AN: Here's another chapter! It was a bit of of a challenge to write, but I hope it's okay. Enjoy :)

Guest: Thank you for the lovely review, and don't worry, I've got some things planned :) I hope the wait wasn't too long!

Chapter 18

A branch tugged at my hair as I crouched beside Rose. Even though I hadn't uttered any noises of my own, Rose still shot me a look. "Watch it! Are you trying to get us caught?"

Knowing better than to respond, I just shook my head and tried to keep the annoyance off my face. She had some reasonable concerns where noises were involved, but a rustling branch could have been anything. These woods were probably full of deer or other wildlife, so an animal could have easily been the source of the noise. Besides, as far as we knew, no one suspected that we were missing, so my accidentally rustling a branch didn't mean that all of the elves in Lorien were now hot on our trail.

Letting out a small sigh, she met my eyes and whispered, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm just tense." Her gaze falling to the map in her lap, she looked at it for a second. "We have to continue in this direction for a little while longer before we find the boats." The map in her lap crinkled as she folded it back up, but I minded my tongue and chose not to make a snippy comment about how noisy she was being.

As we started crouch-walking again, each of us minding the sticks and leaves in our path, I supposed she probably would have had an easier time without my tagging along. She, understandably, hadn't believed me when I told her that I wanted in on her plan in the first place. In fact, she'd asked me to repeat myself a few times and kept asking if I was alright throughout the day. I knew where she was coming from, but despite her very reasonable concerns, I knew I wanted this.

I also knew we were probably making a mistake, and I knew everyone — but mostly Aragorn — would not be happy to see us. I just hoped they wouldn't send us back.

In the last second, my foot missed a small, brittle twig laying in front of me by mere inches. Wobbling to the side a little, I kept my mouth firmly shut as my arms shot out to my sides. Luckily for me, my hands missed all of the nearby leaves, and as I regained my balance, I ducked behind a thicker bush.

An odd glimmer of satisfaction warmed my chest.

The actual plan was a lot like her other one in that we were going to wander around and do something that we clearly weren't supposed to do. It was a little poetic, actually, that this journey would start like the one that had brought us together.

Or maybe Rose only had one kind of plan that she just used for everything.

Regardless, there was still a big difference between this plan and the one from Rivendell. Back then, we'd just eavesdropped on a secret meeting. Here, we were going to steal a boat and run away, defying the orders of both Galadriel and Aragorn, all because Rose had overheard Merry and Pippin talking about how they were excited to be on a boat again.

Now, I had some serious reservations about the whole thing.

First of all, we didn't know where they were going to stop. I also kind of doubted that the Company knew exactly where they were going to stop at this point as well, which made everything seem harder. Because we had no means of anticipating where they were planning to camp out for the night — if they even planned on doing so — I knew I would spend the whole boat ride worried that we'd somehow passed them.

On top of that, I was also rather worried about getting lost on the river. Neither of us knew the terrain well enough to know what to do if the river branched or something. If the river did branch, and we picked the wrong river, what were we going to do then? I didn't want to die pathetically in the woods.

Additionally, if we did catch up to them, what were we going to do if we found that they were already gone? The only information we had was that they were leaving today by boat, but beyond that, we had nothing. Would we return to Lorien? Would we even know how to get back to Lorien? Furthermore, would the elves of Lorien take us back considering we were now stealing from them?

Speaking of stealing, could we even pull this off? I'd never stolen anything before and wasn't super thrilled about trying it now. What if someone caught us? Would I be able to play along with the little story we'd crafted?

As if she'd overheard my thoughts, Rose whispered without turning for the fifth time that afternoon, "Now remember, if they ask why we're leaving with bags, we say..."

"That we're spending the night in the woods." I finished automatically, trying to derive comfort in her persistent drilling. As I took another step, my stomach twisted unpleasantly.

"And if they ask us why we're doing that, we tell them that it's an activity we used to do back home. For some reason, I kind of doubt that elves go camping for fun." One of Rose's feet grazed a leaf in her path.

"And if they catch us with a boat?" I couldn't keep the question to myself.

"I already told you," Rose grumbled, peering over the top of some dense foliage, "we tell them we wanted to go exploring for a campsite." Her eyebrows furrowing, she strained her neck a little more. "If they tell us the woods aren't safe and that we aren't allowed to take a boat out, then we pull the homesickness card and milk it for all we can."

And then what? They let us take a boat and bid us "good riddance" and an "I'm glad they're not our problem anymore?"

"There they are!" Following Rose's extended finger, I peered through the dense trees before us. Sure enough, boats made of the same silvery wood as the elven city we were leaving behind floated before us. I couldn't make out much, but from what I could tell, there were oars already in each of them.

