Undeserving

by hinabato

Earth, year 3076. Humanity has achieved immortality, intergalactic space travel, and has solved nearly every mystery of the universe. Only one challenge is left: time travel. And Myu finds herself an accidental test pilot.

4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A/N: At last! After several term papers, final exams and ample hair loss due to stressing out at the end-of-the-semester crunch, I have FINALLY gotten this chapter installed! (Expect the same sort of delays at the end of spring semester in May. Sorry it can't be helped). Otherwise, this took a lot of time because I had to retype so much of it. I did most of the work in the PC labs and didn't have any of the final drafts on my computer. There is a lot that has been changed and all of the endings of the chapters had to be rewritten. But still the plot remains roughly the same.

HOWEVER, the second half of chapter 17 (the last chapter that was up before this got erased) will end differently and have a new plot twist which will decide future events. Therefore, I'll include it in Chapter 5 which will officially be a NEW CHAPTER! Since I am now free of school work, I can promise it before I go back home for Xmas on Monday (12/22/03). From then on, since I'll actually have something new to present, I will be responding to reviewers like I was before. Everyone else, thank you so much for reviewing even though this was all the same thing, and I'm glad so many think I have improved. This was a lot of work getting this back up. From now on I'll make sure I save the final draft to hard disk.

Oh, yeah, and Happy Holidays.

P.S. I've also been thinking of a beta-reader because I've been finding so many mistakes when I was redoing this. If anyone is interested or knows a good one, I would appreciate the input.

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Part 01

Elvish vocab: Melethril = lover

WARNING: R-rated material ahead

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Five days later...

Elladan stood before the door to his room, placing his hand gently on the handle. Something was not right. He could feel it, yet somehow not quite fathom what it was. Vigilantly, he cracked open the door, just a bit, to peered into the sitting room and... No one was there. It must have been his imagination. He relaxed a little as he stepped in. With an appreciative sniff of the potpourri the maid had dusted over his new linnens, he walked casually up to a bowl of fresh apples set out for him on a stool and took one into his hand. He took a bite, but as he did so, his elf ears picked up the metallic 'shick' of a dagger being drawn beneath the crunching sound. Before he could even think of reacting, the dagger was up at his throat, it's steel edge biting his flesh in warning.

"Do not move."

Elladan dropped the apple. His grey eyes nearly doubled in size. There could be no mistake in that voice. "Myu! What... Why..." he stammered before he gathered his composure, "Explain yourself at once! What is this all about?!"

"Silence, elf," she hissed ominously, "You are at *my* mercy now!"

"Myu...?" he squeaked as the sharp dagger edge pressed into the supple skin of his neck. This could not be! His ada had been right all along... she *was* a servant of the enemy...

"Turn around. Slowly."

Elladan did as he was told. Even if he was able to wrest the blade from her hand, he could by no means harm her with it, nor would he stand a chance against her brute strength. She would snap his neck like a twig. Elladan met her gaze hatefully as he turned towards her. The ungrateful, back-stabbing wench! He intended to swear it under his breath in elvish, but stopped short as he caught a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Take your clothes off, handsome," she whispered with a slow, seductive smile.

Elladan released his breath loudly, and chuckled, "Myu. You should not go about these things so dangerously! If you truly wanted me, all you had to do was ask."

"Oh, but I do not want you by your permission, my beautiful elf," she hissed, then paused and raised both eyebrows, the bemused expression melting like honey over her pretty face, "Shall I undress you myself?" she asked naughtily, but did not wait for his approval before she ran the knife down between his collar bones, then cut the first tie of his tunic... then the second. When she had severed the bottom knot, she let the knife fall to the floor with a clang, pushed the garment from his shoulders, throwing it across the room with appraisal of his muscular torso clear in her expression.

"Melethril..." Elladan managed to sigh before his lips clashed with hers in a hungry kiss. He slid his arms around her, grasping her body with desperate need. "I have dreamed of this for many a night, Melethirl," he whispered in her ear when they parted, gasping breath.

Myu whimpered when his teeth bit down gently on the rounded shell of her ear, running his tongue along it as he nibbled hungrily. "Ai, Elladan... Elladan! Take me now!"

"Gladly," he murmured. With that, he stooped to recapture the knife she had dropped on the floor and exercised the same treatment on the ties running down the front of her bodice, cutting them like she did his. He hardly had time to drop the knife again, before her hands were all over him, gasping and clawing like a wild animal, ravenous with a burning need for him that she could not contain.

"Shall we go to the bedroom?" He asked playfully.

"No, the wall, it's closer," she replied breathless and began pushing him backwards until his bare back was pressed against the smooth wood panels. She was straining to hold herself up on tiptoes so she could reach his lips for a kiss. In remedy to their height difference, Elladan grasped her by her backside, lifted her up so she met his eye-level, and switched positions, pinning her beneath him against the wall. She wrapped her sultry legs about his waist to help him support her slight weight.

"Do you want it hard or gentle?" Elladan inquired as he gave pause in ravishing her mouth.

"Take me hard, elf," she hissed in delight as he pressed himself more firmly against her. Her hands moved wildly over the taut plains of his body and she bucked her hips against him, desperate to quell the aching need she had for him. "Take me like you have never taken anyone before!"

Elladan grunted in response as their tongues battled for dominance betwixt a bruising kiss. When he could bear it no longer, he rammed her tongue out of his mouth and began a trail of kisses down her neck, occasionally nipping or licking. He supported her on his hips to free his hands and part away the undone bodice, revealing her deep cleavage to his eager eyes. He gave no quarter before he burried his face into it, kissing its softness and licking its depths with famished desire. She was so sensuous... so soft... like the finest silk...no, like suede... no... like bed linnens! Yes, that's exactly how she felt!... Wait a minute... Myu felt like bed linnens?

Elladan awoke with a start. He was quite disappointed to find himself alone, sprawled out on his empty bed with sheets tangled about him and groping his pillow. Low eastern sunlight was streaming sharply through the window, accompanied by the twittering of morning birds. Elladan groaned at the loss... Well, the dream was nice while it lasted. He turned his head back around and noticed the big wet spot on the pillow where he has been licking it, and began to wonder if he could pass it off to the maid as drool.

"How goes my pervy brother this fine morn'?"

Elladan gave such a start he nearly fell off his disheveled bed. "By all the stars in heaven, Elrohir!" he cried in outrage, struggling to pull himself back up onto the mattress, "What in Eru's name are you doing in my bedroom?! You are NOT to just saunter in here like that!" Elladan fumed, then flipped himself over to lay on his back and panted hoarsely. His shoulder and arm ached.

"I came here on adar's summons," Elrohir reported innocently, "It seems you're due in for another talking-to over your new pet Myu."

"Myu is not a pet!" the older twin thundered.

"You're awful grumpy this time of morning! And I would think after having such a pleasant dream--"

"out. out! Out! OUT! OUT!! OUT!!! OOUUTT!!!!!!!!!" Elladan roared until his twin finally scurried out the door giggling. With an exasperated growl, Elladan rose, holding the sheet about his waist, and walked over to slam the door shut after him... then locked it. Throwing the sheet to the floor, he made his way to the wardrobe, grunting at the pain his left shoulder and right forearm afforded him. The arrow wounds had all but disappeared, save for the fading scars. Elrond had done a fine job as always patching him up, finishing up what Taldur and Amrion had started when he was brought back to Rivendell with Myu.

Speaking of Myu, Elladan was eager to see what his father had to say about her this time (at least he assumed it was about her). He doubted it would be further. After he had woken up, he was not overly surprised to see that his adar had placed her in confinement (she did, after all, attack the gate guards). He heard that she had spoken words of Westron, Westron that didn't make any sense, but Westron nonetheless, and had been granted the chance to visit her a handful of times. But every time he had come to her cell and attempted to speak with her through the bars, she would just thrust her lip out stubbornly and not utter a word to him. She seemed pleased enough by his visits, but why she would not speak in front of him, he did not know. However, his main concern was her refusal to eat or drink anything while she was locked up. He did not think it was because of the atmosphere, since the dungeons of Imladris were relatively pleasant, but still, she seemed to be making a protest of some sort. Despite his alarm, Elrond had kept her there a week, pointing out that if she still seemed to be in good health, and that "mayhap her kind, whatever she was, just did not require nutrition so oft as elves". Regardless, Elladan finally managed to get her to drink a big glass of water last night on his routine visit, which set his worries to rest somewhat, but he was still concerned with and dreaded hearing what his father had in store for her.

