Okay: No snakes, and what I don't know doesn't bother me (the last part to Juvinile Delinquent).

And on with the chapter... and off to play a game, for me.

"It's good to be back," Dareklien admitted, dropping his weapons to the floor of the big flet. The others silently agreed as they climbed up behind him, leaving their weapons and cloaks there as they each went off to rediscover their favorite spot in the trees.

Legolas ducked through the flet of Nenya's he knew of, ending up in the small clearing where a few plants grew on the ground, in the sunlight. Nenya was there already, a few nearly grown wolves around her. Their heads turned to see him, and he was studied strictly for a moment. Nenya murmured something, and they relaxed, returning to their much more gentle play with her.

"Did you wish something?" she asked, looking up at him after a few moments of silence.

"A walk through the trees," he agreed softly.

"Then by all means—"

"With you."

She frowned, turning to look at him warily, as if sure she had misheard him. Seeing she had not, she frowned harder. "Why?"

"Why not?"

Slowly she got to her feet and followed him back into the trees. After a decent amount of time he led her back down to the wolves they had left. She looked at him quizzically, to which he merely smiled, bowed his head slightly, and left.

As the weeks passed he drew her on walks, pressed her to talk with him about anything and everything, never forcing her onto the topics they usually fought about. He did force her to participate in the training sessions they had all been convinced Oleydya should take, where she surprised them all.

For being so good at hunting, her skills with the blades was nearly laughable. She could hold them and look threatening enough, but beyond the natural grace of any elf, she had never had any training with them. Proficient for killing something without a weapon only, she became the pet project Ertelen worked on while the others worked on their own skills. Legolas tried to hone Oleydya's unusual talent for the bow with Dareklien shooting not far away, and Miranol would appear for sword practice when he wasn't off construction some marvel of metal which he refused to let any of the male team members see.

Whenever Nenya pulled away from them for more than a few hours, Legolas would track her down and bring her back. Despite her complaints and protests, her constant slipping off to some other place, she was spending more and more of her time with the elves she had brought into the forest.

Legolas was smiling to himself about the unprecedented success they'd had with her the previous day. She had laughed with them, played with them, ate with them. She had been relaxed the whole time, her eyes focusing on them without flickering away or attempting to intimidate.

So it didn't bother him when she didn't join them for the first meal, or for the training session. She was getting better, after all.

But when she didn't show up by mid afternoon, he began to wonder.

By nightfall without her, he was concerned.

When she didn't show up for stories, which she had missed only a handful of times, he was downright worried.

He waited until the others noticed her absence to allow them to send him off to find her, going immediately to the flet he knew of, then to the clearing, and then he ran through five different tree paths they took when he convinced her to walk with him. She wasn't anywhere.

Searching the sky, letting the stars light the world for him, he was unable to find either Argile or Zetea, which meant he hadn't a clue where she could be.

Taking a deep breath, he felt along the wall of the flet with her books, searching for the door in the wall that had led her away from him on so many occasions. When he found it, he hesitated again, but followed the branch up to another flet.

"Go away, Legolas," she muttered before he could enter. "This place is off-limits."

"Then come some place you allow me."

"You already try to blur the lines. You were not ever led to the flet that leads here, but that does not deter you from using it to seek me out."

Her bitter voice paused him for a moment. So, maybe he had pushed a bit too hard, too fast. "You cannot hide away from us forever."

"I know that, silly elf. I do try to prolong it, though."

Getting the feeling she was not talking only of the day, he hesitated once more. He looked at the leaves before him, knowing she was just beyond, not wishing to see or speak with him. In defeat he slowly bowed his head. "I shall leave you be for now." He lifted his eyes as if she were before him. "But only because you leave me no choice."

When he got to the male flet, Dareklien glanced up. Miranol looked beyond him, as if expecting to see her. "Is she alright?" he asked after a moment.

Legolas shook his head.

"What's wrong?"

He shrugged.

"You're a fountain of information, Leaf," Ertelen grumbled.

"I don't know what's wrong. Not truly. She refuses to tell me."

The three elves shook their heads. "If she doesn't come back soon, we may have to net her," Dareklien muttered.

Legolas smiled slightly at the mental image. "I doubt that will work."