "I was on leave with my best friend, Thalion…"

A/N Two in one night! Sorry, got bored and decided to write some on this. The next chapter will be Elkal's story. I think he feels sorry for her! :) Let's see what's next…shall we?

Qui vállë tóquetë, ván tecë (If no review comes from y'all; no story comes from me)

Máriessë ar mára tecië

Farewell and fair writing

Elhini Prime signing off.