OH MY FREAKING GOD! THIS TOOK ME SO LONG! I apologize so very much for this not coming out sooner, but, you see, I had very bad writer's block and much to do! I hope I didn't loose all my (about 2... possibly) readers! I'm so sorry! Forgive me!

Oh, I also want to mention that the characters (weather original, or not) are not movie-based, but rather, book based. They do not have to look like the actors, but instead look however you would like them to. I beg you to use your imagination! Good bye, and good night!

~Hoshiko

The Lord and Lady of the Wood

            'You may sleep at the base of the tree, it is the warmest and,' the elf looked at the dwarf and hobbits, 'safest place, I believe, you can be.' He said, and the hobbits looked down the trunk of the tree. They were very high up; more so than they would have fancied. That plan was well made.   'You may find the decisions might take a fair amount of time, so I would suggest you go and rest and enjoy yourselves. There is no safer place in Greenwood the Great now, except the mountains.' The elf said and before turning Ondril spoke up from the middle of the group.

            'If I may ask, what is the name of the elven rulers?' he said, voice squeaking a small bit. The elf smiled at him, though, and looked up to, what they guessed, was the royal chambers.

            'Her name is Nimril, niece of the long-departed king Thranduil. She is the fairest queen Mirkwood has ever had. His name is Celedor, great-nephew of Celeborn, son of Calalim. Calalim was Celeborn of Doriath's sister. Our royalties became married soon after Legolas left over the sea, and when Thranduil left he gave the woods to them to rule.' The elf explained and looked about the tree.

            'They have not arrived yet, let yourselves go and rest. I apologize for bringing all of you up here, I suspected they would have come.' He said, and ushered them back down the stairs. Going down was much faster than going up, and once the hobbits were on the ground, they found a nook in the tree, put out their blankets and bedrolls, and went to sleep. Teredon, however, looked suspiciously around the trees and sat on a stone bench, away from the group. He sat alone, in silence for a great while, until Dweller sat next to him.

            'Strange to see you off by yourself.' She said, and he did not spare her a glance, instead he stood and went to the fountain that was just in front of them.

            'Why do you have no trust in men?' he asked her, and she looked at him in surprise. This was not what she expected to hear.

            'I do not know what you mean.' She answered, and he shook his head.

            'I have heard the venom in your voice when you speak of any man in history. Why do you have no trust in them? Of what race are you? He asked, and she glared at him.

            'I am of mankind.'

            'Then why do you carry no respect for your own race?' he asked, and grabbed onto her arm. 'What are you afraid of?' She looked at him with loathe and jerked her arm away, going back to the group. He just shook his head and walked off the other way, avoiding looking back at her. To Relnik, who had heard the whole thing, it sounded as if they weren't going to talk for a few days.

            When Ondril awoke the next morning he felt more refreshed then he had sense they left Rivendell. He stood up and stretched, seeing that everyone else was up and about.

            'Have a good night's sleep, Ondril?' Param asked with a smirk. 'It's mid-day.' He said, and Ondril saw it was so. He did nothing but shrug it off, though, and he sat back down, leaning on the trunk of the tree. He was surprised to see Brom offer him a plate of food. Good food, and much of it, like they hadn't seen in a great deal of time.

            'They've decided, but we wanted to wait for everyone to wake up to go see them.' Brom said with a smile. 'Here's some food, eat up, you're looking mighty thin.' He said, and Ondril accepted the plate gratefully. He ate, and when he was done Brom took it from him.

            'The other four are looking around the mines, most likely. They should be back in a short bit for food, unless Froin's eating at her cousin's. She couldn't stop going on about how wonderful his rule must be here. It was rather amusing after a while.' Terry said, he was currently brushing off a mushroom for Brom to cook. He gave it to the hobbit and Brom cut it up, putting it in the pot.

            'This is the most food we've had for weeks...' Brom mumbled, but all of them could hear the content in his voice.

            'This place, it...' Ondril started, not quiet knowing that he was speaking. 'It is rather unsettling... it's very quiet, and rather... I don't even know how to explain it...'

            'I know what you mean.' Param said, sitting next to his cousin. 'It has a strange feeling, but we are safe.' Ondril starred at his younger cousin's words, and Terry stared with his mouth open. Param saw the look they were giving him, and smiled. 'That's what Dweller said, at least.' Terry then nodded and started eating his food. When he was quiet done, and they were all content, they could hear the voice of Froin singing. It was an old dwarven tune that she knew well, and when she saw the hobbits she smiled.