Generally, Elladan was required to be fastidious about his appearance due to his high status, but this morning he was in a rush. He slipped into a deer-skin tunic and a pair of grey cotton leggings, pulled on a pair of boots, then tied his frizzled hair back into a ponytail. All and all, he looked more like a stable-hand than nobility. Adar would not be pleased. But then again, he wasn't too pleased either about being woken up so early after Elrond had had him running errands until late last night.

Elladan headed out the door with a rueful sigh. That's all he'd been doing these past five days - errands. "Elladan, go check on this..." "Elladan go marshall this patrol..." He knew good and well his father was only trying to keep him away from Myu so he could question her without his intrusion. Ever since he brought her back, Elrond had been keeping her in the hot seat with questions like; "Whence come you?" "What are you?" "Whom do you serve?" and on and on... So far, according to Elladan's only ally in this matter, Lord Erestor, she hasn't been able to provide a comprehensible answer a single question other than "What is your name?"

After a day or two of this, Elrond finally gave in and assigned one of his scholars, Faelon, to give her grammar lessons, something Elladan wanted to do himself. Elrond, however, was adamant in keeping Myu and him separated, despite his constant protests. Overall, these past five days have been rough on the usually genial ties shared by father and son, and Elrohir had been taking full, brown-nosing advantage of the situation, which put him on Elladan's bad side too. Well, at least Myu has been able to keep herself out of trouble, despite all apprehensions and suspicions about her origins...

"Den mabo!" ((Sieze her!))

Elladan jumped backwards when a blur of someone or something whet zipping across his path, followed by a slower-moving stampede of a half-dozen elven guards. "Ai! What's this!" Elladan called to them, rushing to fall into step beside the one called Amanthon.

Amanthon gave him a side-glance, intent on whatever he was following, "That Myu creature has escaped!"

Elladan bit his lip at the term "Myu-creature", which many of the serving staff had taken to calling her. "And how did that happen?"

Amanthon spoke between pants, trying his best to retain his top speed as they charged down a narrow causeway, past the inner cloisters of Elrond's mansion. "While Barador was guarding her, she started bouncing up and down dancing around in a strange manner, as though she were suddenly anxious or uncomfortable about something. Barador did not know what to make of it and could not fathom what she was trying to tell him, so just closed the outer door and stood guard there. After a few moments, he heard a loud creak of metal coming from within, and when he opened the door, he found she had reached through the door and crushed the lock -- crushed an iron lock! Squeezing it so hard the metal warped inward and caused the internal mechanism to spring apart!"

Elladan nodded as they rounded a corner after the forerunning guards, skidding to stay on his feet. "Somehow I don't doubt that..."

"...And when Barador opened the door, she came shooting past like an arrow!"

"And you have been chasing her since?"

"Aye, milord. We have nearly every guard available on the chase."

When Elladan and Amanthron came around a second bend they caught just a brief enough glimpse of the escapee to see her skid past an open door, spin around and dash through it. She managed to lock it from inside the very second that Barador charged into it, slamming his entire weight against it in a desperate measure. "Come out of there, witch!" he barked, rattling the locked door. He tried banging it a few times, causing a few curious onlookers, servants, librarians and what-not, to accumulate. Elladan folded his arms and watched, standing at a distance from Amanthon and the rest of the wardens and guards who had been pursuing her. "You cannot stay in there forever," Barador declared valiantly.

"Barador," came Elladan's sleek voice, "How often have you let her out of her cell these past five days?"

Giving the door one last begrudging glare, the fiery red-headed elf turned to Elladan and replied woodenly, "She has been escorted too and from the west wing thrice to hold audience with Lord Elrond and once to receive instruction from Master Faelon."

"There have been no other occasions?"

"None, milord."

Elladan raised an eyebrow with mild incredulity. "None?"

Barador shook his head.

"Do you know what that room is?"

The guard gave an irritated look, "Of course. It is a bath--" His words were interrupted by a tinkling sound coming from behind the door. "--room." His face flushed at least two shades of red. Elladan watched the guard with both eyebrows raised. "Forgive me," the red-haired elf apologized quickly, "I had not realized that she wished to relieve herself because she was not speaking Wes--" Barador's voice trailed off again, "--tron... Forgive me... I have no excuse."

Elladan nodded. As the tinkling continued a good minute or so, onlookers wandered off quietly. The gathered throng of guards dispersed somewhat, clearing their throats and trying their best to divert their attention elsewhere. Amanthon came to stand beside Elladan. "You must have given her a great deal to drink," he commented tentatively, causing Elladan to smirk. When the sound at last tapered off, Barador was back at the door again, though this time rapping at it discreetly with his knuckles. "Are you finished, Myu? I must return you at once into custody."

"Pee!" came the little voice from inside, "Kotoba wa sono toori wa ne-- Pee!" ((That's what the word is-- Pee!))

Barador looked at Elladan, who laughed at the face he made. The prior did not think it so funny. "Out with you now. You have had time enough." He felt somewhat stupid talking to a closed door, especially when he wasn't sure the person inside could understand him. "Myu!"

At last the lock clacked, and the door swung open to reveal a very excited looking face, causing those responsible for detaining her to grow a little apprehensive. She did not come out immediately, so at Barador's signal, the guards began to close in slowly in semi-circle. Elladan stood back to see what she was going to do next.

Myu looked entirely too unfazed. "Mo chito asobo! Mata hashiru yoi dekita?!" ((Lets have some more fun! Are you ready to run again?!)). And with that excited statement, she grasped the door jams and propelled herself slingshot-like into the throng. Apparently, the two or three elves she had crashed into had severely underestimated her momentum and came crashing to the ground in an impressive tackle. Two more guards pounced onto the fray trying to get a hold on Myu, causing the unfortunate elf on the bottom to groan as the breath was knocked out of him. Unfotunately, Myu's outfit, the other-worldly one she had arrived in and had insisted on wearing, was too slicky for them to hold onto and she wormed her way out like a wet fish, giggling amid elvish curses. In desperation, one on the guards she tackled landed firm grip on her belt and with her sudden burst of speed, swore loudly as he was dragged over the ground as if he weighed little more than a squirrel.

"She's as strong as a horse!" Amanthon exclaimed in disbelief, at the very moment the dragged guard released his grip in favor of not being dragged over the sharp flagstone. He laid on the ground for an agonized moment inspecting the frayed knees of his trousers while the others leapt over him in hot pursuit. Amanthon lost sight of her around the bend, "Where do you suppose she's off to now? That's where we came from." Elladan beside him was too busy chuckling. "Milord?"

Elladan clasped a hand over his mouth and waved off the question. Amanthon considered, shrugged, then went to help up the guard and see if the two of them could still catch up.

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PART 02

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"You mean to say, that after breaking out of prison to use a restroom halfway across the premises, Myu, on self-volition, returned to her own jail cell, closed the door behind her and locked herself back in?" Elrond looked incredulously at his son who sat fidgeting before him. He did not like what he was hearing at all.

Elladan nodded briskly, "Aye, but not exactly. She had broken the lock, you see."

"Which means she is left sitting in an unlocked prison chamber?" Elrond asked and simmered with angry, down-slanted brows, "What exactly is being done about this?"

"Nothing, adar. There is nothing the guards *can* do besides monitor her since neither they nor iron bars can hold her it seems," Elladan responded coolly enough, despite his adar's foul mood, "And if I may point out, adar, this proves that she has hitherto been staying in captivity only because she wills it and wishes to comply with us, not because she has no choice. Were she truly here on fell intention, she would have broken out days ago and not behaved five days thusly, suffering the stay in our dungeons where she is deprived of her privacy and so mistreated that she may not even go to relieve herself when she requests."

Lord Elrond grunted at this and laced his fingers before him on the huge, cluttered desk in his study, pressing his lips into a thin line. Elladan braced himself for a lengthy admonishment, but it never came. "Very well, Elladan. What would you have me do with her?"

At that terribly unexpected response, Elladan blinked several times, waiting for a punch-line. "Well... I... I..."

"Well?" Elrond asked, drumming his fingers on his desk, "I have more important matters to attend, so speak quickly."

Elladan looked up at Erestor, who stood to the right of Elrond's huge oak chair. The advisor gave him a wink. Elladan looked back at his ada and stuttered. "Umm... I suppose you could... you could..."

"Transfer Myu to your care? Is that what you wish?"

Elladan nodded, his eyes wide and hopeful.

"Very well, she is yours," Elrond said, dipping his quill and scribbling something on a leaflet, "Golradir," he summoned. When a tall raven-haired attendant entered through the open door of his study, Elrond handed him the leaflet and told him, "Take this edict to Barador and see to it that Kaneko Myu is released into Elladan's custody. Escort her to Elladan's study. He will be waiting for her there." Golradir nodded, then promptly left on his errand.

Elladan was thunderstruck, but not to such a degree that he forgot his manners. "Thank you, adar," Elladan said, rising to bow.

