AN: )))flashback((( thoughts ### time elapsed

On and on they walked. Never slowing down, deeper and deeper into the forest. They continued until the sun began to set in the sky, where they came to a hill with a few trees. Legolas and Lan didn't try to escape. The man had already made sure they were unarmed, and his bow and arrows, sword, and throwing knives they had just discovered, would easily kill them before they could get very far. Besides, their hands were still tied.

By the time the sun had disappeared into the west, and the pale moon rose into the dark sky, the man had already built a fire and was cooking dinner. He had placed Lan and Legolas opposite of him across the fire, and a few feet from the tree. He offered them no food, and they didn't ask for any. The man ate, giving no idication that he even knew of the two elves staring back at him from across the roaring fire.

Finally, not being able to wait any longer, Legolas asked the questions that had plagued him all day. "Who are you? And what do you want from us?"

The man gave a sneer. "I am Morris, the brother of the man you killed." Lan's head dropped. Her fears were confirmed. Nothing good will come from this.

Morris stood up and walked over to them. "I want you to suffer. You were the one who killed my brother, and your friend here was apart of it. I want you to pay." Before then, he had his back towards them. But when he said the last part of the sentence, he turned around aimed a punch at Legolas's jaw.

"NO!" Lan screamed. She shoved Legolas out of the way from the punch with her shoulder, and received it in her jaw.

Morris stood there, fuming. "Try to defy me?" he roared, as he threw her against the tree. He turned to go back to Legolas but was stopped by her screaming "Stop!"

He turned back to her. His eyes had a dangerous glint in them. "Why should I?"

"Because it wasn't his fault!"

"Then whose was it? A pigeon's?!"

"No! Mine! I tracked your brother's intended target, and knocked him out of the way! It was I who warned them of your brother! I was the one who rescued that elf from death and then convinced him to go along with my plan! I was the one who told him to shoot your brother! I was the one who distracted him so he could shoot him! And I was also there that night when your parents died." She finished her last statement quietly, and bowed her head, her eyes downcast.

All this time Morris had slowly started advancing upon her. When he heard the last thing she said, he stopped. The fire danced around them, and the breeze caught her hair and revealed her right cheek with the thin jagged scar. "The ranger at the inn." His voice was full of disbelief and quieter then it had been before. His memory flashed back to that fated night.

)))))"We come looking for a room for the night and some supper." Morris looked up from the chair he was sitting in with his brother. He saw two rangers standing in the doorway. The one who had spoken was a man. He stood tall and proud, almost as tall as the doorway, his dirty dark hair hung down to his shoulders, and his tanned and rough skin showed he was out in the sun a lot doing hard work. His gray eyes looked calm yet commanding. The other one was about the same height and a girl. Her brown tangled hair reached just above her shoulders, her skin was like the man's but had an elven smoothness-gleam to it. Her eyes were also gray, but it reminded him of the pale moon high above the sky, distant and mysterious.

"Sure, we have plenty of room." He heard his father say. He pushed his spectacles back up his face up to his warm brown eyes; his brown hair flecked with gray. He stood up and went over to the guest book and got them their key. Morris turned his green eyes toward his mother who went back into the kitchen to get them something to eat. Her green eyes were elegant and pleasant, along with her frizzy orange-red hair that she kept in a bun. She gave them a warm smile as she readied a table for the rangers. Morris poked his brother awake who was sleeping on his shoulder. Oscar shoved his hand away.

"Oscar, wake up. There are rangers here!" Morris whispered to his brother. Oscar's hazel eyes opened wide, strands of brown hair falling into his eyes. He looked a lot like his father, while Morris resembled his mother.

"Really?" he jumped up from the chair and ran over to the rangers closely followed by Morris. "Are you a real ranger with a sword?" Oscar asked; his big hazel eyes looked up at them in wonder.

The elf looked over at her companion, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. The man knelt so his eyes were level with Oscar's. Fondly looking at the boy, he too couldn't resist smiling at the younger boy's admiration.

######

Morris was awoken to the sounds of horrid screams piercing the once tranquil night. He quickly got out of bed and woke his brother as his father and mother came in, trying to get them out. When reaching the living room, they were confronted with orcs.

