Disclaimer: I don't own any LOTR Characters.

Chapter 8 ~Play the Joker Card~

-Many Years ago--

A small girl whistled a song as she walked through the forest, an unfamiliar forest. She removed her hood and looked around, suddenly an elf appeared, with an arrow pointed right in between her eyes.

"State you purpose?" The blonde elf said, two more elves appeared behind him.

"Well, Good day to you too!"

"Do not make friendly words with me, state your purpose?"

"Why do you threaten me?" The girl said, tilting her head.

"These lands are dark because of Dol Guldur...What is your name?"

"I'm to ask you the same. Why do you threaten me? I'm unarmed and alone." The elf looked at the girl, she was young...looked a bit odd too, but there was a strong presence around her.

"I am Legolas, prince of Mirkwood, son of Thranduil...my friends and I have heard your whistling since this morning, but we could only hear you. Until, you removed your hood. Where are you from?" Legolas looked at the girl suspiciously.

"Just out of curiosity, were you once a frog then kissed by a beautiful maiden, then turned into a prince?" She put her finger to her cheek, it looked as if she was deep in thought. Legolas looked at her dumbstruck.

"Uh...Do no jest with me...Where are you from?"

"From Lothlòrien."

"But you are no elf, you are from the race of men." Legolas still had the arrow to her head.

'Or so it appears elf...' The girl wore a cloak, the material was not of his land. If the cloak was from Lothlòrien, it would prove reason why they could not see her.

"As if it wasn't obvious...Your brain lacks substance." She sarcastically said, the two elves behind Legolas looked shocked. No one had shown this much disrespect to the prince.

"You're clad as if you were from Lothlòrien, but how do I know you did not steal this clothing?"

"Do you honestly think that anyone would get away with stealing from Lothlòrien?" She arrogantly said.

"What is your purpose here?" Legolas asked again.

"That is of my business, not of yours."

"Then I have no choice." Legolas brought the arrow closer to her face.

"I could care more about the dung stuck beneath my shoes, than that toy you point at me." She sweetly said. Legolas had never heard a maiden use her choice of words before. The elves behind Legolas started to stir in astonishment. Taking her index finger, she placed it on the tip of the arrow, the ground around her withered, and a vine started curling up Legolas's arrow. Then a flower sprung up from the end of the arrow, right into Legolas's face, he yelped and let go of the arrow. The girl whipped her head back as the arrow went right pass her.

"Tsk tsk, You could have been the cause of my death." She removed her finger and the flower withered, the ground around her sprung back to life again. The two elves behind Legolas had their arrows inches away from her face.

"I know no one whom posses this power! State your purpose." Legolas shakily said.

"I would rather kick you all the way to Mandos, than tell you why I'm here!"

"You can not simply KICK an elf to Mandos!" Legolas said back. She lifted up her dress.

"Why do you show me your leg? Are you trying to seduce me!" Legolas kept his composure.

"I'd rather kiss an orc, than seduce you!" All three elves looked at her in disgust.

"That's foul." The three said.

"Yes, and so are your faces." She winked.

"I'm simply just getting ready to kick you!" The girl stepped forward, 'aim for groin' but a hand grabbed her shoulder

"That's enough." Gandalf firmly said.

She looked at Legolas. "Pity..."

"Gandalf?" Legolas signaled the others to put down there bows.

"I apologize for the trouble she has been causing... but we're here to talk to your father." Gandalf looked at his daughter, and shook his head.

"I was just getting acquainted with Thranduil's son...no harm done!" She shuffled some leaves with her foot.

"Very well, I will let you go. My father should be in the fortress." Legolas nodded and stepped out of the way, but grabbed the girl's arm as she passed by.

"I still do not know your name." Legolas looked at the girl, she sighed.

"You will not have any use for my name, and if I do tell you, you shall forget it." She pulled her arm out of his grasp, she grabbed her hood and cast it over her head.

"I assure you, elves have good memory."

"Very well, my name is Telperiën." With that, she started to run from him and caught up to Gandalf. Legolas turned around, but had the urge to look back. He only saw Gandalf.

