Quote of the day: He runs like a flamenco dancer!

Esgalan laid her head down on the ground gently. "Quickly, get some athelas!" he yelled to the other Elves. Glorfindel and Avarion ran into the woods to find some. Legolas dropped to the ground next to Erin and pulled her head into his lap.

Erin looked up at him, her vision blurring. "L-Legolas?" she whispered.

"Yes Erin?" he asked, worry apparent on his face.

"Am I going to die?"

Legolas felt his heart clench painfully in his chest. "No, Erin, you are not going to die. I will never let anything bad happen to you again. I shouldn't have left you alone out there. Mirkwood is very dangerous, I should have known better!"

Erin used all of her strength to lift her hand up to his face. "It isn't your fault. I shouldn't have been so stupid and lost my way."

She smiled weakly before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head. Legolas's eyes widened as he began to panic.

"Esgalan!" he cried. Esgalan laid a hand upon his shoulder.

"Do not worry, my friend. She is only sleeping from the poison. The athelas will save her."

Legolas relaxed a little and waited for the others to get back, after all, that was all he could do.

After a moment Glorfindel and Avarion burst through the bushes carrying bundles of athelas. Esgalan took one quickly and put it in his mouth to chew it up, then put it in the wound in Erin's leg. He turned to Legolas.

"All we can do now is wait for her body to fight the poison." So the group finished setting up camp as Legolas tended to Erin.

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It was near midnight when Erin's fever shot up. Legolas, who was lying next to her, noticed almost instantly that her fever was rising. He rose quickly and walked to a nearby river, filling a pot with the cool water. When he cam back he noticed that Avarion had woken up and was checking on Erin.

"Her fever had gone up abruptly," he said, his eyes full of concern.

"Yes it has, will you help me cool her down?"

"Of course."

Legolas set the pot down and dipped a cloth into it, wiping Erin's face as Avarion began wiping down her legs.

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A woman called out to Erin. "What have you done, little one? You will never reach me if you are so ill prepared. You should have known to take a weapon with you into such a dangerous forest."

Erin stirred in her sleep. "Who are you?" her mind asked.

The woman laughed. It was a merry, bell like noise. "You really have blocked all the memories. You do not even remember as good a friend as me? I was your friend in another lifetime, then you would have known my voice."

The woman's tone changed to a sad one. "But those times are over. A war is approaching little one, and you must be there to fight in that war, but you must first win the battle with the poison in your body."

"What do you mean a war is coming? Why will I have to fight in it?" Erin's mind asked the woman.

"Do you not remember who you are at all, Efalu? Or the one who seeks you?"

Erin was shocked. Why had the woman just called her Efalu?

"You are lucky for now, little one, for Luvair does not yet know who you are, but once she does you must be wary. She may send anyone to hunt you. She is already gathering her army. You are the only one who can stop her, the only one of the Eleven with a tie to her."

"How am I one of the Eleven?"

"You will learn in time, but first you must wake up, for if you do not wake up now, you never will. Will you not live for your love? For your friends?"

Erin's mind fought with all the information that she had just been given.

"I must go now, little one."

"Why do you keep calling me little one?"

Erin felt the woman smile in her mind, a kind smile that filled the woman's eyes.

"You were the youngest of us. I always called you little one."

"Us? Who is us?"

"The Eleven."

"You are one of the Eleven?"

"My, you were never so inquisitive in your old life. Perhaps if we had not been put in the position that we were put in you would have been this light hearted. Yes, I was one of the Eleven. I was called Alotica. You must hurry and find me."

The presence faded from her and Erin felt consciousness tugging at her mind.

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Legolas and Avarion jumped back as Erin's eyes opened suddenly. Erin blinked in the sunlight. It was morning? She sat up slowly and felt a pounding headache.

"Erin!" Legolas cried, pulling her into a hug. Erin hugged Legolas back and looked at the relieved faces of her companions.

"Your fever broke last night. We were worried that you were hallucinating since you were talking to yourself," Avarion said.

"I had a dream," Erin began. "It was strange." Her mind was going too many places at once. She was trying to decide if she should tell them while thinking about what Alotica said, at the same time she was trying to decide if it really was just the cause of her fever. After all, there was no way that she could have been one of the Eleven. Finally, Erin decided that she wouldn't tell them for now, there was no use making them worry about her having brain damage!

