Faulkner: Ahhhhh, gotta love insanity!!

Pinky & CrystalMeth: __

Faulkner: )

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I opened my eyes only when I felt the sun burning through my eyelids. I immediatly closed them again.

"Ugh, too bright..." I groaned. Then I bolted up and stared at the sun. It was in the middle of the sky, right above me.

"Oh crud. I slept through half the frickin' day!" I groaned to myself. The guards were thick, but not stupid. They had never given up on an escaped patient. Only one man had ever escaped from the Institute and lived to tell the tale.

But that guy was long dead and he had been as smart as they come. Percy Wharton had been as sharp as a tack and slippery as an eel. How do I know this you might be wondering. Well, I had met the guy, believe it or not. He had escaped a few days after I had arrived at the Stanton Institute.

Anyway, the point was I had to get moving. The guards would probably have dogs coming after me. I brushed off my clothes and took a look at myself.

My clothes were dirty, torn in some places. My hair was probably seriously messy, but when was it not? I combed through my hair with my fingers as I walked and thought.

The nearest town was about ten miles away, to the north. I had escaped through the north gate, so as long as I kept going straight, I would be in good shape. That's when my infernal stomach had to complain. I groaned at my empty stomach and looked for something edible as I walked.

I passed some mushrooms, but didn't give them a second look. I wouldn't touch mushrooms if my life depended on it. Besides, who knew if those mushrooms were poisonous or not? I would rather get past the age of eighteen.

I decided on something that I usually resorted to in the Institution. I crouched down and picked some grass. I rolled it into a ball about the size of a nickle and looked around for some kind of bush leaves to wrap the grass ball in. I found some, and wrapped them tightly around the grass ball. It was now the size of a quarter.

When this was done, I put it in my mouth and chewed slowly. I know you're probably thinking right now that I am nutty to be eating grass. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. Besides, grass doesn't taste too bad.

I stood up and continued walking, watching out for signs of the guards and food. I noticed something odd, that the trees seemed bigger, and the feeling that I wasn't supposed to be here. And also the feeling that I was being watched.

Maybe it was just me being paranoid, but I looked around carefully anyway. I didn't see anything or anyone. I walked just a little bit faster. The forest was kinda starting to creep me out. Like I said, maybe it was me being paranoid.

I eventually finished that little ball, and made another one. They weren't very filling, but it was better than nothing. I also soon noticed something else strange.

There were no forest noises. Everything was quiet, except for the occaisonall snap of a twig under my boots and the rustle of the leaves in the wind.

This was just so friggin' creepy. I mean, forests weren't supposed to be deadly quiet.

Were they?

My whole walk was relatively boring, and only interrupted by my stopping to make another veggie ball. The weather started to get cooler, and I could tell that the sun was sinking and it was nearly time for me to find a place to sleep for the night.

I looked at the trees for one with branches low enough for me to reach. I was not gonna sleep on the ground where the guards and some wild animal could easily reach me. When it was nearly full dark, I found a tree with low enough branches.

I'm no squirrel, I can tell you that, but I loved to climb trees. It was some how so.... cool.

I climbed up pretty far, about 20 feet off the ground. I was about to settle on a branch that seemed large enough, when I noticed some big mass up farther on the tree. Being the genius that I am, I decided to investigate.

I was surprised to see that it was a wooden platform. Who would make a nice little platform all the way out here? I had read in a book somewhere that hunters would wait on platforms for prey. I concluded that it was some old hunter dude who had made it.

I didn't think he'd mind if I just slept there for the night. It wasn't like I was going to destroy it or anything like that.

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I felt someone nudge my shoulder.

"Go 'way Nattie." I mumbled. That dratted ten year old was always waking me up. If she wasn't so darned cute I would seriously yelled at her after five years of having her sleep in the same room with me.

I heard someone say something and I was nudged harder this time.

"I said 'Go 'way Nattie.'" I growled.

"Wake up stranger, before I shove you out of the tree." a male voice replied. That got me up all right.

I jumped up and opened my eyes, only to close them again. Damn the sun, it was always in my eyes. I blinked a few times to get my eyes used the light. When I could finally see properly, I didn't know what to say.

In front of me were five guys. I think.

All of them were lean, at least six feet tall, and had long whitish blond hair and blue eyes. They were all pale and had delicate features. All of them had a bow and a quiver full of arrows. They were all wearing clothes that looked like they came straight from the Middle Ages. Tunics, breeches, and cloaks with boots. The colors were mostly shades of green and brown.

Two of these men had their bows fitted with an arrow and pointed at me.

"What are you doing here human? Speak!" the one that had spoken to me earlier said. I looked at him and saw that he was slightly shorter than the rest of them, but still incredibly tall.

"Yeesh. Don't get so snappish. I was just trying to get some sleep without being eaten by something and-" I abruptly stopped. I was about to say 'and get caught by the Institutes guards.' That would be really intelligent.

The guy advanced and stood only a foot away from me. Talk about no respect for personal space. But I definately wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction of seeing me step back.

