Legolas and Elhadril arrived at the village to find it empty and utterly destroyed. The fire had absolutely destroyed all but the sturdiest of buildings, the ones made of stone. That said, only three buildings were standing. The rest were burned areas of ash, some with fallen trees lying on top of their remains. Scattered around on what used to be the streets were a few burned cattle corpses. A crow was feasting itself on one of them.

Legolas heard Elhadril draw in a shaky breath, followed by a small whine amplified by the silence. He glanced at her, shifted his grip on the three jars he was holding, and wished that there was something he could say to comfort her. He knew that she was thinking about her sister. There was no chance of surviving such a conflagration.

"Let us check the stone buildings. Perhaps she could have taken refuge in one of them," Elhadril said in a high, cracked voice. Legolas set down the jars and led Gurveleg to a patch of ruins, but Elhadril did not relinquish the baby rabbits, eying the nearby crow with mistrust. Bow drawn and ready, Legolas lead the way to the first stone house, which was clearly barely standing. It appeared to have only one room and one window, beside the entrance. He eased open the remains of the door, causing the structurally unsound roof to cave in, making Elhadril scream.

Once the dust had cleared and the elves' heart rates calmed, Legolas could see that no one was in the small building. It appeared quite abandoned, except for another burned corpse in the corner, this one of a cat. Legolas wrinkled his nose in disgust. The smell was starting to get to him. Still, he turned to Elhadril, "They would have fled the fire."

"They would not have taken shelter in such a small building," she pointed out, but a faint glimmer of hope shined in her eyes.

Legolas quickly agreed, and they made their way to the largest building. This one seemed better built and did not look to be on the verge of collapse. Nonetheless, Elhadril stayed well back as Legolas gently opened the oaken door, which was surprisingly not in tatters. The sight that greeted him made his eyes water - or maybe it was the smell.

There Mist was, staring at him as if he were a ghost, surrounded by cattle and goats and pigs and chickens. He stared back at her, wondering how in the world she could have survived. Elhadril was the first to speak, "Where's Eldandil?"

It was then that Legolas realized that Mist was the only person in the room. Where was everyone else? But Mist appeared not to have heard her; tears filled her eyes as she flung herself at Legolas, hugging him tightly and crying, "You're alive!"

The act caught Legolas off guard, and he almost shot her from instinct but managed to stop his surprised hand from reaching his bow. Elhadril also seemed a little confused, but she said nothing and instead examined the building more thoroughly, as if making sure that her sister wasn't there.

After a few minutes, during which Legolas awkwardly assured Mist that he and Elhadril were all right while she cried with relief, Mist composed herself enough to happily explain what had happened. Apparently, the villagers and Eldandil had fled past the northern river and would soon be returning, while Mist had stayed behind on the insistence of the villagers, endangering herself so that their livestock and crops might survive the greedy flames. Apparently, she had doused the entire oak door in water three times before ensuring that the animals were all inside. She hadn't been able to save all of the cattle, for some had escaped from the herd and she couldn't waste time gathering them, but everything else was alive, if a little parched and sweating profusely.

Once Mist had finished her story, Elhadril clarified, "So, my sister is with the villagers, with Tinnuroch? Are you sure? Who is watching her?"

"An old friend is taking care of your sister. If anyone is safe, it is she."

Satisfied, Elhadril then recounted their own adventure and allowed Mist to examine her old wound, giving Legolas the baby bunnies. He stepped inside the building, only to be confronted by a blast of heat and a horrible odor, more strong now than ever. He almost dropped the baby rabbits he carried in his instinct to cover his mouth and stumbled back out of the building, coughing, "What was that?"

"Try being baked in it," Mist retorted. "I think that a few chickens died in the heat. Or perhaps they were trampled. Either way, we should get the animals back into pens and clean out the building. It is a storeroom, not a stable."

"We're going to clean it out?" Legolas asked, incredulous. Mist gave him a withered look, much like ones that Erion, Tadion, and Nelion's mother would give them constantly on their way to Rivendell. How long ago that seemed!

"Yes, we are going to clean it out. It is not ours, and it would be rude to leave the mess for Madoc to clean," Mist told him. "The villagers have more to worry about than that."

