* This chapter was originally published incomplete, and with some serious grammar and plot mess-ups. It was pulled down for several days while I finished editing it.
Got this finished slightly sooner than I expected. :D Thanks so much for all the support, y'all!
hobbitJunki and warriorheart, yup, and this friend is actually a very important part of the plot line. We won't see her again for a long time, though.
Guest, here ya go. ;)
Hunter'smoon and Tk0vrDawn, thank you!
Again, some very important information in here. I apologize in advance for the big blocks of text. I am sure there are a few plot-holes I will come back and fix later on, but for now, enjoy!
Golden eyes. Small, deep-set under heavy brows. They followed her, glistening with malice.
"They were elves, once," she heard herself saying. "Taken by the Dark Powers. Tortured and mutilated, a ruined and terrible form of life." She paused. "And now – perfected. My fighting Uruk-Hai," she said, almost fondly. Her tone changed abruptly. " Whom do you serve?" she thundered.
The thing spoke, his voice a guttural rasp. "Saruman."
"Seena?" Someone was shaking her shoulder gently. The heavy stupor fled slightly, and she opened her mouth to try and speak. Her eyes were open. She blinked.
"What?" she rasped. Her vision began to clear slightly, Sam's face swimming slightly before her eyes. She blinked again, noticing the harsh texture of the bark against her back.
Sam crouched beside her, his face anxious. "Are you all right?"
She nodded, arching her back upward. It popped violently, and she winced. "I am sorry. I must have fallen asleep." Her eyes flicked around the vicinity, noting the absence of the others. Absently, she wondered where they were.
He nodded vigorously. "You were talking. Your eyes were wide open, as well. I did not know what to do."
She forced a smile, vehemently hoping she had not said anything of importance. "I am fine. I thank you for your concern." She stood, checking her glamour and weapons.
Sam stood, shifting from one foot to the other. "I wanted to talk to you," he blurted.
She turned back to him. "Aye?"
His eyes dropped from hers, roving along the ground. "When I first met you . . ." He paused, coughing. "You scared me. You still do, in a way. Aragorn says we can trust you, as do Boromir and Gimli. Even Mr. Frodo likes you. But – "
"Go on," Tauriel said gently, keenly aware that Legolas's name had not been mentioned.
He inhaled deeply. "You looked different, that time. You had red hair, and your face was different." He grasped for words. "I – I don't know how to explain it. Even now, sometimes you will turn, and your face will shift. I have seen it many times now."
She was silent for several moments. "You are perceptive," she said slowly. "And perhaps it will do us both some good to do away with the lies between us. Come, mellon. Sit with me."
Sam hesitated for a moment, then did so. "What do you wish to tell me?" he murmured.
"The truth, though in its own way it is worse than the lie."
His face clouded, and for an instant she wondered if he did not wish to know. "Very well."
She sighed regretfully. "It started many years ago in the realm of the Elvenking. I was a member of the Woodland Guard, tasked with protecting it. Legolas was also a participant, prince though he was. Slowly, I began to discover certain things that made me question not only who I was but where my loyalty should be placed. I spent many seasons searching for truths instead of the lies I so often encountered."
Sam looked at her with interest. "Did you find it?"
The corners of her mouth tightened. "Nay. I believed I had, for a time, but now I am not so sure. As of now, it is futile and distracting. " She forced her face to relax. "Thranduil – the Elvenking – played a part in the deception, although he truly believed it to be necessary. At the time, he was trying to protect me, looking upon me as he might a daughter. I defied him many times; and yet he always let me come back. Slowly, I fell away from him. In the process, I became . . . friends with his son – Legolas. In time, Thranduil saw fit to promote me. I became Captain, not only the youngest Captain in centuries, but one of only three females ever. For a time, I willingly followed the Elvenking's orders and requests. The Greenwood became dark and diseased, infected by spiders. The woodland was sick. Previously, I had had a connection to the trees, an ability that I inherited from my mother. That link had disappeared."
"How did you talk to the trees?" Sam broke in.
"The previous Elvenking, Oropher, had paid little mind to the woodland. My mother, who was at the time a friend of Thranduil's, began to develop an unforeseen connection to the Greenwood. The trees chose her over Oropher. Thranduil discovered her connection and unintentionally insulted my mother. She left, and her heart turned black against those who had once welcomed her. Even now, the Elvenking has no sway over the forest. Perhaps the connection has been forever broken with his line, though the trees speak to me no more than they do him." She glanced at Sam. "I stray from the point. Forgive me."
"`Tis no worry," Sam murmured, entranced.