"You are to make sure that this child stays out of trouble. And if anything does go wrong, you are to assume full responsibility, do I make myself clear?" Elrond uttered sternly.

"Yes, adar. Thank you, adar," answered Elladan, bowing again.

"And whenever you are summoned to my presence, I expect you to pay better mind to how you present yourself. I've seen stable hands who dress more tastefully," The elf lord added sharply, before gathering papers for the next item of business, "Your appearance is utterly appalling."

"Yes, adar. Thank you adar," Elladan repeated, bowed, then left the room, followed closely by Erestor, and the evil eye of Elrond trying to decide whether that last "thank you adar" was meant to mock him.

When he and Erestor were out in the hall, Elladan forthright burst out the question; "What in Eru's name was *that* all about?! In all my years, adar has *never* relented so easily to *anything* I request!"

Erestor chuckled, waving a rolled-up piece of paper in his hand that he was to take to his study. "It seems the so-called Myu-creature has driven your adar to his wit's end. He no longer wishes to deal with her."

"Indeed?" Elladan exclaimed with interest, "By her speech no doubt."

"And overall refusal to cooperate and act, as Lord Elrond puts it, 'civil'," Erestor added, "I suppose you will not have much time to spend with her until next week."

Elladan grimaced at the sudden recollection; he had to captain local patrols this week. He, his brother and Glorfindel's eldest son, Anendel, usually took turns in the task. He wondered if he might be able to switch with one of them so he could have more time to at least get her better situated. Well, at least Legolas was not here for her to fawn over.

"I will see you later this evening for dinner," said Erestor as they reached an intersection in the corridor, then bode his farewell and turned off toward the offices of the advisors.

Indeed. Elladan sighed ruefully, then headed to his quarters to prepare a bath for himself. Usually house-servants did such things so that he would have more time to attend to his duties, but his adar exempted them from the chore if one of his sons overslept, seeing it as a lesson on responsibility. He selected his garments as the water in the iron tub warmed, then added a few bath salts, tied up his hair and got in. He did not take too long, and was soon neatly dressed and on his way to his office. The office was relatively uncluttered and unused, as he had far less administrative responsibilities as his adar and Erestor, which allowed him to sit down at his desk comfortably and wait. He took a silver dagger out of the top drawer and began to peel the skins off of an apple that he brought here from his quarters, wondering all along why he was having deja vu.

Suddenly there was a commotion outside his door; hurried footsteps and a distant voice demanding that the person 'come back here'. "Shitsurei itashimasu!" ((Excuse me!)) Smiling at the familiar voice, Elladan got up to open the door, but Myu discovered the mechanism in the door handle before he could do so, and stepped inside, slamming the door behind her as the pursuing guard was just about to stick his head in. "Taihen na sewa ni narimasu ne. Doozo yoroshiku." ((Thank you for your taking care of me.... or literally "It has come to your difficult attendance. Please treat me favorably."))

Elladan smiled crookedly, then gestured to a chair at his desk, but Myu was too excited to be having any of that. "itsuka-kan zutto sawattari shiteru na no! Dokoka de asobi ni dekakeyo! Ichiba nado, doko demo," ((I've been sitting for five days straight! Lets go have fun somewhere! The marketplace, wherever.)) she jabbered excitedly, tugging the velvet sleeve of his tunic.

Salvaging the sleeve from her grasp, he made a face and gestured once more for her to sit. "You will not try to speak to me in the common tongue? It does no good to speak to me like that. You know I do not understand you." He placed a hand on her left shoulder blade to guide her, but she didn't let him.

Myu shook her head, proving that she could understand and that she was just doing this on purpose. "Mo hanashite minai. Unzari shita." ((I don't try to speak it anymore. I'm tired of it.))

At a loss, Elladan examined her with keen gray eyes and she smiled back charmingly, jerking her head for them to go. She was just how he remembered seeing her that day by the fishing pond, soaking wet. Her golden-tan facial features were odd, yet uniquely beautiful in his eyes. She wore that same blue one-piece outfit with the unusual symbols on the back. The material was snug, and pleasant to the touch. He could feel that her frame beneath it was frail… or deceptively frail anyways. From what he heard, she was more than strong enough to match him in battle. Both he and his twin had been celibate for most of their lives because their battling orc with the Dunedain had kept them away from home regularly, and in danger. The thought had just then struck him: how ideal it would be to have a mate who could come with him on these quests! He slid his hand down to the small of her back. She was rather cold, but felt good... indescribably good.

"Nani omotteru kana?" ((I wonder what you're thinking)) Myu reached a hand up tentatively to examine the pointed tip of his ear, sending shivers down his spine.

Just then, Elladan thought of something. "If you refuse to speak in the common tongue, then perhaps I shall learn your language." Myu looked suddenly excited, and he took that as a yes. "Very well... how do you say 'good day'."

"Konnichi wa."

"Konnichi wa?" Elladan attempted with a rickety accent then tried to coax her to sit down at his desk again, but she was terribly stubborn. His thumb stroked along her spine, causing her to stiffen. She was obviously not used to these sort of attention. "And 'how are you'? How would I say that?''

Myu's gaze wandered shyly as he leaned a little closer to her. "'Genki?'"

"Genki," he whispered then leaned in closer, bringing his mouth close enough to her to breathe in her cool, sweet-smelling breath. He became bolder. "How do you say 'you are beautiful'."

Her eyes went wide, revealing she was quite flattered. "Suteki dayo!" she said louder then she intended, then clapped a hand over her mouth.

Elladan peeled the hand off, pleased with her reaction to his advances. "How do you say 'to kiss'."

"Kutchizuke-suru." Scarcely had she said that when Elladan feathered a soft, delicate kiss on her lips, watching her meticulously with his piercing grey eyes.

"What other word should I learn?"

She was grinning now. "Motto tsuyoku! Motto hayaku! iku iku!" ((Harder! Faster! I'm c*ming!))

"Mm?" He leaned in for another kiss, this time his tongue slipped out a little and laved her top lip.

"'To lick'? What is your word for that?"

"Nameru."

The elf pulled back a little and grinned wickedly, revealing a pair of incisors pointed slightly more than those of a human. "And 'to bite'?"

Myu gulped. "Kamu."

Cradling her face between slender hands, he tilted her chin up and clamped his teeth on an extremely sensitive point on her neck, causing her to yelp. He began to suckle the skin there, and soon, it felt indescribably good. Myu had not even known such a spot on her neck existed. He must really have experience in this sort of thing, she thought with mild resentment. "Na! Oshiete ageru tango wa mo kurikaeshite itteminai!" ((Hey! You're not repeating the words I'm trying to teach you!))

Ignoring her, his hands explored her waist and stomach freely. "'To caress'?"

Myu eased back a few steps to lean against the closed door of Elladan's office and the elf lifted her up so he could reach her better. He was pleased how much this was turning out like the dream he had this morning. Meanwhile, Myu completely forgot she was supposed to be teaching him. She noticed the point of his ear close to her lips, and, remembering Legolas ministrations to her that night after dinner, she turned her face sideways to bite down on it.

"Ah!" the elf jerked back, dropping her to her feet, looking at her first with astonishment, then discomfiture.

"What?" Her first word in Westron.

"Are you aware of what such a gesture means among my people?"

Myu shook her head.

"It means you want to...." He leaned in close and whispered the rest in her ear.

Myu's eyes nearly doubled in size. "Otto..." ((Oops...))

"Now how do you say--"

Elladan was interrupted by a knock on the door they were against. "Confound it!"

"Shimatta!"

"That is enough," Elladan grumbled, shooing her to one side. When he opened the door, she was behind it and could not tell who was there, but she could tell from the elf's expression that he was thoroughly surprised by who ever it was.

((May I help you, Legolas?)) Elladan asked stiffly in elvish after a long silence.

Legolas was also belated in responding, blinking a few times before he answered indignantly; ((What manner is that to greet a life-long friend?))

((You said you were going to deliver a dispatch to Lord Celeborn. How is it that you traveled to and from Lorien in less than five days?)) Elladan countered with a question of his own. ((Forgive me, but I was not expecting that you would return for another week at least.))

((On the way, I had the good fortune to encounter Dunedain messengers who were also corresponding between our kingdoms concerning orc activity.)) The blond tried to peek his head through the door, but Elladan stood adamantly in his way. ((Will you not invite me in?))

