Disclaimer: I do not own any characters, places and/or titles related to Professor J. R. R. Tolkien. Though Serminol, Lirnowen and other unrecognizable characters, along with the plot are completely based on stories sprung form my imagination. Do not sue me o_O. Enjoy.
Summary: The elven male now leads Lirnowen to the borders of Mirkwood. Will her tribe be waiting? Will the elven male decide to abandon her once more?
Chapter Four - Mixed Emotions
An hour had passed since they had started the journey to find Lirnowen's way back to her camp. She had not realized how far she had gotten herself into the forest. There was no conversation held between the two beings that moved silently through the vastness of trees. The last comment he spat at her, had caused her mouth to shut tightly. Plus, she was angered beyond all reason and would have hit him if she didn't know how strong he was. Although, she sensed a vulnerability about him, laying under a mask of harsh actions and words. About ten minutes ago something ran across the path behind them and he turned around with a start. His eyes were wide and she could have sworn she heard the beating of his heart from the place she was 3 feet away. It turned out to just be a squirrel making it's way to another tree.
She would have laughed at the situation, but she again realized whom she was walking with. It had already been a day since she left the safety of her family and fellow humans.
"We are almost to the border."
His voice broke the silience. Lirnowen looked up and nodded slightly. The walked further until he stopped, turned around and said, "This is as far as I go." He turned around and started to make his way back into the wood. "You're just going to leave me here?" she looked around, "I'm not even anywhere close to my camp. There is no one around!" He didn't even turn around as she gave a huff, threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. Feeling as if she was an abandoned child, she made her way through the brush, looking for any sign of where she had left the others. An opening was up ahead and she saw smoke of a newly put out fire. Her breath caught in her throat and she projected forward into a run. Once she reached the smoking pile of wood, she looked around to find the camp, deserted. Her mouth parted slightly as a gasp escaped.
The dirt had been moved around. Signs that their gear had been packed up were surrounding her. Her eyes moved over to the trees where her horse, along with her father's had been tied up.
Nothing.
"They left me."
Disbelief filled her soul. Apprehension gripped her and she started to shake.
"How could they leave me?" she whimpered. Years of being left out of mere childish games were nothing compared to the pain she felt now. This was her family leaving her behind. All she had. Now there was nothing left. 'Maybe they think I am dead?' she thought with her hands hanging loosely at her sides. Her brain caught up with her, and she ran to the edge of the forest. She saw footprints leading out, and they seemed to round to the North. She ran next to the footprints that were leading her. She had been running on dirt until the dirt stopped and faded into a lush carpet of long grass. The footprints were gone.
"No." she croaked out. She dropped to her knees with vacant eyes staring into the rows upon rows of sunlit green grass. Tears streamed down her face. She took a few minutes to register her situation and the only person that could help her. She ran back into the forest with immense speed, jumping over roots and rocks. By now she couldn't possibly remember the way back to the caves with all the twists and turns the elf had led her through. She didn't care though. She'd find that damn cave and make him help her. There was no one else to do so. She feared being alone. She'd been alone before but not like this. She always had at least somewhere to go, to protect her, in someway.
By a miracle, or pure luck, she found that desolate cave again. A lump caught in her throat and her mind went blank.
'What am I supposed to do? Won't he threaten me again? You stupid girl. You ask too much of this elf. He wants peace and you are nagging him to death.'
Hesitantly, she moved towards the cave. She was getting tired of coming back here, but she had no choice. The elf walked out of the cave just as she did so. The anger was plastered all over his face, so she instantly knew she was unwelcome.
"Are you deaf? I told you I was through helping you." He had purposely made all those twists and turns so she would not be able to find her way back. "How did you find your way back here?" he was almost amazed that this human had the mind capacity to remember the way. "I...I don't know, I just ran. Most likely luck." She fumbled with her hands, as she normally would do when nervousness took over. "Well, you have quite the sense of direction," he said gruffly, quickly walking away through the trees in front of her.
