A/N: Hey Fam! I hope you enjoy this chapter, because I actually had a lot of fun(not to mention an easier time) writing it! I just was to say thank you to all who have added this story to your favorites and follow list! I truly means a lot.

XxxChelaxxX: Thank you so much for your review! Sorry I just didn't respond to it with the last chap. I had a lot on my plate that week with a sick baby. I'm glad you are enjoying the story so far!

Nymiriel: You. Are. Such. A. Sweetheart! Thank you so much for your condolences! It made my week a little better after reading your review! My baby is healthy again and doing well. I am excited that you have found this story to be a good read! I have tried to stay away from too many cliches(kind of hard to do, when it seems like everything has been thought of :S), and I hope that this story will continue to be interesting and eye catching! Thank you again for your review! I LOVED IT!

For all those who have questions concerning the story, who are maybe confused about a couple things, leave a Review and I'll try to answer you q's. So long as they won't spoil anything for future reading of course! Thank you for Reading! Don't forget to Favorite & Follow to stay updated on when I post next, and as a reminder, I always post on Sunday Afternoon-unless otherwise notified! Next Sunday's chapter will be posted normally, but not the Sunday after that. Of course, if you have Favorited & Followed the story, then you will automatically be updated when I post the chapters, so just make it easier on yourself and Just Do it ;).- Not a Nike Sponsor...

Just as a reminder:

"Italisized Lettering"- Is spoken in Elvish

"Normal Lettering"- Is spoken in Common

Italic without quote- Is Tori's thoughts

Underlined words- Are emphasized words.

Hope you guys enjoy this chappy!

Namárië,

Tasarin

Chapter 18: The Borders of Hollin

Being an elf really had its benefits, as I was learning. As long as there were the stars and moon lighting up the night sky, I could see everything in my path. Of course, being impervious to the cold was also a Godsend for which I was immensely grateful for; The hobbits looked absolutely miserable.

The bleak cold of winter was in full effect, and as we were higher in elevation, it wasn't uncommon to see little patches of snow caps lining the hills, rocks and sparse grass along our path. The view of the mountain that we trailed west beside was the only saving view of the journey so far. Everything else was boring and dreary. The color seemingly stolen from the mostly barren ground. Even the patchy grass was dull and devoid of life.

The wind that blew down from the mountain was dry and frigid. Even if I didn't feel the cold, the constant slap of it against my skin, chaffed my face and burned my eyes. All in the company were heavily clothed and should have been sufficiently protected from the wind, yet every time I glanced ahead at the other party members, their bodies curled inward and shivered.

We moved slowly; the harsh elements worked against us and made it obvious that it would not be changing to more favorable weather any time soon. We kept our travelling strictly at night. Gandalf was still weary of Lord Elrond's final words; spies of the enemy were everywhere. Naturally, the darkness of night clouded our movements from them while we travelled through the open terrain.

Gandalf and Aragorn led our party, followed by the hobbits, then gimli and Boromir, and lastly with Legolas and I at the rear. Of course being in the back didn't matter because both of us could see further in either direction than any else of the fellowship.

Meals were...unsatisfactory to say the least; cold. Aragorn and Gandalf were adamant against the idea of even lighting a fire for fear of it becoming a beacon to our enemies. Fortunately for us though, we had wonderful Samwise Gamgee to flavor our meals with his many spices so that it was at least tolerable.

It was around the span of a month of this same monotonous travelling through endless chilling wind, when the weather finally turned in our favor. The oppressive and constant grey clouds melted and made way for light buttery sunshine of the days' dawn. Although pale in its brightness, it was a stark difference from the constant slap of cold wind to our faces and clothing; this day would definitely be most welcome!

The sun rising in the sky was our cue to find rest for the day. We made camp on a low crested hill among a small grove of ancient holly trees; their bright red berries seemed to glow with the fire of the sunrise. Even the three mountains in the distance, tips blanketed in snow, were shining with the morning sun's rays. Gandalf stood talking with Frodo as they stared at the sight. There hadn't been much of any talking. Mostly small talk; the wind conditions had stolen away conversation as well. Preserving strength apparently more important than talking. This was a very welcome break in the silence.

