CHAPTER XIV – Trees and Trees

Hello everyone!

Another chapter for you guys. It was hard to write, and I had many moments where I'd be staring at my laptop screen in front of me.

But, here it is and I hope you'll enjoy it!

DISCLAIMER: I own nothing of Tolkien's and Peter Jackson's work.

I am not from this world.

No. No, that sounded weird and it wasn't true. She was born here after all.

I grew up in another world.

Ugh, no something else. That sounded stupid. Maybe another way to announce it.

I'm not who you think I am.

God, no. That sounded too dramatic.

Emery shook her head. How was she ever going to explain this? It was impossible to bring this up in a normal way. She'd been traveling with the Company for a while now, and she had difficulty keeping her secret from the men. They deserved to know, even though Gandalf had told her not to say anything about it. But she noticed the men were becoming wary of her and her strange behavior; she had heard them saying it themselves back in Edoras.

Telling them had crossed her mind many times, but every time she had thought of an opening sentence, she thought it sounded stupid by second thought.

It was the first night in this strange forest, and Emery was on first watch. She'd offered it when she noticed the others looked rather weary. Not that she was any less tired than the men, but she simply knew she wouldn't be able to sleep this night.

The images of the monstrous creatures kept lingering in her mind. It was the least she'd expected. She thought her mind would be tormented by the Orcs who had tried to kill her, not the other way around. It was hard to believe that she had actually killed them. It was murder, homicide, no matter the fact that they were the bad guys.

Emery kept telling herself that they were. She had read about their attacks on villages. She knew how they had killed every man, woman and even child. They even raped the women, before killing them off ruthless.

But still. She had killed the Orcs just as ruthless. She hadn't even thought about it; she had followed her instinct. But wasn't that the difference? Those monsters didn't kill on instinct, they killed because they wanted to, for sport, even if the victims hadn't done anything wrong. Emery had done it to defend herself, not out of furious hate. Or, was that furious hate there after all?

It was different when she killed them with her bow and arrow. That was from a distance, there was no physical contact at all. However with that blade, which she had given back to Legolas with shaky hands as soon as she had woken up, she had come so much closer. The Orcs were no more a target. They had been the enemy. And the enemy had to die.

She stiffened when she heard a deep, grumbling sound. It sounded like a groan, but it definitely was inhuman, and it didn't come from an Elf, Dwarf or the Hobbits.

Emery looked around, narrowing her eyes as she tried to focus on her hearing as well. Everyone seemed to sleep through the sounds she'd been hearing during her shift. They looked peacefully, obviously feeling at ease here.

Emery was feeling anything but. This forest had such a weird aura, and she didn't know if she liked this or not. Probably the latter.

Deep in thought she plucked the blades of grass, brows furrowed in a frown. Why did she feel like the others knew something about this place she didn't?

When hearing another groan that sounded like it was right behind her, she looked around once more. She sprang up, noticing one of the bedrolls was empty. Her eyes scanned over the Company. It was the bedroll of-

She caught the sound of something so soft that she knew exactly who it was.

"Legolas", she muttered under her breath, but rolled her eyes before she spun around.

"That might be the best reaction I have ever received for sneaking up on you, if I recall", he grinned, blue eyes twinkling in the dark.

She chuckled softly. "You're right," she said, "but that doesn't change the fact you were sneaking up on me."

"That is true," he smiled, "I apologize."

Emery shook her head. "No apologies needed."

Her shoulders tensed upon hearing another sound coming out of the deep, dark forest. Emery shivered and put her arms around herself, feeling like they were being watched.

"I don't like this place", she whispered.

He looked at where the rumbling came from, but not with a worried look on his face as Emery had.

"I once felt the same, Emery," he said, turning to her again with a smile. "But now I know there is nothing to fear."

She tilted her head, curious for his elaboration.

"What do you feel?", Legolas asked her. Now she looked at him confused. What did he mean by that?

Then she remembered something Gandalf had said once, back in Minas Tirith: 'Elves are lovers of nature. And by that I do not just mean that they are the type who just like the outdoors. They bond with the nature. They sense the nature. And last of all, they unite with nature.'

She sighed and looked at the trees in front of her, not in fear or agony anymore, but with curiosity. Emery closed her eyes, not sure what to do and feeling a bit awkward as she felt Legolas watching her. She tried to relax, rolled her shoulders and focused on the forest's scent. It took some seconds before she could surrender herself to the woods.