Elhadril let out an audible sigh, pulled her sleeve back over her wound, and asked, "The whole village is destroyed. Only one other building is still standing. Where are we going to put the animals?"

Mist was silent for a while before she replied, "We must build a pen."

This turned out to be harder than Legolas would have expected. They each had to gather large stones from the collapsed buildings, haul them to the area where they would build the enclosure, and stack them to make a suitable wall. It took several hours, and Legolas only paused in his work when the pen was serviceable and an excited shout erupted behind him, "Elhadril!"

All three elves turned towards the sound, which came from anther elf with black hair standing beside a bay horse with a black mane, both laden with supplies. Elhadril gasped with relief as the elven girl dropped the supplies and began to cry. Eldandil ran at her sister and hugged her as if she was an illusion that could fade with the smallest wind.

"It is all right. We are both alive and well," Legolas heard Elhadril murmur, hugging her sister back. Then Eldandil looked up and saw him, "Legolas!"

He soon found himself engulfed in a hug, just as Elhadril had been, but only briefly. He smiled and clasped her on the shoulder, "A simple fire cannot stop us."

Eldandil laughed, tears still rolling down her cheeks. Mist, who had been silent for the entire time, ended the joyful reunion with a worried question, "Where are the villagers? Are they not with you?"

Eldandil's joy vanished instantly, and a brief expression of mistrust shone on her face, but Mist either didn't notice or ignored it as she answered, "They are coming. They are not too far behind."

Mist nodded and went back to work, but Eldandil's expression returned. Elhadril noticed it, too, and quickly explained what they were doing, "We have to build a pen for the animals so that they will not have to stay in the storeroom. You should see the mess they made. It smells like a concoction of Sauron's, and the heat is equally dreadful."

It was many minutes more before the rest of the village arrived, and by that time most of the animals had been successfully herded into the enclosure (give or take a few goats). Elhadril and Eldandil were busy mucking out the building and organizing what supplies they had while Legolas and Mist wrangled up the last few pigs. He paid little attention to the newcomers until a little girl - probably no more than seven years of age - ran up to the pen and happily yelled, "Donkey!"

Mist also watched the girl, who was softly patting Gurveleg's nose. A soft smile spread across her face; it was clear that she was recalling a pleasant memory.

Then the child's parents arrived, and Legolas was left wondering what could have caused such nostalgia in the older elf as Mist suddenly turned serious again, "Madoc, Berthoc, we are cleaning your storeroom now."

The couple both had dark hair and eyes, like their daughter, and tanned skin. The man, who Legolas supposed was Madoc, shook his head, "No need. Melmidoc can take care of it. He is helping Modron at the moment, but he will aid you when he is finished."

Mist nodded, shoving the last pig into the pen. Legolas took a moment to survey the area. More and more people were filtering into the destroyed village, some weeping for their lost homes and others staring around in shock at the unrecognizable ruins. Legolas knew that he could not fully imagine what it must be like to lose everything one owned, but at least they were all still alive. At least they still had their families and friends.

He felt a small hand on his knee and looked down to find the little girl staring back at him. He swallowed the bitterness he had allowed to fester inside him and smiled at her. She laughed and ducked behind the edge of the pen, peeking out from behind the wall with a playful smile.

"What is your name?" Legolas asked. The girl looked over at her parents, who were now busy helping Mist dispose of the burnt cow carcasses, and answered sheepishly, "Dera."

"Do you want to play, Dera?" Legolas asked, smiling at her. She nodded and ran off, shouting over her shoulder, "You can't catch me!"

So Legolas started a simple game of chase with the young girl, making sure that he didn't run too fast when it was her turn to catch him. None of the adults seemed to mind, except for one man who looked as if he never fully smiled. But Legolas didn't pay him any attention, instead swooping down on little Dera just before she ran into the burned forest and picking her up, making her squeal with happiness, "Again! Again!"

Legolas laughed. The little girl never seemed to run out of energy. Good thing he was an elf.

But he straightened suddenly. Someone was watching him. The hair on the back of his neck was tingling, and all of his skills as an elven warrior were screaming. Something wasn't right.

He turned his head, slowly, back towards the remains of the village. A young woman - nay, an older girl - was staring at him with a hungry look that made him uneasy. His fingers itched, wanting the familiarity and security of his bow. He wished that he hadn't left it at the storeroom.

