A/N:

My warmest wishes for Merry Christmas!

Pyo-Kiyo and Guest, thank you for your kind and encouraging words. I will continue the story, after all, I am curious what will happen next. The updates will be a bit slow, but I will try to update every week.

Valley of Rivendell - 07 September 3018 TA

They rode out of the valley onto the moors. They were riding for a day, and it was midnight when they reached a clear opening secured enough to camp. The heat from the campfire seemed to be sucked into the frigid air before ever reaching her frozen hands. She had already taken a seat close to the fire, trying to warm her cold hands. Elladan was securing the horses, Elrohir went to gather some more wood after he had ignited the campfire, and Legolas scanned the area to ensure that everything was secured.

Awarthrie could hear her stomach complaining of some food, as it was hungry. Her back was aching from the recent fall. And the stubborn dwarf-girl decline to acknowledge any of her problems. It was getting colder as midnight was upon them, and stepping away from the fire to get something to eat wasn't in her plans. Her gaze spaced out, watching the flames of the fire as her thoughts slowly unfolded. She recalled a few things that the 'tree-hugging princess' revealed to her. Her mother was Legolas's trusted friend.

This did not feel right. Her mother, a trusted friend of the 'princess of Mirkwood'? The truth was quite unbelievable, shocking, really. Her mind was sent reeling, unable to comprehend or process the new information that her mother was a close friend of him. Awarthrie looked away and then noticing him as he appeared suddenly walking towards her.

"Why didn't you seek her?" she asked Legolas and stared at him. He was holding strange flowers and weeds in one hand and the other a wooden mortar. "You said that the elf lady was your trusted friend and that you haven't heard about her for years. Aren't you worried about her? What if she is in any trouble?"

Legolas tilted his head, confused at her observation. "For someone who loathes Mirkwood elves, you seem troubled for one of our own," he said, taking a seat next to her. He placed the weed and flowers on his ride and started cutting them into small pieces with one of his knives and placing them inside the mortar. "Tauriel wasn't just a random maiden; she was captain of the Elven guard. She decided to remain away from Mirkwood, lost in her grief. Indeed I haven't seen her for decades, but that's not a long time in the life of an elf."

Awarthrie paid attention to his bizarre actions as he was now crushing and grounding the weed blending it with the flowers. "What if she needed your help and reached out? You said she was banished from Mirkwood. Would any of the other elves aid her, or would they be in trouble?" she quizzed while gathering her arms around her legs and facing away from Legolas.

He paused now and observed the girl sitting next to him. Her questions confused Legolas. Was she asking out of pure curiosity, or was there a reason for asking those? "You mean since I wasn't in Mirkwood and if she needed to reach out. I wasn't. But common friends would answer; even the Elvenking would grand her access if she requested to return. She would ask Nastedir for aid, and even if no other elf aids her, he will." Legolas responded as he went on, making a small mixture of the weed and flowers.

"Nastedir," she repeated the name, and the memories sprang alive. Indeed Legolas was right; her mother reached out for an elf named Nastedir. She was very young, but she could recall a few details. He seemed kind and offered to aid her. He went and talk to Thranduil, but help wasn't given. Not even Nastedir helped her. She turned and looked at Legolas, her eyes pinned against his seriously. "And what if that Nastedir didn't aid her? And what if the Elvenking refused to grant her access? And she is lost, perished forever?"

"Nastedir, Tauriel, and I grew up together. We aren't only trusted friends; we are family. If Tauriel returns to Mirkwood, even if the Elvenking declines to aid her, Nastedir will not forsake her." Legolas ensured her, "Allow me to know my people and friends better than you! The Elvenking is harsh and demanding, yet if Tauriel needed his help, he would allow her return."

Awarthrie turned her face away and started added more wood and poked it with long sticks. "Maybe you don't know your people and your friends," she mumbled under her breath. "Or you do, and you are trying to protect their flaws from securing yours. After all, Mirkwood elves are the type of elves that would easily abandon even their own kin."

Legolas wasn't sure what gotten into her. She was acting strangely since she heard him talking about Thorin, his quest, and Tauriel. He seemed irritated by how the dwarf-girl spoke about his kin. However, he wouldn't try to convince her tonight that she was wrong. Legolas leaned towards her and handed her the mortar. "Use the ointment on your back. It will ease your pain, have something to eat, and have some rest. We are leaving in the dusk..." he said and stood up, striding away from her.

She watched Legolas walking away from her. Though her memories from back then, like a horror movie it kept playing again in her mind as if somehow her brain was unwilling to let the images go, and in its attempt to analyze them, it made her see it all over again. That day slipped through her mind like so much sand in an hourglass. She knew the more she tried to suppress it, the more it would play again, but she couldn't help it.

She took the mortar and observed the mixture inside. She had seen her mother years ago to use weed, flowers, and plants for healing purposes. But Tauriel never had the time to teach her as she died. And now, one of the people who drove her mother to her end was in her company. It would be easy, too easy to try and take his life. She shook her head; those were dark thoughts, too dark even for her.

Moments later, she started applying the ointment on her back. She had to admit that those weeds and flowers did wonder, and the pain was gone in an instant. She grabbed then something to eat from the supplies that were kept on the horse. Then she wrapped around her blanket and fell asleep. She knew she didn't have the means nor the time to try and attack the 'dumb tree-hugging dirt worshipper.' However, they had a long journey in front of them. And she would find the time to learn more about her father and mother, and then she would decide what to do with him.