Elladan glanced eagerly at Myu, then glared at Legolas as though a sharp look would make him vanish into thin air. ((I apologize, but I am terribly busy. If you have no errand here, then I regret I have no time to entertain--))

"I do have errand. Elrond asked me to deliver a message to you before I retire to my suite," Legolas said, switching to common speech. Elladan bristled imperceptibly. Besides being interrupted, Legolas was the only outsider who referred to Elrond without a title, something he found unbearably conceited. Legolas went on. "He wishes to notify you that Anendel has returned from patrols and he has some urgent information. He would like you to see to it. Now. "

While Elladan was suppressing the urge to lay a solid back-hand swing to Legolas' jaw, Myu was quite sure she recognized Legolas' voice and peeked around the door to affirm that. "Ah! Lego-kun! Nanka koto atta?" ((Ah! Legsie! What's up?))

A look of sheer horror crossed Legolas' face as he saw, standing suddenly at Elladan's side, the dreadful creature that had socked the gate guards harder than a charging bull, ran faster than a horse at full gallop, single-handedly engaged 30 orchish warriors, diced them into mince meat then walked away without a scratch. He made a sound like a dying chicken.

Myu thought that was funny. "Eh? Nandakke?" ((Huh? What was that?)). She looked at him a moment, then reached out to try to pinch his cheek. "Kakkoi nante!"((You're so cute!))

"Keep back!" With a jack-rabbit start, Legolas back-peddled rapidly until he was out of her reach, spun on heel, then took off down the hall mad dash, leaving a very befuddled Myu in his dust. He glanced a few times over his shoulder, and seeing she was not pursuing him, lessened his pace to a more dignified one with a very mean, very disgusted look on his face every time he looked back at her.

Folding her arms over her chest, Myu looked up at Elladan who still seemed rankled. "Henjin." When he didn't respond, she said it again in a shout. "Henjin!"

"Henjin?" he asked, snapping out of his thoughts, "What is that?"

Myu considered. "Weird person," she said finally.

Elladan chuckled then mussed her hair. She tried to stretch up to kiss him, but he slipped out of her reach. "Forgive me, miluiril ((lovely one))" He apologized to the crest-fallen face, "But I must see to something." Myu tried to follow him, but he stayed her, putting both hands on her shoulders. "I will return shortly, I promise."

Myu could only stand in the doorway of his office, watching him retreat down the same corridor Legolas had taken, her lip thrust out in a pout. But the very moment he was out of sight, she pumped her fist in the air and exclaimed excitedly, "Suteki!!! Atashi wa hime ni naru nanda!" ((Awesome! I'm gonna be a princess!))

******************

PART 03

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Elvish vocab

Mae govannen - "Well met" (y'all probably know that one)

firiel - mortal woman (mortal man = firion)

elleth - female elf

miluiril - "lovely one"

********

Legolas took a deep, satisfied breath of late-summer breeze, looking like a puppy having its belly scratched. The average-day crowd in the main square of Rivendell flowed about him pleasantly with the silent gracefulness that only fellow elves could muster. Here and there, the heavy thud of the booted feet of human merchants sounded in his keen ears, along with the twitter of late morning birds, the rustle of crisp summer leaves overhead and clatter of cartwheels over flagstone. A young she-elf with a pretty round face, sparkling wide eyes and dark-brown hair passed an arm's length from him, chatting with a friend, and accidentally brushed her basket against his bum.

"Ai! Your pardon--"

At that very instant the she-elf turned to meet the handsome sky-blue eyes of Mirkwood's Prince. While he smiled pleasantly at the attractive maiden before him, the attractive maiden gasped in alarm and quickly stooped into a formal bow. "I beg your pardon, my Lord! I had not expected to see the youngest son of Thranduil before my very eyes!"

In fluid response, Legolas scooped her left hand into his and planted a soft kiss on its back, gazing up at her smolderingly. "Nay. The pleasure is mine, Bein hiril nin." ((My lovely lady))

Her friend had to steady her as her knees buckled in near swoon. This dark-haired she-elf was certainly not bad-looking, Legolas thought to himself. Perhaps he would have some plans for tonight afterall, he thought. "Might I ask your name?"

"It is Lothiel, my Lord," she murmured, a faint pink blush blooming over her cheeks.

"Lothiel. A lovely name indeed," he was pouring it on thick, "Will you be attending tonight's banqu--"

"Mae Govannen, Legolas Thranduilion!"

Legolas' expression dropped to a blatant scowl, recognizing the grating male voice easily as human, with a very crude Sindarin accent at best. He turned, still wearing the scowl, and found Gresham approaching him, a hand over his heart in formal greeting. Estel was but a few paces behind, all smiles. "I... hope I haven't interrupted anything," Gresham said hesitantly, with an intonation that Legolas did not find sincere at all.

"Dartho nin." ((Wait for me,)) Legolas told the elf-maid with a wink, then led Gresham a few paces off to the side. "What is it you want?" Legolas asked, not bothering to hide the exasperation in his voice.

Gresham inclined his head. "I simply wish to offer my gratitude for bringing me to Rivendell last week, after I had been set upon by orcs."

"Gratitude accepted, is there aught more you wish to say?"

"Aye, there is." Gresham went on unfazed, "I wonder if you know where I may find the little purple-haired maiden, to whom I owe my life."

"Myu?" Legolas spat with as much disgust as he could muster, "She is in custody of course, in Elladan's last I saw her."

Gresham smiled knowledgeably. "Nay, not so. She was indeed in custody when you were away, but was released just this morning."

Legolas stiffened. He searched the man's expression for a skeptical moment. "Has Elrond gone mad? How could he release that witch?"

"A witch?" Gresham repeated, barking a laugh, "A witch, nay. I have seen witches before and she is not one of them."

Gresham is a Dunedan. Of course he would figure he knows better, even better than an elf several centuries older than he. With arms folded tightly across his chest, Legolas scrutinized the man with disdain. "Then what do you propose she is?"

Gresham shrugged. "Nothing has been confirmed yet. But regardless, Myu is truly a sweet and adorable creature."

"And very beautiful creatuer," Estel added, which earned him a whap from his mentor.

"--and she is not at all magical... or evil," he added.

"She is dangerous," Legolas reasserted.

"No more than any man or elf who carries a sword, as we can all do each other harm should we have the will to do so," Gresham stated in rather loose wisdom, the sort which no one really understands, but since it sounds cool accept it anyways. He placed a hand on Estel's shoulder to steer him away, "Before the sun crests, I shall be taking Estel out on two week survival trek and I should like to find Myu before we leave Rivendell. So... Velui a lalaith veren nalu govaded vin. Navaer." ((Sweet water and joyous laughter until next we meet. Farewell.))

"Harthon gerithag lend vaer," ((Have a good trip)) Legolas replied methodically and watched the man and the youth disappear into the crowd.

Myu had been released.

Legolas' stomach fell hard. She could be anywhere, stalking him at this very moment. He had to get back to the house of Elrond and have a long talk with Rivendell's Lord. He took the first few steps then stopped, sensing an elf hurrying up from behind.

"Your highness?" It was the dark-haired she-elf he had been wooing earlier. What was her name? "You wished for me to wait for you?"

"Forgive me, miluiril. I must be elsewhere at this time," Legolas apologized bluntly then took off again. Myu was out there. He could just feel it.

Music from "Jaws".... [Opening Media] Duuh-duhn ....

Legolas glanced nervously about the crowd, making his way to the edge of the square. He paused by a small flower stand that was set up on an elevated arcade where he could overlook the midday crowd, and rubbed his eyes roughly.

Target Locked

Duh-duhn ....

He would have felt much safer if he were allowed to carry weapons in the market square. He heard human footsteps coming from somewhere to his right, though all who were closest to him appeared to be elves. Myu was very short, he reminded himself, so she would be difficult to spot in a crowd of elves.

Distance 20 yards and closing...

Duh-duhn Duh-duhn Duh-duhn....

He could see no sign of who was making those footfalls, but they were still heading his way steadily. This was ridiculous, he chided himself inwardly. They more than likely just belonged to some random human peddler. Legolas made ready to hurry onward. Those footsteps were dangerously close now...

Distance 10 yards and closing...

Duh-duhn Duh-duhn Duh-duhnDuhduhnDuhduhn ....

"Some flowers for your sweet-heart, your highness?"

"Ack!" Legolas startled nearly a foot off the ground, twisted around and landed in a well-honed combat stance... only to come face to face with the flower-stand attendant offering him a bouquet of roses, her face paled at his anything-but-subtle reaction.

"Forgive me if I am mistaken," she apologized slowly with bewilderment thick in her voice, "But I saw you speaking with that dark-haired elleth over there, and I assumed the two of you were together."

"Nay, nay!" Legolas stuttered quickly, feeling thoroughly embarrassed, but still tense. "We just... we just were discussing... ah... matters."

The attendant gave him a queer look. "Then some flowers for the firiel ((mortal woman)) here waiting on you?" she asked hopefully.

