Hey, guys! …

...So, how have you been?

I am very awkward. And also quite guilty because I haven't updated in like… 6 months. I'm really sorry! I hope you can forgive me :) Anyways, hope you enjoy this chapter, where the Fellowship has its first brush with danger. Or something.

Do you think I'm getting weirder? Lol :P Happy reading!

I'm fairly certain that my eyelashes are frozen. I blink several times, and feel the ice surrounding my lashes bob up and down. Great.

I glance behind me at Legolas to see how he's faring, but instantly regret it. Just as the books foretold, his shoes don't sink into the snow even an inch, and his hair only has a few snowflakes dusted across it while my hair is already soaking wet from the mountains of snow that have fallen on my head. Seriously?

Legolas looks up and catches me scowling at him. He raises an eyebrow, but all I do is squeeze the water out of my scraggly hair and give him a look like, What do you THINK I'm annoyed about?

As I turn around I hear Legolas chuckling softly. I roll my eyes.

A few hours later, as I'm squeezing water out of my hair for like the hundredth time, Brooke glances back at me over her shoulder, and tries to hide a grin. "Cela, you look like you jumped in a lake, ran through a snowstorm, and then borrowed some of Gandalf's hair."

Legolas laughs softly. "That is an insult to Gandalf's hair."

Brooke bursts into laughter, and she is promptly joined by Gimli, whose hair is honestly worse than Gandalf's at the moment, if you ask me. Cheeks burning, I angrily stuff my hair back into my huge coat and glare at them. "There. Happy?"

Ignoring me, they exchange a look, then continue to laugh even more enthusiastically. Rolling my eyes, I stomp up the rocky path away from them, spurred on by a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

A moment later, Legolas taps my shoulder so suddenly that I jump in surprise and give a little yelp. Then, my feet slipping on the slippery ground, I begin to slide off the narrow snowy ledge (that we've been inching across for the past hour). Luckily, Legolas catches my arm just in time, and hoists me back onto the path.

As soon as I catch my breath, I start yelling at him. "Don't DO that!" I snap at him, a little more harshly than I intend to.

Legolas doesn't seem to notice my angry tone. "I apologize, Cela," he says as he offers me a hand.

Glaring at him, I grab his hand, and use the momentum to jump back on my feet. Swiping at a few dirty hairs that are attempting to poke my eyes to death, I open my mouth to unleash a storm of angry words on Legolas, then stop short. I thought you were trying to be patient with him, Cela. Plus, whenever you yell at him, it just confirms everyone's suspicions about how you're too hostile to work with anyone. So WORK WITH HIM. Prove them wrong.

I give a huff in exasperation, then shake my hair back onto my shoulders and give Legolas a small smile. "Ugh, sorry, Legolas. I've just been really worried about this stupid quest thing, and how I'm supposed to be paying attention to every small detail and making sure that absolutely nothing goes wrong so I'm just…" my voice trails off. Wait a minute. I'm supposed to be PAYING ATTENTION. What the heck am I doing right now?! Oh my gosh. Do you even know where we are? And what about the next part of the story, where there's a huge snowstorm and the hobbits almost DIE?!

My heart beginning to race, I look around wildly for any sign of the upcoming storm.

Legolas looks more than a little confused, but he laughs at my poor attempt of an apology anyway. "Do not give it a thought, Cela. You have been very attentive, I assure you. You warned us of the crebain, and I am certain-"

"Legolas," I cut him off sharply. "Do you hear anything?"

Undeterred by my sudden change of topic, Legolas stops short and turns around in a full circle, his eyes narrowing. Something makes me note the way he instantly obeys my command, and gives it his utmost attention. I thought he thought of me as a silly, incapable little girl to be taken of. But he doesn't, I realize. He respects me.

Legolas turns to face me so suddenly that I don't have enough time to avert my eyes and hide the fact that I was staring at him. Luckily, he doesn't seem to notice or care. "I do not like the way the wind seems to always be pushing against us, nor the way the snow is falling heavier than I have ever seen in this area before. Something seems to have a hatred for us," he adds, uncomfortably eyeing the air around us.

Just as if the "something" Legolas is speaking of has heard every word he says, the snow suddenly begins to fall faster and faster. I look fearfully at Legolas as the snowflakes are transformed into denser and colder flakes that fall into the openings of my coat and melt into slushy pools of suffocating cold.

Legolas simply shakes his head in reply and urges me up the path so we may catch up to the others. "Be certain that you see the person ahead of you!" he calls out to the rest of the Fellowship, then turns to me urgently, hurriedly adding, "I will be behind you at all times. Call to me if you are in need of any assistance. Keep your eyes on the dwarf."

"The 'dwarf' has a name, Elf!" Gimli grumbles at him, but the Legolas ignores him, choosing instead to stare at me and wait for a confirmation that I understood his instructions.

I touch his arm to reassure him. "There's no time, Legolas. I will be fine," I reply, before trudging clumsily up the path after Gimli.