The rustling of leaves had made her drowsy and carried her into a deep slumber, but something felt now altogether strange. These woods were not the same; they were way too crooked and gloomy to be in trees from Rivendell. Nothing seemed familiar except the tree she was holding on to. 'Don't panic,' she said to herself; there had to be an explanation for this. But first, she had more pressing matters to attend to. She needed to pee.

It was dawn when Awarthrie was on her feet and searching around for the perfect place to take care of her morning needs. After she was done with taking care of her morning needs and cleaning up and washing her face, she returned to the camp. There she noticed that she slept alone, and neither Legolas nor the twins were there. She looked around, noticing that the horses were there, which meant they couldn't be far away.

And it was then after her thought had finished when she spotted the 'tree-humper' appearing from the riverside. His long silver hair was unbraided and unbound. He was wearing his usual garment, only lacking his heavier tunic. It was clear that Legolas had used his time bathing. 'Really bathing in the cold waters of the river Bruinen' she thought. Honestly, the 'shiny-princess of Mirkwood' never made an obvious fuss about his appearance, but that didn't mean that the dwarf-girl hadn't noticed how perfect and shiny he was.

And things got worse when the twin sons of Elrond showed up. They seemed to have jumped into the cold waters as well. She shook her head and started gathering her sleeping blanket. She paused and sniffed her hair and garment. She cursed under her breath. She was only riding with them for a day, and she smelt worse than the horses. Wasn't she suppose to be half an elf? Why was she smelly as ever? Not that she cared about the 'Princess of Mirkwood,' but she felt awkward around the twin to smell like she had bath inside the dirt.

"Good Morrow, Awarthrie, how was your sleep?" Elladan greeted the dwarf-girl with a kind smile on his face. Elrohir waved at her as he stepped behind his brother and started braiding his long brown hair.

She shared a smile with the twins and responded, "I slept pretty good, even in this rocky ground," observing how Legolas was braiding his own hair. "But it was a bit cold," she added, facing away. The last thing she wanted was for the 'Princess of Mirkwood to notice that she was staring at him.

"In all my years, I never heard a maiden snore so loud," Legolas suddenly interrupted them "we should feel lucky that no orcs were alerted." His blue eyes met hers, and he paused his action for a moment, then he went on braiding his hair. "But I can guess all dwarves are loud like you?"

Awarthrie glared at him, and her hands once more rested against her weapons. It would be easy, so easy to pull her axes and demand him to fight her. But she had already played that card, and Legolas only treated her like a child. "You don't know anything about our kind." she hissed, pinning her gaze against him.

"I know enough," he assured her, "and I don't wish to learn more." His eyes sized her from her head to her toe, "Rude, stubborn, greedy, disrespectful, troublemakers,..." he paused, towering over her. "Do I need to add more... And awful riders. Not to say that you kin cannot ride at all."

The dwarf-girl glared at him narrowing the distance between them. "Say that again, and maybe you will finally find out how stubborn and deadly my kin is!" she hissed.

Legolas cast a glance over her and stepped away. "I told you before I don't fight with children," he reminded her, "Though if you keep pushing your luck, you might end up on my bad side."

She would gladly push the matter, but Elladan was already next to her and pulled her away. "Awarthrie, don't mind Legolas; you are welcome to speak about your kin; we haven't met with any dwarf-folks for decades. We could learn a few things." he encouraged her.

She smiled and nodded, like that some elves were willing to learn about her folk. She leaned against the nearest trunk and started describing as best as she could her kin. "Well, dwarves were made by Aulë, we call him Mahal, meaning 'maker.' He made the first Seven Fathers of the dwarves in secret in a hall under the mountains of Middle-earth. We live around 250 to 350 years. The tallest dwarf is around 4'6''."

"You aren't 4'6'', I would say 5' tall," Legolas observed, "though you say the tallest is 4'6''?"

Awarthrie was staled after noticing that the 'pointy-eared Bastard' was paying attention to her. "Indeed, I am 5' tall, but that doesn't make me the tallest dwarf!" she answered him with irritation in her voice.

"The tallest female dwarf," he corrected himself, "Still a dwarf nonetheless."

"No," she insisted, "I am not the tallest dwarf because I am a half breed."

There was a sudden silence. It was the first time when Awarthrie actually admitted she wasn't all dwarf. Legolas had already noticed that she couldn't be the only dwarf. Honestly, he didn't care what her other half could be. The twins thought they were curious. And they wouldn't let the matter drop.

"It's time to take our leave," Legolas added. He was done braiding his hair, the twins had finished, and they were ready to go on with their journey. He leaped on Arroch effortless and offered his hand to aid the 'stubborn-dwarf-girl' to climb after him. She accepted his help, and soon, she was sitting behind Legolas, with her arms around his stomach. "Needless to say, you smell worse than Arroch."

The observation made the twins laugh; they had mounted their own horses and followed behind Arroch. They rode the rest of the day steadily, and the twins kept asking Awarthrie of her other half. Though she never gave them a satisfying answer. At night they rested again until dawn, and they repeated for a few more days. The dwarf-girl tried to wash up as much as she could. There was no way she would jump inside the cold river. Even if she was smelling by then worse than any orc.

They had reached the borderless of Rivendell, and from there Legolas and her would keep their journey to reach Lothlorien. However, a small group of orcs was waiting for the company in the confines of the borders...

(( Next Act:11 Rescued by the Foe ))

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