"Firiel?" Legolas' face was set with confusion, but turned sheet-white when he about-faced and saw whom the attendant was referring to, standing primly and patiently but a few feet behind him. "Myu?" Legolas squeaked, a few octaves too high for his liking.

"Myu?" Myu screeched in exaggerated imitation.

"Myu?" Legolas said again in his normal voice, correcting himself.

"Myu?" Myu echoed in a strained baratone. Her bizarre blue-green eyes danced playfully.

With the image of the mangled orc corpses she had slain marching through his memory, Legolas required every ounce of self-control to keep himself from fleeing as he had done before. It was different when he was in front of just Elladan, his life-long friend who had already seen him in various degrees of indecencies. But in this instance, there were many people, commoners, watching him, and running away right on the spot would be downright unseemly for a member of Mirkwood nobility (why was it he was the only one who saw how dangerous this creature was? Why?!). He would have to make his escape in a much more dignified manner.

"Excuse me," Legolas attempted, edging around her and trying not to touch her.

"Excuse me," Myu mimicked, sidestepping to block his path.

Avoiding her gaze, Legolas tried stepping around from the other side, and when she moved to block him there, he realized he wasn't going to get out of this so easily. Just then, with impeccable timing, salvation came in the form of Gresham of the Dunedan, who came trotting up shouting, "Ah! There you are Myu! I have been searching for you all morning!"

Myu turned around, her head cocked in a bird-like fashion, and regarded the man curiously. Before she turned back, however, Legolas was off, racing half-walk-half-run to the House of Elrond. She whipped back around just in time to witness him disappear off the arcade, but Gresham's hand had caught hers before she could follow.

"I just wanted to offer you my gratitude, milady," Gresham's uttered in enthusiastic deluge, "And my apologies for my initial apprehension and lack of courtesy--"

"And my compliments on how beautiful you are," Estel added, trotting up.

"-- I now recognize that you are indeed a great warrior, and as any warrior who has saved the life of another, you have my thanks. I realize that perhaps you do not understand my speech, however, I still feel the need to express--"

At that point, Myu reached out a hand, clapped it over the running mouth and told Gresham and Estel both: "Being that "I am on a midst of very important problem most people of here being, happiness you think very well me concerning me, without being possible, to stand my here, to speak to you it is, but understand. ? Something which "is said to that, as for me tonight and meets afterwards, is my Otaru in us"

As Myu turned and sprinted off after the elf-prince, Gresham, face frozen in mid-speech, and Estel, with his mouth gaping slightly, turned slowly to look at one another, blinking collectively. Then after several seconds, Gresham's expression went blank and at last uttered the one word that was doomed to come; "What?"

******

"Wait up, Legolas! I need your help!"

Legolas was half way to the house of Elrond, currently passing through a small, more or less secluded grove of apple trees as a shortcut, when he heard that a ways off. For a brief moment, he could not fathom who it was. Then it hit him; Myu was speaking Westron. Unfortunately, he had no time to ponder this as the rustling of her footsteps was approaching rapidly. "Elbereth! She is as noisy as an orc!" he cursed to himself, then leapt nimbly up the nearest apple tree. Unfortunately, she had been closing in much faster than he could have anticipated (which goes to explain how she outran him that first time he tried to leave Rivendell). He yelped as a strong, yet petite hand caught his boot ankle and attempted to yank him back down.

"Unhand me, you brutish wench!" cried Legolas, hanging on to the overhead branches for all he was worth. Fortunately, her slight weight made it impossible to get the leverage she needed to yank him down.

"Lulgijak!" she returned the insult and continued yanking.

At that one, single word of black speech, Legolas ears tweaked and alarms went off in his head. "Have you any idea what you just said?!" he exclaimed, knowing good and well this was but one of many instances to support his claim that Myu was EVIL.

"No," she giggled, then leaned back and tried pulling from a different angle.

"Unhand me!" Legolas demanded again.

"You enjoy it!"

There was a hesitation. "I most certainly do not!" the elf spat in disgust then began to thrash more fervently. When that just made her squeal in playful attempt to subdue him, he stopped and began searching for a more below-the-belt means to get her off him. He noticed a ripe red apple dangling on the branch he was on, about a yard to his left, which might suffice as a projectile. It would have been much easier to get over there if she hadn't been yanking so wildly, he noted as he inched little by little over to where the apple was. But right as he came within reach, the woman jumped up and caught him about the waist, so that they were now both dangling four feet off the ground.

"Are you ticklish?"

Legolas' eyes went wide. He could do nothing to stop her from reaching up and going straight for his underarms.

"Tickle-tickle-tickle!"

Legolas made an indecent grunt and, seeing no other option, let go. He landed gracefully as always, but the woman on his back couldn't seem to handle the short drop and toppled onto her backside, taking him with her. "Confound you!" the elf barked as he tried to pull himself up off her, but she kept her arms firmly about his waist, so that she was on her back, and he on top of her.

"Go on! Scream like a girl again! Eek! Eek!" she teased, still tickling and sending him into a frenzy, "Make that chicken noise again!"

"Cease this foolishness and unhand me!" Legolas demanded, squirming and twisting frantically against her grasp until he finally succeeded in reaching a hand behind him and pushing against her chest.

"Bad elf! Bad!"

Legolas didn't realize until she said that, that he had his hand planted on something soft. He felt heat rush to his face and withdrew it immediately, falling face down on top of her without the support. He was laying on what he had been fervently trying to avoid, but did not bother getting up, as the struggle had more or less worn him out by now. She was very pleasant to lay on, he was forced to admit, trying to put his finger on something particularly odd about her. Then it dawned on him. He lifted his head a little, and sniffed at the small body beneath him. That was odd. He considered that may just be the odd material she wore, and stretched up to reach her neck and inhaled the scent there. Interesting indeed, his expression seemed to say. It was not what he did smell, it was what he didn't smell. This woman had no scent at all! He felt her eyes on him and lifted his head to give her a contemptuous look. He had not been this close to her save when he found her in the lake, and without face being wet, he noticed something about her complexion. It was like glass, literally. So smooth it did not seem at all real. And her eyes; her irises were pure in hue, making them as clear and reflective as polished crystal. There was definitely something wrong here. Legolas shuddered, "What are you?"

By her smile, he could guess preemptively that she wasn't going to give him a satisfying answer. "Sankei Ningen." ((Type-three human))

He felt her fingers stroking his back soothingly, and felt warmth spreading through him as he lay on top of her, and for a moment forgot himself and how dangerous she was. He made to get up, and she moved with him, clasping his left wrist just in case. "You want to talk? I will tell you everything about who I am."

Legolas rose to his full height and looked down at her thoughtfully with hooded eyes, then nodded almost imperceptibly.

"But first you have to do me a favor, cutie," she said mildly, thumping him on the shoulder.

"Do not address me by such a pet-name," the elf told the woman in a frigid voice, "I have no interest in you..."

"Which works out great, because I have no interest in you either," she laughed heartily, "And I haven't ever since I worked out you were a pusillanimous prig," Legolas stiffened, his eyes widened in disbelief. Remembering she was asking a favor, Myu cleared her throat and muttered, "No offense, but someone really needs to tell you that. Anyways, what I need you to do, is to fill me in on stuff."

"Stuff...?" Legolas repeated slowly, "I do not suppose it would be in your intellectual capacity to specify further."

"No, not really," Myu said unperturbed.

With a long, drawn-out sigh, the elf tried again to fathom what she was requesting, "What specifically do you want me to do?"

"Teach me about stuff!" said Myu in a whiney voice, bouncing up and down. "They keep quizzing me on stuff. What's a dwarf? Who is Cirdan? Where is Harad?"

"Who is this 'they' you are referring to?"

"Elrond!"

"Elrond is more than one person?"

"...I don't know."

The theory was slowly dawning on Legolas, that perhaps Myu wasn't actually evil, just insane. "I have no gist at all of what you are talking about," he told her with disdain.

"I don't know about stuff. Since I don't know about stuff, they're suspicious."

"Elrond is supicious?"

"Everyone!"

"Suspicious about what?"

"What I am. Where I'm from. I want to know about Elladan. What is Elladan?"

A slight notion of what she meant was beginning to form. The more he thought about it, the more disconcerted he felt. Could it be that she was from such a far away land that she had no knowledge at all about Arda? "You are not from Middle Earth?" he asked with uncertainty.

Myu shook her head excitedly. "Yes! The reason I haven't been speaking in Westron is because I can't answer all these weird questions they've been asking me. Everyone is starting to think I'm weird. They're afraid of me."

"You wish for me to teach you about Middle Earth?" Legolas concluded, then referred back to the previous statement; "Why do you want to know about Elladan?"

