Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except my kinda plot thing.....thing...XD, and Eveaniea, who I created for the sole purpose of this story, and perhaps some others. Anywhosa, yesh, I do not own LotR, which is somewhat depressing, LOL
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Reviews:
Now I have a TON that I have received by email, like........tons....which haven't been posted on my page yet, so I am trying desperately to get you all, but sorry if I missed a couple of you out.
CherryFaerie: Gah. Hard to explain. It was originally just going to be one chapter of randomness, but like, when people liked it, I decided to do more. It is set after RotK, and they are travelling to Rivendell for a fleeting visit before heading back to Gondor. XD. I know, Im really confused too, LOL.
Racer38: Thanks man! Really appreciate the comment ;)
lolly pop 03: Hehe, here ya go :D
Gwanath-el- Thanks
Coolio 02: Hehe, thanks, here it is :S
Yaebiggin : thanks for the review, and the fave! :D *hands out candy*
Ral: Yep, I wasn't going to entirely, but I was defeated coz Eveaniea threatened to kill me If I put her through all that torture, and at the end, she didn't get the guy, LOL. I might change the category later on if It happens, XD.
Legolasluver 1437: XD, yesh, I can c, LOL, here's the next chapter, I hope you enjoy it!
WHOA. Eight reviews for one chapter! And it's only like the end one! Woot! Thanks guys!!!!! Im flattered!!!! :D
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Heh, and the ~"-"~ convo still means it is in Elvish. If anyone can help me so that I can actually write in Elvish, or can like, teach me or something, by all means GIVE ME AN EMAIL! I would like to add little phrases and stuff in Elvish everywhere, XD.
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Eveaniea woke suddenly in the night, gasping for breath, and shaking and trembling uncontrollably. She sat up cautiously, slowly looking around. She was glad she hadn't cried out, and awoken the rest of the group. Trying to discreetly lie back down before one of the men came over to her, knowing she was awake, she slid back under the blankets, closing her eyes. She froze when she heard quiet movements toward her, and when she felt a and touch her shoulder, she scrambled away, fighting the urge to scream.
"Eveaniea, relax, it is only Legolas," she heard the male elf's voice, and she slowly calmed.
~"Are you alright?"~ she looked up to see him looking at her with concern etched on his features, and she climbed back into her bed. She was still trembling, but only a little, as she sat on the bedroll, drawing the blankets around her shoulders tightly.
~"I think so,"~ she said, her voice wavering, ~"I had a nightmare, and I thought I was still in the men's camp,"~ She shuddered at the last words, seeing a small frown on Legolas' face. He sat down next to her, pulling his pack over to him, and pulling a flask of water from it.
~"Here, have something to drink," ~he handed her the flask, which she took cautiously from him, and took a mouthful.
~"Im not sure I will be able to sleep now,"~ she said quietly, lowering the flask from her mouth.
~"If you would like, I will sit up with you,"~ he volunteered, ~"I can keep an ear out for anything at the same time."~
~"Only if you do not mind,"~ she said, taking another small sip of the water.
~ "It is no problem,"~ He smiled, ~ "Maybe we could tidy your hair, and find something clean for you to wear,"~ he suggested lightly, ~"It would make the night watch more interesting with company,"~
~"Of course,"~ she nodded, ~ "It would be nice to be clean again,"~
She smiled when he found a brush, and a clean set of clothes, and placed them in front of her, then he settled on the bedroll beside her.
~"I am surprised the Dwarf has not stolen my brush this time,"~ Legolas chuckled, and Eveaniea smiled, finding it was near impossible to keep her fear of the Elf beside her. He carefully took a handful of her tangled hair, and carefully ran his brush through it. She sighed.