"My group left me," she blurted out. He stopped where he was, slowly turning his head to cast a side-glance at her. "Were there no tracks for you to follow?" he said, still glancing at her. "They lead into a deep thicket. I could not follow them anymore," she glanced down, tears sweeping over her again. He closed his eyes and turned fully around, "What am I supposed to do about this?" She looked up, "I'm taking a big guess, but you obviously know these woods like the back of your hand, am I correct?" he nodded his head, "And the land around it, right?" "Yes, but what, exactly is your point?" Lirnowen moved forward towards him. "I know I ask too much. I know I've wondered into your realm without your consent, but I need a big favor now." she trailed off as he diverted his eyes elsewhere.
"My family is everything to me. I have no one else. I know they could not have left me. They certainly must have thought I was carried off, or killed. But I was foolish for wandering, I know this now," she moved closer and lowered her voice to a whisper,
"Will you not help me catch up with them some how? I do not know these lands. Will you? Please?"
Her voice wavered and her eyes shone with salty tears. She moved her hand to his arm and surprisingly he didn't move. He was lost in his train of thought. As if waking up from a dream he moved, harshly, away. "I do not have time for your fatuous mistakes." He returned to walking away as she retorted, "You're a bloody elf, you have all the time in the world! Elves do not answer to the hands of time!"
He stopped once again, "You speak as if you know of elven ways. How do you act as if you know so much when you come from a race that knows so little?"
"I read books. Tons of them. Mainly based around your race," she stopped and looked thoughtfully at him, "your people are beautiful. They intrigue me so. I cannot explain how they captivate my heart and my mind. There is so much sadness in your people, but so much nobility," she paused, "the courage you show is beyond the strength of my race. Or any other for that matter. It's simply breathtaking." Her eyes looked away, as if lost in a dream. He parted his mouth slightly, from the words she had just spoken.
"You speak of my people poetically. I have not heard such words for the elves that had been spoken by a human tongue," he meant this but he instantly regretted saying it. What if she thought he was being nice to her? Well, he wasn't.
"This means you'll help me then?" she sounded so hopeful.
Damn it. He fought a conflict within himself. "Yes," he gave in, "but not today. I have much work to do and I cannot be bothered by a lost little girl." He went down a small slope that led to a trickling stream. "But we will lose them if we do not start after them now!" she called after him. "No, we won't. You said they went around the border, not through Mirkwood. It takes longer to go around, than to go through. We are going through. You will catch up to them before they come to the other side." He knelt down to the stream and dipped his head in, wetting his head and neck thoroughly. He did not see the shocked look plastered on Lirnowen's face.
"Mirkwood," she gasped.
Her memory shifted to a story her grandmother had told her. She had been told the story by her mother, Lirnowen's great grandmother. It was about a prince, from Mirkwood after the ring wars. The story said that this prince disappeared one day without a trace. He never sailed west and no one ever saw him again. Lirnowen's mouth dropped and she racked her brain to find the name of the prince.
She found it.
"Legolas."
It was almost inaudible as she breathed out his name, but his pointed ears picked it up. His head shout up from the stream, flicking water everywhere and his eyes were widened. He slowly turned around. Shocked expressions met each other.
"How did you know my name?" he breathed in deeply.
Taken aback, Lirnowen moved back slowly. The male stood, moving towards her as he repeated himself, now in a more brash manor, "How did you know MY NAME?" His voice raised to a yell, and Lirnowen gasped and fell backwards, onto the grassy forest floor. She looked up at the elf standing over her. An ominous figure, she thought, though sculpted to perfection as he blocked out a lone ray of sun. Crawling slowly away from him, she began to stand up, yet he moved ever closer, backing her into a tree. Pressing her back against the bark of the tree, Lirnowen came face to face with him, as he put both of his hands on either side of her head.
"Tell me. Now."
His voice came down to a whisper again, yet still held the deadly bite that his yell carried. Lirnowen's eyes closed out of instinct, as her mind raced to find an answer that would suffice.
"I told you I've read many stories. Surely you must know about the legendary 'War of the Ring'?" Her eyes opened once more, and she was faced with a look, of what she believed was surprise. "Know of them? Legends?" He was sincerely at a loss for words, as his mind tried to recount those horrible days, so many years ago. His face contorted in confusion, and his hands dropped from the sides of Lirnowen's head. He backed away, practically stumbling backward, to finally make rest upon and jutting boulder.