She smiled. The scent reminded her of her Spring Break two years ago, when she was in Northern California with her family. She always loved the forests, just like she loved the water.

Actually, she loved nature. Quite the coincidence. You'd think.

The scent of leaves and grass and the wood of the trees filled her nose, overwhelming her. It was unlike any forest; much more vivid. It was like she could smell what had occurred here from the beginning to now. She could smell the rain that had let the trees grow and had washed away the dirt, purifying these woods. She could catch the scent of summer, the sun shining on the forest- whatever the smell of the sun might be.

But then something changed. The smell became unpleasant. It reminded her of the smell of factories and machines. She frowned, but kept her eyes closed.

It was the smell of metal. However, she didn't only smell things anymore; she felt things. She winced when she felt something slash inside her. The realization hit her. The forest was being cut down! She couldn't do anything. She wanted to scream, a wave of pain and fear filling her body.

The feeling became so unpleasant that she almost wanted to open her eyes. Almost. But before she could, it began to change again. Everything began to change. A certain emotion rushed through her, just like it rushed through the forest.

Anger. Maybe even fury. As if the remaining trees were angry at the ones who had cut the woods down. And out of that fury came determination. Flashes of images flew before her eyes. It was confusing, but somehow Emery understood every last bit of it.

Finally, out of the determination came… victory.

Emery's eyes flew open, pulled back into reality. She breathed heavily and gasped when she looked at the forest now. It was like she finally saw what had been hiding behind the curtain. Her eyes darted from tree to tree, and eventually fell back on the blonde Elf. He smiled upon seeing the look on her face. It was a look of surprise, perhaps even amazement, and wonder.

"What do you feel?", he asked her again.

She frowned, thinking deeply. "I feel…" she started, and lowered her head. She wanted to say victory, but that wasn't what she felt. Because even though they had won that… battle, she felt more was coming. It was… "premonition."

He frowned at her in turn, confused, waiting for her to explain. Emery looked back up at him, a look of shock on her face. "It's hard to explain," she stammered, "it's like, I know everything about the history of this forest even though I haven't been here before. And now that they've won this certain march, I feel this forest is waiting for a new battle." She paused, debating her words, and then whispered, "maybe even a new war."

Emery ate her breakfast in silence, thinking about the weird experience of last night. She hadn't closed an eye after it, too tensed to sleep. After what she'd said about the forest, Legolas had done the same. He had closed his eyes like she had done, but after three seconds he had opened them again. "You are right", he had said. She didn't know why, but she had a weird feeling about this. No longer was she scared in the forest. The only thing that had irritated her was the thick air in the woods, but that was it.

It was a long day. She had no idea how long they'd been walking when they stopped for a quick break. Only when the night fell again she plumped down on the ground, leaning against a tree. Dinner was again the same; sausages and tomatoes. She ate little of it, though she was hungry. She didn't talk a lot with the others, and Aragorn noticed she was quieter than usually.

"How are you faring, Emery?"

She looked up, a little surprised by the voice in the silence.

"I'm fine, I guess", she answered. Aragorn looked at her, like he didn't believe a word of it. he sighed. "Maybe you shouldn't go on watch tonight", he said. Emery looked up, about to protest. But she knew he was right. She was tired, exhausted actually. She nodded and walked to her bedroll. Before she knew it, she fell into a deep sleep.

When she woke up, she immediately knew it was early. As in, before dawn early. She yawned, stretched and stood up, brushing herself off. She looked around. Everyone was still asleep. Legolas was on last watch, as always. Shit, she thought be herself. He'd probably already heard her.

Still, that didn't stop her from walking a little further away from the Company. She made her way through the woods, but made sure the place where the others were sleeping was still visible. She looked back, to make sure the blonde Elf wasn't sneaking up on her as he always did, and almost walked into a tree. She looked up. That is one hell of a big tree. She grinned as she inspected its branches. The first branch was pretty low. If she jumped, she would easily reach it.

She jumped, and her hands grasped the branch. With a smooth, Elvish movement she swung her legs over the branch. Her face down to the ground, she almost fell when she saw Legolas beneath her.

"God dammit, Legolas!", she almost yelled, "and here I thought I was cautious enough, looking back in case I was being followed."

He smiled in amusement. "I was on watch, Emery. It is my task to look after the Company", he said, but instead of turning around to go back to his shift, he stayed there, looking up to Emery.