"Is something wrong?" One of the elves asked.

"No." Legolas turned and walked with his friends, with no memory of the girl.

----

Gandalf stood at the gates, with a Shadowfax and a black horse. It was early morning, the sun hadn't even begun to break. There was a small chill in the air. Charity was still in her room packing her bags. They would be gone for only a few days, so she didn't pack much. Zipping her bag, she thought it would be smart if I go to the Warden and get something for her lips again. Taking a last glance around the room, making sure there was no mess, once satisfied, she quietly left the room. There was hardly anyone up, the only ones that were awake were the servants. She noticed a few elves and humans outside in the courtyard, discussing the decorations for the wedding. When she got to the warden's wing, she could smell a hint of disinfectants in the air. She quickly went through the drawers and found the bottle. With haste she made her way out of the castle.

Gandalf watched as his daughter came towards him. Her hair was tied up into a ponytail, which was quite unusual to him. She yawned, he could see slight bags under her eyes.

"A bit early, don't you think?" Charity yawned

"It's never too early...here's your horse. This is Morne." Charity looked at the horse.

"Um...Gandalf...problem..."

"Yes?"

"I have never ridden a horse...and this one doesn't have a saddle."

"Ride bare-back."

"Okay..." She said in a shaky voice, with all the strength she could she tried to get on the horse. This wasn't working, she tried jumping, she even tried to stand on a rock. Gandalf tried to suppress his laughter, and hoisted her onto the horse.

"Well...that was...easy!" She nervously smiled.

"Try to keep up with me!" Shadowfax then started to gallop fast.

"Whoa...all right...hmmm...I guess we follow." Morne took it as a command and started galloping, Morne was a fast horse and quickly caught up with Shadowfax, with poor Charity holding on for dear life.

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By noon, most were up and frantically running decorating the castle. The hand-maidens quickly making last minute touches on dresses. The food was being sampled if it was fit or not. Bundles of flowers being brought in. The castle was increasingly getting fuller, as mortals and immortals mingled with each other. All this would drive some mad.

"Aragorn! Where are you going?" Legolas yelled out. Aragorn was dressed as if he was going to war.

"Oh Valar! I may just loose my sanity! Arwen is driving me mad! She won't stay calm, and everywhere I turn there are people madly rushing around me." Aragorn said with an expression of fright. Legolas just laughed.

"Ah, yes. But where are you off to?"

"To help Gandalf train Charity. He said he may need someone to teach her how to fight with a sword." Aragorn said, a bit more calmly. As he talked, Legolas saw Haldir appoaching them, also dressed for the outdoors.

"She also needs someone to teach her archery." Haldir stood behind Aragorn.

"It wouldn't hurt for extra help though, come along Legolas."

"What about someone with the skill of an axe?" They looked down and saw Gimli.

"...I"m not that short!" All the sudden, they could hear little footsteps coming behind them.

"We must come too!" Merry said, short breathed.

"We are tired of maidens coming up to us as saying 'oh your so adorable!' then pinching our tender cheeks!" They weren't telling a lie, their cheeks were a dark shade of pink.

"Very well, we shall all go, but we must be back before the celebrations start. Or else Arwen will have my head." Aragorn said. They all made their way to the stables to get horses.

"Legolas! Legolas!" They all turned around and saw Gwilwileth clutching her dress and running towards Legolas.

"Are you leaving?" She took Legolas' arm, the group rolled their eyes and went ahead, but Aragorn stayed.

"Yes, I'm sorry. I'll only be gone for a few days, don't worry."

"Very well, I'll be waiting for you. Remember you are going to the Celebration with me." She smiled, Legolas nodded and was about to walk away, but was being held back. Gwilwileth looked at him, waiting for a kiss.

"Oh..." Legolas nervously laughed, but lightly gave her a kiss, not giving her a chance to kiss back. He smiled at her and walked away, he walked away with Aragorn. As soon as they got to a safe distance Aragorn started to laugh.

"What is it that's so amusing?" Legolas said.

