Author's note: Just watched LOTR: TT again and *sigh*….Legolas…

Micah: Keep your hands off him!
Me: Sheesh, all right, all right!  For cryin' out loud!  *grumble* By the way, Micah is the friend who sorta inspired me to write this.

Amai: Read on and maybe it'll get to the interesting bits!

Merry: *sarcastically* Y'mean the parts that involve you?

Me: *sigh* Why do I put up with this?  Here's chapter four.

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            Amai awoke to the birds singing in the trees.  She blinked; she was more used to waking up to cold water in her face.  She turned her head to the other bunk and saw that Lilith was still sleeping.  She pinched herself to make sure that she wasn't dreaming.

            "I am awake...before Lilith," she whispered to no one in particular.  "...Do you know what this means?"

            Lilith's dreams of peaceful rivers and handsome elves were brought to an abrupt halt as Amai began tickling her out of bed.  She yelped indignantly and glared at her roommate.  "Why did you wake me up?"

            Amai grinned back at her.  "Well, I was up before you and I couldn't resist!  And, well, the sun's already up.  I thought we might want to get going."

            Lilith gasped.  "Oh, no!  We're going to be late because we both overslept!  Come on!"  She grabbed Amai's hand and they went through with their normal morning rituals.  After all, at least one of them always overslept.

Amai and Lilith entered the battlefield, both assigned to front rank.  Amai was her usual impossibly cheerful self, although there may have been a hint of worry in her blue-violet eyes.  Amai was more intelligent than she let on, and she wondered what her friend was up to.  Knowing Lilith, it was something dangerous.

            Lilith was more than preoccupied that day, scanning the crowd for the elf that had entranced her the day before.  However, no one caught her eye, and she soon gave up the search.  Her plan had yet to be put into action; she would find him again no matter what the risk.

            Battle was engaged, the two friends joining almost unconsciously.  Amai was soon absorbed in the flow of her dagger; thrust, parry, jab, her fluid movements making it seem more like a dance than an attack.  Lilith chose a different tactic than the one she had used the day before.  With well-placed aim, she froze several orcs solid, creating effective shields from enemy fire.  She deliberately froze several to protect Amai, but then disappeared without a sound.

            It took several minutes for Amai to realize that Lilith wasn't there; she was so caught up in the action.  During a lull in the fighting, she wiped her forehead and turned to see how her friend fared.  She blinked, seeing that her blue-eyed partner was gone.  For a few frantic seconds, she looked desperately for a sign of Lilith.  Then she remembered that Lilith had mentioned that she might not participate past the beginning of the battle.  Amai, though she was still worried, focused once more on the battle.  She'd ask Lilith about it later.

            Her eyes swept over the crowd like silk; she suddenly became snagged.  She found herself staring into a pair of solemn sapphire eyes, ageless and filled with many years' wisdom.  She couldn't look away, and the eyes held her in their grip, searching for something.  She felt like a very small child in the presence of a much older brother.  It was a feeling she hadn't felt in a long while and one that would cause her many conflicting emotions in her time.

            She was brought back to reality by the whistling sound of an arrow nearby.  She ducked just in time to feel the rush of air over her head and the arrow clipped off half a lock of her golden hair.  A fire ignited in her blue-violet eyes, and she turned the archer-orc into a pincushion of her arrows.  She rejoined the battle with a new determination, strange encounters with fair elves pushed to the back of her mind.  However, that was still working actively, and she couldn't help but wonder if this was the elf that Lilith had mentioned.  Also, Amai believed that there was something more to this elf; perhaps he was a certain son of a certain King...as she looked for him again to try to prove her idea, he had gone.

            Lilith stood at the back of the crowd, standing on the toes of her boots to see if she could find the same elf.  Through the sea of pointy ears and light hair, there was no sign of the grey-green travelers' clothes or his deep blue eyes.  She was at a loss as to what to do.  If she couldn't see him again, she felt as though her heart would burst from her chest, it was so full of inexplicable and contradicting feelings.  She needed to learn who he was and why his eyes seemed so sad.

            The battle was over before either of the warrior-maidens realized.  Amai sighed in relief, thankful that she got through another battle, ignoring the roaring in her ears from so many unanswered questions.  Lilith sighed in disappointment, wondering if she would ever see those beautiful azure eyes again.

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Disclaimer: I own Middle Earth.  'Nuff said.

Disembodied voice: I am the ghost of J.R.R. Tolkien!

Me: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!  I'm sorry I'm sorry! *bows her head to the floor* Gomen nasai!  Wait, wrong language...*sweatdrop*

Anyway, sorry I took so long to get this out!  I got a little burnt out.  Gomen nasai!  Wait, that's still the wrong language...