She frowned. "Shouldn't you keep watch then?", she asked suspicious. He shook his head. "I woke Aragorn."

Emery nodded and looked up at the tree. She spotted another branch that was easy for her to reach from here. Just when she was about to jump, Legolas spoke up.

"Perhaps it is better to stay on the ground instead of in trees," he said, "at least, in this forest."

She shrugged and jumped anyways. She reached branch after branch, and rambled along the way. "I've always loved climbing trees. I don't know why, I always did that as a child. My brother Thomas and I always played games and pretended to be monkeys. It's stupid, but gosh, what fun we had. My mother didn't like it that I was so 'adventurous' though. She was always scared I would fa-"

A loud rumbling was heard and it caught Emery of guard. She didn't fall though, but that changed when she suddenly saw two eyes staring at her. She shrieked and her hands weren't holding the branches anymore. She heard Legolas calling her name as she fell down, but before she hit the ground, someone caught her. Or rather, some thing.

Before she knew what happened, she was held by an enormous hand, and she found herself looking at a tree with… eyes?!

She was about to scream for help when she heard Legolas' voice.

"Emery," he said calmly, "stay quiet and do not move."

She looked down and saw a tiny blonde Elf standing on the ground. She was high above it and a weird squeak escaped her mouth. She was never afraid of heights, but this… was under different circumstances.

She looked back up at the tree.

"Boom-bara-boom, what do we have here?", a low voice said. Emery blinked and said nothing for ten seconds.

"L-Legolas," Emery stammered in fear, "the tree… it TALKS!"

The tree chuckled. What the fucking fuck?

"Why, of course I talk," he boomed, "I am an Ent. But tell me, young Elleth, what may I call you?"

Emery couldn't believe it. A tree- or Ent, had just ASKED her name. She was TALKING to a tree.

"I'm E-Emery," she stammered, still stuck in the Ent's tight grip. "C-Could you perhaps let go of me? My friend is down there." I can't believe I'm asking a fucking tree to let me go.

"Are you not interested in my name?", the Ent asked.

She wanted to shake her head furiously, but figured she should be nice to the Ent. Heh. He had saved her from a nasty fall after all. "Of course I am, Mr. Tree, I apologize. I was simply caught off guard by seeing a tree with eyes", she said, the words drenched with sarcasm. She heard a chuckle and looked down to see the whole Company was watching how she was talking to a tree.

"Not funny, Aragorn", she said, rolling her eyes.

"Treebeard!", she heard Pippin call happily. The trees eyes widened and he looked down as well.

"Ah," he sighed lowly, "my dear Hobbits, Merry and Pippin." His other hand picked the two up, and the Hobbits didn't struggle like Emery had.

"Your name is Treebeard?!", Emery asked with a frown. She looked next to her at the Hobbits. Merry nodded cheerfully. "Yes," he said, "we have met him before, haven't we Treebeard?" The tree nodded- she didn't know how, but he did it.

"Thank you", Emery muttered as she was put down on the ground.

"Tell us, Treebeard," Aragorn said as he stepped forward and looked up to the tree, "why are you and the other Ents waking up again?"

"Boom-bara-boom… Something is happening," Treebeard said, his voice low as a baritone, "all Ents feel it. Peace was upon us. Not anymore."

Emery felt her shoulders tense and noticed the others stiffened as well. What did he mean by that?

"What do you mean?", Aragorn asked with a frown.

"It is merely a presage, we Ents know nothing of it", the Ent answered. Emery frowned, and her eyes met the eyes of Legolas. So she was right after all; something was coming.

"We have to go to Lothlórien," Legolas said, turning to Aragorn, "as soon as possible."

Aragorn nodded. The Company said goodbye to Treebeard, Merry and Pippin even gave him a hug. Faramir looked at the scene oddly. Emery figured he hadn't seen an Ent before as well. After breakfast they took off, their pace had quickened now. Emery expected to grow tired, but she didn't get tired at all. She walked somewhere in the middle of the group, in front of the Hobbits, who were talking about who was better at fighting in battles.

"Hey, lady Emery?", she heard Merry behind her. She turned around and saw how they came to walk next to her. "Please, just Emery", she said, probably for the hundredth time. Merry nodded.

"I couldn't help but notice you fighting with that Orc back then," he said, "where did you learn to fight like that?"