"Do not talk to me like that human. I could kill you right here and leave your carcass for the wolves to pick through." he replied coldly. Wasn't he a bundle of joy. "State your name and buisness, girl." He practically sneered at the girl part. Oh, how I wanted to sock him.

"My buisness and my name doesn't matter to you." I shouldn't have done that.

"If you do not tell me, I will have my archers kill you." Boy, somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.

"I am trying to reach the nearest town, smart ass. My name's Gostannen." I answered.

All of the men on the platform gasped and started to whisper. All except the one that was interrogating me.

"Do not lie to me. Tell me your name." he hissed. His men, for he was obviously the leader, listened with interest. But alas, the arrows were still pointed at me.

"I don't lie. Sure, I color things a bit, but never lie. As a matter of fact, I have a lot of names. Randall and his freaks are always making up new names for me. One time they even called me 'morna lach', whatever the hell that means." I rolled my eyes. It was probably some elvish curse. They were always calling me stuff like that. Gostannen was actually a favorite.

The guy raised his hand, to hit me I guess, when one of his men told him to stop.

"She speaks the truth, Brother. I see it in her eyes." The man walked over and smiled down at me.

"What silly human would name their child that? I do not think that humans are *that* cruel." the first guy said.

"Will ya stop talkin' like that! After all, you're human too." I growled at him.

"I'm not human. None of us are. We are elves you stupid little girl." I would have started to beat his face in, if it wasn't for the strange sight that greeted me.

The first guy had tucked his hair behind his ears. His *pointed* ears. I stared at them. Then I turned and walked over the second guy. I tucked his hair behind his ears, which were also pointed. He was too stunned to do anything.

That was when I remembered talking to one of Randall's friends. They were talking about elves in The Lord of the Rings. I, being the genius that I am, asked her what they were supposed to look like. She replied that elves were tall, fair, beautiful, and usually blond or brunette. The only other major physical difference was their pointed ears. She had also gone on and on about the elvish language and the types of elves there were. I had tuned out by that point.

"Holy cow..." I whispered. "Fuckin' elves. I think I must have hit my head on the way down that hill."

I was totally confused. Elves *weren't* real. They didn't just pop out of the ground!

I hadn't realized it, but the, uh, *elves* had started talking to each other in their language. I only snapped out of my daze when I heard the first guy, uh, *elf*, speak.

"She will come with us back home. The Lady will know what to do with her. Until then, she is our prisoner."

"Wha?" I said. "Prisoner? No *WAY* am I your prsioner! That's got to be illegal or somethin'!" I protested.

"You are our prisoner, human. Rumil, tie her hands." the first elf dude said. The second one that I now knew was Rumil stepped forward and pulled out a rope.

"I am sorry. But my brother is the captain, and I am only a soldier. I will try not to tie the rope too tight." he whispered in my ear as he tied my hands.

"Your esteemed brother needs to pull the stick out of his ass." I whispered back. Apparently the elf in question heard, because he whirled around and started towards me. That's when I remember that one girl saying elves had a heightened sense of earing and sight.

"Do you wish to be gagged also human?" he snapped.

I put on my most innocent look. "No. I only wish to know my, ahem, *captors* names." I said. Might as well make the best of this.

He snorted and turned towards the edge of the platform where his men were doing something.

"Do not take my brothers rudeness personally, my lady. His name is Haldir, Captain of the Galadhrim." Rumil said his brothers title with pride.

"Cap'n of the Galadhrim huh? That must be a kind of important position." I said idly. The elves had been setting up a rope ladder. I wondered how I was going to get down with my hands tied.

"Yes, a very important title. Only the very best have ever gotten it." Rumil led me over to the rope ladder, and motioned for me to climb.

"Uh, Rumil? I hate to burst your bubble, but it's kinda hard to climb with your hands tied." I said. Haldir appeared behind me and snorted again.

"You will manage." Haldir said coldly. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Yeah, and break my back in the process. Ain't no way in HELL am I gonna get down that stupid ladder without help."

Haldir started to reply, but Rumil was quicker. "I will carry you down."

"Huh?" I asked dumbly.

Rumil put my tied hands around his neck and told me to wrap my legs around his waist. I did so and he went down the ladder with little difficulty. Haldir came down right after us and we started to march. It was pretty dull, and we didn't have any breaks.

When I had been walking through the woods, I had been doing so at a pace that I knew I could keep up without much, if any, rest needed in a while. But these damned elves had long legs, and walked a lot faster. I kept up with them fairly well for the first couple of hours. But after that, I was really tired and hungry.

Unfortunately for me, I don't complain that much, if at all. It was one of my flaws. I could need help really bad, but I would still struggle on, no matter what. Me and my stupid pride.

I was stumbling a lot now, and Rumil and his other brother, Orophin, had to keep catching me before I fell flat on my face.

"Haldir, the lady is exhausted. We should stop and let her rest before we continue." Orophin called ahead.

Haldir stopped and walked back to us. We were at the very end of the procession, since I couldn't go much faster. I was sweating slightly and my stomach was complaining about its emptiness. I silently promised it that I would get something to eat ASAP.

Haldir looked me up and down before reluctantly agreeing that we would stop here for lunch. Geez, it was already lunchtime!