"Well have we done," Gandalf broke the silence first, saying to Frodo. I sat back against one of the holly's and pulled out my waterskin from my pack with a small helping of jerky. Legolas sat next to me and smiled, before doing the same, "We have reached the borders of the country that men call Hollin. Five and forty leagues as the crow flies have we come, though many miles further our feet have walked. The land and the weather will be milder now, but perhaps all the more dangerous."

"Dangerous or not, a real sunrise is mighty welcome." Frodo shifted to fully face the rising sun, lifting off his hood and I could hear the smile in his voice. I smiled unconsciously at it and rested my head against the tree, closing my eyes briefly and relishing in the little warmth of the young sun that filtered in through the old boughs of the holly. I tuned out the others as they continued their conversation and opened my eyes again; looking up.

Something caught my eye in the branches above me and I realized then that I recognized it. I chuckled at the sight as I stood and started climbing the tree. I didn't have to look back to know that Legolas was watching me. Higher and higher I lifted myself up the branches until I came to what I had seen from below; a little plant with pale green leaves. I picked a sprig and climbed back down and returned to my spot beside Legolas.

"I didn't think that this plant existed here in middle earth." I said, looking into his eyes as I sat back down. He looked at the plant and grabbed it softly from my hands.

"You have seen Nimdod before?" I nodded and smiled.

"It is called mistletoe on earth."

"Mistletoe" Legolas looked down at the plant curiously as he tested out the unfamiliar word, before looking back into my eyes and smiling, "Is this a common medicinal herb on earth as well?"

"I'm not sure." I suddenly wished I had my phone and that internet was a thing in middle earth so I could do a google search. You only realize the things you've taken for granted when you no longer have them. I thought ruefully, "They are more well known for...other reasons." I trailed off and looked back up. My heart flip flopped unevenly in my chest; we were both under the mistletoe. There was no way in hell I wanted to tell him that people on earth kissed under the mistletoe!

He placed a hand on my shoulder, and it sent a thrill of warmth down my arm, "What are they known for, Mellon?" He asked, genuine curiosity plain in his smooth tenor voice. I cleared my throat and sat up a little straighter, trying to hide the fact that the hand on my shoulder affected me.

"The men of earth use it as a decoration during the festivities of Yuletide. They symbolize love...and friendship and are hung in the doorways of dwellings...as a reminder to love...friends and family always." I mentally patted myself on the back for that generally safe explanation as he smiled. Crisis averted! He offered it back to me and I shook my head, closing his hand around it.

"Keep it." I looked down at our hands. He could hold both of mine easily in just one of his. I thought absently.

"Am I to take this as another gift of friendship," His voice sounded deeper and I looked back into smoldering eyes, "or love?" Were we always sitting this close? My mouth felt suddenly dry and I leaned back, wetting my lips before taking a sip from my waterskin. Crisis not averted!

"You can love your friends." I frowned at my waterskin, avoiding his eyes. He chuckled and as I looked back into his eyes, that emotion from before was gone.

"Of course. I will keep this as a token of your good will. It would also be wise to take a few more clippings on the journey as it alleviates pain and aches of the head." He leaned away before standing to climb the tree. Away from his eyes, I felt warmth rush over my cheeks and I buried my face into the crook of my arms that rested atop my knees. Crisis averted? I asked myself as I stole a glance at the elf above me in the tree. He was busily collecting several clippings of the mistletoe to notice my stare and I looked away, taking a deep breath. For now. I thought but stopped.

What in the hell was I trying to avoid? What was this feeling that grew in my mind toward Legolas? Granted, I never really had any guy friends back on earth, but I had grown close to the hobbits to know that what I was feeling for Legolas was different than what I felt for the hobbits. What was I feeling for Legolas? I nibbled on some jerky and pondered the question until he jumped out of the tree to join me in my snack.

…

Now early morning, and the sun still in its ascent into its place in the sky, Gandalf finally relented for a fire to be built. I had never seen the hobbits happier than when they had heard the good news. Sam immediately went to making the best breakfast spread that we had had in the journey. Complete with potatoes, other root veggies, sausages and bacon.

"Bless you laddie!" Gimli said and moaned as he dug into his plate of warm and delectable food. The others were silent bar the sound of them scarfing down their food. I worried slightly that I would have to perform the heimlich on one of them, but they all finished and rested back against some rocks, patting their stomachs happily. It doesn't matter what world they are from, males are all the same wherever you go.

