Author's Note: Okay, I know that it has been forever since I've updated, BUT these things happen. I went back to school for the semester and it was bye bye free time!!! My days were filled horribly with chemistry and neuroscience. But break has come and I have finally been able to write down the story that has revolved in my head for these past months. I hope you enjoy!!! Please review and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Colleen. I wish I had Legolas or Orlando Bloom residing in my house with me, but alas, life is just not fair.

Chapter Six

The muscles in Colleen's forearm, bicep, shoulder, and back locked and tensed as she drew and anchored the bow. She aimed and sighted her arrow and released. The arrow flew through the air and she watched as it slammed into the target, it's fletches quivering.

Haldir sighed as he stared at the arrow lodged in the middle ring.

"Colleen, though you have a lot of power behind your arrow, if you do not have better aim, you will get no where."

He walked towards the target and pulled out the arrows that peppered the surface. "Good aim is the difference between life and death."

He gave her the arrows and she just listened silently as she replaced them in her quiver. "Hitting an Orc in the eye will stop them, hitting them in the leg will not."

He looked for agreement from her and she nodded slightly. He returned to his spot.

Colleen reached for another arrow and notched it.

"Okay, Colleen. You have to do better. Ready, aim, fire. Ready, aim, fire," she chanted under her breath.

"Ready." She brought the bow up to her eye and steadied it.

"Aim." She aimed and sighted the arrow, her eyes staring at the bulls-eye, desire to strike it churning inside her.

"Fire." She let the arrow go and felt a rush of power flow out of her as it sailed through the air.

Quickly her eyes widened as the arrow decided to take her last order literally and burst into flames. Ignited, it continued its path towards the multi colored circles and struck the target, very near the bulls-eye. The fire quickly spread and grew; feeding on the straw that filled the target. Haldir's eyes closed in exasperation as he once again reached for the bucket of water that sat nearby. He ran lightly to the target and doused the fire, extinguishing the straw.

As he turned holding the empty bucket, he stared at Colleen nervously biting her lower lip.

"I'm sorry, I really didn't mean to do that again." This was the third time she had set her arrow on fire, accidentally. She really must stop chanting under her breath. Her eyebrows rose hopefully. "But you did see that it was closer to the center this time, right?"

Haldir couldn't hold on to the small amount of anger he felt at another ruined target as he watched his student's face fill with such desperate want for approval.

"Yes, it was closer." He set the bucket down and started walking off the field, Colleen matching his stride. "But you have to keep working at it. Now that you have power enough behind your weapon, you need to increase your accuracy and speed. Those two things are what counts in battle."

She sighed at those words, in battle. She did not want to be in battle, she did not want to be in a position to need to defend herself to the death. But as time passed and the feeling that she would soon leave grew, she knew it was exactly that skill she needed most. "I know, Haldir. I will continue practicing, I will always continue practicing."

They turned a corner and found themselves in front of Colleen's quarters. She pushed aside the heavy curtain and held it, allowing Haldir entrance. She followed and set her bow and quiver on the table.

"You wouldn't want to get some dagger practice in, huh?" she said with a smile, knowing she was more competent in that field of hand to hand combat. The Elvish blades felt like a natural extension of her hand as she fought with Haldir. Her want to prove herself capable in some way was very strong and she hoped a little sparing would help remind her and her teacher that not all was lost. Haldir shook his head.

"No, I regret that I cannot best you again, right at this moment." He chuckled slightly at the indignant look on her face at his boast, for his words were not very true. Indeed, the majority of their battles found Colleen as the victor. It was one area of combat that Haldir did not worry for her.

"I am required to meet with Lord Celeborn, after I notify someone to replace another target." He grinned as he spoke, wondering how many teachers could say they were tired with their students setting their arrows on fire with their power.

Colleen's indignation from his boast of besting her turned to embarrassment at his latest words, and her cheeks became flushed.

Haldir took no notice as he headed towards the curtain. As he pushed aside the curtain to make his leave, a thought struck him and he turned.

"If later, you would like to do some riding, I should be available." He watched a smile grow on her face.