Gimli turned around. "Aye, I saw it too," he said, "lass, you've got some power in those muscles." Emery laughed. "Why, thank you, Gimli," she said with a grin, "I didn't think I'd ever receive a compliment from you." The Dwarf grunted and was about to say something when Aragorn turned around too.

"No serious, Emery," Aragorn suddenly said as he looked back at her, "you seem pretty skilled at hand-to-hand combat. That is not so usual for a woman."

"It's called kickboxing."

She quickly put a hand over her mouth. "I mean, err… I call it kickboxing."

"What is kickboxing?", Pippin asked confused.

"It's… what I did. I just gave it a certain name. Kick, because you can use your legs and boxing because… because it sounds nice?" She huffed, that was the stupidest explanation of the meaning of the word. But she couldn't really explain how it worked, since… well, obviously because it wasn't something you'd come across here.

The Hobbits frowned, just like everyone who listened, but nodded anyway. "And I didn't have a sword to defend myself, so I thought I'd use my own weapon. It's not lethal though, he was only knock-out", she added and realized the others maybe didn't know that word. "Uhm, unconscious."

They walked further, and further and further, until finally, the trees weren't that close to each other anymore. Only half an hour later, the edge of the forest was visible. Emery sighed. "Finally", she muttered as she stepped in the high grass. She could see the blue sky again, the sun shining brightly. It was a little past noon and she grabbed an apple out of her pack.

After the short pause they walked further again. She missed Amir. What had happened to their horses? Had they escaped? Or were they killed by the Orcs? She almost dropped a tear. She always found it worse to see a horse die in a movie than a soldier. And now Amir was gone.

It wasn't long when she fell into pace next to Legolas. They didn't talk for a while, which didn't really matter. Finally, Legolas spoke up.

"I must say, I have seen very few Elleths fighting like you did," he said, earning a curious gaze. "Not even many Elves fight like that."

Emery shrugged, not really knowing what to say. "Why did you not fight like that during the first ambush? On our way to Edoras?", he asked.

She frowned, not knowing the answer to that question. "I don't really know," she said honestly, "maybe because I… forgot? It was the first time I'd been in an attack like that. I guess I thought the bow was better, but forgot about my real skills. And now, I guess I was just really, really angry. About what they did to Ava. The images of her sitting there against the tree, so injured, kept flashing through my mind."

He looked at her and smiled. "You are very brave, Emery."

She huffed. "No, I'm not. I'm anything but, believe me."

"I do not believe you."

She eyed him, and almost stopped walking. Suddenly she felt her cheeks grow warm and looked down at the ground, earning a curious gaze from the Elf.

"You know what I don't believe?", she muttered, and looked in front of her where another forest doomed up. "That I talked to a TREE several hours ago."

He shook his head and chuckled. "It was a funny sight I must say."

"Was it that funny for you to call the others?"

"You yelled so loud that they came running over here with concerned faces."

She snorted. "I don't think I'll ever climb in a tree again."

A little while later, Legolas was called by Aragorn and Emery was walking alone again. But she didn't mind. It gave her the opportunity to think. Actually, every time she was alone she would sink in thoughts. They varied from Ava to her mother to home to the Orcs. God, she was getting tired of them. She just wished she could put those thoughts in a box and to never come across them again.

"The woods of Lothlórien", Aragorn said right before they entered the forest.

"There aren't any talking or moving trees here, right?", Emery asked hesitantly.

"No," Aragorn chuckled, "and I do not think you are the only one to be relieved."

Emery noticed then Faramir seemed relieved just like her. She smiled at him before walking into the forest.

They had walked non-stop until dark, and then continued walking the next morning. Emery let out a long breath when Aragorn announced they'd have a brief break to eat something and rest. She dropped her rucksack and squatted to grab an apple. She squeaked when she felt something poking her chin. She looked up to see an arrow pointed straight to her throat.

"Erio." Stand up/rise.

The Elf's voice was cold and his face was hard. Emery swallowed and raised her hands as a sign of peace. Like she was told, she stood up, facing the Elf. She didn't even have time to think about the fact she had understood what he said, because he forced her towards the others.

Emery felt her heart in her throat and tried to steady her breathing. She walked backwards until she bumped into Aragorn. He put his hands up as well and stepped forward. Another Elf stepped forward and with a small gesture, he ordered the Elf in front of Aragorn to lower his bow. The rest however, kept their strings taut, the arrows pointing straight between the members' eyes.