I giggled as I tore off a piece of bacon with my fingers and chewed on it slowly, enjoying the salty goodness of the meat. I glanced over at Legolas, who was the only male of the group to not shovel his food down his throat like the rest. He chewed slowly like I did and relished in the taste. Well, not all males are the same. I finally amended.

We stayed up past breakfast. Having been given the green light by Gandalf that we would be staying there for the night and begin our journey again the next night. We sat around the fire, laughing and chatting, but I caught Aragorn walking away to stand alone in the shadow of one of the holly trees. He finally returned to our group with a restless look.

"What's the matter Strider?" Merry smiled up at Aragorn, "What are you looking for? Do you miss the east wind?" The hobbit smirked at his own joke, but Aragorn didn't join him in his amusement.

"No indeed, but I miss something," He looked around into the distance wearily and I joined him, feeling the anxiety roll off him in waves. Legolas must have felt it too, because he was also scouting the surroundings, "I have been to the country of Hollin in many seasons. No folk dwell here now, but many other creatures live here at all times, especially birds. Yet now all things but you are silent," He looked back down at Merry meaningfully before making eye contact with each of the fellowship, "I can feel it. There is no sound for miles around us, and your voices seem to make the ground echo. I do not understand it."

Gandalf stood and scratched his chin, rustling his beard, "But what do you guess is the reason? Is there more in it than surprise at seeing four hobbits, not to mention the rest of us, where people are so seldom seen or heard?" Aragorn sat down then and sighed heavily.

"I hope that it is, but I have a sense of watchfulness, and of fear, that I have never had here before." Gandalf strode over and joined Aragorn on his rock, patting the man's back agreeably.

"Then we must be more careful. If you bring a Ranger with you, it is well to pay attention to him, especially if the Ranger is Aragorn," Gandalf winked at him before turning his eyes on the rest of us, "We must stop talking aloud, rest quietly and set the watch."

…

Sam had been given first watch and sat upon a rock and Aragorn offered to join him. The silence of all wildlife was apparent and deafening to my ears. I rolled every which way in my bedroll to try to find comfort, but I just couldn't. It also didn't help that Gimli's thunderous snores seemed to rattle the very ground on which he slept. I sat up and glared at the offending dwarf, half tempted to smother his face with my pack. After rubbing a hand down my face, I stood with a heavy sigh and walked about the camp restlessly.

Gimli snorted and I shite you not, farted as I passed him. Yes, gas was a normal bodily function, but there was no way in hell that the ungodly smell that drifting up from him was to be considered normal by any accounts. Completely disgusted, I kicked his boot and ran off toward where Legolas rested. I looked back and held in a giggle as I watched the Dwarf startle awake in his bedroll with his axe in hand, eyes bulging in bleary eyed surprise.

"What a mischievous little elfling you are." Legolas' breath blew onto the shell of my ear as he whispered to me. I jumped back and clamped a hand over my ear, "He will be most unagreeable now that he has been woken early from his...slumber." He smirked down at me.

"If I can't sleep because he is too loud, then he is not allowed to either." I folded my arms tightly across my chest, but winced when I felt the familiar sensitive ache of my breasts. They had stopped hurting for a little while back in Imladris, but them hurting again only meant one thing; they were growing again. Unfortunately, Legolas didn't know that and had caught my wince of pain before I could mask it.

"You are injured." He said, his voice laced with concern as he pulled both of my arms out to inspect for wounds. I wrenched my arms from his grasp quickly and folded my arms again.

"I am fine." I looked away from his searching eyes, feeling hot heat flash along my cheeks all the way to the tips of my ears. He slowly reached for my arms again.

"Are you sure you are well? You seemed as though you were in pain."

"Legolas, I'm fine…," I shifted uncomfortably under his scrutinous and heavy gaze, "Just some chest pain." Alarmed at my words, he stepped forward and lifted his hands to my shoulders.

"Tell me, Mellon, where is your wound? Can you breath well? Please tell m-,"

"Oh for shite sake!" I lapsed into common, before returning to elvish, "Legolas, They are just growing pains." I whispered. Now shaking and completely beet red from embarrassment, I held still and waited for his response. He looked at me confusedly for a moment, but little by little I could see understanding dawn in his silvery blue depths.