"So when are we going?" she asked.

"We are not going anywhere for a day at least," Legolas said sternly. "You were very ill last night and you should be resting."

Erin gave him a dry look. "I'm fine now," she said, demonstrating by standing up on wobbly legs. She gritted her teeth when weight was placed on her injured leg.

"You see, you are still in pain," Legolas said.

"Yes, but I won't be walking, will I? I will be riding so it is fine. We cannot waste time."

Legolas sighed. "Fine, but you are riding with me." Erin nodded and helped them to pack up the camp as much as they would let her, then Legolas helped her up onto Aegnor's back, hopped up behind her, and they were off.

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Erin twiddled her thumbs as they rode through the forest. The Elves refused to go any faster than a walk for fear of injuring her. Legolas noticed her boredom and felt a pang of guilt. He knew what it felt like to have people keep you from doing what you wanted because they wanted you to be 'safe', so he decided to start a conversation.

"Glorfindel?" Legolas called to get his attention.

"Yes?"

"Do you remember that time that we all got really drunk on wine?"

"Which time?" Glorfindel asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"You know, that one where you ran around thinking you were a badger and put on a dress while running around and proposing to those dwarven men who stumbled through our camp but you thought they were female dwarves because you said that you 'can't tell the difference'?"

Everything was silent for a moment, then Erin burst out into laughter as Glorfindel turned red. Avarion and Esgalan nearly fell from their horses because they were laughing so hard, and Erin was turning purple.

Legolas smiled, he loved to hear Erin's laughter.

After Glorfindel's embarrassment they continued to trade wild drunken, and childhood stories. They stopped for lunch for a half hour then carried on and were walking when Legolas told her that they should be reaching the brown lands in a couple of days.

"What are the brown lands like?" Erin asked curiously.

"Well, it's really quite brown, if we go the regular route, that is," Glorfindel said.

"The regular route?" Erin asked.

"Or we could go the scenic route," Avarion said.

"Oh, yes, the scenic route, I had forgotten about that........" Glorfindel said.

"What's on the scenic route?" Erin asked curiously.

"Oh, it's lovely," Avarion said, nodding.

"Instead of just dirt we get some pebbles!" Glorfindel said enthusiastically.

"They're really quite lovely........." said Avarion.

"Oh yes, quite nice.........."

Erin blanched. Elves were so weird sometimes.........

Looking for a subject to talk about, Erin thought of something that she had been wondering about for quite a while.

"Hey you guys?"

The Elves turned to look at her.

"Do Elves ever......... Ya know........" she asked, her face becoming tinted with pink from her embarrassment.

"Do they what?" Legolas asked, noting her apparent embarrassment on the subject.

"Well, ya know, it's just so embarrassing for me to ask..........."

"It can't be that bad," Avarion said.

"It just doesn't seem entirely appropriate for me to ask."

"Does it have to do with........you know........" Legolas asked.

"Does it have to do with what?" Erin asked.

"Well, that thing............"

"What thing?"

"Nevermind."

"No, what is it?"

"It's nothing."

"Hmph!"

They stopped for dinner and dismounted, setting up dinner while they talked.

"Well, what is it that you're asking about?" Glorfindel asked Erin.

"Well, do Elves ever..." she seemed to have trouble spitting the word out. "Do they ever...."

The Elven leaned forward in anticipation, not realizing that they were doing so.

"Do Elves ever what?" Avarion asked, prompting her.

"Do Elves ever fart?" Erin asked, her face turning red.

The Elves stared at her. There was a long moment of silence. They turned away from her as a collective group and began preparing their dinner.

"What?"

"I thought it was more important than something like that by the way you were talking about it," Esgalan said, sounding disappointed.

"Well, do they?" she asked. Nobody answered her.

As they began to eat their dinner Erin's mind still turned over the subject.

"Why were you curious about THAT?" Legolas asked.

"Well, it's just that human men fart all the time, even in front of women, they make a game out of it to see who can do it the loudest some times, and I've never heard an Elf fart before."

Esgalan, who was sitting on the left side of Erin, leaned to the left so that his butt was facing her. "Would you like to?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her mischievously. Erin smacked him on the arm as he laughed at her then continued to eat her food. Why did she get the feeling that it was going to be a long night?