It saddens him just thinking about it.
Meanwhile the hunting party departs to carry out the will of their King. The hunting party watches as the daughter of Elrond tests her bow to make sure it is in working order. They are exceedingly puzzled that she carries no quiver. They did not think that the lady will be of much help to them on this venture. They did not look forward to the hindrance of having to protect a lady who thinks herself a warrior just because she has a bow. The only thing that impresses them about her is her stamina. They know that not a single one of them can ever beat this elleth in a foot race. They arrive at the orc camp and surround it. They notice a distinct change in the young elleth before them; Gone is the cheerful friendly elleth only to be replaced by a battle hardened warrior filled with so much sorrow that it is suffocating just being around her. The party looks to the leader for the signal to attack. He gives the signal, and the party converges on the camp cutting down any orcs they come across. Every one in the group is surprised at the sheer skill in battle that Raven is displaying. They look at her, and the leader asks.
"Where did such a refined lady ever learn to fight like that?" leader
Raven does not answer instead a tear rolls down her cheek before she finally composes herself enough to reply.
"I don't want to talk about it. Can you just leave it alone please?" Raven
The guards nod, and begin walking back to the palace with Raven in tow.
When Lord Elrond sees that his daughter has been crying he turns to the guard in charge of the patrol, and glares at him with such intense anger that it makes Thranduil raise an eyebrow in interest. His friend is known to be a very patient man, and does not anger easily. What could his guards have done to make him that angry. He carefully inspects the elfling searching for anything amiss. He notices that she has been crying, and concludes that this is probably what has angered his friend so much. To smooth things over he looks at them and says.
"The maid just informed me that lunch is ready if you will follow me." Thranduil
"Of coarse." Elrond
Raven nods and follows after the maid with a less distressed look on her face. Raven goes to the guest room she has been using, refreshes herself, changes, and returns to her fathers side before anyone knows that she is gone. Lord Elrond is of coarse very much aware of what just transpired, but refrains from saying anything. Once all are seated in the dinning room King Thranduil says.
"I hear that the hunt went particularly well, and you I hear were quite outstanding in battle. I know Elrond wouldn't send one of his children into battle unprepared. Well Done." Thranduil
"Thank you King Thranduil." Raven
"You are welcome Lady Raven." Thranduil
"I must confess that I was nervous about coming here due to the wood elves dangerous reputation, however after spending time with the people here I am rather ashamed of myself for feeling any anxiety over the trip. I truly hope to have the chance to make some good friends during my stay here." Raven
Everyone who hears this is deeply touched by Lady Ravens speech especially the King. He nods, and continues eating like nothing happened. But inside he is reeling by the wisdom he just heard coming out of the mouth of one so young. He knows that this elfling is destined to do great things with her life, and he wants to be there for her while she does.
Raven has been wandering the Halls of Thranduil trying to push aside the very painful memories that have been bothering her since that guard asked her such a reckless question. She found herself sitting on a bench in a garden with tears pouring endlessly down her face. Raven knew that she shouldn't be breaking down like this when ever anyone asks anything even remotely related to her first family, but she just can't help it. It hurts so much she can hardly stand to remember the smallest detail of her former life, but at least the pain has numbed enough that she no longer wishes to kill herself any more that is definitely an improvement. Raven is so lost in her revere that she doesn't notice someone approaching her until it is to late. She notices this fact when the person wipes her tears away saying.
"Why are you crying elfling?" ?
"Memories very painful memories of another life." Raven
"Are you recovering from your pain?" ?
"I am, but it is a slow process. Thank you for caring King Thranduil. It will probably be years before I can think of that time without breaking down." Raven
"Time heals all wounds, and time is something we elves possess in abundance. It will get better young one." Thranduil
"Thank you King Thranduil. I really appreciate it." Raven
"Any time Lady Raven." Thranduil
"King Thranduil I have a request." Raven
"What would that be Lady Raven?" Thranduil
"If there is another orc hunt during my stay here; Would you consider coming with us?" Raven
"Why would I do that?" Thranduil
"I can think of a couple reasons:
1. You mentioned how the captain praised my battle prowess, and I figured that you might like the chance to form your own assessment of my abilities.
