Hello everyone! I managed to get chapter 11 in before the cousins came, and it's an extra long one in case I miss a week of writing, so chapter 12 will hopefully be up in a week or 2. By the way… What did you think of Haldir's 'Oh Sarahman' poem? Thank you to those that reviewed chapter 10 aka Hotdogfish (hope you find a long enough leach.) and Kaitlin, sos it was a bit short. Please review this chapter people.

Btw: to silver sock eater (aka KAITLIN) thank you for the support… cough.

'So what they say is true,' continued Haldir from the previous chapter, ' Gandalf's lot were all a little bit cuckoo up there, Radaghast, Souron, all of them. Though I have to admit, that Sarahman seems to have a few more screws loose then Gandalf!' Kaitlin had never met Gandalf, but she agreed anyway.

'Well, we'd better continue walking,' said Kaitlin as she detached the pony from the leech, and used a normal rope instead. She found leeches were particularly hard to hold onto as they were so slimy, and the pony's supply of blood was far from infinite. She dropped the leech onto the forest floor, before covering it in salt. A nasty way to die, but she couldn't have it breeding all over the place. It started fizzing.

'Gods that's disgusting,' Haldir stated the obvious. Kaitlin shrugged, she was used to it. Leeches were used a lot in Mordork, so was salt. She sat down on the Olliphant, and it started trotting. 'Strange animal you've got there, Lady Kaitlin, what's that long dangly thing in the middle of its face?' Haldir said, walking alongside and holding the rope the iron-lacking pony was harnessed too.

'It's its trunk.'

'Oh really? What does it keep in there?' Haldir questioned again, lifting up the Olliphant's nose and peering into its nostrils. 'I can't see anything, awfully compact space for one's belongings wouldn't you say? Dark too.'

'No No. It's an Olliphant, the trunk is really just a long nose.' Kaitlin answered, no longer self-conscious in front of the elf, the before hand conversation was a real icebreaker.

'OH! I see. Rather an ugly thing isn't it? Looks like it got its nose stuck in a door, and tried unsuccessfully to pull it out, therefore stretching it obscenely in the process.' The Olliphant stared at him, it did not understand the common tongue, but it did understand the universal word – ugly. 'Creepy too.' Haldir added five minutes later when the sensitive animal continued its staring. 'Reminds me of Galadriel, she stares at people like that when she is talking in their head, or just listening in. Always found her a little intruding.'

'Is she one of the teachers at the prestigious school?' Kaitlin questioned, her father had used that word somewhere when describing it to her.

'Why yes actually. You know, you are one of the first girls to go to the school? I heard there was another one of your species attending, name uncommonly familiar to yours, spelt with a C though, I think. Very tall apparently, gothic too. Strangely partial to imp powered chainsaws.' Kaitlin nodded, her father had this obsession too. 'I always thought they were illegal. There was an exhibit at this museum I went to, I believe there was one put out that morning on display, and it was stolen some point during that day.'

Wow, a real antique! Her father's chainsaws were just reconstructions, but this person who stole it had the last one left after the national imp-powered chainsaw burnings just before the signing of the "Impess is peoples to" pacts! (Imps may call themselves people of intelligence, but this intelligence was minimal, hence the spelling of the pact) (The pact states somewhere that "Us impes is not too be harmeed in any ways!" However, evil tends to disregard these "pacts", as they would do any law.) What her father would give to get his hands-er I mean eye on that!

Time passed rapidly, the interesting conversations about music and Olliphants made it fly by in a flurry of feather shedding wings. Sun filtered thinly through the thick canopy of the large pine forest, and looking around carefully, Kaitlin could see several other kinds of tree, deciduous and coniferous. Several of them were huge golden trees that towered magnificently over the rest, it was amazing she had even seen the pine trees before these giants.

'What kind of trees are these?' Kaitlin said, as the Olliphant plodded on in gear 1, the highest gear in its capacity.

'Special ones that belong only to the forests of Lothlorien, big aren't they.'

'Yeah…' Kaitlin breathed the word out breathlessly. Haldir looked at the sand timer on his wrist, Kaitlin never bothered with one of those, she found that the only way of it showing an accurate time, was if you didn't move.

'Blasted thing! Don't know why I bother with them!' Haldir pulled it of and chucked it on the floor… then stamped on it. 'Let's stop, it's getting darker, and here's as good as any place to spend the night.' He tethered the two Nobel Steeds to a small beach tree, then began climbing the big mummer of a tree next to it.

'What are you doing?' Kaitlin questioned inquisitively. Haldir was now pulling up the belongings behind him.

'Making hammocks of course, you don't expect us to sleep on the ground do you? Its all hard and stony, besides you should see all the horrid scary night creatures that can maul you while you are asleep. We aren't in the safe haven yet malady, and luckily the nightmare creatures can't climb.'

The pony and Olliphant, I remind you, do not know the common tongue, but as always, the universal sentence of "there are nasty nightmare creatures that come and maul you while you are sleeping on the forest floor" was as understood as the universal word "ugly". It really is surprising how fast a pony and an Olliphant can gnaw through a rope and climb a huge tree in less then 10 seconds. Kaitlin looked up to see them perched precariously on one of the top most branches.

'Come on Kaitlin, the sun is nearly set, I don't want to see you mauled!'

Kaitlin, though smallish, could climb nearly as well as her Olliphant when need permitted, and was soon sitting next to Haldir, panting softly. In only a matter of minutes the hammocks were slung securely between two branches very near the top of the tree. Haldir made sure not to tie them underneath the animals, in case their clumsy hooves miss placed them. All their belongings were tied onto the tree next to them, and unfortunately, due to their height and the flammable being they were seated high upon, there was no fire to warm their dinner (they skipped lunch.). Though it was still a delicious meal, and it consisted of dried fruit and nuts.

After the satisfying meal, the two new friends quickly got into their sleeping bags on their hammocks, at least Haldir did, Kaitlin took a little longer as she was not used to the ordeal involved. Kaitlin lay back and looked up at the stars, a way in the distance the sky was thick with angry black clouds vomiting lightning onto the countryside.

'Gosh, I hope that doesn't come our way!' Kaitlin said woefully to Haldir, she didn't want to get wet.

Haldir glanced at her, then in the direction she was looking. 'Nah. It'll be ages before it reaches us, it's at least 2 days walk away…' With no warning at all, Haldir broke into song, however, there was no badly made loot to accompany his voice.

'Thunder and lightning

Are extremely frightening

When you're high up in a tree

But if you're safe in bed

There's no need to become dead

Unless you go down for a wee.'

'Why Wee?'

'Because if you went down for a wee you'd get mauled.'

'Oh yeah!' Recognition hit Kaitlin hard. 'But what if you are in bed in a tree? Then the tree gets struck by lightning, it sets on fire then crashes down splattering you?'

'Ruin a good song by getting technical why don't you. This Middle Earth would be a very boring place if everyone said "What if?" wouldn't it?' Haldir lectured. ' Besides, that's like a million to one chance.'

'Ok, but I don't want to get all the stuff wet!'

Haldir sighed dramatically, got out of his hammock found a waterproof sheet of material and suspended it like an angled roof above their heads.

'Happy now?'

'Yes thank you… Haldir.'

'Your welcome…Kaitlin, good night, remember don't fall out of your hammock.'

'Ok, you too.'

'Ok.'

'Good night, oh, bless you.'

'Thank you, just a bit of hay fever. Goodnight to you too.'

After that long, pointless conversation, the too weary travellers lost themselves in the world of dreams, each of them wondering what was to befall them the next day.

So what do you think? Please review.