There he sat, unmoving, in a sense of disbelief. Lirnowen watched, silently, not knowing what to say or do. To run, or not to run? To confront, or not to confront? With her back still pressed against the tree, Lirnowen fought to make a choice on what to do. 'Has he snapped? What have I done?' she thought to herself. Looking upon the elf, with the lone ray of sun, gleaming upon his messy silver hair, she could not help but slowly walk toward him. As if by instinct, or out of sheer heartache, Lirnowen gently put her hand on his shoulder, and slowly knelt beside him. He did not look up, but kept a face lost in a quandary. The woods seemed to quiet just for them, and the silence became deafening to Lirnowen. Finally, she could take it no longer, "Are you all right?" Her voice rang out, awakening to the forest once more. And as if breaking out of a dream, the male elf turned his gaze towards the girl beside him. Shocked, Lirnowen found tears lingering there. "You fought in that great battle. I remember now. You represented the elves. You...you were a prince!" She stood, suddenly, and moved away. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and still said nothing.
"What happened to you, Legolas?"
As if she set off a time bomb, Legolas stood, rage now plastered on a once lost face. He started to pace back and forth like a caged lion, ignoring the stunned girl looking at him. She was too frightened to say anything else. Frightened that the knife at his waist would soon spill her blood. She knew elves carried a temper, that was obviously exemplified by Legolas. She did not want to meet her end, and her curiosity faded away. She was reminded of her tribe, and how worried her parents must be.
She thought it better to leave him alone.
She felt it better to leave the lion caged.
With that, she ran off. She knew if she kept her wits about her and used her brain, she could eventually find her way through this maze of wood. 'It cannot be all that bad. A forest is a forest.' Little did she know how vast a forest you know nothing about could be. It was also becoming nightfall once more, and she knew not of the dangers that lurked in the dark places of the world. Frightened, cold, hungry and alone, she raced through the wood, not looking back. Letting her mind wander back to that restless soul pacing back and forth behind her. Not paying attention to the hungry eyes watching her every movement, right in front of her.
-------------------------
Remember to please review! Whether positive or negative, all comments are appreciated!
Summary: The elven male now leads Lirnowen to the borders of Mirkwood. Will her tribe be waiting? Will the elven male decide to abandon her once more?
Chapter Four - Mixed Emotions
An hour had passed since they had started the journey to find Lirnowen's way back to her camp. She had not realized how far she had gotten herself into the forest. There was no conversation held between the two beings that moved silently through the vastness of trees. The last comment he spat at her, had caused her mouth to shut tightly. Plus, she was angered beyond all reason and would have hit him if she didn't know how strong he was. Although, she sensed a vulnerability about him, laying under a mask of harsh actions and words. About ten minutes ago something ran across the path behind them and he turned around with a start. His eyes were wide and she could have sworn she heard the beating of his heart from the place she was 3 feet away. It turned out to just be a squirrel making it's way to another tree.
She would have laughed at the situation, but she again realized whom she was walking with. It had already been a day since she left the safety of her family and fellow humans.
"We are almost to the border."
His voice broke the silience. Lirnowen looked up and nodded slightly. The walked further until he stopped, turned around and said, "This is as far as I go." He turned around and started to make his way back into the wood. "You're just going to leave me here?" she looked around, "I'm not even anywhere close to my camp. There is no one around!" He didn't even turn around as she gave a huff, threw up her hands and rolled her eyes. Feeling as if she was an abandoned child, she made her way through the brush, looking for any sign of where she had left the others. An opening was up ahead and she saw smoke of a newly put out fire. Her breath caught in her throat and she projected forward into a run. Once she reached the smoking pile of wood, she looked around to find the camp, deserted. Her mouth parted slightly as a gasp escaped.
The dirt had been moved around. Signs that their gear had been packed up were surrounding her. Her eyes moved over to the trees where her horse, along with her father's had been tied up.
Nothing.
"They left me."
Disbelief filled her soul. Apprehension gripped her and she started to shake.
