A/n: *does a happy review dance* YAY!!! I got REVIEWS!!!! Even though I haven't updated in months!!!!
*coughs* Well! I am certainly not going to stop writing this one, all my worried reviewers. I have lots more planned. ^^. And I even have the next story lined up for after this one... lol!!! YAY!

Disclaimer: I'm not dead. So I'm not Tolkien. Figure it out.

Chapter Five: Lorien and Lace

Legolas stood up slowly, and reached for a sturdy branch to keep his balance. Erin was standing three feet below, on a lower branch. He smiled, and used his other hand to wave to her. She waved back to him.

He was safe, very safe, here in the boughs of the tree. No one could sneak up on him, no one could hurt him, and no one would find him if he was quiet. Legolas smiled, and drew out a knife he had slipped out of the armoury. Hearing a small rustle, he quickly glanced down at Erin. She pointed up.

Legolas nodded and moved over so that she could come up. She looked at the knife in fascination. Legolas gave himself a quick slash across his palm, and then offered the dagger blade-first to her.

She took it.

The bark of the tree was grey and brown and ridged harshly. The leaves were broad and a deep, healthy green. The flowers were small and pale, with curved petals.

Except, of course, where they were splashed with blood.

The two elves sat down cross-legged on the limb. Erin cut at her wrist, and then she clamped her mouth down across the cut and started to gulp greedily. A few drops of scarlet liquid ran down her hands, and onto her shirt. Legolas looked at her in suprise. She smiled at him, her teeth stained crimson and her lips sanguine. Her eyes were looking at things that were not there.

"It is delicious, Elfling. I first tried it when the shadows forced it down my throat. I struggled." She shrugged. "Foolish of me. It tastes better than anything in the entire world."

Legolas smiled, and decided that he could forgive Erin for being noisy and rude. She was nice. That was what counted. He had forgotten all about strength testing now, and just wanted to see what the sticky redness tasted of.

A flash of light from the blade. The sound of iron cleaving flesh. A mouth being laid upon a cut. Sucking.

It was in this position and during this activity in which Haldir found his charge.

It took Haldir a few minutes to register what Legolas and Erin were doing. But then, after blinking, he realized what was going on. He scrambled up the tree and snatched the knife away from the two of them, and glared at Erin.

"What do you think you're DOING? Where's Helle? Don't you know that what you're doing is disgusting?!" Haldir screamed, arms clenched at his sides. Erin blinked blankly at him.

Haldir felt his temper worsening. "You!" he spat. "Can you even understand what I say?!" He had taken his eyes off of the Prince for two seconds, during which he ran away. He had spent the entire afternoon searching Lorien from top to bottom, worried to no end, and here he was with Erin, drinking his own blood! He was furious with the both of them.

Erin cocked her head to one side, looking at him curiously. After a few minutes, she took a determined look and opened her mouth, her eyes shining with courage. "Hello," she said firmly. "Who are you?"

Haldir looked at her in shock. //But, she has met me before....//

Erin stared at her wrists in shock. She touched the blood gingerly with a pointed finger. "Where did this come from?" she asked in an odd voice. "How peculiar. It's so red..." She giggled, and then hiccuped a bubble of blood.

It took Haldir a few minutes to break out of his shock and lead the two Elves down from the tree.

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Legolas sighed and looked at Haldir's eyes as they sat in the said Elf's talan. He had been angry with the Elf earlier, but now he had forgotten why, and didn't care anymore. Haldir seemed worried about him, but he didn't know why. After all, he could only remember up to when Haldir brought him back to the talan. He couldn't really remember what he had been doing before that.

From the shadows, a dark figure chuckled. Then the apparition walked back to where Gwaloth slept, and sat in her room. It was the only place he had an excuse to be, after all. He could pretend he was Gwaloth, anyways. He was a soprano, like her, and their voices had the same timbre. And it was too dark to tell.

The Prince was so entertaining to watch. Of course, it was also quite fun to play with his mind...

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*****tbc*****

A/n: *is proud of self* YAY! Done a short chappie. *does another dance* Review please, and yes I do have a plot in mind!
Muse: Hah. I'm the only one who knows the plot, though.
Shut up, Muse! Ahem. *bows* Thank you if you reviewed!!! Bai bai now!