            'Small masters!' she said happily 'I see you're all awake! Isn't this place wonderful? The best mine I've seen sense I left home.'

            'It should be the only mine you've seen, too.' A voice said behind them. It was Teredon, and he was smiling. 'Unless you have the wings of a bird and fly off at night.' Froin laughed a booming laugh that echoed through the mines and pat Teredon roughly on the back.

            'You're a funny one, master Teredon. How do you know that I do not?'

            'Because your snores wake me up at least five times during the nights.' Teredon said, and smiled. He had dealt with dwarven woman before, and he knew how to act around them. She just laughed again, when two other people came up to the group. It was Dweller and Relnik, and they both looked as if they had just had the time of their lives.

            'And what have you two been doing?' Froin asked, laughing at the grin on Relnik's face.

            'You have no idea how good it feels to spend time with some one of your own race.' Relnik said, and Dweller put a hand on the side of her mouth.

            'He's fallen in love with someone.'

            'Who?'

            'I have not.'

            'Yes you have!' Dweller said, pointing an accusing finger at Relnik. 'You blushed when she looked at you.' She then laughed, and everyone glanced at each other. It seemed this new safety had lightened their hearts a great deal; they had never seen her act like this.

            'I think it's the strange food.' Brom muttered to himself, and he started putting the fire out. Dweller seemed to have caught her almost childish mood, and it quickly changed. She sat down, and was about to fill her pipe when an elf approached them.

            'Master's and Mistress', the High Ones will see you now.' He said and bowed. They followed him, Dweller dusting her dirty over-coat, and followed him up the stairs. They weren't half as long as they had seen the previous day, and they were led to a platform out side of a tall building. Ondril and Brom were increasingly reminded of Lothlorien.

            'Master Ondril, do you think the same thing will happen?' he asked, and Ondril kept his eyes straight ahead.

            'I do not know, Brom. We'll see.' He answered, and the doors were opened.

They revealed a shining couple, glowing in their own light. Both of their hair was long, his the color of spun-gold, and they looked just as beautiful as they had before. If it were possible, Nimril was more beautiful than before. In their more awakened state, they could see her completely flaw-less skin, ice-blue eyes, and silver hair. Now, you might have seen the movie of Lord of the Rings, with all the blonde-haired, blue eyed elves running around, but here it was much different. There were no blondes, but rather golden, (which I have often referred to as 'blonde,' it was easier to do so,) silver, light brown, or black hair. Hers shimmered with the slightest movement, making her more beautiful than any of them, save Dweller, Ondril, and Brom had ever seen. Ondril and Brom, however, had near-forgotten Galadriel's beauty and they still stared in wonder. If it was possible to forget an elf's beauty, though, it was not possible to forget an elf's eyes. It surprised the two, because of the couple's 'youth,' they had expected them to not look as wise as Galadriel and Celeborn, but they were very wrong. Though the two had ageless faces, their eyes were wise with it. It would be quite impossible to say they were not elven royalties.

            Ondril, with out thinking, spoke first, face blue with the light that the two gave off.

            'Excuse me for staring, Milady, but your beauty is such as that of Galadriel, if not more!' he said, and she smiled kindly at him.

            'Thank you, Master Baggins,' she looked at everyone, 'and all! We are very honoured that you have chosen this side as your staying-quarters. I trust you had a good night's rest.' They all nodded, Dweller and Relnik bowing in the proper elvish fashion.

            'Honoured indeed!' Celedor said, inclining his head the slightest bit. 'It has been a long while sense kin of our Dwarven companions have passed through these halls. Alas, it is the same with our other elven friends. We welcome you, especially Relnik, and Aradraen of Dunedain, we are glad you have returned. You have not visited us in a great while.'

            'Yes, and for that we apologize, there were issues that had to be taken care of.'

            'Understood. You may stay as long as you may like, and you are free to roam the mines as you please.'

            'Thank you, Lord and Lady of the Wood.' Dweller said, bowing again. 'We are blessed for this hospitality.'

