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CHAPTER 3: FACE TO FACE

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Unfortunately for Andiél, the students of the Middle-earth Elven Institute of Learning did not like the fact that a 'lowly commoner' had gone their wonderful, their incredible, their perfect H4 –– and had somehow come up relatively unscathed.

Therefore, the efforts to make her drop out were quadrupled by the next day.

Everywhere she went, someone was trying to trip her…

…She entered a bathroom stall, to find that someone had barred her exit…

…She sat down on a bench for lunch to find that it had somehow been recently repainted…

…Tired, she leaned against the building wall, but was startled by a torrent of ice water poured upon her from someone on the balcony above.

As she slowly trekked back to her dorm at the end of the day, she was exhausted, cold, and the derriere of her favorite white robe was colored bright yellow. If she had wanted to spend this walk and the rest of the day alone, however (which I'm sure she did), her wish was not granted. There were two strangers at her doorstep, waiting for her.

She approached them warily, "What do you want?"

One of the Elves smiled at her brightly, "We're here to help you!"

Andiél was confused, "What?"

"You said you needed some help fending off all those cruel Elves who're trying to kick you out, so we're here to help! At your service, my lady." The Elf made an exaggerated bow.

It sounded too good to be true, but Andiél couldn't help but hope. After all, there had to be someone with a heart at this place. "Thanks." Then thinking about what he said, she became confused, "Wait. I said that I needed help? When?"

The other Elf smiled, "You made everything quite clear." He started walking closer to her.

The first one held up a wrinkled piece of parchment. "Your letter, my lady." He too took a few steps towards her.

Suddenly uncomfortable, Andiél backed up, "What? I didn't write a letter!"

The Elves smiled wider, "There's no need to be shy, my lady. You said that if we'd help you, you would be willing to do anything…"

Andiél swallowed, "I think that you've been mistaken, my lords…"

The second Elf grabbed her arm, "Don't be modest, my lady; there's not mistake. Just a kiss, darling…"

Realizing what was happening, Andiél threw his hand away. The guys suddenly looked menacing…threatening… She backed up some more, but the Elves just smiled wider, and closed the distance between them again.

Dear Valar, she thought, panicking, please tell me this isn't happening… She suddenly broke into a run, and started racing away as fast as her legs could take her.

She sped down the path, not daring to take a millisecond to breathe. She had heard of rape before, but she had never, ever, imagined that something like this would actually happen to her. She looked around her frantically. Where could she go? And more importantly:

Would anyone help her if they saw her?

The two Elves sighed. Why was she making this harder than it needed to be? They gave chase, sprinting after her. Once they were at arm's length, they grabbed her robe from behind, causing it to rip from the shoulder.

"No!" she cried, "Let go of me!"

Andiél tried to fight them off, but they were too strong. The first Elf grasped her shoulders, and pinned her to the ground, smiling at her toothily, "I knew you'd warm up to us, darling."

She could do nothing but yell and scream the best she could, but they would not stop. The other kneeled down on the other side, and seized the tear in her robe, making it bigger…

Suddenly, a voice spoke up, "Stop." It was not very loud, yet a sound you could not disobey.

Startled, the two Elves looked up. The first one stammered, "P-Prince Legolas! We- we were j-just…"

Legolas eyed them condescendingly. "Go. Now!"

The second one spoke up, "But, Haldir- he…"

Legolas interrupted, "I told you to leave." The same quietly powerful voice.

Without another word, the two quickly let go, and scampered off.

Legolas looked back at Andiél, who was curled up in a ball on the ground. After a moment, Andiél said quietly, "Thank you."

"There's no need to thank me; I just despise this sort of thing." he said calmly.

"Of course there's a need! If you hadn't-hadn't come… they would have…" Unable to continue, she just repeated herself, "Thank you."

Legolas shrugged, then turned and began to walk away.

Andiél brought head down to her knees, and wrapped her arms around herself tighter. Unable to hold it in any longer, she began to cry. I was almost raped, she couldn't comprehend how, or why, but she understood the simple, undeniable fact. I was almost raped… I was almost…

Hearing the sobbing girl, Legolas paused, and then turned back. Without a word, he watched her for a moment, and then suddenly did a handstand against the wall.

Andiél looked up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked in between sobs.

Legolas stayed upside down for a couple more seconds before coming back down. He sat down next to her, but stared straight ahead. "When I was little, a friend once told me that whenever I needed to cry, all I needed to do was do was turn upside down, in a handstand. That way, my tears could not run down the right way, so they would stop."

Andiél looked, unable to say anything.

Legolas turned to look at her, "For the next time you need to cry." With that, he rose and walked away.

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Haldir was doing laps around the lake when he was interrupted by two rather pathetic looking Elves. He rose out of the water, wrapping a towel around his waist. "Well?"

The first Elf said nervously, "We almost-"

Haldir arched an eyebrow, "You mean it wasn't successful."

The second Elf cut in, "We were doing fine. Having a little fun, ripping parts of her robes…

Haldir suddenly became angry, "Ripping her clothes?! I just told you to frighten her a bit. Why were you ripping her clothes?"

The first Elf whined, "We didn't know! And we did scare her, until Legolas cut in and yelled at us."

"Legolas?" Haldir mused. Then he gave an impatient sigh. "You two, stand over there." He pointed to the diving cliff.

The two obeyed, and one after the other Haldir kicked their butts into the water.

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The H4 were having lunch in the school's massive dining room the next day, when a very angry girl came racing up to them.

"HALDIR, YOU ASS!" Andiél shouted once she arrived by their table, "HOW DARE YOU- HOW DARE YOU DO SUCH A THING TO ME?" Then, as quick as lightning, she raised her arm, and delivered a swift punch at Haldir's face, almost crushing his nose.

Without giving him time to recover, she then produced a piece of parchment from her bag. She continued, "You disgust me, all of you! THIS IS WAR!!" She slapped the paper down on the table, and then she raced off out of the room, just as quickly as she had come.

The three sat there numbly for a moment, (Haldir was grasping his nose) but Elladan was the first to react. "Let me see that!" he said, reaching for the parchment. It was composed similar to their own 'You'll be dead' mark, but with a different message:

"I'll kill before I die!"

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A/N: So, what do you think? Don't forget to review. Please!!!