"I'm absolutely in love with him!" Myu cooed, clasping her hands before her, "He's so adorable and so nice to me! He gave me a kiss!"

Legolas couldn't help but shudder. He began to wonder fervently what exactly happened during his absence. Regardless, he was quite certain that infatuation between an elf and a mortal would not last long, and from knowledge of Elladan's prior relationships, he very much doubted his sincerity. He realized Myu was waiting for a response, then nodded.

"So you'll do it?" Myu asked, tugging his arm enthusiastically.

"Now?" Legolas considered. He *was* curious about what a 'Sankei-whatever' was, he had to admit. If she was indeed part of a new species, than it might be to Mirkwood's knowledge and benefit that he learn about them. The elf considered, then nodded again reluctantly. "We will go to the east library."

"That's not too far is it? I am going to meet Elladan tonight."

The elf pressed his lips to a thin line and held out his hand. "It is in Elladan's house. Come."

*****

PART 04

A/N: About the Japanese words in Myu's speech... Let me point out again that the English dialogue in this fic is used to represent Westron, and is NOT in fact English. According to the book "The Magical Worlds of the Lord of the Rings" by David Colbert, LotR supposedly took place around 4000 BC, which is way before even Old English developed. Since Westron is an archaic language, it's lacking in any and all "modern" vocabulary. Therefore, Myu cannot properly translate words like 'uchujin' (space alien) or "keitai denwa" (cellphone), because these are things that were not discovered, thought of, or invented yet.

**********

Japanese Vocab - (plurals are generally not used in Japanese, so "Uchujin", for instance, could mean either "alien" or "aliens")

Uchujin = space alien

Wakusei = planet

Kukan Tsuro = stargate (lit. space gateway instead of time gateway, Jikan Tsuro)

Daigaku = university

Ginga-mure = galaxy cluster

*********

"You're all uchujin!"

Legolas sat straight-backed at the library desk, holding a page of "The Valaquenta: Account of the Valar and Maiar According to the Lore of the Eldar" mid-turn and looking irritated. In the chair to his left sat an abruptly excited Myu, who had in the last 15 minutes thrown more words from her language at him than he could count, and had not, to any fathomable degree, explained a one, save "tsureai" in reference to her sudden relationship with Elladan (a revelation which still had him disgusted somewhat). "And what is that?" Legolas asked resignedly, sounding anything but interested.

As though off in her own little world, Myu sat frozen in astonishment, her mouth gaping like a dead fish. Suddenly she gasped and pointed at Legolas. "Taquitos! Sono tori wayo! 'Elf'-tte iu ikimono wa uchujin nan desho! Gengo ya shinwa ni mo oboe ga nai wake wa nee! Koko wa chikyu de mo nai! Kitto watashi ga gaikai ni iru koto ni chigainai" ((Taquitos!!! That's it! "Elves" are aliens! That's why I don't recognize your language and myths and all! This isn't even earth! I must be on another world!))

Legolas sighed and turned to the next page, and waited patiently for her concentration to return to the book where it was supposed to be. All in all, she had been having a little trouble accepting that the Ainur had sung the world into existence, as told in the Ainulindale. She instead insisted that (in rough summary) the heavens were in fact the result of a giant explosion at the beginning of time and the earth and sun solidified out of a giant swirling vortex of dust. Legolas did not much care for her people's mythologies. They were very strange.

"Is this near Amnatr?"

Legolas glanced up. "What?"

Myu looked frantic. "Is this near the Amnatr star system? There is a wakusei there that was reported to have non-progressive life forms that were nearly identical to humans. I just thought that might be where I am."

A small scowl crossed Legolas lips. "Are all your people this odd, Myu?"

"No, no! This is important!" Myu cried, stressing the word 'important', "I think I've been displaced in space instead of time! Maybe it was a Kukan Tsuro and I just misread the placard! If that's the case, I can go home!"

The mention of "home" brought several questions to mind. Legolas figured it was high time she started fulfilling her part of the bargain of explaining things, since trying to teach her the Valaquenta so far had been about as fruitful as trying to build a sandcastle underwater. "Where is your home, Myu?"

"Ezo-shu. Northern Shin-Yamato Teikoku," she said without a word of elaboration. Legolas clapped his hand to his forehead, feeling the beginnings of a migraine. "I don't know where it is in relationship to here," Myu went on, "But I think it's not in this world."

Legolas did a double take. He hadn't heard of 'Ezoshu northern' whatever, as expected, but what really sparked his interest was "not in this world". Admittedly, he had never considered that anything existed outside Arda, because Arda to him had always been so simple; the earth, heaven, barren lands to the south and east, ice and wind to the north, and to the west, past Valinor, vast ocean that reached to the ends of the earth. To think there was something past those ends was truly disconcerting, yet at the same time fascinating. "How have you come hither if you do not know your course home?" the wood elf asked, with a sudden crease of concentration in his smooth brow. He suddenly thought of how she had fallen from the sky, then it dawned on him, "You were brought here by teleportation magic?"

"Magic?!" Myu rolled her eyes and laughed in an attempt to sound mocking, "I don't think you know what you're talking about. But if you do, it depends on whether your 'teleportation magic' are a form with photic conversion or dimensional distortion, because I came here by the latter."

The wood-elf was at this point exasperated. He glanced out the window, noting the low angle of the sun, and then turned and slammed the book shut. "Either explain yourself in rational terms, or I think I shall take my leave now."

"Whaddya mean?" Myu protested, thrusting her hands out innocently, "You should be able to understand me! These words are from your language afterall--"

"Then you are not making sense with those words!" he cut her off.

With a sour look on her face, Myu propped her elbows up on the table and steepled her fingers together. "Photic conversion is where the physical substance of the object or entity is converted to and relayed as light energy--" she stopped short when she noticed Legolas still gathering up books and attempted to simplify the explanation further; "Photic conversion is where you disappear and travel really fast, and dimensional distortion is where you cut a hole in the-- uh-- I mean-- It's where you make a doorway that opens up somewhere else."

Legolas stopped what he was doing and made a small smile as if to say, 'now we're getting somewhere,' "Hence you are come hither by a teleportal," he restated in triumph. At her slight nod, he prodded further. "And what of this portal? How did you come to enter it? Are you come on some errand?"

"I'm here by accident."

There was a long pause. "What do you mean when you say 'accident'?"

Myu's face suddenly went white, evidentially not wanting to reveal what the accident was. She lingered in silent debate over whether the elf would accept her having killed somebody as an accident.

"You agreed to tell me the truth," the elf reminded shrewdly, reading her all too easily.

Myu bit her lip, and began letting little bits of information slip, "I was in trouble..."

"Why?" he prompted sharply when it was clear she was not going to go into detail. A thousand possibilities were running through his mind; perhaps she was a tainted Maiar from Morgoth's realm of exile where he was sent for his destroying the Two Trees... This theory he felt not altogether unlikely, given that he had not yet witnessed the extent of her 'abilities'.

Myu thought it over, then her face lit up. She said she would not lie, but never agreed that she wouldn't forego certain details. "I broke a... a machine?" Myu just noticed the word in her vocabulary, "You have machines here?"

Legolas nodded, his expression unreadable, "Aye, Eldar have built machines in the past, as have Istari... and dwarves even to some crude extent," he ended with a hint of disgust.

"Well, yes, anyhoo," Myu babbled rapidly, looking pleased with herself for not lying, "I broke a very very very very expensive machine... commmPLETEly by accident-- I tripped and fell on it-- and I was scared my dad would be really really really really mad at me, so I used a teleportal to escape..."

What sort of machine could be so important to warrant her to plunge herself into an unknown world from which she might never return? Perhaps the fate of the world depended on it? "It was your father's machine?" asked a suddenly intrigued Legolas.

"No, it was Charayar-sensei's doodad," she said, fidgeting with a purple strand of hair, "He's from Indo."

"Why would your father have been angry?"

"He's Charayar's boss, and the machine belonged to the Daigaku, where he supervised. Plus he's the one responsible for punishing me, not Charayar..."

"Who is your father?"

"He's an uchujin like you," she answered loosely.

"Your father is an elf?" Legolas misinterpreted. Skepticism was blatant in his voice.

"Nope. He's of another sort," she said, then defined the word before he could ask, "An uchujin is a name we have for people from another world outside of Yamato. Like you. You're from Arda. My dad is from Saltharis. But your world, if I remember right, is a lot closer than Saltharis, which is all the way on the other side of the local Ginga-mure, which is-- the uh--" she paused, then laughed at her own loss of words, "It's just really far. Usually people can't travel such a distance, or teleport even, but my dad's people, the Ashura, are very intelligent and they've figured out how to build powerful machines that can cross those long distances," Myu sighed, then continued rambling emptily, almost as if forgetting he was listening, "My mother was human, though, and a lot of people thought bad of for marrying an uchujin. They weren't together very long though. My father takes care of me now. I haven't seen my mother in over 80 years."