"When you kissed Gwilwileth...you looked tormented!" Aragorn laughed out loud.

"Then...your eyes deceive you!" Legolas picked up his pace.

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They had been riding for almost two hours non-stop, they had entered a forest, and stopped into a clearing. When Charity got off the horse, she rubbed her bottom.

'I'm going to have to get used to riding horses' They ate lunch in silence, adoring the quietness of the forest, the smell of pine trees. The sun was high and shining, but the tall trees cast shadows on the green grass. After Charity ate, she walked around the clearing, Gandalf followed. It reminded him of the many walks they had in the past.

"So what will my training consist of?"

"Well, first I have to see if you have any power left. Then you we shall take it from there. I'll teach you incantations and so forth. You're probably going to get visions, so I'll explain that. You'll have to learn to wield a sword, an axe, a bow, any weapon." Gandalf said. Charity started to worry, she only knew how to handle knives, even then, it was not for defense.

"You've got a long way to go." Gandalf added.

"So when do I get tested?"

"We can do it now, I simply just need to know if you can clear your mind or not. Just go sit somewhere comfortable, relax, feel the energy around you." Gandalf said, in an unworldly voice. Charity looked around and found a perfect spot, she sat under a tree. The hot air around started to bother her, so she removed the coat Arwen gave her and leaned back on the tree. Though it was perfectly quiet, she couldn't concentrate. She watched as a dead cricket was being carried off by an army of ants.

"Charity..." Gandalf said in the distance. Charity went back to trying to concentrate. He would easily know when her mind was clear.

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The three elves watched as Aragorn and his friends leaving Minas Tirith.. Though heavy were the elves heart with pain for the girl that brought them much laughter, there still lingered some hope.

"How will Gandalf teach thousands of years of magic, in such short time?" Thranduil asked.

"I have no clue, there must be some other way." Elrond replied, the two started to walk back. Galadriel stayed, her hair danced with the wind as she looked onward.

"There is one way..." Galadriel said.

"Though her memory of Middle-earth were erased from her mind, they were kept with The Valar. As I said before, the memories will lead her to something, something even, bigger and darker, something that was long forgotten from her. Once she finds out what it leads to, her memory of middle-earth will come back to her. Let's only hope, that she survives..." They all stood in silence, taking in what Galadriel said. Elrond, however, had a smile on his face.

"Do you remember when she cut Elladan's hair while he was sleeping, he whined for so many years! Until, his hair finally grew back. Gandalf would always punish her, but she'd never learn!"

"Once when she was in Lorien, Haldir had just finished bathing, and she dumped several spiders in it pants and tunic. He ran into Caras Galadhon throwing his clothes around, and screaming hysterically. Needless to say, he screams like a girl! Gandalf punished her by making her clean every talan in Lorien for 50 years. That didn't go so well, she'd purposely put ants in the maiden's beds. So at night I'd wake to frantic maidens squirming around. " The image of the march warden being presented to The lord and lady of Lorien screaming like a girl made them laugh.

Elrond took a deep breath, as if he was trying to release his grief. "I miss her laughter"

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

It had been almost four hours, sitting under the tree concentrating. By now, the sun was starting to go down and darkness blanketed her, cooling her skin. The day seemed to be wasted, she sat and tried as hard as she could to concentrate, but nothing was happening. Time came, and went with her mind racing with questions. Or else she was just plainly distracted by anything. Gandalf sat on a rock, not to far from her. He looked distraught, nothing was happening. Had she lost all her power? Through the trees he started to hear galloping, he turned his head and turned down his bushy eyebrows.

"Who goes there?" He yelled out in a booming voice. There was not response for quite some time, but figures started to appear from the forest.

"It's only us Gandalf!" Aragorn yelled out, he pulled his horse behind him gently. As they got closer, they could see Charity off in the distance.

"Anything?"

"Oh Valar! Nothing! She has been sitting there since noon, and nothing has happened....I think this is enough for today."

"I'll go get her." Legolas volunteered and left the group. His eyes could see Charity, she was tired; her eyes were drooping. Though his steps were quiet, he knew she could sense him coming towards her.

