* Three *

The moon wore a gloomy mask and the forest was silent…dead. It seemed to sense something; Evil floated in the breeze around the three Elves. Legolas shivered, feeling the chilling air take over his body. He was still puzzled to why Lord Elrond had asked him to visit that part of Rhudaur. He said he had sensed some trouble coming their way from the Trollsaws forest. Although Legolas had felt nothing, he acted on Lord Elrond's request.

He and two other Elves had left Rivendell at the break of dawn and had encountered nothing that could be considered as a threat. Legolas had begun to wonder if Lord Elrond was thinking right when he had sent him there, when a strange sound caught his attention.

It was easy to distinguish the sounds of the forest from the unnatural sounds, mostly because the forest was silent. In a night like that and with the help of his Elvish hearing, he could spot a foe at miles away.

"What is it Legolas?" One of his companions asked seeing that the prince had his eyes lost in the darkness of the forest.

"Be alert. Something is not right." Legolas warned, immediately arming his bow with an arrow. Whatever came out of that forest would be killed if it turned to be an enemy. The other two elves did as told and they waited, enveloped by the night and trees.

Nothing.

The forest was calm and no alarming sound was heard. Legolas was starting to doubt his sanity when that same noise reached his ears again, this time it was very distinctive. It was the sound of leafs being crushed under running feet. Then the sound stopped again, and Legolas imagine that the person or animal had stopped running.

The air was thick with anxiety and fortunately the sky was clear, letting the evil moon cast her light over the forest.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Legolas commanded in a firm tone, aiming the bow at the direction where he had last heard the crushing sound. But got no reply. A shadow in the middle of the trees caught his attention and he grinned slightly. He had spotted the foe and it was an Elf. Legolas got a glimpse of blond air and aimed in that direction. The arrow made a brisk sound has it reaped through the air and moments later a yell of shock shoot through the forest. He had hopped to scare the Elf and make him come out of his hiding place. Apparently, he had been successful. A series of elfish curses echoed through the dark forest, making the three Elves chuckle amused.

"Show yourself at once." One of Legolas companions ordered to the trees, his bow still armed. Slowly a figure crept from the trees, walking slowly in their direction. "Who are you?"

"My name is Menel and I'm on my way to Imladris." The stranger replied, steeping into the moonlight. Legolas took a moment to watch the Elf and then smiled.

"Lord Menel, long time no see." He approached the older Elf and by Lord Menel's face, Legolas knew he had been recognised.

"Legolas, indeed long time. What are you doing here?" The noble asked confused and still shaken. Both Elves stood toe to toe.

"Interesting, I could ask you the same thing." Legolas replied and they shook hands.

"I told you, I'm on my way to Imladris. I thought you were still sailing through the Great Sea."

"Returned to these shores a couple of hundred years ago." Legolas answered confused with the situation. "And I thought you were at Aman. What brings you to Middle-Earth?"

"I came in an official mission, Legolas." The lord informed gazing at the other two Elves that looked utterly lost and by all means, bewildered. "I must speak with Lord Elrond at once."

"Were you sent by Elbereth Gilthoniel?" Legolas inquired, his eyes shimmering with anticipation.

"Yes. But I'm afraid that you'll have to take me to Elrond immediately. I can't waste anymore time" Lord Menel seemed to be incredibly agitated and Legolas nodded and motion for him to follow his way. He didn't want to aggravate the Elf even more. "I fear that our mission has been seriously compromised." Lord Menel stated walking fast beside Legolas. He looked defeated and his eyes were sad and unfocused. Something terrible had happened; Legolas was smart enough to understand that. "We were attacked at the Old Bridge by some very unattractive…"

"We?" Legolas cut off the Elf's ramblings and for a moment even the lord seemed lost.

An arrow sang through the air, its pointy-head ending buried deep inside the tree's thick trunk, right in front of Legolas face. He jumped a bit startled.

He stopped on his tracks and so did the other three Elves. For a moment all that Legolas could think was that, if he had taken another step, that arrow would have killed him. He looked at the arrow and then to where it had been shoot from the forest.

There was no one there.

Whoever had shot that blasting arrow was indeed a skilled archer, for he had made no startling noise until the spear had reached its target. That was when it hit Legolas. That sound! He was sure he could recognise that reaping sound anywhere! Only one bow could make an arrow sing like that…only his bow could make arrows sing! The bow of Galadhrim…

A small smile tugged at the corners of Legolas' lips. He knew the identity of their attacker.

Ryanna cursed silently hiding behind the tall tree. She had not intended to shoot the arrow that close to Legolas face, but he had taken an unexpected step forward. She had only meant to scare him, not kill him. The thing was that she had been as shocked as Lord Menel had been to encounter Legolas there in Middle-Earth. She had assumed he still sailed through the Great Sea, feeding on his passion for the sea.

