A/N: This chapter was supposed to be longer, but eh, I'll make up for it next chapter. Enjoy!

I rushed down the stairs, trying to hurry. As I hit the last step, I accidentally bumped into someone. Looking up, I saw it was Éomer.

"Oh!... Hello."

"Hello."

I looked up into the man's eyes mesmerized by them.

"The dress… it suits you."

"Th-Thank you," I replied, quickly pulling myself from my daze, "Umm… Was there anything that you needed?"

"I was just wondering why I was lied to also."

"What do you mean?"

"When I first rescued you, you told me your name was Adela and you also told me you did not know where you hailed from. Why did you lie to me when I saved you from an impending death?"

"Well you were a stranger…"

"Which, I would assume, would make you more willing to tell the truth."

"Well at first I didn't lie to you. I told you that I wasn't from here and I really was found in a river, drowning and mute."

"But then you lied."

"That is true, but have you ever heard of doing whatever it takes to survive?"

The prince nodded, "Continue."

"Well… that's what I was doing. I was doing what I could to survive and that involved lying at the time. I'm sorry that it hurt the people that it did, but I was scared and lonely and trapped in a foreign place. From now on though, if there is anything you wish to know, I will be more than happy to tell you."

Éomer's mouth twitched up slightly, "And I shall hold you to that."

"Now let's go before your uncle gets mad at me again," I said moving around him, smiling. Telling the truth felt nice. There was no more hiding and I could realistically connect with people. I hurried down the steps, stopping by Haru who was petting a beautiful brown horse.

"Riding with me?"

Nodding, I looked up at the horse. I couldn't lift my left arm too high, but I also couldn't get myself up with one hand. Someone grabbed my shoulders and turned me around. Haru was in front of me. He grabbed onto my hips and lifted me onto the horse. Then he mounted the horse, sitting behind me.

"Sorry for lifting you, but you were taking too long Princess."

"It's alright. Thanks."

He grabbed onto the reigns that were in front of me, making a cage around me with his arms. After everyone was set, we began riding out. Within the first thirty minutes, I had my head lying on Haru's chest. Hearing my honorary brother's heartbeat and steady breathing soon pulled me to sleep.

-3rd Person POV-

The group of riders traveled through the green forest, preparing for their confrontation with Saruman. One of the riders looked down at the pale girl leaning against him. He moved the chestnut hair from her face gently, laughing once he saw her face.

"Oh wow," he laughed loudly.

Gimli looked back at the new acquaintance. His eyes went down to the young girl and he began shaking his head at her position, "Aye, the lass is sleeping. She did that on the way here, leaning on the elf."

"Is that so?"

The dwarf nodded moving his attention away from the man. Haru maneuvered his horse closer to the three who looked after Wynter. Looking towards the future king of Gondor, he asked, "How was she when she was traveling with you?"

"A handful."

"That bad huh?"

"Not bad just… shocking."

"How so," the half-Asian asked, his curiosity piqued.

"When I first met her, she was mute. We also had our disagreements. I left her alone with the hobbits, arming them with swords."

"You gave her a sword?"

"No. I gave her a stick," the ex-ranger carried on, smirking slightly, "When it was cut in half, she threw one of the halves at a Nazgûl."

"She did?!"

"The lass did," the red-head on the horse in front them called out, shocked. Legolas moved his shared horse to beside Aragorn. The silent elf also shared his friend's sentiments. The blonde's blue eyes looked down and the sleeping girl, his heart beating a bit faster. Was there ever going to be a time when she did not surprise him?

"Aye, that lass. Doesn't she know that that would do nothing to protect her?"

"I do not think she was worried about herself at the time. That was when Frodo was stabbed by the Morgul blade."

"Sheesh, when did she get so reckless," Haru sighed, looking down at the girl in question.

"She wasn't always like this?"

"Hell no," was the laugh filled reply they got.

"What was she like before," the blonde elf asked, speaking for the first time since leaving the throne room.

"Well, she was never an outdoors person and she was pretty loud depending on the topic of conversation. She'd always sleep during trips though, so I guess this hasn't really changed."

"So she has always been this odd?"

"We usually use the term 'quirky' and to a point. It mostly started when she started reading books though and then it slowly progressed."