I plopped down on the ground and started to make one of my veggie balls. They were an aquired taste, but better than nothing. I finished and plopped it in my mouth. I slowly chewed and looked up to see the elves staring at me.

"What?" I asked, somewhat annoyed.

"You just ate a ball of grass and leaves." Rumil said.

"Thank you Mr Obvious. I thought it was a Warhead." I rolled my eyes.

"What is a Warhead?" Orophin asked.

"You don't know what a Warhead is?" I asked. He shook his head. "Geez Louise! You don't know what you're missin'! A Warhead, well, the candy kind, is a round piece of sour candy that you suck on. It comes in about five different flavors." I explained. "They're one of the best candies in the whole world!"

Orophin nodded and shrugged. He went to help some of his companions and I was left alone to watch. I let my eyes go out of focus and let my mind wander. Then some yelling brought me back to Earth abruptly. Haldir was yelling at some poor elf who had evidentally lost something. From what I could get, he had lost the rock thingys that lit the fire.

I made sure no one was watching before concentrating on the wood. I made some fire in the heart of the wood. It rapidly spread, and soon a merry little fire was going on. Haldir stopped scolding the poor elf and stared at the fire.

"What in the Valar made that?" he asked as he looked at his men. They were all just as dumbstruck. I made sure I was looking away and watched a caterpillar crawl across a twig in the grass a few feet away.

The elves were really suspicious after that. They were careful around the fire since they didn't know how it had come to life. But they didn't want to exactly waste a miracle.

Rumil handed me a plate with some kind of meat on it after about twenty minutes. I set the plate on the forest floor and ate with my bound hands. Haldir kept throwing glares my way for some reason. I was so gonna get him good one day.

After I finished, Orophin took my plate and I said thanks. I finally got sick of Haldir glaring at me, so I did something about it.

I got up and walked over to the other side of, camp I guess, and sat right in front of him. He averted his gaze to something else, but I could tell he was watching me through the corner of his eye. I stared at his face without blinking. He got uncomfortable, and started shifting his weight.

"What?!" he finally snarled. "Why are you staring at me, human?!"

"Giving you a taste of your own medicine." I replied coolly.

"What?"

"Next time you want to stare at someone, think about what it would be like if they did the same thing to you. I'm not gonna take that kind of crap. *Captain.*" Haldir''s face started to turn red, and I could hear some of the other elves snickering.

"Get everything ready! We are leaving in five minutes!" Haldir barked as he stalked off. I smirked at his retreating form and mentally patted myself on the back.

True to his word, in five minutes we were back to marching. I was again in the rear, but only because I was trying to go as slow as I was allowed to reserve my energy. I got tired of the silence, and trotted up to Rumil.

"Hey Rumil. Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did." he grinned.

"Don't get all smart ass on me." Rumil just chuckled.

"Yes, you may."

"Who's this 'Lady' that stick-up-the-ass over there was talking about?" nodding over to Haldir. I think he heard, because his hands curled into fists.

"He is referring to Lady Galadriel. She and her husband Lord Celeborn rule Lorien." Then he went on to talk about Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel and pretty much the whole history of Lothlorien.

Man! Elves sure are long-winded. I listened as best I could, and my ears perked up at something that Rumil said.

"Read minds? This Galadriel person can read minds?" I asked. Rumil nodded.

"She can read minds and speak to one through telepathy. All with the help of her ring. Her ring-"

"Rumil! Come here!" Haldir called from the front, successfully interupting Rumil's explanation. Haldir said something to his brother in elvish and then waved him away.

When Rumil came back, he didn't continue, and just walked in silence next to me. Haldir had more than a stick up his ass. He had a whole damn tree.

After a while I started tripping again. But this time, no one helped me. I kept myself up fairly well, and the elves didn't even notice my lagging behind. The sun was setting, and my stomach had been growling for the past hour. Damn stomach. Not to mention, it was getting really cold.

The night breeze was sending shivers down my spine, and my hoodie had some holes in it. I saw that the elves weren't really paying attention to me, so I decided to risk a little warmth. I cupped my hands and concentrated. A flame appeared and danced in my hands. I felt a lot warmer now.

I grinned at my genius and watched where I walked. The flame also gave me some light. Now the only thing that I stumbled on was my own feet. I was so single-minded about my walking without tripping that I didn't notice that elves had surrounded me and were watching me and my fire closely.

I didn't notice them until someone spoke. "What *are* you?" the voice asked fearfully.

I looked up and stopped dead in my tracks. Some of the elves looked ready to draw their bows. I let the fire go out and dropped my hands. I stared at the tense elves, all looking at me with a cold stare. Some with a little fear also.

Haldir slowly drew an arrow out of his quiver and fitted it on his bow.

"Speak, demon, before I shoot. Tell us what you are *really* doing here." he said coldly.

Me and my great ideas.

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Faulkner: Hehehehehehehehehe! Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, and i'm terribly sorry for the wait on the next chapter to What Was Lost Is Now Found. Dammit, I can't seem to finish the third chapter!!! GRRRRR!!!!!