"After some time, there were intruders to the forest. Dwarves, and they are often reviled by our kind. I saved one of them, and he had a . . . fascination with me. Long maddened with the Elvenking and worried about the woodland, I was lost in my own mind, and listened to him. I found that he was similar to me in ways I had not previously comprehended. I was drawn to him, or perhaps I just yearned for freedom. Thranduil had begun to worry that Legolas thought of me as more than a mere friend."
She stopped, her heart aching slightly. He did, she thought. I know that now. She shook herself, clearing her mind.
"The dwarves escaped, and I followed them, fully intending to do my duty. There were Orcs waiting for them, and there was a skirmish. The dwarf I had spoken to was injured. They escaped, and I captured an Orc. Thranduil, Legolas, and I questioned him, and he spoke of things I had had little knowledge of before. Things that I knew I had to prevent. And so I left, my intent being to find the dwarves and help them, setting things right and making sure our land was safe. Legolas followed me," she said softly.
"Why?" Sam whispered.
"He feared for me. He wanted me to come back with him and apologize to his father. I could not," she said, her voice shaking.
Sam placed a hand on her arm. "I'm sorry," he said.
She chuckled, almost scornfully. "It was all my doing. I earn no sympathy." She continued. "When I refused, Legolas continued to follow me. I consented, and we found the dwarves, battling the Orcs once more. I found that the dwarf was gravely injured."
"What was his name?"
Her throat burned, but she forced the word out. "Kili. I healed him the best I could, and was unable to continue onwards with Legolas. He was greatly angered by what he saw as my betrayal, and perhaps he was right. A dragon attacked the town in which they hid, and we were forced to flee. Later on, Kili and I parted ways. He gave me a stone, telling me to keep it 'as a promise.' Legolas found me once more, and I discovered that I was banished."
"Why?" Sam asked.
"I directly defied the Elvenking," Tauriel explained. "Legolas requested that I join him, and I consented. We discovered something that could change the course of what seemed to be a battle. We returned, and I confronted the Elvenking once more." Her eyes went dark. "Thranduil came very close to destroying me that day, and likely would have if Legolas had not prevented it, telling his father that to kill me, he would have to kill his son. There was indeed a battle. I almost died, and Kili saved me," she said, glossing over many other incidents and facts. "And - the one who had tried to kill me – killed him." Her eyes stung with hot tears, and her chest was tight. "Legolas could not stand to return to his home after I ran, and left. I know not where he went. Thranduil apologized, in his own way, and likely would have let me return with him. But I ran, caring nothing for those I left behind. I hated myself," she whispered. "I wanted to die. But I didn't. I came back, and now I am here, trying to heal myself, protect the Ring-Bearer, and make amends with those I once cared for."
Sam was silent for several long moments, digesting the information she had given him. "I am sorry," he said again, and his words were sincere.
She smiled, albeit weakly. "Thank you, mellonamin."
Sam faltered, and she raised an encouraging brow at him.
"What – what is your real name?" he asked weakly.
She hesitated. I have already told him my story, and risked all. Why not tell him my name? "Tauriel," she finally whispered. "My name is – was Tauriel."
"What does it mean?"
"Daughter of the Forest," Tauriel said. And then, quieter, "Daughter of Mirkwood."
"Why do you no longer carry that name?" he wondered.
She was silent for several moments. "It was my birth name. It is somewhat . . . traditional. And I could no longer go by Tauriel amongst those who knew me." She paused. "May I drop my glamour?"
Sam gave her a bizarre look, but nodded.
Tauriel sighed with relief inwardly. Far from an expert in holding the glamour in the first place, the stress and strain made it even harder to hold it strong, and it drained her utterly. Color flooded her hair and face, her brows turning a shade lighter as her nose and lips changed.
Sam stared at her in something akin to awe, his mouth slack. "How do you do that?" he demanded.
The corners of her mouth turned up. "`Tis one of the few forms of magic I am able to implement. "
Sam nodded, his face set firmly in an expression of confusion.
Tauriel's ears picked up something. She turned her head, focusing as hard as she could on the faint sound.
Voices. Faint though they were, they were approaching at a comparatively rapid pace.
"Sam," Tauriel hissed, sliding the glamour back into place, "they do not know. None of them. Do you understand me? You cannot breathe a word of this to anyone. It will be our undoing."
Her words were harsh, and he recoiled slightly, but nodded.
She sighed with relief. "I am sorry," she said softly. "I had to be sure."
"It's all right," Sam said generously. "I understand."
They waited together, filling the silence with mindless words, plucked randomly from their mouths and scattered to the wind.