Either these elves were too trusting, or they weren't worried about being stolen from. The sinking feeling in my chest went with the latter.

"You're not going to say something dumb like 'let's go,' right?"

Rose smirked but kept her eyes trained on the boats. "I was thinking about it." Her gaze catching mine as she shifted, her green eyes brightened with an excitement that part of me wished I was feeling myself. "Let's go."

As she crawled her way out of the bushes, I looked to the sky, prayed for some courage, and followed her as quietly as I could.

Luckily for us, the foliage got denser as we neared the docks. Unfortunately, that also meant that there were more thorns to snag on my clothes and to scratch my face. As another one grazed my cheek, I debated asking why we needed to bother with stealing the boat in the first place. Our whole camping lie seemed to check out pretty well, so what was the harm in approaching Galadriel like two rational beings with a request to make their stay more comfortable? As I opened my mouth to say as much, a smooth voice greeted my ears.

"What are the two of you doing out here?"

Stiffening, I whirled around to find Haldir, the warden, looking down at us with what I hoped was amusement, his arms folded over his chest.

Just like we'd rehearsed, Rose responded, sounding effortlessly casual, "Oh, we're just going camping in the woods. It's something that we've done before." She stood quickly, but not so fast that she seemed suspicious.

To my surprise, I blurted, "People do it all the time back where we're from." The moment the words were out of my mouth, Haldir's eyes were boring into mine, causing my nerves to flare. Suddenly incredibly nervous, I felt compelled to stammer on, "Like they sleep in the woods for fun." I tried not to wince at the slight shake in my voice.

Haldir stared at us for a few seconds before deliberately shifting his gaze to the boats that were now clearly visible behind us. Arching an eyebrow, he looked back at us, maintaining the uncomfortable silence. Subconsciously, I shifted the pack on my back, trying to keep my nerves at bay.

Finally, he asked. "Does camping necessitate the use of a boat?"

Rose didn't hesitate. "We wanted to go look for a place along the river, but we weren't planning on going very far."

His brow narrowing, Haldir didn't take long to refuse. "Absolutely not. It is not safe for two young mortal women to sleep to venture out unguarded." While he didn't say anything more, he gave us a knowing look.

Oh, he knows.

Planting what I hoped was a convincing frown on my face, I tilted my head to the side and strained to keep my voice even. "What are you talking about? We were both just feeling kind of homesick and wanted to do something that reminded us of our families."

A flicker of doubt passed over his eyes, the only emotion I could gather from his otherwise unreadable face.

"Please? We're capable of defending ourselves, but we'll come straight back the moment we run into even the slightest amount of trouble," Rose pleaded as she took a casual step towards me, sensing that we'd shifted into the "milking" phase. "We won't go very far, and I promise we'll be back in two days."

The crushing silence returned as he considered this. His gaze shifted between the two of us, and as he considered our requests, I tried not to squirm. Should we just give it up and confess already? I wasn't sure if I could keep this up any longer.

Haldir pursed his lips slightly. "Very well. I shall go inform the Lady. Someone will be along later this evening to check on you."

My stomach dropped instantly, but Rose was grabbing my arm, smiling. "Thank you so much! I can't tell you how much we appreciate this."

Haldir dipped his head and folded his hands behind his back. As he watched us for a second, I couldn't tell if there was a hint of a smile tugging at his lips or if he was trying not to frown. It didn't really matter, though, because he was turning and walking back into the woods, likely to go report to Galadriel.

What were we going to do when the elves learned that we'd lied? Would they chase after us? Did this make us fugitives?

There was a sharp tug on my arm as Rose started pulling me away. When my eyes met hers, I whispered, "What are we going to do when they realize we aren't camping?"

Tossing her bag into the bottom of the nearest canoe, Rose started untying the boat from its post. "We hope and pray we've put enough distance between us and them. Now, get in the boat because we've got a lot of rowing to do."

Throwing my bag in beside hers, I took off my quiver and rested it beside my pack. Putting my hand on its cool, wooden side, the boat heaved as I all but rolled in, gritting my teeth as I went. "I'm going to throw up."

With my back pressing into the smooth floor, I strained to situate myself, but the boat rocked again as Rose got in. Grabbing a paddle, she pushed us away from the dock, hissing, "Stop worrying and start paddling."

As my fingers brushed the wooden handle of the paddle, I took a deep breath. I could do this. I'd run from several terrible things in the past, like the monsters of Moria and all of my problems. Running from a whole host of skilled elven warriors didn't seem that extreme with that sort of context.

I could do this.

Dipping my paddle into the water, I shoved down on my fear, and we set off.