Title: Friends to the end

Authors: Mystkyten

Rating: pg

Author's note: This takes place before the fellowship of the rings.

Summary: Tithen Dulin finds a new friend, one the other may not find as friendly.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters you recognize, they belong to Tolkien, I am only borrowing them for a little while. I promise to bring them back in the same condition as I found them, maybe with a little wear and tear

means thought
means human speak
means flashback
"means elven "

Please R/R

Chapter 2

Tithen followed the cries to the old gate. She remembered the gate. This was the gate that she was kidnapped through, years ago. The forest was just beyond. She hesitated; she knew Ada and Legolas would be mad if she went through the gate. The whining became more insistent, it sounded like something was hurt. Ahe had her weapon with her. Nothing would happen. Tithen made up her mind. She could not leave an animal in pain. With a last look around she slipped through the gate.

She followed the cry to the edge of the forest. There she saw a pitiful sight. A creature unlike any she had seen was lying wounded with an arrow in its shoulder. A smaller being was nestled next to it whining piteously.

"Oh you poor thing" Tithen knelt near the creature trying not to startle it. The creature raised its head and growled at the little human, trying to keep it away from its baby. "I will not hurt you." Tithen continued to croon to the beasts.

The younger one, attracted to the gentle voice, slowly started to make its way to the child. The mother softly woofed at the baby, but was too injured to stop it. The baby ignored her mother and slowly approached the child. Tithen held her hand out to the baby to smell while continuing to talk softly to it. The baby sniffed the proffered hand and then wagging its tail, settled in her lap with a soft sigh and drifted off to sleep.

The mother watched every move that the baby and the girl made. She seemed to quickly realize that the human child did not intend to hurt her or her baby.

Tithen looked over at the mother worried about the arrow in her shoulder. Keeping an eye on the mother, Tithen picked up the sleeping baby and gently laid her next to her mother. The baby woofed softly and then went back to sleep curled up tightly to her mother's warmth. Tithen began to gently examine the arrow wound. It was red and swollen. From having worked with her sister, Tithen knew that the arrow would have to be removed before it would even begin to heal. The mother seemed to be very tolerant of Tithen looking at her wounds. Tithen continued to croon to her. "It's okay little mama, I just want to help you. You have to be hurting pretty bad with this old arrow in your shoulder." Tithen took a deep breath and decided to gently probe around the arrow keeping a close eye on the beast. She tensed a little when the mother flinched as Tithen probed too deeply, but did not make any move towards the child. As Tithen examined her, the creature became more and more docile, seeming to trust the little girl.

Tithen thought a while and finally made the decision to pull the arrow out. She had seen many arrow injuries and knew the basics of how to treat them. Number one thing to do was to remove the offending arrow. She knew that there was a chance that the animal would bite her, but she could not stand seeing her in so much pain. She tore her under tunic into strips to use as bandages once she removed the arrow. With a last look at the half-dozing animal in front of her, Tithen firmly grasped the arrow. "Okay, love, here we go. I know this is going to hurt."

The creature howled when the arrow was removed, but did not attack the child, she seemed to sense that the child was trying to help. Tithen grabbed the scraps from her torn tunic and wrapped it around the wound. This was the best that she could do under the circumstances. She wished she had some of the healing herbs that Elinor used on wounds.

As Tithen tied off the final knot, the mother lifted her head and looked into the clearing. Tithen followed her glance and was startled to see so many more creatures like the one she just helped. But these did not look as friendly. Tithen deliberately backed away from the two that she had been helping, slowly pulling her bow from her shoulder. She was hoping to be able to get to the trees before the pack was upon her.

The wounded beast struggled to her feet and placed herself between the pack and the child that helped her.

tbc