            'As we are blessed with your bravery. Aradraen, please, stay here with us, I would like to speak with you. The rest may leave, if they choose to do so.' Nimril said, her sharp eyes noticing Terry's eyes flicker from the edge of the platform, back to her. They all bowed in their own fashion and left, Froin doing a stiff bow herself, and Relnik lowering his head lower than he had before. While they descended the stairs, Ondril could see a rather distraught look in Teredon's eyes. The proud man tried to conceal it, but it was still plain on his face. Ondril could not figure out what was wrong, for unlike Galadriel, Nimril had not spoken to him in his mind. He had been greatly settled by this, but the look in Teredon's eyes broke his settlement. Suddenly he could feel the power of the Stone again, and he almost grew weary.

            Dweller returned hours later, and stood in the middle of the group.

            'We will leave in two weeks time, which should be enough to rest up and regain strength. At the end of the two weeks, we shall then travel through the mines, to the end of the mountains that end at the edge of the forest, so we will no longer have to travel through the dangers it has. I suggest you use the time we have here wisely and sleep well, it might be the last comfort we have for a great deal of time.' She said, and they all nodded, already feeling rested enough.

            'If I weren't so small, I'd say I was ready to go against the very armies of Mordor!' Param said, unsheathing his sword and pretending to fight with an orc.

            'Do not speak of such things, Param!' Ondril said, remember that the hobbit had previously done so. 'I hope it does not come to that!'

            'Frodo...' a voice spoke to Ondril in his sleep, and he moaned. Before him he could see the Lady Galadriel, clad in white, golden hair blowing behind her. 'Frodo...' she said again, and he jerked awake, the dream vanishing. He looked around frantically, sweat forming on his brow, and when he did not hear another voice, he lay his head back down on his pillow, but when he did so, he could hear the voice again. 'Ondril... I would like to have a word with you... meet me by the fountain...'

            'Who are you?' he asked, and looked around himself.

            'You know who I am.' The voice said, and said no more. Ondril stood up wearily; legs still stiff from sleep, and started down to the fountain. He dared not disobey the voice, for disembodied voices are not something to be ignored, as he had found out before. He made his way slowly down to the fountain, and found Nimril there, waiting for him. He hesitated, but continued when she beckoned him with her finger, when he reached the bottom of the stairs, he saw besides the fountain, a thing that could be mistaken for a birdbath, but he knew better. It was the Mirror of Galadriel.

            'Ah, you remember it, don't you, Master Baggins? Yes, I do know who you used to be. Frodo Baggins, Ring Bearer. I would like to express my gratitude for your works, and no, you will not need look into the mirror, for you know your task. I have just called you here to warn you.

History has a way of repeating itself, Frodo, it always has. The world had not learned from its mistakes, which is the curse of mortals. To them, Dwarves are quite near forgotten, as are elves. They do not fully remember the horrors that had begotten them before this age; therefore they can not prevent it. There are some of your kind that seem rather home-sick, it might be a good idea to send them back.' She said, and Ondril shook his head.

            'No, Brom would never leave my side, and Param and Terry... do not remember who they are. It would be too dangerous to send them back, we would risk having them find out too soon.'

            'What do you care more for? The good of your home, or the well-being of two hobbits?' Nimril asked. She said it almost in a challenging way, and Ondril started to feel uncomfortable. He shifted his weight and crossed his arms.

            'I know what I would prefer, but I also know what needs to be done. If they were not meant to come Relnohen would have sent them back home to get everyone ready for what ever was going to happen.' Ondril said, and Nimril raised a perfect, slender eyebrow.

            'You are wise beyond your years, Master Baggins.' She said, and nodded. 'And have much more experience than you look to have. You may be able to use that quite to your advantage, if you do things correctly. But, as with you, looks can be deceiving, and we would not want the fate of Middle-earth to fall into the wrong hands.' She said, with such a tone that sent shivers down Ondril's spine. He was nearly expecting her to ask for the Stone next, but as if reading his thoughts, she smiled. 'Do not worry, the Stone does not tempt elvish-kind. Though... powerful, it is not appealing to us. Take heed of my words, though, to others it is very appealing, so you must keep it secret, except to those of whom you fully trust.' She said, and he grasped it firmly in his hand. 'You are a very strong hobbit, indeed. Not all beings could carry such heavy burdens twice.' She said, a twinkle in her eye, and he nodded; though still not smiling, and bowed, leaving. He went back to his spot under the tree and when he was about to drift back into sleep, he could hear the sound of heavy boots walking through the foliage. He looked up and saw Teredon walking to the same place he had just been.

            The meeting had unsettled him, for he knew what was to become of the Shire again, and he could hardly bare that coming to his homeland.