2. When was the last time you went out, and did anything fun with a friend.
So my friend how would you like to hunt some orc?" Raven
"That does sound enjoyable my young friend. I am looking forward to it." Thranduil
Raven nods, and the friends sit in the garden in companionable silence.
Raven has absolutely no doubt that she enjoys hunting orcs, but was that all that she enjoys doing? Was this all there was to life or were there other things for her to enjoy beside fighting and protecting. Maybe if she spends some more time with her sister and mother then she would find out for herself. The only thing that she isn't looking forward to about this new plan is how jealous her brothers are going to be when she starts spending time with the rest of her family. The more she thinks about this the more she comes to realize that she is essentially repeating the same mistake she made for the first five years of her life; She is ignoring family for the sake of something she enjoys, and once again she has come to regret that decision. She is going to do everything she can within reason to rectify this situation as soon as they return to Rivendell. She is however a little bit nervous about the whole thing, and King Thranduil must have noticed this, because he says.
"What is wrong elfling?" Thranduil
"I was just thinking that I don't spend as much time with the rest of my family as I would like. I spend most of my time with my brothers, and I am starting to miss my parents and sister." Raven
"Then why don't you simply spend more time with them?" Thranduil
"The problem is that other than reading, writing, and etiquette fighting is all I know." Raven
Thranduil raises his eyebrow, and thinks over his new friends problem. He knows that there is a critical piece of information that Lady Raven had yet to tell him, and he has a pretty good idea how to find out what it is. So he says.
"Your father has been my friend for many years, and I never would have thought that Elrond would raise an elfling in such a way." Thranduil
Tears start falling down her cheeks as she says.
"He didn't I'm adopted. He adopted me into his family with magic so that I am now his daughter as if I had been born that way, but I was not. I'm not even originally from Arda; This world is still new to me. I guess that is one of the reasons why I go out with my brothers so much." Raven
Thranduil raises an eyebrow, and puts a comforting and encouraging hand on her shoulder. Raven steels herself though tears are still pouring down her face, and says.
"I was born the heir to a warlord; While tradition dictated that a Lady must be well mannered as his heir it was required that I fight by his side in battle. So I was extensively trained so much so it took up lot of my time. By the time I was skilled enough to have more time to myself I was no longer interested in doing anything else. I have come to regret that greatly. I have no idea what else there is to do in life, and the worst part is that I have no idea how to find out. What do I do?" Raven
"I have never heard of an Elven Warlord before, and I have the perfect solution to your problem." Thranduil
"I never said he was an elf, and what did you have in mind." Raven
Thranduil raised an eyebrow demanding an explanation. Raven responded saying.
"Elf like but definitely not an elf." Raven
"Your mother was another one of these elf like beings too I suppose?" Thranduil
"No she was a daughter men, and before you ask I was like my father." Raven
"How is that possible?" Thranduil
"My mother was a priestess of the highest caliber. That is a level of purity so high that the gods will not allow anything impure to come from her, and hanyo are considered impure." Raven
"How is purity determined?" Thranduil
"By the father. So since my father was a yokai so was I until my adoption by Elrond and Celebrian." Raven
Thranduil nods in acceptance, because it did not escape his notice that she has been crying the entire time. So to steer the conversation to a more painless topic he says.
"The solution I have in mind for your problem is for you to spend time socializing with the ladies of my court so that when you return home you will have developed some less violent interests, however I would like to go on that orc hunt first it has been awhile since I last tested my skills." Thranduil
"That is an excellent plan. Thank you so much for your help mellon nin." Raven
"Your welcome now if you'll excuse me I have matters to attend to." Thranduil
"Of course." Raven
Thranduil leaves mentally pleased that his plan to satisfy his curiosity worked so well; At the same time he greatly regrets causing the elfling pain.
A maid walks up to the bench Raven is sitting on, and says.