The girl was now giving him odd looks. Dera, who had been impatiently waiting to be released, spotted her and said, "That's Sarf. Mommy doesn't like her. She's not very nice. Caradoc doesn't like her, either."

"Caradoc?"

"She likes him, but he doesn't like her back," Dera replied, as if that explained everything. Legolas decided to ignore it for now and ask Mist later. But as he released his new friend, Sarf began to slowly make her way towards him. 'That is not good.'

"Dera, have you ever raced?" Legolas asked quietly, in a whisper. Dera nodded, also whispering, "Sometimes Gormadoc will race me, but I always win."

"Will you race me back to your parents' storeroom?" he practically begged. Sarf was getting closer. She would reach him in only about half a minute at her slow, methodic pace, plenty of time and yet no time at all.

"Go!" Dera screamed suddenly, taking off as fast as her legs would take her. Legolas followed, his quick reflexes allowing him to start at almost the same time as his young friend. Together, with Dera in the lead, they fled past a sour-looking Sarf and through the village. Dera began to finally tire, and Legolas had to threaten to pass her to keep her going. Eldandil and Elhadril emerged from the storehouse ahead of them, and he could hear them shouting encouragement to the young human.

"I won! I won!" Dera's small hand slapped the side of the building as she screamed. Eldandil and Elhadril applauded fondly, smiling at the young girl beaming up at them. Legolas found himself side-by-side with Mist, who reported, "It is getting late. The villagers have agreed to sleep in the storeroom, which is finally clean but still reeks of cattle. We will take turns patrolling the village and sleeping in the smithy."

Legolas followed Mist's pointing finger and found the only other building still structurally sound, on the opposite side of the village that he and Elhadril had entered. He nodded and looked around. Dera was excitedly recounting the fun she had had to her parents, Eldandil and Elhadril were deep in what appeared to be a deep and private discussion, a girl Sarf's age was walking towards them with a pleasant smile on her face, an older boy who looked like her brother was staring after them and helping an old woman towards the storeroom, and Sarf herself was alternating between looking at the boy, staring at Legolas, and shooting hateful glances towards Eldandil.

Legolas brushed off his growing concern and instead began to help the villagers pass out blankets and various pieces of clothing, wondering what horrors tomorrow would bring.

Hello, everyone! I'm not dead! :D Heh heh, not that I would be... *grumbles* stupid robot assassins...

Anyway, I am so soy that I haven't updated in forever! I literally disappeared from the Internet, completely. I got busy because life. Which means I got lazy. But oh well, here you go. Thanks to somersset, Guest, Uruviel Phoenix, Lord Illyren, Roxanne, and DD! Thank you guys so much!

To somersset: Well, I probably should hide... It's been, like, two months... Well, actually that helps. So you won't get mad at me for not updating...? Aww, thanks! I'm not planning on having Legolas pair up with anyone, but I was curious to see if he was "cute" with anyone, even as friends, so thanks for your opinion! :) Here it is, two months late. X(

To Guest: Yay! I plan to... in a few more chapters... that I still have to write... *hides behind pillow* Don't hurt me! XD

To Uruviel Phoenix: ... Why did you have a sharp instrument? Sorry, it's been too long for me to remember. I have no idea. Will Thranduil even accept a hug? Hey, Thranduil! *receives glare* *runs in fear* Well, I hope that I update sooner next time!

To Lord Illyren: I know, right? Oh, I'm sorry that you claim to lack patience. It would be a shame if I forgot to update in two months... wait...

To Roxanne: That's ok, I'm sorry for not updating sooner. Well, I'm in the same boat there. Haha, I noticed how many times he said it in the movies, especially compared to all his other lines. Probably makes up a good 5 to 10% :) Oh my goodness, just as bad as Bilbo... I'm dying! XD XD XD

To DD: Where have you been? Actually, I have no right to say that. I'm just glad you're back!

I hope you all liked the chapter! I'm literally posting this at night, so yes it's late... and probably Tuesday morning for some of you... Also, just real quick, is anyone else extremely disappointed in America's Presidential Candidates this year? I'm moving to Switzerland if Trump gets in office.

And you probably think I'm purely joking.

Anyways, I hope you like the update! I plan to have the next one out soon!