She and Lord Menel had been attacked by what she supposed was a group of terrible Orcs. Somehow, during their fight and later escape, they had run in different directions, ending separated from each other. She had tried to track Lord Menel and that was when she found him with Legolas.

The initial surprise was soon replaced by fury. He had promised he would return to Aman one day and he would take her on a journey with him. And all this time she thought him lost somewhere in the middle of the deep Blue Sea, there he was, in Middle-Earth. He had probably forgotten all about her.

Sighing deeply, she decided it was time she revealed her identity to the Elves. Stepping away from the tree and smiling slightly she turned around to find a big Elvish knife pointed at her face. She gasped startled. At the end of the knife stood Legolas with an amused expression.

"We are even now…Anna." He uttered locking his eyes with hers. She rose her chin, trying to look unaffected by his sudden appearance. For a moment neither spoke, they just stared and analysed one another.

"Thanks the Valar you are alright child!" Lord Menel frantic voice brought them back to reality. Ryanna looked at the older Elf irritated, as he approached. She hated being treated as a child. She was almost two thousand years old!

"I've been trying to track you down for the past six hours." She informed the lord, avoiding Legolas stare. His big knife rested at his side now.

"And I you! But here you are and thankfully unharmed. Look who I have encounter upon these dark woods!" Lord Menel glanced over at Legolas and he just raised one eyebrow, definitely amused. "You weren't more then four hundred years old when he left Aman, but I'm sure you still remember prince Legolas."

"Of course." She bowed her head towards Legolas politely. Her eyes though, were throwing daggers at the Elvish Prince.

"You have changed a lot since then, your Highness." Legolas teased. "I wouldn't have been able to recognised you…if it weren't for my bow, of course." He added with a grin. He remembered perfectly well the day he had offered his bow to the young princess. It had been a way of assuring her that he would return to Aman and would take her with him on an adventure. And that had been almost one thousand and a half years ago…

"I haven't changed that much, your Highness" Legolas was sure that if he could taste her words they would taste like the most deadly venom. "Though, I'm not the young girl you once knew."

"You're right. You aren't the girl I once knew, because the girl I once knew wouldn't have hit that tree, but surely one of my companions instead." He joked, but Ryanna didn't find him a bit amusing. "I'm impressed with your…precision. Tell me, did you mean to take my head off, or were you aiming at other parts of my…"He was cut off by Ryanna.

"Luckily for you I was aiming at the tree." She offered with a raised eyebrow. Legolas' two companions chuckled slightly and he glared at them, making them stuff their low laughs.

"According to Lord Menel, you were heading to Rivendell. May I escort you there?" Legolas asked, trying to change the subject. Before Ryanna could protest, Lord Menel answered the question.

"If that means leaving these gloomy woods, we'd be glad to have your company, Prince Legolas and the company of your friends." Ryanna had to swallow the witty remark, but that didn't pass unnoticed to Legolas. He grinned at the she-Elf.

"This way then." He motioned for them to follow him. Ryanna glared at him when she passed the prince and Legolas chuckled slightly. Indeed, she was not the young girl he had met years ago. She was now a prissy, proud…beautiful she-Elf. But what was she doing there?

"I'm happy to see you again Anna." Legolas said walking at her side. She was trying her best to ignore him, but he wasn't making it easy on herself.

"I'm afraid I can't say the same about you, your Highness." The way she kept treating him by his royal title was starting to get on Legolas nerves.

"Please, call me Legolas. And why would you not be pleased to see me?" He questioned, trying to keep up with her pace. "After all we were good friends."

"Because, your Highness, friends don't go thousands of years without a word. For all I knew you died at the sea." Maybe that was going a bit too far, to let him think she had thought him dead, but the words had already left her lips and she didn't regret them. Legolas stopped walking, looking stung by her evil words.

"You have every right to be mad at me, Anna." He said with sad eyes and Ryanna stopped aswell, facing him. He had never seen anyone so graceful and he was sure he would never see anyone that beautiful again. Ryanna's hair was almost as dark as Arwen's hair and her eyes were of a deep blue, like the seas he had travelled.

"Mad? I'm not mad at you. I'm sure you had more important and far more interesting things to do then to return to Aman. It was not like you had an obligation to return." The last words were added bitterly.

"Yes I did." Legolas stepped closer to her, his eyes never leaving hers. "I had every intention to return to Aman, Anna. You must understand that…"

"My name!" She snapped more angrily then she wanted. "Is Ryanna." She finished a little more controlled. "Only my mother calls me Anna. I never gave you the permission to treat me differently. I would appreciate it if you treated me by your Highness or princess Ryanna. I won't tolerate any other name." She knew she was pushing her anger a little too far, but she was determined to make him pay for all those years she had thought she had lost her dear friend. Turning her back on him, she could not help but flinch at the hurt she saw in his eyes.

"Of course." Was Legolas vexed reply. His eyes watched her as she walked away and after a moment he followed her. They would soon be at Rivendell.

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