**A/N: I finally finished chapter two! It turned out a LOT longer than I thought it would be. Oh well. Hope you enjoy reading it. Don't forget to review!**
Many long years had passed since the incident with the elf-Warden on the evening of King Thranduil's arrival. Fimbros and Losawen remained close friends, though they had become ever more preoccupied with other things and rarely saw each other.
There was talk that orcs had once again reappeared and were venturing even deeper into the forest of Lothlorien, which up until now they had not been known to do. A call had been set for extra guards and watches to patrol the outer regions of the woods, which Fimbros volunteered for. He spent most of his time out of the city, patrolling the western area where most of the orc sightings occurred.
Losawen remained in the city where she spent many hours in the grand libraries studying ancient texts and scripts. She gained a reputation as being one of great intelligence and knowledge, as there was a strong desire in her to learn everything about the World and its vast history. The rest of her time was spent teaching young, wide-eyed elf-children the skills of archery. She became regarded as one of the best archers in Lothlorien, and an excellent instructor of her art.
As the autumn season settled in, the leaves of the Mallorn trees were once again transformed into sheets of gold on branches of silver and cool winds blew in from over the Misty Mountains to the West. It was on an afternoon such as this that Losawen found herself walking along a quiet pathway, lightly humming to an elvish tune. Rarely did she have some time to herself between learning and teaching that for a moment she stopped walking, and closing her eyes she drew in a deep breath. The scent of the familiar Mallorn bark, and of food being cooked from nearby kitchens wafted through the air. Regaining her step, she continued along the path towards the main road of the city.
Approaching the bustling crowds, she looked up and noticed a group of male elves dressed in the uniform of the border sentries. As the came nearer she caught a glance of a familiar face in amongst them, Fimbros she thought to herself. She ran towards him, calling his name. He looked up and saw her coming, with a smile playing on her face.
"Fimbros!" she cried in delight, pulling him into an embrace while unknowingly stepping on his foot at the same time, evoking a slight gasp from him.
"Losawen, it is good to see you again, though perhaps next time you greet me you should perhaps pay attention to where you step," he said with a grin while pointing to his foot.
"Sorry about that," she laughed, "You are not too injured are you? Steps from my feet are more lethal than they seem." Fimbros chuckled at her last comment, and returned her embrace. They pulled away from the busy road on to one of the side paths.
"It has been long since I last saw you, much less held a conversation," he said warmly, "Tell me, how are you? What have you been doing?"
"Studying, learning much about the world. I have also taken to teaching archery to the little ones," she replied before asking, "How about you? How is the border watch?"
"We have not yet directly fought off any of the yrch, though at times we can see them but they always somehow escape quickly enough," he said with a trace of anger in his voice, "several weeks ago we could see a band of those foul creatures hewing at the trees." His eyes darkened at the very memory of the sight. They were both silent for a moment, each thinking of how such an accursed act could be committed.
"How long will you be here for before you return to the watch?" Losawen asked him, breaking the silence between them.
"I do believe I heard someone say we had two weeks to stay before we must go back," he replied, brightening up almost immediately, though an obvious anger still smoldered beneath.
"They certainly keep you busy," she commented, "What do you plan to do with while you are here?"
"Oh, I suppose I will visit some friends and family, and perhaps challenge you to a sword dual or two?" he suggested before adding, "I hear you have become quite a talented archer, one of Lothloriens best."
"No, there are plenty of other elves better than me. I still have much to learn and improve on," replied Losawen modestly with a slight flush on her face. Suddenly, they could hear someone calling for Fimbros from out on the main road.
"That is most likely one of my superiors from the guard, still bothering me on my time off," he said rolling his eyes, "I better be going before they send a search party of some sort. You know where to find me." With a quick wink he turned and ran out to the street, disappearing into the crowd.
It was not until a week later that Losawen saw him again. She had been walking from the library to the place where she taught archery to the elf-children, and caught sight of him with some of his other friends. They were in one of the squares talking and laughing with some elf-maidens she recognized. She laughed to herself at the thought of Fimbros, whom she had known since they were both children, becoming interested in those of the opposite gender. But somewhere in her heart, a slight sentiment of sadness arose from knowing that one day he would eventually marry, and that she would see even less of him then. Losawen quickly shook off her unhappy thoughts and hurriedly continued on her way.