"What are you doing here?" She quietly said.

"I'm teaching you archery...with Haldir." Legolas sat beside her and leaned his back on the tree.

"Legolas..."

"Hm?"

"Do you miss Mirkwood?"

"I miss it a lot...I miss the trees, my friends, my bed, I miss everything about Mirkwood...Why do you ask?"

"As much as I hated my old life...I'm going to miss some part of it." She closed her eyes, she was drained and tired.

"What do you miss?" Legolas was confused, how would she miss her horrid old life?

"My best friend Leah...I'll never get to see her again. We weren't good friends at first, but as time went on, it was like we were connected to the hip. We would always look after each other." She said in an almost whisper.

"So she was very special to you?"

"Yeah...Sometimes the woods remind me of her. We'd always go out into the forest and hike, it was so fun. It was our getaway from reality, away from the chaotic world."

"I'm sure she misses you..." Charity opened her eyes, and crossed her arms.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore." Charity curled up and closed her eyes again, she was so tired. It felt like she was in a dream, she felt herself almost drifting off to sleep.

Gandalf watched them the two in a distance.

"I have an idea!" Gandalf grabbed the apple Pippin was about to eat. He cautiously walked up to Charity. Curiosity took over the group, so they quietly followed. He looked at Legolas and put a finger to his mouth, indicating Legolas to say nothing. The almost sleeping girl was unaware of what was happening. Gandalf raised the hand that carried the apple and threw it as hard as he could.

Charity was almost asleep, she could feel herself falling into a dream. Until, she felt some sort of danger coming towards her. Her eyes snapped opened and saw a red object coming at her, her instincts took over. She dug her nails in the ground, her iris seemed to enlarge. The tree she leaned on seemed to sulk, as the color from the leaves quickly drained and turned a dark brown becoming crunchy. The red object, that was speeding towards her, blew up into pieces and fell everywhere. This all happened in a matter of second. Charity blinked and reality came rushing back to her, the tree behind her turned green again.

"Uh......." she nervously looked around. They all stared at her, their faces dripping with apple juice.

"Eewwwwww!" Merry disgustingly wiped the apple pieces off his shirt. Gimli started picking the pieces out of his beard. Legolas seemed to get the worst of it, chunks of apples were stuck in his hair, apple juice dripped off his face.

"I guess sitting on her bottom for half the day did do some good." Aragorn said.

"Hm...Yes, but she only did that out of instinct, she was unconscious too. I have to get her to use her magic when she's conscious ...Well, at least I know she has some power left in her." Gandalf said with hope in his voice.

"I'm so sorry! I never meant to do that! I don't know what happened! Please forgive me!" Charity squealed, feeling guilty for the victims of her apple exploding.

"It's okay! It just shows that your making progress!" Frodo said trying to reassure her.

"You did well Charity, you should get some sleep now. Tomorrow you'll be training with weapons." Gandalf helped Charity up. They all walked back to set up camp, most of them reeking of apple juice.The only thought on Charity's mind was about her training tomorrow, she hoped to keep her limbs intact while sword fighting.

!!!!!Please Review!!!!

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Hey! Yes, 'tis another light chapter. Don't think I'm going all soft now, just all about thee plan! I really hope you readers review! I didn't put a poem in this chapter because I thought it was long enough, but I will put more poems in the later chapters. I hope I'm not leading you to think she's almighty and powerful, because indeed, I do not want her to be like that. She WAS powerful, but not anymore.

Also, I will be using Eryn Lasgalen instead of Mirkwood in the upcoming chapters. I almost completely forgot about that *wacks head*

Oh yes, a response to Morte. Yes, Legolas asking about her life is ONE reason Charity is uncomfortable with him. There is an even deeper reason though, but that won't be revealed in later chapters. ...hm Charity falling in love....hhmm...I'll think about it. Mwahahahahahhahah I only know the outcome, you'll just have to keep on reading. All right, I'm off to right the next chapter. *Puts on superman cape and flies off*