~ "You are friends with him?"~ She asked, astonished, ~"I have never seen an Elf befriend a Dwarf before,"~
~"Gimli is a good sort,"~ Legolas smiled, ~"For a Dwarf, he is a good companion, and friend. I would trust him with my life."~
~"You are very lucky then,"~ she sighed, absently touching some her hair, which was now smooth, and free of knots, ~" I have only heard of their inhospitality, from my father, and mother. Then I was captured by the men, and I had other problems."~
~"I shall introduce you to Gimli in the morning, I am sure he would like to talk to you,"~ she looked uncertain as he said this, but he continued, all the same, ~" Where is your home?"~
~"I am from Rivendell, originally, but my parents moved to Gondor, when I was to marry an Elf there,"~ she paused, uncomfortably, as if not sure to say any more.
~" I went for a ride out of the city limits, and that was when the men caught me. I was sold, and then they........"~ she stopped, a tear slipping down her cheek. She heard Legolas put the brush down, and shift closer to her. Then she felt him cautiously pull her into a hug, and run his hand through her now smooth hair.
~"Shhh,"~ he whispered softly, ~"It's okay, we will take care of things from now on,"~ She leaned against him lightly. She had not felt safe around a male for nearly as long as she could remember, and now she felt relieved. She felt more tears slide down her cheeks, and buried her face in his shoulder, to muffle the sound. She didn't see the momentary look of surprise on Legolas' face, but she felt him tighten his arms around her, and she closed her eyes.
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Legolas was taken aback when he felt Eveaniea crying into his shoulder, he had been completely surprised when she had even let him hug her. But from what he could tell, she was very upset, and she didn't seem in a hurry to get away from him. He smiled slightly as he thought of what would happen if Gimli woke up at this moment, and saw him. The Dwarf was already getting bold ideas, he did not more proof to back them up. He felt her stir, and immediately loosen his hold around her, so if she wished, she could move, but she only shifted so she could lay her head on his shoulder.
~"It's okay,"~ she whispered softly in his ear, guessing why he had let go of her, ~"I feel like I can trust you, you make me feel safe,"~ She closed her eyes, wiping the tears from her face. Legolas was speechless for the moment, unable to reply, except for tightening his arms round her, this time a little more confidently, and carefully brush her hair from her face. Part of him wanted to pull away, tell her to go to sleep, as he was not used to finding himself in these situations. That was Aragorn's job. He was good at this kind of thing, and he always had something to do or say that would comfort his charge.
~"You look tired again,"~ he smiled, touching her cheek softly, ~"Maybe you should try to sleep again?"~ he suggested. She slid her arms around his neck, and shifted, making herself comfortable. At first he half panicked when he realised she intended to sleep right where she was, but then he remembered she had said he made her feel safe, and he realised that she might sleep a little more peacefully. He looked down at her, hearing her breathing slow, into soft, shallow breaths, and her eyes looked blank, her face peaceful. Being careful not to bring her back to consciousness, he leaned over, taking a blanket from the bed to tuck around her slender body. His hand brushed against her hip as he smoothed the blanket down, and she woke, blinking in confusion, and fear, but when she realised he was only trying to make her warmer, and comfortable, she sighed and lay her head back on his shoulder once more.
~"I didn't think you would do such a thing,"~ she murmured softly as she drifted back to sleep, and Legolas smiled. She really did trust him after all. If he had done that earlier, he would possibly be chasing her through the forest again, or be nursing a few scratches and bites. His hand trailed to the deep bruise on her cheek, and he felt extremely angry as he saw it. The men she had been with had no right to do that to her, nor to violate her as they had also done. He wondered why anyone would have even wanted to hurt her in the first place, and he cursed the men inwardly for making her suffer so much, for making her so timid around him. Sometimes he could swear he heard her voice falter as if she felt she was bothering him, or if she thought something she said might anger him, and it made him sick to think that she had obviously not been allowed to speak her opinion, and maybe even been hit for it. He felt his heart melt slightly as she mumbled something in her sleep, containing his name, but then shook his head quickly. He couldn't let himself get attached to her, it would not be proper. They would take her to Rivendell, and leave her amongst the Elves there, while they travelled on to Gondor, where Aragorn would return to his duties as King. He would never hear from her again.
Yet strangely, Legolas caught himself drifting off in thought of what would happen if she didn't.
He cursed himself. If one night of letting a woman sleep in his arms, for comfort, brought these thoughts into his head, he was never going to let it happen again.