The Elf who had stepped forward was probably the leader or something, Emery figured. As she looked at each and every Elf surrounding them, she noticed their blank faces, not showing any empathy and emotions. Each kept glaring at their target, and so did the Elf in front of her.

She could spot a spark of recognition in the leader's eyes as he looked at the Company. His gaze rested on Faramir for a short second, and then it shifted to her. She could easily see how he tried to suppress the curiosity in his face, but still his brows quirked a little.

The Elf had blonde hair, though different than Legolas' hair. Where Legolas his hair was light blonde, sometimes even platinum in bright sun light she'd noticed, this Elf had golden hair. Actually, every Elf here had golden hair.

"Orophin," Aragorn spoke, "telim adh sîdh." Orophin, we come with/in peace.

The Elf, whose name was Orophin apparently, looked at him cautiously. "This seems all too familiar, Estel", he said, suddenly shifting to Common Speech. She tilted her head a bit, watching him curiously. The only Elf she'd ever seen was Legolas- and herself in the mirror. Orophin stood stately; his chin high and his eyes looking down. He should know better, Emery thought. Aragorn was a king after all.

"My Company requests to speak with the Lady of Light: lady Galadriel. It is urgent", the Gondorian king said.

The Elf gestured the other guards to lower their weapons, and Emery felt like she could breathe again when the Elf in front of her put his arrow back in his quiver, and swung his bow in a smooth movement over his shoulder.

"You are most welcome here," Orophin said and smiled at Aragorn. "My brother Rúmil and Celechon shall lead you into the woods. Go now, the Lady awaits you."

An Elf from the back and the Elf in front of her suddenly moved and began to walk. "Hannon le", she heard Aragorn say to Orophin. "Emery, move", he then said to her, gave her a gentle push and walked past her. She inhaled sharply and followed him and the Elves who was either Rúmil or Cele-thing.

They walked in silence, taking in their walked in line; Aragorn right behind the Elves, then Emery, Legolas, Gimli, the Hobbits and Faramir. Even though most of the Company had already seen the forests of Lothlórien before, its beauty still amazed them. Which was logical, because the woods were truly enchanting. Emery almost tripped when she looked around to notice that the trees were growing taller and bigger every step she took.

The two Elves walked in the front, leading them on. Emery looked up and saw some sort of platform in a tree. She frowned. Tree houses? Did the Elves live in trees? The further they walked, the more tree houses she spotted high in the trees. Sometimes there were more than one in a tree, sometimes just one bigger house.

She sighed. Emery had always wanted to live in a tree house for a week or so. How the view must be from up there! She recalled the moment her dad had made a small tree house for Thomas and her in their own tree in the backyard. Emery smiled. Those were fun times.

She tapped Aragorn on the shoulder. He looked back at her. "You've been here before right?" she asked him. He nodded. "How long do you think until we're there? Where is there actually?"

He smiled. "I do not know, Emery," he said, "Probably tomorrow, before noon."

She exhaled and rolled her eyes when he turned back around. Suddenly she felt light in her head and she almost tripped again. It was then when she heard things. Whispers, words, but she couldn't make them out.

"You come here with a different purpose"

Emery jumped and let out a squeak. She looked around, bug eyed. Who was that? Where was she? Her eyes darted from tree to tree, half expecting the woman to appear from behind one. But no one was there besides the Company and the two Elves, who were, by the way, all looking at her as if she was kooky. Only then she realized they stood still. She breathed heavily and looked at the others.

"Did you hear that?", she said with a tone of fear in her voice. Aragorn frowned and Legolas behind her tilted his head.

"I heard nothing, Emery", Legolas said. Emery frowned. But he's an Elf. He should've heard, right?

"I-It was a voice," Emery said haunted, "a feminine voice. How couldn't you have heard that? it was so clear!"

The others just looked at her, while the two Lórien Elves only grinned. They hid it well, but Emery narrowed her eyes at them.

"Never mind," she sighed, but still looked around wary. "Guess I imagined it."

The walked further, and Emery peered at the Elves in front of her. They were different than Legolas, though he was the only one she could compare Elves with. She couldn't exactly point out what this difference was, but it was there.

She looked back to see how the others were doing, but she looked straight in the face of Legolas. Not expecting him to be so close behind her, her shoulders quirked up in surprise and she gazed at him for a second to long. She quickly turned her head back around. Wow, that was just… awkward.