The next day she decided to go find Fimbros, for she had some time to spare, which was usually a rare occurrence. She ran down the paths and through the forest to the clearing where she knew he would be. It was the place where they had always gone to since the days of their childhood. Everything about it was familiar, from the towering Mallorn trees on the sides to the way the soft, mossy ground felt under her feet. She slowed down slightly as she came nearer, and sure enough he was there, sitting against a tree reading. He looked up at the sound of her approach and gave a small wave.
"I knew you would be coming around here sometime," he said with a smile, standing up.
"Such an accurate prediction, that is amazing," replied Losawen, "I take it you are not too busy today."
"Actually there is something must attend to, later on," he said, casting his eyes downward.
"What is it?" she asked him, "Oh wait, let me guess, something to do with Elaneth? From what I saw the other day, you seemed to take quite a liking to her."
"Oh no... You saw that, you were there? Was I really that obvious?" he asked worriedly. Losawen laughed at his reaction, and shook her head.
"No, no. I was not being too serious. It was just unusual to see you like that," she assured him, "by the way, what was it that you had to do later today?"
"I have to return to the border watch, there are not enough of them out there right now. It seems that over the last couple of days yrchs have been sighted closer than ever before by the Western edge near the Misty Mountains, but they still do not attempt to attack." explained Fimbros, turning serious once again, "Some of the others are saying that they have come to spy on us. I do not know if this is really true, though one thing is for sure, they are up to something. Good thing you showed up before I had to leave......"
She crossed her arms, glancing downwards for a second as though in thought, then looked up and gave him a warm smile. "It is an admirable thing that do you, contributing all your time to keeping these woods safe," she said to him, "I am truly proud to be a friend to someone like you, I want you to know that."
"And I am lucky to have you as a friend, Losawen," he replied, stepping forward to embrace her. A veil of silence fell between them briefly, the only other sounds coming from the wind gently tossing the leaves above them.
"I should go pack my belongings before I depart, are you going to keep me company?" he asked, preparing to leave.
"Why not, seeing as how I have nothing important to do today," said Losawen. They made their way back to the main city to where Fimbros lived, and climbed up to his dwelling." There he quickly went about, throwing a few things into a sack then getting his bow, quiver of arrows and sword.
"We never did have that sword dual did we?" asked Fimbros as he picked it up.
"No, but someday we may eventually get around to it," Losawen answered, "After I have practiced enough to match you."
"Ah, we shall see about that," he replied. After he collected everything, they descended back down to the ground and started towards the barracks of the border watch. They arrived to find only one other elf there, whom they recognized as a high ranking Warden by the name of Daithor.
"Fimbros! Well, you are here early. Eager to return to the watch I presume," he said jovially, "that is more than I can say for the others."
"It is important to keep on eye on the enemy, you know," replied Fimbros dutifully.
"Ah yes, verily true," agreed Daithor, then turning to Losawen he said, "Losawen, it has been a while since the last time I spoke with you. How does the archery go? From what I hear, your skills can rival those of my best archers."
"I still have much to learn in the ways of the bow, it will be a long time before I could rise to that challenge," she answered.
"In any case, you are certainly one of the best teachers of it,"said Daithor, before turning back to Fimbros, "Since you are here already, perhaps you can do me a favor. There is a message from Lord Celeborn that needs to be taken to the Northern watch where we have the least guards. I was planning to take it out later today with some of the back up patrols, but seeing as how you are already here, would you mind doing it? After all, the earlier they receive it the better. When you are done, you can stay there, instead of going to the Western guard as you were supposed to."
"Yes, of course I take it to them, a message from Lord Celeborn must be of great importance," replied Fimbros.
"Excellent!" he pulled out a sealed paper from his pocket and handed it to Fimbros, "Thank you very much for doing this."
"But tell me, why are there fewer guards at the Northern watch?" asked Fimbros.
"Most of the orch sightings have been to the west, which is where most of the patrols are sent. Anyways, the river Anduin protects us to the north and west. No servants of the enemy would dare cross it as they are terribly afraid of water," he paused for a moment, "Well, I suppose you should setting be off."
Daithor started to leave in the opposite direction, then stopped and turned to face them once again. "Wait, I have an idea. If you are not busy for today, do you think you can go with him, Losawen? Not that I have no trust in you Fimbros, but perhaps it would be safer if someone went with you, instead of you going alone. Two is better than one, besides some company along the way will make the trip all the better. What do you think?"