"Perhaps. I am quite exhausted from the lessons today. If I feel up to it, I shall find you." He nodded and left, the green curtain swinging slightly after it fell.

She turned and set to cleaning and checking her archery equipment before placing it at the top of her wardrobe. She reached for her leather hair tie that contained her hair and undid it, allowing the heavy strands to fall down her back and caress her shoulder blades. Her hair had been tightly bound all day to prevent its lengths from tangling with her equipment and her head had become slightly sore. She rubbed the sore spots as she walked across to the desk against the wall and drew back the stool that was there.

Sitting, she opened the locked drawer on the left side of the desk with a key that hung from a delicate silver chain at her neck. She carefully withdrew a tied scroll that she then laid upon the top of the desk. Unrolling it, she looked at the carefully printed words, words that only she would understand for they were written in English. They were English words that revealed clues about Middle Earth's future.

As was her habit, she reread her own words, matching them with the gritty pictures that existed in her head. Once she reassured herself that the stories were as accurate as she could remember, she tried to reach for more.

She had started the scroll a couple of days after she arrived at her current home, frantically scribbling all she could as she found her memories disappearing fast as the days passed. She had managed to write a few details, the small list not impressive in any way. But still, the few words were better than none.

She revisited the image of Bilbo's birthday party, of him disappearing as he wore the ring. She knew that this must have come true by now. But a huge gap existed between that memory and the memory of a hurried race against the Nazgul to cross a river. She knew not where Gandalf was but a sense of worry constantly shaded her day. She sighed and began rolling the scroll up as no new memories came.

She placed the scroll in its drawer and then opened another, reaching for a piece of parchment that was only half filled with writing. She smoothed it out and reached for her quill. Placing the nib in her pot of ink, she began writing down her thoughts of the day, filling the next page of her informal journal.

The journal was the only place that she was able to reveal all her emotions, all her worries and thoughts. She just did not feel comfortable telling them to anyone, though Galadriel knew must of what she wrote. But though she had lost her old life and all her old surroundings, she still carried her fear of trusting anyone, of letting anyone become precious to her for the fear of losing them. Losing them like she lost her family. So she trusted herself and released her inner musings onto the paper in front of her.

As she wrote, the lines of ink became less clear so she stopped and reached for a short, sharp knife to refine the nib of her quill. Once again, she wished strongly that she knew how to make a ball point pen. It would be so much easier and less messy. But this was just one wish of many for the small convenient things she took for granted in her old world.

Finally, sharpening the nib correctly, she finished describing her lessons with Haldir and her inner worries about the future. She reached for a small handful of sand and spread it across the ink, to soak up any excess before shaking it and placing in on top of the stack in the drawer.

The sun grew lower on the horizon and she felt comfortable weariness crawl over her. She decided against any riding that night and changed for bed, knowing that Haldir would quickly realize she would not be joining him and continue on his own. She spread her hair against her down pillow and fell deeply into well-deserved slumber that only came after a hard day's work.

* * * * * * *

Later that week, Colleen found a time when both her and Haldir's schedules allowed them to ride together. She was sitting in her saddle, slowly stroking the mane of Tsornin, her gold colored stallion. The moment Haldir had shown him to her, she knew what his name would be. Tsornin, a name from one of her favorite books, The Blue Sword.

It was a book that she had read over and over when she was a child, one that she would lie under her covers with a flashlight reading, so as not to alert her mother that she was reading so late on a school night.

As she felt Tsornin shift beneath her, impatient to start the ride, she remembered how she used to wish to be able to enter the world of Harri and Corwin. Slightly ironic, now that she thought of it. If only she had read The Lord of the Rings instead. But although she adored fantasy, she had never felt the urge to read the famed books.

Colleen turned in her saddle as she heard another horse approach and saw Haldir riding towards her. "I was beginning to wonder if you had forgotten," she said light-heartedly, a smile showing that she was teasing.

Haldir brought his horse even with hers. "I am sorry. I was delayed with some duties that I had to attend to right away."