Someone entered the clearing behind them. Tauriel resisted the urge to turn around, every nerve on fire with the strain. "Seena." It was Legolas, and she turned to meet his gaze. His eyes were neither cold nor warm, and it bothered her that she was unable to read his expression.
Tauriel turned away, closing her eyes for a brief moment. Sam's eyes met hers, round and scared for her. "Go," he whispered. "I will stay silent, do not fear."
She forced a smile, patting his shoulder as she unfolded herself and stood. "Aye?" It was directed towards Legolas.
He remained impassive. "Come with me."
Haldir faced Lady Galadriel, his back ramrod straight. "My lady," he murmured.
She sighed softly, perhaps even absently. "What did you think of her?"
He frowned slightly. "Unique," he said shortly. "I cannot place her, even with her features unchanged. She does, of course, bear a resemblance to her mother, but she is also remarkably dissimilar."
She turned to him, her face remarkably serene despite the circumstances. "She can fight?"
The marchwarden nodded shortly. "She is exceptionally skilled, and not so much through incessant practice but because of a natural aptitude. I have rarely seen the like." His words were slightly troubled. "If she chose to turn against us, she could be exceedingly dangerous."
Galadriel sighed again, her blue eyes troubled. "I fear for her. She has much to overcome in the coming days. She will be pushed to her limits, and then some. She will either break or bend." Her eyes met Haldir's, and words echoed in his mind.
Haldir bowed. "As you wish, my lady."
Tauriel hesitantly followed Legolas, pacing herself several steps behind. She jumped and nearly cried out as he whirled on her. "What did the Lady of Lorien tell you?" he demanded.
She took another step backwards, exhaling shakily. "Nothing of importance," she said. "Why do you ask?"
He followed her, his shoulders set. His eyes were hard as stone. "Tell me," he demanded, "where is your birth-place?"
Tauriel felt herself stiffen, and quickly strengthened the glamour. "I know not," she said shortly. "I have few memories of my life before I arrived in the Greenwood."
His face did not change. "Do not lie to me," he said harshly, and Tauriel recoiled. Never before had she seen him like this, and it was disturbing.
"I – I am not lying, my lord," she murmured, unconsciously adding a title to the end of her sentence. "I truly do not know."
Something flickered in his grey eyes – regret? Anger? Some of the tension left him. "Very well," he said flatly. "Forgive me." The words were clearly a courtesy and nothing more.
Tauriel looked at him, searching for any hint to the source of his anger. "What is wrong?" she asked softly.
He frowned. "`Tis none of your concern."
Her eyes narrowed, and she drifted slightly closer. "But I, too, am a member of the Fellowship. It is my concern."
Annoyance flashed bright in his eyes, but quickly disappeared. "As you wish." His voice was acidic. "Let it suffice to say that you bear a disquieting resemblance to . . . someone I used to know. I wish to understand who you really are."
Hurt flashed across her face. "What do you wish to know?"
"Who you are and why you are here. It is clear that you are not unfamiliar with the Golden Wood."
Tauriel hesitated. "I cannot say," she said slowly. "At least, I cannot say what you wish to hear. I am unable to tell you my true reasons for being here."
"Why?" he demanded.
"It is a part of my past I have no wish to revisit," she whispered.
Legolas stepped away, all anger drained away. "I apologize. I have been – troubled of late." He inclined his head. "I will speak to you again later."
She closed her eyes, sagging against a tree. I am sorry, she thought. I truly am.
It was dawn, and dew clung, jewel-like, to the blades of grass on which she stood. Her feet were booted, but even so they were becoming slightly chilled. The Lady of Light turned, her face perfectly calm. It was unsettling, in its own way.
"I can offer you nothing," she said softly and regretfully. "Nothing but words, weak though they may seem."
Tauriel waited in silence.
"Hope," Galadriel said clearly. "Cling to it in the coming darkness. Strength. It will protect you. Joy – for there will be very little of it." She paused, her eyes as deep as the sea. "And love, for though it has hurt you in the past, it may very well be your only shield against Shadow."
Farewell, Tauriel said, unable to speak, and even her mental voice shook with repressed emotions. I thank you.
Blue eyes flashed bright in her mind, a smile curving full lips. Farewell, Daughter of the Forest.
It might be a while before the next update. Real life is currently breathing down my neck. :/ Hope y'all enjoyed the tidbits of Legolas/Tauriel conversation (if you are up in arms about his attitude, trust me, there is a reason!).
For those of you interested in reading more of my work while you're waiting for the next update, I published an angsty one-shot featuring Tauriel. It's essentially plot-less, but was fun to write.
R&R, please!