"Your father is asking for you Lady Raven." maid
"I will go see him now. Where is he?" Raven
The maid tells Raven where Lord Elrond is, and leaves with Raven following behind her. Raven found herself feeling inexplicably nervous about seeing her father after coming to the realization of how selfishly she has been acting. She is so ashamed of her actions; She can think of only one other time when she felt this kind of shame. That was when she was five, and came to the realization that she had essentially abandoned her parents in favor of frolicking about in the forest. Now a whole ninety-seven years later, and she is doing the exact same thing all over again. As Raven is following after the maid she is feeling worse and worse the closer she gets to her father; He has been so wonderful to her, and she repaid him with constant absences. When she arrives at her destination she sees her father standing there with a resigned expression on his face. The fact that she had never noticed it before was testament to her blind and selfish behavior. To be brutally honest Raven has absolutely no idea how to rectify the situation. She knows that she wants to spend more time with the rest of her family she also does not want to give up traveling. She really enjoys exploring this new world that is now her home. There are so many new sights to see, and people to meet that it would be a shame if she had to give it up completely. Her pensiveness was getting to her so she launched herself at her father, and sobbed into his shirt. Sometime later Lord Elrond has had enough of Raven weeping into his shirt so he says.
"What is wrong daughter?" Elrond
"I am so sorry for always being away. I miss you so much." Raven
Lord Elrond's face softens at his elflings words. He has noticed on many an occasion that he has missed her when she was off exploring the lands with his sons. He wipes her tears away, and says.
"Are you going to be home more now?" Elrond
"Yes. I am." Raven
"I am glad." Elrond
"The thing is that I do not want to give up traveling completely. I brings me great joy to see all the new sights, and meet so many new and interesting people." Raven
"When we return to Rivendell come to my study, and we will devise a schedule that will please everyone." Elrond
"Gladly." Raven
What neither of them realize is that Thranduil has been listening the entire time, and is quite pleased that his friends have reconciled, and have come to an agreement on how to move forward in the future.
As Thranduil is walking through the halls of his palace one of his scouts comes up to him, and says.
"My lord a large party of orcs are attacking the forest. What should we do my lord?" scout
"Alert the guard. I will personally lead a hunting party to rid our home of this filth." Thranduil
"My lord are you sure that this is a good idea?" scout
"Are you questioning my judgment, or are you saying that I am incapable of leading my own men into battle?" Thranduil
"No my lord." scout
"Good. Now do as you are told." Thranduil
As the scout is going about his task he quite literally bumps into Lord Elrond's youngest daughter. He apologizes to her, and she asks him what has him in such a hurry. He tells her saying.
"Orcs are attacking the forest. My lord is leading a hunting party to eradicate the filth." scout
"Is that so. I wish to be included in the hunting party." Raven
"Are you sure that is wise lady Raven the battle will be quite intense?" scout
Raven does not respond mostly because she is to angry to do so. Raven has not been this angry since she was known as Kagome. Her power responds to her fierce ire, and floods the entire palace with an oppressive weight. Everyone in the palace can sense the anger making the power oppressive and weighty. The elf before her is trembling in fear of the sheer power that this elfling posses. From what he has seen of her she is a lot like her father very slow to anger. So this comes as a big surprise to him. He could not figure out why she is so angry with him. He was just expressing his concern for her well fare. Although now that he thinks about it he could have been a little bit to patronizing in his question. He should of expressed his concern instead of practically saying that she is incapable of handling herself in battle. The only way to smooth things over now is to apologize, and hope she forgives him. He looks her in the eye, and says.
"My apologies Lady Raven. I did not mean to insult you so grievously. I was merely concerned for the welfare of a refined lady such as yourself. Please forgive me?" scout
Lady Raven stares at him for a good minute, heaves a great sigh, and says.
"I forgive you. See to it that it never happens again." Raven
"Yes lady Raven." scout
The scout scurries off down the hall to carry out his orders, and Raven heads to her chambers to ready herself for the hunt. When she gets there she takes her traveling clothes out of her satchel, and changes before heading to the armory to select her weapons. When she gets there she decides to bring her weapons instead of the standard elvish weaponry. She inspects them to make sure they are in good working order, and puts them in their proper places. As she is walking out of the armory Raven notices the rest of the hunting party are snickering on their way to retrieve their weapons for the up coming hunt. She asks them what is so funny, and they tell her that no one has ever had the guts to stand up to the scout captain before. Raven can tell that she has greatly impressed the guard not just with her power, but with her courage as well. Raven accompanies the party joking and laughing with the guards like they have been friends for years. When they are finished they head out to the area from which they will leave for the hunt each of them praying to the Valar that they will all return home safely.