She nodded her understanding and nudged Tsornin slightly with her knees, signaling him to move into a walk. "Of course, your duties take precedent over riding with a young human," she joked as they started down a path that wound through the forest. She looked over at her friend who was nodding in sham agreement.

"I'm glad you understand. It is not so easy to spend time with such lower beings. They are not known for their intelligence."

Colleen snorted. "But elves are known for their ego," she retorted. Haldir laughed.

"Enough. I wish to speak peaceably." He tugged his reins slightly to the right to move his horse around a small hole in the path. "How has been your day?"

Colleen took her eyes from the beautiful shadows that lay on the forest floor and turned her head towards Haldir. "Tiring. I took on the task of creating a new system to organize the texts of horticulture. The old ones were very confusing." She pushed a wayward hair behind her ear. "So many years of education, I never thought that I would become a librarian."

Haldir's eyes shone with confusion. "Librarian? I am not familiar with that word."

Colleen thought for a moment of how to explain. "Someone who organizes texts and papers so that others can find them and use them."

He nodded. "You did not do this in your own world?"

She shook her head. "No. I had no interest in doing such a thing. I was training for something completely different."

"What were you training to become? A warrior of some type?" he asked, as he thought of her talent with hand to hand combat.

She shook her head again. "No. I was learning how to help people with their emotions," she told him.

Haldir pushed aside a low-hanging branch as he tried to think of a profession where one helped others with emotions. "How did you do this? I have never heard of such a thing."

"You did this by listening to a person's problems and then trying to help them figure out why they had such problems."

"Like if someone had a problem with their crops, you would tell them what to do?"

Colleen laughed at the question, since she had absolutely no knowledge of farming. "No, more like, if you were very sad, you would tell me why and we would work on how to make you joyful once again. We would try to remove the source of the sadness." She looked at Haldir to see if he understood. He still looked slightly confused.

"I think I understand somewhat," he told her. "It sounds like you were a friend to everyone."

She smiled at that description. "Yes, it is similar to that. You could call it that, I was a friend to someone who needed one."

They continued riding in silence for a while, the songs of the forest birds the only sound they heard. Every so often, Haldir would point out some interesting fauna or animal in the wood, and Colleen would always listen with interest, for it was fascinating to see things that did not exist in her world.

They came to the edge of the wood and Colleen stared at the plains where she first appeared, where she awoke to a new future. Haldir's voice broke through her musings.

"Would you like to race?" he asked. She looked over to see a playful glint in his eyes. "That is if you think you could keep up?"

Colleen's eyebrow rose. "Is that a challenge, Sir Elf?"

"Indeed, it is, milady."

Colleen quickly kicked Tsornin into a gallop. She laughed at the surprised expression on her friend's face as she passed him. "I accept!" she yelled behind her.

She heard Haldir swear softly as he moved his horse to follow and catch up. She concentrated on keeping her slight lead as Haldir was a superior rider and would surely beat her in a fair race. Keeping low on her horse, she maneuvered Tsornin over the rolling plains, her face alight with joy at such fun on a fabulous spring day. She risked a glance behind her to see Haldir only a few strides away, a big grin upon his face.

Quickly she returned her focus to a tree in the near distance, the only target to aim for on the grassy land. Haldir came even with her and she urged Tsornin on faster. But Haldir was gaining. He edged his horse a little further than hers and as they reached the lone tree, it was clear he would win by a very small amount.

Colleen pouted as she reigned Tsornin back slowly, finally coming to a stop. Haldir laughed at his victory.

"You should have known that you would never best me!"

Colleen rolled her eyes. "Never say never!" she retorted. "Nothing is absolute."

She dismounted and stroked her horse's mane lightly as he breathed heavily, his sides sweating from the gallop. But it was clear he had enjoyed it. She looped the reigns over a low hanging limb and sat down, laying on her back as she once again marveled at the beautiful scenery around her.

She heard Haldir sit next to her but they were silent, comfortable in their thoughts.

"I wonder at your future."

Colleen's head turned at Haldir's statement. "What do you mean exactly?"