The Company reached a look-out point in the forest. Emery moved closer. She gasped at the sight of the big tree. It was enormous, with different platforms and stairs. She stood there in awe. This was where her mother lived, she realized. In a tree, somewhere in these woods. In the distance she heard Aragorn saying something about the center of Lothlórien to Faramir, but she didn't follow the rest. She was just too taken away by the view.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Legolas. "Come", he said and brushed past her. She nodded and walked after him.

Finally, the sky slowly became dark at last. She looked up at the sky, wishing she could climb up a tree to watch the sun set from high above the woods. God, that must be a magnificent view.

"If you wish, you can have supper here", one of the Elves said. The Company nodded and the Hobbits immediately made a fire to cook a tiny meal. Emery sat down against a tree, which didn't have a house in it. She looked up, and suddenly she couldn't resist it anymore. She stood up again and inspected the tree, ignoring the curious glances. That's it! She jumped and reached for the lowest branch. With a smooth and skillful movement she lifted herself up and swung her left leg over the branch.

"Emery?"

She ignored Merry's call and straightened up, trying to hold her balance. She climbed to another branch, and another and another. When the branches became too fragile to stand on, she shifted to the stem to climb up.

When she reached the top, she knew she had picked the perfect tree. It was taller than the ones surrounding it, so she could she the sunset right from this spot. Her lips parted as she looked around. She could see he trees from above along the hills and the mountains that seemed to be so close, though many leagues away. And then, obviously, the beautiful colors that painted the sky. The little clouds had turned pink and red, and the once blue sky was now purple and indigo. She inhaled the fresh air through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. She wished she could capture this very moment. Suddenly she wondered how many people would be jealous of her if she put a picture of this on Instagram. She chuckled and shook her head. Put that thought out of your head, Em.

A part of her still couldn't believe she was really here: in this strange world with Dwarfs and Hobbits- and Elves! She couldn't believe she was one of them. Sometimes she just forgot that little side note.

Today was the day she'd meet her mother. Her real mother, who was an Elleth. God, this was crazy for her! Her whole life turned upside down because she walked into that book store. She wondered what she would do once she found her. Would she stay here? Would she go back home? She hadn't given much thought about that yet, but it was difficult. She was with Ava after all. She couldn't just leave her alone; they were in this world together.

After she-didn't-know-how-many-minutes-or-hours, Emery sighed and moved down. The sky had turned dark and she had done enough star gazing. She had half expected to see the constellations she knew back home, but they weren't here in this sky. It was like she was on a different planet. Was the sun the same star as the star that shone on Earth?

She picked the branches cautiously, but the wild part of her brain wanted to try something new. She smirked to herself as she let herself fall. Before she fell with her back to another branch below, her hands reached for the branch she just stood on. She inhaled sharply when she hang there and before she could think of it, she swung to another branch.

With nothing more than the very soft thud of her feet hitting the ground, she landed back on the grass. She brushed off her hands and dusked off her tunic before eyeing Aragorn with a smile. He smiled at her in turn, amused.

Emery once more ignored the curious glances of the others and moved over to her bedroll, falling asleep with a content smile on her face.

When they took off once more after breakfast, it took four more hours before Emery spotted more people than themselves. She sighed in relief; this meant they were finally reaching their destination.

Her ears caught a conversation between one of the two Elves and Legolas and Aragorn. They were speaking softly in Sindarin.

"I am merely a reserve, lord Aragorn," the Elf said. "Our Captain is seriously wounded."

Aragorn and Legolas nodded in understanding. "By what, if I may ask?", Legolas asked.

"By Orcs," the Elf answered. "And Uruks. Many of them ambushed the edge of the forest during our night patrol three weeks ago. There were too many for the few of us. Too many for a regular ambush, if you ask me."

"We were ambushed as well," Aragorn said. "We fled into the woods of Fangorn. There were numerous Uruk-hai and perhaps more than a hundred Orcs. It is contradict to what we expected, since many of them were wiped out at the defeat of Sauron."

Not willing to hear any more of the grim conversation, Emery drew her attention to the Hobbits, who were talking to Gimli. But before she could focus on what they were saying, they reached the giant tree they had seen from the look-out point. Actually, from here Emery could see that it wasn't one giant tree, but more big trees very close to each other. Rúmil and Celechon led them to a tree which had a long staircase swirling around it. Emery looked up. Damn, that's one hell of a staircase.

