A/N: Sorry about taking so long, it is just extremely hard to work with certain section leaders when they are not very cooperative. ;) Expect the next one to be done much more quickly, as this was probably one of the hardest chapters to write (Torey is the only character who does not willingly go along). Please Read and Review!

Dedicated to: Torey (the uncooperative character whose real person is just a mite more easy to work with) & the ever faithful Nikki (my untouchable Beta) who harassed me about this chapter until I finally got on the ball and wrote it.

Chapter Two

Of Practice Rooms and Honor

     A tall trumpeter stepped in the room, eyes turning directly to the Elf, who we immediately jumped in front of to shield him from sight. Of course Legolas completely messed up our efforts to hide him, and leapt in front of us, bow drawn.

     "Daro! Daro Legolas!" I cried, getting the Elf's attention, though he was still completely alert to the other's movements. I put a hand on his shoulder, motioning for him to put the bow down. The smooth longbow was lowered painfully slow, the arrow removing itself from it's position pointed into the disbelieving face of my section leader.

     I smiled shakily, "Um, Torey, this is Le… My friend Len. He is a, um… foreign exchange student, so he doesn't understand much English, and he is kind of protective."

     Torey fixed me with a cool stare, "Don't lie to me." From behind, Ruth Ann leaned into a closed 'locker' muttering that she knew we were 'going to get caught'.

     Shifting from foot to foot I looked up, then back at Nikki who shrugged. "Have you ever read the Lord of the Rings books? Or seen the movie, or anything?" I asked, my gaze flicking from my section leader to the Elven Prince and back again.

     He nodded slowly, "Yeah, I've seen the movie… Why?" he queried suspiciously.

     "Because, well, um, could you take this Nikki?" I questioned, glancing back at Nikki. The baritone player shrugged, a mischievous glint in her eye, "He's your section leader." I tossed a glance back at the Elven Prince leaning slightly sideways, still alert enough to draw the bow before we could take a breath.

     "Jeez, how to explain this… Well, you remember the Elf from the movie, Legolas? This is him," I mumbled, acknowledging how idiotic we must sound claiming such a thing.

     I sighed at his skeptical expression, "I'm serious. Do you think I would make something like this up?" He nodded, making Ruth Ann and Nikki laugh despite the tense situation.

     Nikki motioned to the Elf's bow, which was engraved with the flowing Sindarin Elvish script, "See? There is not language on Earth that is like this."

     Torey laughed derisively, "You could have made it up. If this is some elaborate practical joke I don't think it is funny."

     Exchanging a glance with Nikki we both pondered quietly about how to convince him that this was a true Elf, before Ruth Ann came up with an idea that should have been obvious from the start, "That's right, we were just playing. This is… Paul, he rides my bus. We were just hanging out back here. Don't tell anyone, okay?" I grinned inwardly as Torey seemed to accept the answer, though albeit suspiciously, and turned to leave even though he had been there first to practice.

     The bow suddenly sprang to it's former place, tensed and ready to fire a razor sharp arrow into my section leader, as Legolas spoke, his English rather shaky, "Why do you wish him to not tell others?" Torey stepped backwards into the closed door of a uniform locker to avoid the arrow tip that stayed pointed at his chest.

     I abandoned the pretense that this was a totally normal confrontation at the immenent danger one of my friends had just been placed in, "Legolas, please don't hurt him! We just do not want it widely known that a fictional character has come to life and is walking around Panama City! We would all be locked up in some asylum, and we would never be able to send you back to Middle Earth!"

     A look of veiled longing came over the Elven Prince's handsome features, "Never go back to Mirkwood? Never?" The Elf shook his head, bringing attention back to the situation at hand with the skill of an experienced warrior, though he apparently understood very few of the terms I had used, "Others would hurt you three over me?"

     I nodded quickly, "They wouldn't believe that you are who you say you are." Several tense moments passed, the arrow still positioned to release a lethal blow if provoked, Torey breathing shallowly to evade the obviously deadly arrow point that hovered inches from his chest.

     The Elf spoke slowly, this time to the male pinned against the locker, "I am Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thranduil. I am who I am. You are?"

     Torey spoke quietly, eyes still on the bladed arrow, "I'm, uh, Torey Rasberry."

     Legolas addressed him again, voice so soft I strained to hear his deadly serious words, "Torey Rasberry, your knowledge of my presence is putting more in danger than you know. I cannot allow this. The only way I know of to ensure your silence, beside a most gruesome of fates, is to keep you with me, us, at all times. I am now held by my own vow to keep you from harm, though you must vow to not attempt an escape. Do not try to fight or I will make you feel most uncomfortable, though I pledge to not kill you. These are the conditions I place upon your continued survival. You have not an inkling of the havoc you may wreak if such a thing as the girls predict comes to past. Make your oath with haste, Man."

     "Uh, okay… I promise," Torey said nonplussed, but exceedingly nervous about the weapon still hazardously close to the front of his dark shirt.

     The bow was lowered once more, the Elven Prince satisfied with the vague pledge, "Nai. May it be."

     I sighed silently at his words, slightly heartened that another would be joining our little quest, but just then realizing that this was going to be riskier than I first thought. The four of us now stood watching the elven bow return to resting position, each keeping our own thoughts to ourselves, wondering about the future and what it held.