~Besides,~ he thought to himself, ~she has been badly mistreated, there is no way she will want to be more than friends,~ he caught an odd feeling that was brought up with this thought, a feeling of sadness, that he couldn't quite brush away easily.
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When Aragorn woke the next morning, the sun was just barely up, lighting the clearing a little, and breaking the small cold spell of the morning. Gimli was still fast asleep, snoring loud enough to wake any companion that was not used to the sound. Except...... his eyes searched the camp, until he found the young female elf they had found the day before. She was still fast asleep, tucked up to her neck in Legolas' bed. Meanwhile, the male elf was no-where to be seen. Sighing, he hoped she wouldn't wake as he set about cleaning up the camp, and lighting a fire to make the company a meal. He took a quick glance every now and then to make sure she was okay, mentally cursing Legolas for disappearing. While he knew the male Elf did not like making conversation with females, especially when it was forced, he just hoped that he would be back to calm her when she panicked after finding where she was.
He absently banked the fire up, preparing the food in a pot, intending to make a soup jumping when he heard Legolas sit next to him at the fire, dropping a stack of dead wood and branches to keep it alight.
"You're finally awake," He heard Legolas say, "Humans are such lazy creatures," the elf teased.
"Just because you were awake all night for the watch, Legolas," The Human smiled, "It is my turn tonight, and I presume you will be in my bedroll, not your own. Then we will see who the lazy one is," he laughed softly, as not to wake the Elf or Dwarf.
"Is Gimli still asleep?" Legolas asked, getting a laugh from both of them. The Dwarf's snoring was not easy to ignore, and was droning in the background.
"Yes, he is," Aragorn looked over at the Dwarf, "How is your charge?"
"Sleeping peacefully, just as yours is," The elf replied, "She was truly tired after all she has been through. But when you have cooked breakfast, I will wake her. She must be hungry."
"Yes, she looked quite thin when I carried her here, best to get her to eat something if you can," Aragorn nodded, "She slept through the night?" he asked.
"She woke up, from a nightmare, but apart from that, she was okay. She settled down again soon afterwards," The Elf said, but the human nodding, realising his friend would not look him in the eye as he said so. However, he brushed it off. Whatever Legolas had done, he wasn't supposed to know, and he knew Legolas would never lay a hand on a female without permission, so he felt confident it was only a small thing. As he realised the soup was ready, he retrieved four bowls, and sets of utensils for each.
"Legolas, could you wake Gimli?" he asked, and his friend nodded, grinning wickedly, deftly creeping to the bedside of the Dwarf.
"Gimli," he hissed sharply, close to the Dwarf's ear, jumping back just in time as the Dwarf in question jumped up in alarm, reaching for his axe frantically. Aragorn just laughed, as he did every morning, at the antics of the pair. They were truly good friends, despite their clashes of race, and they always managed to make his travels more interesting when they were present. As the two fronted up to the fire, Aragorn filled bowls, and passed them to his friends. He smiled as Legolas, wordlessly, took two bowls, and went to the female elf. He saw that Gimli noticed this too, and the pair smiled at each other.
"Maybe," Aragorn mouthed to the Dwarf, raising his eyebrow humourously, and drinking a spoon ful of his soup. The Dwarf grinned, raising his whole bowl to his mouth, his face disappearing beneath the eating tool.
However, seemingly oblivious to their actions behind his turned back, Legolas roused Eveaniea from sleep, and offered her the bowl of soup, which she most graciously took. Seeing the look of slight fear and confusion the female elf gave them, both Aragorn and Gimli broke their glance, and instantly became more engrossed in their breakfasts.
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I hope everyone enjoyed that chapter, I still can't believe it, I have about 15 reviews for both these chapters. Woah, it makes me really happy. And it's good practice for my English exam, which is tomorrow, all about writing massive paragraphs of god-knows-what on films. I will LOVE that,
and im happy now, don't ya just h8 peeple who ca'nt speel proprly? XD
I am learning!
R/R, please.
Thanks
~RTT