((Disclaimer: Me no own Tolkien, or his characters, places, etc. Yay. I own all made-up stuff...Again, woo hoo. *grins* Ah, *gives a cookie to anyone who found a plot hole* There were tons of them, cookies! :) Since I seem to be making a habit of giving out cookies...Cookie to whoever counts how many times Lily's horse's name is mentioned in this chapter. Hee...apologies for taking so long with this one...Me is lazy X__x))

"I am ready Legolas," Lily said. She was mounted on her glorious white, sea-green-eyed mare Talatenquetanalia. "Talatenquetanalia is also ready to go. Poor Talatenquetanalia, she has missed me over the days I was so weak, and she is ready to run. We may get to get to Rivendell by nightfall," She said. She managed to say her horse's name twice in the span of four seconds, which is an incredible feat. Of course, there was no way they would be able to get to Imladris that fast, unless they took a jet plane, but hey, work with me here.

Legolas was mounted on his own steed, a huge, strong black stallion named 'Blackie.' "Are you sure that you are ready to go?" He asked her worriedly. It was a bit odd how Lily had been bedridden the day before, and now she was ready to go for a...short ride. She's a Princess, and Daughter of the Gods, though, you should keep that in mind.

"Of course I am. Uuma dela((don't worry))," Lily replied confidently, using perfectly stellar 'elvin'. She looked as beautiful as ever, mounted on her magnificent dazzling white mare(Talatenquetanalia), her long silver hair glimmering in the sunlight, and her deep cerulean blue eyes sparkling. The whole sight was enough to blind most people. And yes, her hair was silver before, too. She was a true Princess of Eer-

"Eerinyahasen, you will be avenged." Yeah, what she said. This statement was rather out of place and vague, but Legolas didn't seem to mind. In fact, whenever he was not directly complimenting Lily's beauty or expressing concern over he, he seemed to be rather quiet. Maybe Lily's Ring of Power [Sue-power *coughcough*], was beginning to lose it's effect on him. Still, Lily's enchanting beauty was enough to keep him in a zombie-like state. Interesting thing to see in an elf, that.

And so they rode out of Mirkwood. Notice, no mention whatsoever of Legolas's father. Thranduil was out...um...on a vacation or something, and the rest of the elves there didn't do anything important, so they're not mentioned.

They rode for a while(two days, or two minutes? take a guess...), but at one point the road grew very dark, and overhead clouds were swirling, and flashes of lightning were seen. Lily looked up and frowned.

"I sense something odd...," She declared, and so won the Obvious Statement of the Year Award for the fifth consecutive time. A blind warg would have been able to figure that one out.

Legolas had his bow and an arrow ready, fearing some kind of evil.

Little did he know that the evil about to be brought on him wasn't too unlike that he was already consumed by.

Out of absolutely nowhere, a figure suddenly appeared on the road. The clouds went back to normal, and the sun came out, and all the little forest creatures went on about their merry way. At least, the ones that weren't following and worshipping Lily like the Daughter of the Goddess that she was...Namely the uglier ones.

She was short, and she had fiery red hair and emerald green eyes that glittered dangerously with a rebellious fire, yes, lots of fire references. She was wearing a tight black t-shirt, which of course showed just a bit of skin at the bottom, and even more at the top and baggy black jeans and was carrying a small backpack, overall she looked like your typical teenager from Earth, except that, of course, she was staggeringly beautiful, but in a very...fiery...way. She was armed with only a sword, though Eru knows where she got that, but she leapt up and glared at Legolas. Lily of course, was not glared at by anybody, mortal or immortal. She merely watched with a very princessly-surprised look.

"Who are you?" The strange girl demanded of Legolas and strode forward as if she were going to attack him. Legolas stared at her, shocked. Somehow, she made herself threatening enough to elicit an answer out of the elf.