His father yelled at them to hide, and Morris dragged his brother away. He closed his eyes when he saw the orcs about to attack their parents when he heard the clash of swords. Opening his eyes he saw the male ranger standing in front of his parents, fighting the orcs. He led the fight away from them, but unfortunately, in his plan of getting the foul beast away from the family, he didn't notice the orcs that gathered behind him. Morris was about to scream out when the elf burst into the room. This averted the orcs' attention from the man and they began to attack her. The rangers were fairing well when one of the orcs knocked over an oil lamp.

Seeing as how the area hadn't received any rain for a while, the fire from the lamp quickly spread. Morris eyed the fire in fear as it blocked the exits to safety. By the time the man had finished off the orcs attacking him, the room was aflame. He saw the man look over to his father as he shouted something. The man shook his head but his father repeated it again. Morris saw the elf fighting with her last orc.

A flaming, falling beam separated his parents from the man. The man looked over at his mother and she nodded, his parents hugged each other tightly as the man looked at his companion, who had just killed the last orc, and gestured over at the kids. She nodded. The rest had happened so fast, Morris couldn't remember it all.

But suddenly, he was standing there with his brother at the smoldering inferno of rubble that used to be their home. Morris broke free of the man as Oscar broke free from the elf. They rushed over to the remains. Morris sunk to his knees as his brother stood next to him, sobbing.

He felt the woman gently place her hand on his shoulder and a rage and hate he had never known existed surged through him with that single touch. His eyes stopped crying and he grabbed the knife his father had given him for his birthday. He turned towards the ranger and slashed the knife across her cheek. He watched her stumble back as she tried to stop the bleeding with her hand.

His green eyes locked with her gray ones as she clutched her cheek and rode away. (((((((

Morris stumbled back. Lan slowly raised her head, her gray eyes met his, he felt himself lost in them, swimming in the grayness, his mind kept going back to that last image he had of her on the horse. He slowly started to lower his raised fist, but then the rage and hate returned. He charged at her and struck with such force, she fell to the ground on her side. She lay there gasping for breath. She knew he would hit her, but he had caught her off guard.

And she wasn't the only one caught off guard. Legolas stayed where he was, dumbfounded. He really hadn't expected that sudden force.

But Morris's rage wasn't quenched. He started kicking her, again and again. Tears slipped from his eyes as he recalled that night with such intensity. He finally got a hold of his emotions and stopped. He was breathing hard, anger and loathing still consumed him, but he would have his moment when it would be satisfied. But now was not the time.

He turned and left her there, shuddering in pain. And all Legolas could do was watch.

################

When he was sure Morris was asleep, Legolas crawled as best he could over to her. He sat next to her, but didn't say a thing. He didn't know WHAT to say, which never happens to him. He wanted to talk to her. Comfort her, see if she needed help. But, most of all, he wanted her to know she wasn't alone. He felt like he owed her something for taking a beating for him, even after how he treated her.

He stared at her, her back facing him. Her head was pointed out to the darkened sky. The pale moonlight shone down upon him. Her eyes resembled the moon's pale glow as she stared into the dark night.

AN: ok, I am sorry, this chapter was hard to finish, trying to fit what I wanted to put in it in the story and making it fit. Ok, I was at a camp for 5 days, and then I left the next day for Orlando for 2 weeks. My brothers' shows went well, but of course, no one recognizes the people doing spotlights in the back. lol. Sorry this was late, I hopefully will get a head start on the next chapter before school, but I'm not sure. I have been feeling kind of sick for a while... well, good news from my trip: I GOT SHAQ'S AUTOGRAPH!!!!

Gozilla: hey! Glad to hear from u again! Thanks. Glad u like it. Sorry it was too short. I hope this is longer. Hate to tell you, right now, this is my longest chapter left to post. But who knows? I might find some stuff I need to add in the other ones to make them longer.

Christi Carter: Hey! Glad you're here! It's ok, I know how computers can be a pain in the butt. (grr, even kicking mine didn't help fix the problem). Thanks, I really am glad u like it!! Thanks again, I really am glad u like Lan. This is my first REAL story so I was hoping people would like it and my characters. Here is my post, sorry it took a while.

Rmc: Thanks! Yep, think we should form a Legolas torture club? Lol. Here is the update.

Well, I got to go.