"How could they leave me?" she whimpered. Years of being left out of mere childish games were nothing compared to the pain she felt now. This was her family leaving her behind. All she had. Now there was nothing left. 'Maybe they think I am dead?' she thought with her hands hanging loosely at her sides. Her brain caught up with her, and she ran to the edge of the forest. She saw footprints leading out, and they seemed to round to the North. She ran next to the footprints that were leading her. She had been running on dirt until the dirt stopped and faded into a lush carpet of long grass. The footprints were gone.
"No." she croaked out. She dropped to her knees with vacant eyes staring into the rows upon rows of sunlit green grass. Tears streamed down her face. She took a few minutes to register her situation and the only person that could help her. She ran back into the forest with immense speed, jumping over roots and rocks. By now she couldn't possibly remember the way back to the caves with all the twists and turns the elf had led her through. She didn't care though. She'd find that damn cave and make him help her. There was no one else to do so. She feared being alone. She'd been alone before but not like this. She always had at least somewhere to go, to protect her, in someway.
By a miracle, or pure luck, she found that desolate cave again. A lump caught in her throat and her mind went blank.
'What am I supposed to do? Won't he threaten me again? You stupid girl. You ask too much of this elf. He wants peace and you are nagging him to death.'
Hesitantly, she moved towards the cave. She was getting tired of coming back here, but she had no choice. The elf walked out of the cave just as she did so. The anger was plastered all over his face, so she instantly knew she was unwelcome.
"Are you deaf? I told you I was through helping you." He had purposely made all those twists and turns so she would not be able to find her way back. "How did you find your way back here?" he was almost amazed that this human had the mind capacity to remember the way. "I...I don't know, I just ran. Most likely luck." She fumbled with her hands, as she normally would do when nervousness took over. "Well, you have quite the sense of direction," he said gruffly, quickly walking away through the trees in front of her.
"My group left me," she blurted out. He stopped where he was, slowly turning his head to cast a side-glance at her. "Were there no tracks for you to follow?" he said, still glancing at her. "They lead into a deep thicket. I could not follow them anymore," she glanced down, tears sweeping over her again. He closed his eyes and turned fully around, "What am I supposed to do about this?" She looked up, "I'm taking a big guess, but you obviously know these woods like the back of your hand, am I correct?" he nodded his head, "And the land around it, right?" "Yes, but what, exactly is your point?" Lirnowen moved forward towards him. "I know I ask too much. I know I've wondered into your realm without your consent, but I need a big favor now." she trailed off as he diverted his eyes elsewhere.
"My family is everything to me. I have no one else. I know they could not have left me. They certainly must have thought I was carried off, or killed. But I was foolish for wandering, I know this now," she moved closer and lowered her voice to a whisper,
"Will you not help me catch up with them some how? I do not know these lands. Will you? Please?"
Her voice wavered and her eyes shone with salty tears. She moved her hand to his arm and surprisingly he didn't move. He was lost in his train of thought. As if waking up from a dream he moved, harshly, away. "I do not have time for your fatuous mistakes." He returned to walking away as she retorted, "You're a bloody elf, you have all the time in the world! Elves do not answer to the hands of time!"
He stopped once again, "You speak as if you know of elven ways. How do you act as if you know so much when you come from a race that knows so little?"
"I read books. Tons of them. Mainly based around your race," she stopped and looked thoughtfully at him, "your people are beautiful. They intrigue me so. I cannot explain how they captivate my heart and my mind. There is so much sadness in your people, but so much nobility," she paused, "the courage you show is beyond the strength of my race. Or any other for that matter. It's simply breathtaking." Her eyes looked away, as if lost in a dream. He parted his mouth slightly, from the words she had just spoken.
"You speak of my people poetically. I have not heard such words for the elves that had been spoken by a human tongue," he meant this but he instantly regretted saying it. What if she thought he was being nice to her? Well, he wasn't.
"This means you'll help me then?" she sounded so hopeful.
Damn it. He fought a conflict within himself. "Yes," he gave in, "but not today. I have much work to do and I cannot be bothered by a lost little girl." He went down a small slope that led to a trickling stream. "But we will lose them if we do not start after them now!" she called after him. "No, we won't. You said they went around the border, not through Mirkwood. It takes longer to go around, than to go through. We are going through. You will catch up to them before they come to the other side." He knelt down to the stream and dipped his head in, wetting his head and neck thoroughly. He did not see the shocked look plastered on Lirnowen's face.