Both Myu and Legolas fell into a comfortable silence. The elf almost felt numb at the information, choppy though it was. He had never heard of an "ashura", and as far as he knew, teleportation was an advanced magic that only the Valar and upper level Maiar could conjure. He figured, just then, that the Ashura must be a powerful race indeed, if that is where Myu inherited her colossal strength and alacrity. At the same time, it seemed doubtless to him that her mother must have been responsible for the inane human side of her.

"Oh!" Myu's sudden exclamation floated him up from his thoughts. "It's almost sunset! I have to get ready to meet Elladan!" Myu bounced up from her chair and told Legolas with all the un-buffered excitement of a puppy, "I'm going to try to find that green dress I wore that first night to dinner here! He really seemed to like that!" And without waiting for a response she dashed off, calling over her shoulder; "We'll meet here same time tomorrow, alright?"

The wood-elf watched as the strange, and suddenly very intriguing firiel ran headlong through the main entrance of the small east-wing library, where her form dissolved instantly into an orange-gold shaft of sunlight. Then Legolas was left alone, silent with his thoughts. But silent only a moment before he suddenly recalled, simultaneously, what she said about not having seen her mother and normal human longevity. He shot bolt-upright, crying out, "She said 'EIGHTY YEARS'?!"

***********

Angst was etched clearly into Elladan's face as he read the dispatch. "Seven," he whispered in a quavering voice, rereading the hastily scrawled names of the elf-warriors who would never more be seen in Rivendell alive. His hands were shaking. He felt the eyes his younger twin looking on grimly from over his shoulder.

Anendel Glorfindelion, the returning captain of this patrol that suffered the attack, stood before him with downcast eyes. "Forgive me, Elladan, Elrohir. I have no words to express my regret for the seven lives lost..." The blonde elf-lord's face was gray with grief and self-loathing at what he percieved as a failure on his part as a responsible captian to those lost.

Elladan nodded absently from where he sat at a desk in an alcove segmented off from the main armory, his face flushed with hatred toward the orcs who had ambushed them. His hand intuitively wandered down and gripped his sword hilt. Yet the rage felt empty. There was only so much a sword could do. It could grant him nothing as of now. Those dead were dead. "We will have that orc found. He will pay dearly," he heard his brother growl menacingly from behind him, "WIth your permission, brother, I will accompany you this patrol as well. We will hunt him together. I will not have you face the responsibility of revenge alone."

Indeed, with Anendel's week-long shift over, the responsibility to avenge the families of those killed now fell to Elladan, as well as defending Rivendell proper and those smaller suburbs nestled about it. He would also have to inform Elrond of the disaster, even though Rivendell's defense was not his charge. Elrond, the gentile "Lore-Master" of Imladris was more suited to healing, office work and politics to begin with, but his sons, on the other hand, turned out to be well rounded in both combat and leadership, which made them ideal for this job."Are you sure you wish to go with me?" Elladan asked mildly, hoping that his brother might not change his mind if he said that. He was not looking forward to undertaking this task alone.

Elrohir nodded, and with a cold, somber look in his grey eyes, turned to Anendel and requested that he brief them again on what happened.

"Deep in the night, we came across an orc... most unusually, a lone orc..." Anendel began, "We had no idea what to make of it, but when we made to shoot it from the depths of the foliage, the orc somehow sensed our presence. With a shout, it stood and, owed to my command, my archers held themselves in check to hear the foul creature out. In a trembling voice, this unusual orc petitioned to us in common speech," from here, Anendel gathered his words carefully, "The orc identified itself as Gothul, masterless and renegade to its own kind. Without preamble, it asked us if we had seen a mortal woman with violet streaks in her hair, whom it had been desperately seeking without rest for nigh on five days."

"Myu..." Elrohir bristled.

"Peace, Elrohir," Elladan told his brother in a firm tone, "She has nothing to do with this orc. It's fascination with her is at its own discretion."

"As you know, I had been away when you came across this maiden," Anendel continued, "So I knew not of whom the orc was speaking, yet her connection to this orc lead me to believe finding her may have been of importance, something which could only be done if the orc were alive to lead us to her. I intended to send a messenger at first light, seeing how it was growing dark. As night fell, we bound the orc securely and made camp. Yet at the cresting of the moon, our camp was, without warning, plunged into ambush, catching us completely off guard. I had no doubt in my mind that it was a trap into which this orc, Gothul, had lead us," Anendel's voice trailed off before he added bowing, "Forgive my error in trusting an orc. I deserve not your mercy."

Elladan brushed away his apology, then turned to look at his twin. Indeed Myu had nothing to do with this, he thought, yet was never the less the cause of it. When an orc, like Gothul, wanted something, they would spill any amount of blood to get it. The last thing Rivendell needed was an all-out siege. If worst came to worst, he could always hand the mortal woman over, but definitely would not unless the lives of elves were in danger. With nothing more to say to Anendel, he dismissed him, bidding good-night as Elrohir took his leave as well.

It had already fallen dark outside, and one by one a servant shuffled about the armory lighting candles. Elladan barely noticed as he was caught up in an eddy of anger and remorse for what had happened. He did not recall getting up to go, but rather found himself following the moon-lit path to his chambers. He needed to lie down, though he doubted he would sleep. He would make his patrol preparations just before sunrise. He cracked open the door to his room, and when he turned to close it gently, a voice within took him by surprise.

"Sake wa ikaga, anata?" ((How about some wine, dear?))

Elladan turned his attention slowly to the figure standing at the door, clad in a familiar blue-green dress and swinging a bottle of champagne seductively at her hip. Myu. One look into her smiling face told him he could never give her up to orcs. Seeing the small smile she brought to his lips, she set the wine down on a nearby table and, sparkling with all her usual cheer, plopped herself down happily down on the edge of the bed, patting a place beside her.

"You are very insistent," Elladan observed, and instead went to the bureau to light a series of candles. When he turned back, he found that the warm flicker of the candle light cast a twinkle in her crystal eyes, yet the smile had vanished from her lips. Just then, most unexpectedly she stood and reached behind her. He could not tell what she was doing at first, due to the dim light, but when the neckline of her bodice began to sag, his eyes went wide.

The elf could only watch speechless, as she held his gaze steadily. Further, further the neckline slid down, every inch of skin revealed seeming to him so flawless, so perfect, though the fair complexion of elvenfolk was absent from her skin. The ties took time to undo, and time stood frozen as Elladan watched her, his eyes no longer meeting hers, but now gazing steadily at what she was intent on baring to him. Did she truly think him so wonderful as to take such a gamble, he wondered?

The elf drew in a sharp breath when the last tie was undone and with a quick tug, the bodice was pulled down to her hips. And thusly she stood before him, exposed and awaiting his approval. She watched his expression carefully, her face flushed, yet expression determined.

Elladan felt a liquid heat flood his veins as his body responded to the sight of her body. He could never have, never in a hundred years, imagined something such a pleasure to his eyes. She was not willowy and graceful like a she-elf, no, something completely different. The length of her abdomen was firm, long and slender, like the belly of a serpent, yet her breasts above it were full and heavy, more so than any other female he had seen, and perked at the contact of the night air. In all, her figure spoke not to him of tactful elven beauty, but of desire, burning and raw. How could he feel anything else but that? He wanted her, needed her, so bad he could barely stand to resist her. With eyes lust-dark and not word of warning, he strode forth, closing the distance between them...

*******

PART 05

Elvish vocab

bein dulinn = lovely nightingale

melethron = lover (masculine)

ellon = a male elf

elleth = a female elf

*******

"Elladan?" Myu squeeked out as Elladan siezed the bodice of her dress about her waist, tugged it back up and held it so she could put her arms through the sleeves. She did so with hesitance... no, more like utter outrage. Her stomach was twisting in knots as it gradually sunk in that Elladan was rejecting her. 'How could you do such a thing after what I just did?!' her face seemed to plead him.

Elladan was tired, bogged down with responsibilities. Even though his body was enthusiastic enough about her offer, it would not suit to waste time pleasuring oneself when seven of Rivendells warriors were dead, and their families suffering. Yet how could he explain that to Myu? He was not even completely sure how well she understood him to begin with. He told her this as straight-forward as he could: "Tell one of the servants in the halls that you are my guest and request they find you a room to sleep in. I cannot this night. I apologize sincerely."