"I know that you have more in your destiny than the Mallorn Woods."

"Yes."

"I will miss you when you leave."

Colleen felt her heart warm at that statement. She sat up and turned to look at the regal elf that sat next to her. "Thank you Haldir. I am honored to call you friend."

"As I am with you."

She smiled. "I have not had many friends but it seems what I lack in quantity, I make up for in quality."

Haldir smiled. "Thank you." He stared off into the horizon. "I sense dark things ahead. Middle Earth is troubled." He looked at the woman he had trained for the past months. "I know I push you hard sometimes."

Colleen shook her head, words of protest on her lips but Haldir stopped her. "I know it is true. It is only that I know that danger is in your destiny. And I do not wish to lose a friend. I want you to be prepared."

She reached over and grasped his hand. "And thanks to you, I am. I am better prepared for whatever lies ahead because of your tutelage and guidance."

He nodded. Their conversation was interrupted as Haldir stiffened and rose to his feet. His eyes started scanning the horizon as he reached for the bow that was tied to his saddle.

Colleen stood also. "What is it?" She too looked in the distance but saw nothing. But elves were far more talented than she in their senses. So she reached for the Elvish daggers in their sheaths at her back and kept quiet and waited.

Then she saw it. A horse and rider appeared on the horizon. They were approaching fast, at a most amazing speed. Haldir readied his bow, reaching for an arrow and notching it. He aimed and Colleen knew that if the rider did one thing suspect, Haldir would not miss.

Her muscles tensed and she crouched in a fighting position. The horse drew near and her eyes widened as recognition began to take hold.

The rider reigned in the horse and looked down at the two warriors who were still tensed to attack. "Oh for the love of. . .!" he sputtered, exasperation evident. "Stand down. I have no time for nonsense. Colleen, you need to return to the city and pack. We leave at first light." Then the rider turned and rode for the wood leaving Colleen to stare at his disappearing figure.

"Gandalf?"

* * * * * *

Colleen returned to find her belongings being packed by Barandelothiel, who informed her that Gandalf was in session with Lady Galadriel and they had requested that she join them as soon as possible. So she turned around and exited through the same curtain she had entered through, quickly following the steps that led towards the Lady's quarters.

As she approached she saw Gandalf and Galadriel talking softly, seated across from each other.

"Gandalf, what has happened? Where do we leave for and why?" she asked hurriedly, her voice breathless from her urgent rush to them.

Gandalf raised an eyebrow at Colleen's rushed questions. "Pray, catch your breath, Colleen. Take a seat and I will explain."

Colleen listened as Gandalf told her of Bilbo's birthday and the appearance of the One Ring. Her expression did not change much for she expected this to happen, but she did not know what he was going to say next and she shot to her feet with outrage at the revealing of Saruman's betrayal.

"He imprisoned you? He has turned against the order and joined with Sauron?" she practically yelled. She was flustered for a moment as anger blurred any new thoughts from forming, just repeating the ones already existing. "He imprisoned you?" She looked at her mentor and dear friend who looked weary but in reasonable health.

"You are well, Gandalf?"

Gandalf shook off her worries with one hand. "I am perfectly fine, Colleen. I have recovered from Saruman's attentions, you should not think about that." He glanced at Galadriel and then back at Colleen. "Colleen, there is something you need to know."

Colleen sat down again and looked quizzically at Galadriel and Gandalf. "What?"

Galadriel, her face serene and her eyes calm, laid a hand upon Colleen's arm. "Saruman the White is aware of your presence in Middle Earth. He is very intrigued by a new being with powers, especially a woman."

Gandalf nodded. "He asked about you most fervently. He wishes for you to join him in his quest for dominance over Middle Earth."

Colleen sat quiet as she processed this new information. "Well, wishes do not always come true." She looked at the two wise beings in front of her. "He will have to learn to deal with disappointment."

Galadriel nodded. "Indeed. Gandalf and you must rest for you leave at dawn's light." She looked at her charge. "Tomorrow, you leave for Rivendell. Your journey begins."