"Mirkwood," she gasped.
Her memory shifted to a story her grandmother had told her. She had been told the story by her mother, Lirnowen's great grandmother. It was about a prince, from Mirkwood after the ring wars. The story said that this prince disappeared one day without a trace. He never sailed west and no one ever saw him again. Lirnowen's mouth dropped and she racked her brain to find the name of the prince.
She found it.
"Legolas."
It was almost inaudible as she breathed out his name, but his pointed ears picked it up. His head shout up from the stream, flicking water everywhere and his eyes were widened. He slowly turned around. Shocked expressions met each other.
"How did you know my name?" he breathed in deeply.
Taken aback, Lirnowen moved back slowly. The male stood, moving towards her as he repeated himself, now in a more brash manor, "How did you know MY NAME?" His voice raised to a yell, and Lirnowen gasped and fell backwards, onto the grassy forest floor. She looked up at the elf standing over her. An ominous figure, she thought, though sculpted to perfection as he blocked out a lone ray of sun. Crawling slowly away from him, she began to stand up, yet he moved ever closer, backing her into a tree. Pressing her back against the bark of the tree, Lirnowen came face to face with him, as he put both of his hands on either side of her head.
"Tell me. Now."
His voice came down to a whisper again, yet still held the deadly bite that his yell carried. Lirnowen's eyes closed out of instinct, as her mind raced to find an answer that would suffice.
"I told you I've read many stories. Surely you must know about the legendary 'War of the Ring'?" Her eyes opened once more, and she was faced with a look, of what she believed was surprise. "Know of them? Legends?" He was sincerely at a loss for words, as his mind tried to recount those horrible days, so many years ago. His face contorted in confusion, and his hands dropped from the sides of Lirnowen's head. He backed away, practically stumbling backward, to finally make rest upon and jutting boulder.
There he sat, unmoving, in a sense of disbelief. Lirnowen watched, silently, not knowing what to say or do. To run, or not to run? To confront, or not to confront? With her back still pressed against the tree, Lirnowen fought to make a choice on what to do. 'Has he snapped? What have I done?' she thought to herself. Looking upon the elf, with the lone ray of sun, gleaming upon his messy silver hair, she could not help but slowly walk toward him. As if by instinct, or out of sheer heartache, Lirnowen gently put her hand on his shoulder, and slowly knelt beside him. He did not look up, but kept a face lost in a quandary. The woods seemed to quiet just for them, and the silence became deafening to Lirnowen. Finally, she could take it no longer, "Are you all right?" Her voice rang out, awakening to the forest once more. And as if breaking out of a dream, the male elf turned his gaze towards the girl beside him. Shocked, Lirnowen found tears lingering there. "You fought in that great battle. I remember now. You represented the elves. You...you were a prince!" She stood, suddenly, and moved away. He swallowed a lump in his throat, and still said nothing.
"What happened to you, Legolas?"
As if she set off a time bomb, Legolas stood, rage now plastered on a once lost face. He started to pace back and forth like a caged lion, ignoring the stunned girl looking at him. She was too frightened to say anything else. Frightened that the knife at his waist would soon spill her blood. She knew elves carried a temper, that was obviously exemplified by Legolas. She did not want to meet her end, and her curiosity faded away. She was reminded of her tribe, and how worried her parents must be.
She thought it better to leave him alone.
She felt it better to leave the lion caged.
With that, she ran off. She knew if she kept her wits about her and used her brain, she could eventually find her way through this maze of wood. 'It cannot be all that bad. A forest is a forest.' Little did she know how vast a forest you know nothing about could be. It was also becoming nightfall once more, and she knew not of the dangers that lurked in the dark places of the world. Frightened, cold, hungry and alone, she raced through the wood, not looking back. Letting her mind wander back to that restless soul pacing back and forth behind her. Not paying attention to the hungry eyes watching her every movement, right in front of her.
-------------------------
Remember to please review! Whether positive or negative, all comments are appreciated!