Through her eyes, he could see her heart breaking. Choking back a sob, Myu darted straight for the door, hastily flinging it open and slamming it shut behind her, only to charge back in a moment later in after-thought to retrieve the wine bottle and repeat the process.

In the aftermath, Elladan felt nothing but a profound regret weighing in his chest like a cold, heavy stone. Poor innocent little thing. So insecure and full of faults, yet at the same time so active and brimming with life. He hated to hurt her, and even more to turn down what he had yearned for so long. If only Anendel's report had come to him another night... With those thoughts burning in his mind, Elladan snuffed out the candles in his chambers and returned to the armory, intending to spend all night there with paperwork and double-checking supplies.

************

Myu's Musings

Entry No.: 00923888

Subject:

Date: 01-08-0000

Hello there. tis Kaneko myu of the happy cerebral database pilot HOMO tha taquitos forkspoon! stink myplastic firkspoon? firkspoon. Firkspono! IM SOOO DRUNK!!!! Idrunk thw whole bottle!!! WHOOOOOOOO!!!!! Itwuz okay. elladan didnt drink it with me so I hadto drink the hole thign! Im sooooooooooooooooooooooo drunk ifeel hot. Why didnt elladan wanto be with mewhyy didnt Ealaldan want to be with m,e? he didnt tell me i lookd beutiful like he did before.maybe no more magick .maybe I should make myselgf look beaUTIFUL FOR HIMTHERE I GO AGAIN WITH CRAzy talk. crazycrazycrazy. maybe im CRAZY grrl with stupid head for cute uchujin. I think im gonna leave him foiks the foodeating and i caught a mushroom thar has the wonderful smeel! taquitos forkspoon of the uchujin I LOVE YOU 'POOTERS myu

********

It was a lovely evening, though the smell of a coming rain was leaden in the air. Taking the quiet path through the cedars hung with elven lanterns, Legolas continued his stroll humming happily to himself and enjoying the pretty elleth hooked onto his elbow. It was that dark-haired maid he met in the market square earlier today before he had been so rudely interrupted -- what was her name again? It seemed he forgot it for second time. Oh well. With a weary sigh, Legolas looked down into her lovely char-grey eyes, shining like polished obsidian in the lamplight, and continued humming. She looked truly pleased to be with him despite his earlier treatment of her, which he had to admit was somewhat thoughtless of him. She felt his gaze upon him and glanced up at him shyly.

"I heard orc activity is increasing in Lorien," Legolas told her.

The elleth laughed and thought it a rather odd topic to raise on such a romantic stroll, but when she saw Legolas was looking at her funny, she cleared her throat and cast her gaze to her feet. This elf, after all, was of very high status. After a moment's silence between them, the elleth noticed that the path he lead her on was drawing her further and further from Rivendell proper. "Whither are you taking me, hir nin?"

Without a word of warning, the Mirkwood prince stopped walking and pulled the elleth to him, pressing his lips to hers in his most smoldering kiss. "Someplace quiet and secluded, if you do not object," he told her after he broke the kiss, leaving her breathless, "I believe there is a lover's-meeting flet not far down this path. He cast a glance toward where he was referring.

For a moment, the elleth was too overwhelmed to speak-- this elf was a prince! A prince who desired a night with *her*!-- but after the initial shock wore off, she nodded shyly at first, then eagerly.

"Have you ever been with a wood elf before?" Legolas asked idly, feeling excitement coursing through his veins.

The elleth had gotten giggly, and a modest blush kissed her fair cheeks. "Nay, hir nin. I know only that they are primarily flaxen of mane, tall, blue-eyed and speak Sindarin with a stark, yet lovely accent," she said, making a blase effort to be as flattering as possible.

Legolas chuckled at her behavior heartily, even though he was well used to seeing ladies, that he, quote 'dealt with', acting like this. "If it is your wish, bein, I shall tell you--"

"Can you smoke this? *hic*"

Both elves on the path gave a start at the slurred Westron speech that came loudly from their immediate left.

With the elleth seeking protection at his back in 'damsel-in-destress' mode, Legolas squinted into the shadows and found there a stone bench. But there was no one on the bench. There was someone under the bench though. "Myu! What are you doing down there!" the wood-elf hissed. The prospect of spending a lovely night with this elleth was evaporating like water in a smelting furnace. "I have no time to deal with your foolishness. Return at once to the house of Elrond!"

"Can you smoke this?" she repeated, holding up a pale-blue mushroom for him to observe... or at least trying to hold it up. She didn't seem too conscious of which direction was up right now.

Legolas dropped his irritation a moment to consider her inquiry. Whoever heard of smoking a mushroom? Did she mean burn it as fuel? Why would she want do that? "I do not know the answer to that question." Legolas replied honestly, then arrived at the following conclusion before he even finished the sentence; "You reek of liquor. You are drunk." He felt the nails of the elleth digging into his arm. "There is no excuse for such disgraceful behavior in an elven city. Go back to Elrond. Now."

"We should make haste, melethron," the elleth whispered to him in elvish, "I do not like this creature. She is dangerous, and I do not trust her when she is in such a state of unpredictability." Legolas had told her how dangerous she was and what she did earlier tonight. At least his convictions were being accepted by somebody.

Myu hiccuped, contemplated her mushroom a little longer, then, with much spontaneity, stood up... actually, not really stood up, but managed to find her way to her feet after a bout of trial and error which wasn't really showing any progress until she recalled that she was lying under a bench. She stumbled forward and caught herself on Legolas, causing the elleth to shriek and retreat back several paces. "I LOVE YOU, MAN-- *hic*" she hollered and held her arms out for a big bear hug.

Legolas wrinkled his nose and stepped out of reach. "I am not a man."

With little coherence in her actions, Myu hiccuped, sniffed the mushroom, licked her pinky, then looked at the elleth. The elleth looked back at her with bitter abhorrence boiling in her eyes. "So who's this little treat?" Myu asked casually, jerking her head toward the elleth, "You planning to-- *hic*-- give her a good banging?"

"Myu!" Though in utter outrage, Legolas had to suppress the urge to strike Myu right then; one because striking females was just unseemly (at least in front of someone you were trying to impress), and two because he didn't want to think what would happen if she decided to strike him back. Instead, Legolas gave her a warning look as sharp as deadly as a elven blade.

Myu noticed the expression. "What? There's no shame in makin' cheap entertainment out of it!" she slurred, palm-open in honesty, "Hoes like this are worth a copper a dozen."

Enough was enough. In the end it was the elleth who verbally confronted her. "How dare you speak thusly of me, you disgusting, purple-haired wh*re!"

Myu switched demeanor on instant to a red-faced raging drunk as she snorted at the female elf and said; "What's wrong with purple hair, rat-ears? And excuse me if I-- *hic* --if I don't take insults concerning sexual-indulgence from a shallow-minded chit who just seconds ago agreed to spread for a guy who doesn't even know her name."

"How dare you!" the elleth's voice was cracking with disbelief.

"Ask him and see for yourself."

Legolas had to suppress another urge; to question Myu how she figured out he didn't know the elleth's name, knowing that would only prove Myu right. Instead, he continued glaring at her as though he was too angry to even hear the accusation.

"Avoiding the question," Myu diagnosed accurately, "You can tell he has no respect for you," she told the elleth, "Otherwise he would have defended you instead of making you do it yourself."

The elleth opened her mouth, then snapped it shut, then repeated the process. She scoured her most vile imagination for some nasty retort but came up blank, knowing good and well what this drunken firiel said was so true it hurt. What was she thinking in giving herself freely to this arrogant ellon who cared nothing for her? To spare what honor she had left, the elleth turned her heated glare on Legolas, "I shall leave you two since you seem so to get along so well." And with a flip of her long, dark mane, she whirled about and marched back off toward Rivendell proper.

Legolas watched her go with an expression of sheer disbelief on his face, then turned to Myu and said in a voice dangerous and low. "Are you satisfied now? Will your stalking of me never cease?"

"Will your ****in' paranoid ego ever deflate to the point where I can weather through a hangover without you assuming I was lying in wait for your scrawny, supercilious butt to come mincing my way?" Myu slurred, raising her volume to the point drunks usually raise it to when they're upset over something, "Hey! I'll admit that gem of a face of yours had me fooled at first, Leg'as, but I assure you, I ain't gave a second 'bout you since that day I saw you run off piss-pants just because I had a little blood on me. You're a spineless, over-indulgent, breast-fed nance, and unlike you, I learn from my faults instead of ignoring them.... *hic*"

With his jaw dropping in disbelief, Legolas' eyes flashed murder. But before he could even think of counter measures against such a brutal verbal assault, Myu giggled, bounced the mushroom off his head, and announced "I'm gonna be spontaneous now!" then ran off.

*****************

TBC