"Ai! I see...I am to…go patrol." He managed as he lifted his hands from my shoulders before retreating back toward his bedroll. I couldn't tell if it was a trick of the light, but I thought I saw his ears were several shades darker. My heart beat so loudly in my chest and I could hear the thud thud the the blood rushing in my ears.

I watched his back as he climbed up onto a rock face and stood facing away from camp. I finally tore my eyes from his broad back and onto the others. Gimli, now awake, sat up, smoking his pipe, very much looking the role of crotchety old guy. The others were awake. I guess I wasn't the only one who was unable to catch a wink under the oppressive silence.

"We must hold this course west of the Misty Mountains. If our luck holds, the Gap of Rohan will still be open to us." I walked back to my bedroll as I listened to Gandalf and Gimli's conversation.

"If anyone was to ask for my opinion, which I note that they are not, I'd say that we are taking the long way round. Why not pass through the Mines of Moria? My cousin Balin would give us a royal welcome!" I couldn't see the smile on his lips that I could hear in his voice; all that beard covered it up.

"No Gimli, I would not take the road through Moria unless we had no other choice." Gimli grumbled in response and drew in a deep breath of his pipe. The Merry and Pippin sat quietly, whispering to each other about what meals they should plan out now that we could build fires, while Frodo had joined Sam on his boulder for companionable silence.

Sam shifted on the rock and looked back at Aragorn while he pointed at the sky, "What's that Strider? It don't look like a cloud." All eyes drifted to the horizon at the distant black mass. Gimli batted at the air dismissively, blowing out a puff of stinky smoke that drifted over to me.

"Nothing, just a wisp of clouds." I stepped further away from the oncoming pipe smoke.

"It's moving fast against the wind." Boromir watched it warrily with squinted eyes. Upon closer inspection, I could see a whole flock of black birds. The sunlight seemed to be absorbed into their black as night feathers, reflecting little on them.

"Crebain from Dunland!" Legolas shouted and jumped down from the rock, quickly rolling up his bedroll and stashing it away with his pack under a thicket of bushes.

"Hide!" Aragorn shouted and suddenly the quiet peace from before vanished as everyone started into a frenzy of packing up the camp.

Not even bothering to roll up my pack with little time, I kicked it under a nearby bush and ran to the others to help. The fire, although only coals remained, were still burning bright, no doubt it would be visible to the birds swarming toward us.

I kicked dirt at it to cover the coals before I felt myself being pulled back into the shade of one of the more unruly trees. Its foliage fell all the way to the floor and covered the entire span of the trunk. I felt my face and arms sting from little scratches that were no doubt given from the sharp holly leaves. I was held tightly, my back pressed against the trunk and my face against a well sculpted chest. By the smell, I just knew it was Legolas; who else could still smell like fresh linen and sunshine other than Legolas? Sure as hell wasn't Boromir. That man needed deodorant.

The host of crebain flew over the camp, only the sound of their swings slapping in the air. It felt almost too loud to my tender ears that had grown accustomed to the quiet. They circled around the camp several times. Clearly these birds were intelligent enough to be looking for something. Finally, what felt like hours, when in reality only a minute had passed, did the last of the birds fly off with a foreboding final croak before it was silent again. I let out a shaky breath and relaxed into Legolas, before looking up into his eyes.

"Thanks." I smiled weakly and he offered a comforting smile of his own.

"My pleasure, Mellon." He held the branches aside for me as I stepped out of hiding.

Slowly, the fellowship emerged from their hidey holes and glanced warily at each other. Gandalf stood tall, watching the retreating forms of the crebain with slitted eyes.

"Spies of Saruman," He grumbled, "The passage south is being watched. We must take the Pass of Caradhras."

...

A/N: Oh dear, we all know things are about to get intense now. Also, if you haven't noticed already, a lot of the events that I am writing are from the book version, with some elements(such as the dialogue) from the movie. I wanted to stay true to Tolkien's vision of 'The Lord of the Rings' and add my own twists that fit in seamlessly with cannon events.

Nimdod- I made up a word for mistletoe in Sindarin. I couldn't actually find a direct translation, so yeah. Direct meaning: White berries. December is the month in which mistletoe berries(which are white) ripen. Also fun fact, who knew that some mistletoe species are used in the treatment of cancer? They are also used to help with headaches, seizures and arthritis. The more you know, with Google Sensei!- Brought to you by Tasarin-Chan lol