"It sounds wise to me," Fimbros agreed, "Losawen?" It was more a confirmation than a question.
"Yes, I will come with you," she replied, "Though perhaps I bring my weapons, just in case something happens. I would be rendered useless anyways without them."
"Of course, that is a good idea," said Fimbros, glad that she had agreed to join him. With an approving nod, Daithor left them.
Several hours later Fimbros and Losawen were well on their way to the Northern watch. Just prior to leaving the city, they stopped by Losawen's home so she could get her sword and bow along with arrows. Now they were quickly traveling through the silent forest, with Losawen telling Fimbros all she had learned from her studies. Suddenly Fimbros stopped in his tracks, sniffing at the air.
"What is it?" asked Losawen quietly.
"Smoke, from a fire. Can you smell it?"
"No, I can not. Why would there be a fire? No elves would burn the trees of this forest," she said.
"That is what I am worried about." Fimbros answered with concern. Without a warning the sounds of orc cries from nearby shattered the silence of the woods.
"Yrch!" exclaimed Losawen with confusion," how is it possible? I thought Daithor said the river would stop them."
"They must have somehow crossed it," Fimbros told her, "but how did they pass the guards? We must alert them." They ran swiftly to the North, towards the outposts of the border watch. The sounds of the orcs were closer now, as was the stench of burning wood.
"You do not think that they did something, do you?" Losawen asked, afraid of what the truth might be.
"I cannot say, the treachery of these creatures has no limits," answered Fimbros darkly. They continued running, as the orcs sounds came nearer and nearer. They could begin to make out the shapes of orcs up ahead, close to the outposts of the guards. There were about twelve of them, each armed with a blade.
"Only twelve, we can handle them," Fimbros told Losawen, "they must be stopped before anymore damage is done." From his commanding tone and determined face, Losawen knew it was no use to try reason with him that there might be more orcs than they could tell, and that perhaps it would be better to go back to warn the others. Instead she nodded, and in the blink of an eye she had sent an arrow hissing through the woods to meet the neck of an orc. Just as swiftly as before, another orc was down, with an arrow through its chest.
"I am going with my sword," Fimbros told her, "they will regret ever having come here."
"I will cover you from behind with my arrows," she told him, preparing to aim yet another one. Fimbros took out his sword and with a burst of sudden speed, ran towards the bewildered orcs yelling curses at them.
When Losawen arrived at the small clearing, she was shocked at the sight that greeted her. At least half of the trees there had been scorched, along with what remained of the flets there and the bodies of both orcs and elves were all over the ground. Despite the scene before her eyes, she focused he attention back to Fimbros who was wildly fighting the orcs there. She shot another arrow at an orc who was advancing upon Fimbros from behind, killing it instantly.
Suddenly, from out of the forest on the opposite side of the clearing, more orcs appeared. By now Fimbros had become overwhelmed with the enemy, and even as Losawen was releasing arrow after arrow at the increasing number of orcs, they took down Fimbros easily. One of the orcs began to approach her, wielding its blade menacingly. Losawen knew that her arrows would be useless in a close range attack, and took out her sword. But even as she did this, she cursed herself for not practicing her sword fighting lately, knowing that there was little chance she could defeat the oncoming enemy.
She desperately began to block the swings from its blade, but was too slow and the cold iron cut across her, leaving a deep slash between her neck and shoulder. She paused momentarily, gasping at the sudden onslaught of burning pain. She expected her attacker to finish her off, but it turned around at the call of another orc. It sneered gruesomely at her before turning to go the group of orcs where Fimbros was. She saw that they had badly beaten him and had his hands and feet tied together. They began taking him away with them, paying little heed to Losawen who was now slumped on the charred forest floor.
She tried getting up to go after them, but failed to notice the broken platform above her in the trees beginning to fall to the ground. The last thing she saw was Fimbros, bruised and bleeding, being roughly taken away from the clearing, then there was a sudden numbness in her head followed by darkness.
**A/N: Just for those who don't know, yrch =orcs in Sindarin (elf language), and orch is the singular noun.
And yes, I know Galadriel had the magical elf ring, Nenya, to protect Lothlorien from the enemy. But for the sake of this story, its powers don't apply. Don't get too mad about it or other mistakes I may have. Even if you do, make sure you give me a piece of your mind. In other words, review!**