Years of training had honed her skills. Years of training had taught her to be as quiet as any elf. Years of training... All that training had done her no good when the bomb had killed all the men in her group. All the men... including her twin brother. She had knelt there on the cold, hard cement of the torn street and hugged his body to her chest while he breathed his last. No tears had fallen on that night and no tears could fall for she had hardened her heart.
'War makes you into a heartless bitch, doesn't it?' she thought.
Even though the government said the war was officially over, it had never ended. The war continued with men, women, and children dying by the hands of creatures created from man's darkest nightmares. She had seen men having the blood drained from their bodies while they were still alive and screaming. She had seen men blown to bits with bombs. She had seen viruses from bacterial bombs leave people helpless where they fell. She had seen so much and she was going to see it again.
The Fellowship walked underneath the tree she was sitting in. None knew she was there and that was the way she wanted it. Elrond had said that he would advise her not to go but if she 'disappeared from Rivendell' he would not send out guards to bring her back. Basically, he was saying that she could go but she had to make sure no one knew she was going. With that in mind, she dropped out of the tree and followed the Fellowship on their journey.