"My name is Legolas, and this is Princess Lily," He said and gestured to the lady elf who was watching the girl thoughtfully. "Lle anta amin tu?((Do you need help?))" Though the golden-haired prince was perfectly polite, the girl didn't seem to notice, or care. In fact, he might as well have insulted her, as he would probably have gotten the same reaction.

"I don't need anyone's help," The girl sneered, but looked to Lily and nodded. "Oh...my name is Shadow," She added with another annoyed look at Legolas.

Just then someone else stepped out of the bushes. Low and behold, it was a Ranger. Not just any Ranger, of course, but it was Aragorn, son of Arathorn. He had his sword out, and anybody with good sense would have been rather intimidated. Exactly why he was there, and how, is anyone's guess, but a Ranger with a sword is still a Ranger with a sword.

"Aragorn," Legolas called out. "Be careful."

The girl with the sword, of course, didn't look one bit impressed. "Hah! You think you could hurt me with that sword? I'd like to see you try," She said and stared at Aragorn defiantly.

Aragorn looked confused, but sheathed his sword. "Legolas, who is this? And...her?" He gazed at Lily.

"This is Lily, Princess of a forgotten Elven Kingdom," Legolas said as he nodded to Lily, skillfully avoiding having to say that horrid name again, much to everyone's glee. "And I do not know who this is...She says her name is Shadow." He continued to watch Shadow, his deep blue eyes troubled.

Aragorn bowed politely to Lily, and then gave Shadow a long look. "A pleasure to meet a friend of Legolas's. My name is Aragorn. Shadow, if I may ask, what land do you come from? Your clothes are very odd in appearance..." He was acting almost normal, as he had not been under the effects of the lovely Princess Lily for very long, like Legolas had. Unfortunately, this Shadow would have much the same effect.

"I come from Earth," Shadow declared defiantly. "I know all about you, Aragorn, son of Arathorn. You all are going to Rivendell, right? Well, I'm going too. You'll need me." Shadow was the perfect image of the rebellious and fiery young girl, also perfectly capable of beating any man in combat. Besides, she knew what was going to happen, because she had seen "The Fellowship of the Ring" twice, so that made her practically an expert.

Legolas was about to protest when Lily held up one hand to silence him.

"No, it's fine. She should come too," Lily smiled at Shadow. "Come, you can ride with me. Talatenquetanalia will let you if I ask her to." Lily of course knew who Shadow was, where she came from, and whatnot, and she also knew that she would be of a lot of help in the time to come. She sensed a good deal of Fire Magick in the girl, too, and that was a very rare thing. Shadow was indeed one of Destiny.

Shadow gave Aragorn one last glare before she strode over to jump up onto the horse's back. She might have grown up on Earth, but she was really from Middle Earth, though she didn't know it. She was the youngest daughter of Elrond [*pause while the Author revives from convulsions*], whom only he knew about. How that was possible, you ask? Well, don't, because you probably don't want to know, but will learn anyway later. She had been transported to Earth when she was a baby. Aragorn was immediately fascinated with her. She was as beautiful as, if not more so, than Arwen. Of course, she was nothing compared to Lily, but Lily was obviously only interested in Legolas. Aragorn might have been handsome, and destined to be King and all that, but he was mortal. Besides, Legolas was a Prince, and he would certainly become a King, too, sooner or later.

Anyway, Shadow acted very arrogant, but she was truly a kind and loving person at heart. She just had a hard time showing it, of course. She was as good a warrior as Aragorn himself. What man wouldn't love a girl who could out-do him at swordplay and archery? Aragorn was deeply struck with admiration for her, but he would not say anything of it.

Now what about Arwen though? That was indeed a dilemma.

So Aragorn went to ride with Legolas on Blackie, and they were off to Rivendell again. At this point they were out of Mirkwood, and almost to Rivendell, probably somewhere in Rohan now(Fast ride wasn't it?). Soon they would come to the Council, and meet Lord Elrond, and the fate of Middle Earth would be decided.