"The word seems to fit her," the blonde smiled slightly, his eyes drifting back towards the girl in complete adoration that the ex-ranger next to him did not miss.

Gandalf was riding behind the talking group, smiling slightly. As Shadowfax began to ride close behind them, he moved to Haru's side. Hoping to help the trio accept the man who altered their relationship with the girl, he said, "Have you been told the story of when they thought she was a six year old girl."

The half-Japanese started laughing again, "Mistake her for a six year old? You've gotta be joking."

"He isn't actually," the soon-to-be king replied softly, his face holding a light pink tint.

"How did that happen?"

"When she was walking with me and a friend of ours, we asked her how old she was. She didn't have her voice back yet, so she held up her left hand and spread her fingers out and then held up her right hand holding only one up," Aragorn said while replicating her hands, "We thought she was telling us she was six. I still do not quite understand how it makes fifteen though."

Haru looked at the hands, "Well, I think it was more of you read the hands one at a time instead of together. She isn't fifteen anymore though. She turned sixteen in January."

"We were in Lothlórien then," Legolas added.

The four talked of their adventures as the sun slowly began setting. Once it was too dark to continue traveling, they were told to make camp. Before dismounting, Haru asked Éomer to help him remove the young girl from her position. The Rohirrim prince grabbed the brunette by her waist, slowly pulling her down towards him. As her legs went over the saddle, his arm came up and he lifted her.

"Where should I put her?"

Haru's feet hit the ground as Gandalf motioned him to lay her down near the place where the fire was to be made. Once the prince covered the girl with a blanket, he brushed some of her hair out of her face. As everyone settled around the fire, the girl began to stir, trying to grip onto a few more moments of sleep.

Her consciousness slowly came back as Haru's voice carried through the space.

"- and that's why I was kind of worried before I got here."

Wynter turned her body, seeing Haru sitting in front of a log. He had his hands running through his hair, like he usually did when his hair got too long. The green-eyed girl sat up, stretching lightly, "What were you worried about?"

"Nothing at all," was the hurried reply she got. Wynter shrugged as she stood, ignoring the pain in her side. She moved to Haru, standing in front of him and pointing to the ground.

"Sit."

"Kicking me out of my seat already?"

"Your hair's getting really long and it's bugging you right?"

"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I wanna play with it before you decide to chop it all off."

Sighing, he relinquished his seat from beside Éomer. She smiled brightly as she sat behind him and started running her fingers through his hair, enjoying the softness. As the conversation between them all continued, she took a thick piece of his thick black hair. Separating it into three sections she started intertwining them.

"I thought you could not braid hair," Legolas said from the girl's left. Without looking up from her hands, Wynter answered him.

"I can't braid my own. I can braid other people's hair though. I have a difficult time braiding mine because I can't see my hands and what they're doing."

"There was one time when she was about five or six and she went to me and Edmund, hoping we could help her braid her hair," Haru said, looking towards the elf.

"And they made it a tangled mess. It took hours just to brush it out and mom was so peeved…," the girl's voice trailed off and other conversation filled the void. The two princes looked at the girl as Haru looked back at her, grabbing her attention.

"You okay?"

Trying to occupy herself, Wynter ran her fingers through the braid, unraveling it. Once it was completely undone, she stared at the fire. For a couple minutes the only sound was of Théoden and Aragorn speaking. The girl teased her lip between her teeth before speaking again.

"How is Mom?"

"She's doing fine… why?"

"We… We had a fight before I came here and I've been feeling really bad about it whenever I think about it. I just… I don't know if we're going to go back and I want to know that she's doing okay…"

Haru gently grabbed the young girl's hand, running his thumb over the back of it, "We'll find a way back. Promise."

She squeezed his fingers feeling happy that one of the people she cared most about was there with her. The blondes on either side looked at them, an uneasy feeling settling over them. They all sat in silence until Wynter started feeling tired again. Using a sigh to cover up her yawn to looked at her honorary brother.

"I'm going back to sleep."

"You are totally going to screw up your sleep schedule."

"I'll stay awake tomorrow, okay? For now, I'm sleeping," she said as she went back to the spot where she woke up. Time grew on and the fire became dimmer. Théoden threw in another dried out log, trying to keep the blaze going. After tending to the fire, the Rohirrim king looked at his nephew's newest warrior.