After more than seven-hundred steps– she had lost count after 785 and that was an hour ago, they reached the platform. There was a big hole in the middle, and broad stairs that led to another higher platform. It was beautiful, and the organic forms of the platform blended in with the nature surrounding it. If I had a treehouse like this, I would live here not just for a week, but forever!

As if knowing exactly what to do, Aragorn positioned himself right in front of the white steps. Legolas, Gimli– who looked like an excited little child, and the Hobbits followed and did the same. They formed one single line, and seemed to wait for something. Faramir and Emery exchanged glances, both a little awkward and hesitant. Finally they moved over, each an end of the line.

Suddenly, a blinding light appeared up the stairs. Emery blinked and squeezed her eyes to see what was behind it. As the light faded, two Elves walked down the steps. A man and woman, or rather; an Elf and an Elleth. Their hair were silver and golden and their skin was fair. Emery's lips parted as her gaze turned to the Elleth. She wore a white dress that made her glow as a star and her eyes were blue as the sea and sky. Her golden hair flowed in soft waves along her face and over her chest. Emery had never seen a woman like her. She was beyond beauty.

For a short second she reconsidered her sexuality, but that thought disappeared when her eyes rested on the Elf next to the Elleth. He was handsome, just like almost every Elf here. Where his wife's face was soft and fair, his features looked more rough. Not as rough as Aragorn or Éomer, but in Elven terms it would be rough. His hair was shorter than other Elves, but it was the brightest she'd ever seen. Though the Elleth had golden hair, his hair had the color of silver. Damn, these two made a power couple only by their looks!

The couple stopped walking halfway the steps, looking down at the Company, though not with arrogance. The Elleth looked at each member while her husband spoke.

"We meet yet again," he said with a melodious voice. "Though I fear under somewhat the same circumstances as before."

But Emery didn't listen to him. She heard another voice in her head. She looked up to see the Elleth's eyes piercing hers. She knew it was her voice.

"You came with a different purpose."

It was the same statement she had heard before in the woods. She felt her heart beat faster, bit her inner lip and ducked her head.

"Do not fear, child. I know who you are, and I know your mother."

Emery's head snatched up, glaring at the Elleth in front of her. How did she know?

When the Lady spoke aloud, Emery's attention was pulled back to what was going on.

"We were aware of your arrival," she said. "Mithrandir arrived here with a mortal only nine days ago."

Emery turned to the Lord, feeling his curious gaze on her. Her eyes darted between the Lord and Lady, still stunned by their appearance. Even the prettiest models on Earth didn't come near the beauty of the Elleth. Not even an Angel of Victoria's Secret. Sorry, but truth hurts.

"Today, you shall rest," the Lord said, looking at every member. "We shall discuss your arrival in the morrow."

And thus, the Company was dismissed. Emery hesitated. Should she ask for Ava? She was here somewhere after all. She looked back at the Lord and Lady.

"Uhm, excuse me," she said as she fully turned around. "I was wondering, the mortal you spoke of earlier, she is a friend of mine. She was heavily injured. Is there a chance I can see her?"

The Lady smiled and walked towards her. "Of course, child," she answered with her beautiful voice. "Edeneth shall lead you to her chamber. She is faring well, you need not worry."

Emery smiled and thanked her. Before she could turn around, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"I wish to speak to you before supper, lady Emery", the Lady said, but her face had gone serious and more blank. Emery nodded a bit surprised, and then turned to follow the handmaiden Edeneth.

She followed her through the halls. Edeneth too had golden hair, just like every other Elves they passed. Emery tried to ignore the curious glances; the Elves were curious for her, probably because her black hair made her stand out among the blondes. Sometimes she noticed looks with unsubtle interest, looking up and down her body. She mostly tried to ignore those gazes.

Edeneth suddenly stopped, which caused Emery to almost bump into her. "My lady", the maiden said, dipping her head and gestured her to open the doors. "Thank you", Emery said and nodded in return. The handmaiden walked away and Emery inhaled. Not able to hold herself back any longer she swung the double doors open. She immediately caught sight of an all too blonde head.

"Oh my God, Emery?!"

Soooooo?

What did you think?

OH and btw... I am turning 16 in two days! Maybe a review and a follow as a gift? ;)

Thanks for reading as always, and I'll see you in a short bit.

Maybe not so short actually. This week will be pretty busy because of my B-Day and next week school starts again... I really hope I can update at least once a week or two weeks, but it'll be a busy year. So with this, I warn you, but please keep hanging because I'll do more than my best to update!

-xoxo-