"Are you and the girl engaged," the king asked bluntly.

Haru's head whipped around to the king. He started gaping like a fish out of water, trying to figure out the proper way of denying the king's accusation without it sounding rude.

"You do not have to deny it. You are among friends here."

Finally finding his voice, Haru spoke up, "Th-That really isn't the case sir. I've known her since she was two, she's practically my sister."

"Yet you both act very intimate towards each other."

"Our society is different from here. Touching isn't… I mean… there is more contact with the opposite sex than… God I can't find a way to say this without it possibly sounding bad to you guys."

"Do you mean that physical contact between two people is much more common in your world than in our's," The white wizard asked.

"Yes! That is exactly what I meant, more or less," the half-Japanese said, looking at the wizard with a grateful look in his eye. Legolas looked at the man, feeling light at the fact that Wynter and the new man that appeared weren't as close as he thought of them to be. The conversation strayed, and one by one the men went to sleep, leaving Éomer awake for watch.

-Wynter's POV-

I woke up to the sound of someone sharpening their sword. Sitting up and rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I saw that the moon was still pretty high in the sky. Looking towards where the sound was coming from, I saw Éomer awake. Deciding that I probably wasn't going to go back to sleep anyway, I stood and quietly walked until I was right behind him.

"Hi."

He stopped sharpening his sword and looked back towards me, "Hello again."

He made room on the log he was sitting on, patting the space next to him. I sat beside him and felt the warmth of the dying embers in front of us.

"I do believe there is a promise I said that I would hold you to," the prince began, setting down his sword to pay attention to me.

"I guess there is. What do you want to know?"

He stayed silent for a few minutes, thinking the question over, "Why did you choose to travel with the Fellowship?"

"I originally wasn't even planning on joining. Right before the Fellowship was formed, I was asked to come by Gandalf. Then Frodo asked me to come along with him too. I guess I joined because the hobbits were the only people I had at the time. Being alone wasn't the preferred option."

"You dislike being alone?"

"Well not usually. I usually prefer being alone, reading or doing other things. When you're dropped into an unknown world with no one you know, though, I think you feel more inclined to stay with the people you are most acquainted with. Along with the fact that I couldn't talk and Gandalf actually understood what I was attempting to say, I think made me more willing to come along."

"Well, I think it is a good thing that you did come."

I smiled, slightly nudging his shoulder, "So what about you? Do you prefer the company of people or do you enjoy being a lone wolf like me?"

He looked up at the sky, the moon illuminating his face. The silver light of the moon made his eyes look so much darker than they were. His hair blew in front of his face slightly. Again, I was mesmerized at the beauty that he had.

"Usually it depends on the situation. As a prince I have duties to attend to, usually events which require me to be social even when I wish not to be and sometimes there are times when I must stay in solitude. My sister and I, along with our cousin Théoden, were told that we could have friends, though we should not become close with them. Most people also distance themselves from us because we are royalty. Though we are surrounded by many people, it feels like an endless solitude."

"Then maybe it is advice that you shouldn't be taking."

"That I have already begun doing," he said as his dark eyes bore into me. I felt a flush rise to my face as I quickly stood.

"W-Well, I should probably be heading ba-ack to bed, yes. I-I've already messed with my sleep schedule! Should probably t-try to get back onto that, yes. Well then, goodnight," I rambled through quickly, turning to go back to my sleeping spot when I felt Éomer grab my hand. Looking back, he kept eye contact with me as he brought the pale flesh up to his lips, brushing the skin softly.

"Goodnight, Wynter."

My heart felt as though it was going a thousand miles a second. Nodding, I turned, resuming my path. As I lied down, I was thankful for the cool ground against my warm body. Closing my eyes, I did what I could to make sleep come as quickly as possible.

A/N: So I totally was able to get an Éomer and Wynter moment in there... Although Karl Urban is making it so hard not to just have me write "and the girl thought, 'Screw the blonde elf prince' and rode into the sunset, looking towards the future as the new Rohirrim Queen." Ugghhh, yeah. Anywhoo, Almost Human (a new TV show) has Karl Urban in it. If you haven't already seen it, go watch it like now, cause it's kinda awesome. AND WE'RE AT OVER 200 REVIEWS! Heck yeah! Whoop-Whoop. Anyway, Review!