Feriniel helped Katie pack some belongings in a bag. She was leaving her coat behind—she gave it Doronien—but she was going to take her backpack and her books with her. Feriniel even managed to procure her a saddle—a rare enough thing among the elves of Mirkwood, but necessary, since they would be riding all the way to Rivendell. Katie had managed to ride bareback alright for short, slow pleasure rides around King Thranduil's palace, but a long and possibly dangerous journey was something else entirely.

They left early in the morning a few days later. As Thranduil hugged his youngest so, Katie got a hug from Lalorn's wife and from Feriniel.

"Stay safe," Lalorn's wife said. Katie promised she would.

Feriniel looked at her with a calculating gaze. "I do not know if we will meet again," she said softly. "But you are like a little sister to me. Now who will join me in teasing this ridiculous brother of mine?"

Katie smiled. "I'm sure you'll find someone. There must be people lining up for the privilege."

Legolas laughed. "Watch yourself. I may feed you to a spider!"

Taurion took his younger brother aside a few minutes later, looking serious. "You know that Father has tried to shelter you from war and the wider world," he said matter-of-factly.

"I have been in the Battle of Five Armies, and have traveled to Rivendell before," Legolas objected.

"Yes, but if he had the choice, you would not have been in that battle," Taurion answered. "There is something more going on here than just an escaped prisoner, and I fear that you will be drawn into the thick of it."

Legolas looked troubled. "Why do you tell me this?"

"Just to say, Be careful, little brother!" Taurion said with a smile, and embraced him, followed by Feriniel.

000

Legolas and Katie traveled with two guards. Legolas might not have taken that precaution had he been traveling on his own, but he didn't want to risk anything with Katie along.

Katie didn't much like the journey. The elf-path stretched on endlessly in the dark beneath the trees of Mirkwood. She was frightened at first by the eyes that glowed and flashed at her at nights.

"Shouldn't we light a fire?" she asked one of the guards nervously as they bedded down for the night—Legolas and one guard on either side of her, but a respectful distance away.

"No, a fire would not help," he said matter-of-factly. "The light only draws more creatures to come and stare. And it also draws giant black moths. I think you would find the darkness more tolerable."

Katie shuddered. She was not fond of bugs. "I think you're right," she replied.

"The animals will not pester us," Legolas said reassuringly from her other side. "The Elf-Path is protected from the dangerous animals—spiders cannot cross it. That is why there are no webs across it."

Katie frowned. "Is that why everybody was so worked up when I saw wargs cross the path?"

"Yes, that is why," Legolas agreed. "That was very disturbing news. But even then, they did not linger on the path, though they might have, once they caught your smell."

Katie made a face, and Legolas laughed. "Do not worry; I think they would take one taste of you, and spit you out!" He teased gently.

Katie put on a face of innocence and wounded pride. "What are you implying? Everyone knows I'm made of sugar and spice and everything nice!"

Legolas gave a very unprincely snort, and Katie whacked him on the arm. The guards laughed.

"We may have to restrain you from harming the King's messenger," one of the guards said warningly, though his eyes twinkled.

"Hmph. Figures he'd have to get two people to defend him," Katie replied, shooting a sly look at Legolas.

They all laughed at that. Legolas was glad to see that some of Katie's usual teasing manner had returned. Really, the girl was amazingly resilient. She seemed to bounce back quite well from shock and tragedy. But after all, he reminded himself, it had been two months since Lalorn's death. That was not long for an elf, but it could be for a human. She had been very subdued the past two months in his father's fortress, but then, everything around her would have reminded her of her friend, and the elves, though merry people, were still in a grieving period for the four lost guards. It relieved Legolas to see that it had been a wise choice to take Katie west with him.

As if sensing what he was thinking of, Katie grew quiet again, and did not speak again until they turned in for the night.

000

There was no need to set a watch, for despite the warg sighting long before, the path was still warded, and should be safe. And the elves were such light sleepers—sleeping with their eyes open, and their senses still on alert—that if anything had been wrong, they would have been awake in an instant. Katie was grateful. If there had been a watch set, she would have felt honor-bound to volunteer to take a shift, and she didn't relish the thought of sitting up alone in the dark, watching the eyes appear and disappear amongst the trees around her.

When Legolas awoke the first morning, he found Katie already awake, her eyes open and fixed on the tree canopy above her, her lips moving as if she were speaking under her breath.

"Are you well?" he asked softly.

She glanced over at him in surprise. "Yeah, I'm fine," she answered. "I was praying," she clarified.

"Ah."

Generally she did not have time to do this in the morning, and when the party fell silent, he would see her lips moving, and her eyes looking into the distance in concentration. When he saw this, he would always wait to speak again until she had finished, not wishing to disturb her. He was curious that she seemed to pray every day—in fact, a few times a day. It seemed strange, and almost disrespectful, somehow. Elves only prayed to the Powers that governed Arda in moments of very great need. But he didn't think that it was the Powers to which she prayed, which puzzled and worried him.

000

One morning, one of the guards craned his neck and peered forward in the dimness. "We are not far from the end of the forest, now!" he declared. "We should reach it in less than an hour."

"Thank goodness," Katie said with relief and excitement. "I mean, I like trees very much, but I'll be happy to be out of the dark!"

The other guard laughed. "Do not fear you are being discourteous! Elves like to see the sun as well, and feel the wind. Once, you could see and feel both beneath the trees of Greenwood the Great! But it has grown dark since the Necromancer took up residence in Dol Guldor to the south, and we now call it Taur e-Ndaedelos—Mirkwood."

"How long ago was that?" Katie wanted to know.

"Not a long time—nigh on two thousand years," the guard answered calmly.

Katie just looked at him. "Elves and your idea of 'not a long time'," she muttered.

The guard smiled. "Many dark things were driven out in the year of the Dragon's fall, about eighty years ago," he continued, "but they have returned in greater numbers, and Mirkwood is again an evil place, save where our realm is maintained." He paused. "How we long for the time the Shadow in the South may be vanquished!"

000

The elves did not mention it when the end of the forest came in clear view to them, waiting for Katie to see it herself. After a long while, she squinted at the road ahead.

"Do I see light at the end of the tunnel?" she queried.

"Yes; we are nearly there!" Legolas answered.

The look on Katie's face declared she was immensely relieved when they finally left the forest and rode out into the free air. It wasn't very bright out, but she still had to squint and blink until her eyes adjusted to the light. It was a gloomy and overcast day, threatening drizzle, but Katie didn't care. It looked beautiful to her after the long dark of Mirkwood. The rain couldn't dampen her spirits.

Well, the first day, anyway. When the intermittent rain didn't let up for a week, she became perhaps a little bit irritable.

000

They bore southwest across the plain, and crossed the High Pass. They paused at the very top, and took a look back eastward. It was quite a view. The rain had lifted off the day before, and even Katie could see the forest stretching far away, and a single mountain peak rising behind. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

Katie breathed a sigh of relief at her first sight of Rivendell as they came down the steep path to the valley.

"Thank God," she said, and her voice was heartfelt. "It's like coming home!"

The elves smiled upon her, and lifted their heads as they heard elfsong rising in the trees. It truly was the First Homely House, and no one felt it more at that moment than did Katie.

TBC

AN: I've had a couple of people ask me, so I'll put it straight right here: I've tried to avoid Mary-Sues and lotr-fic clichés the whole way, so this will not be a tenth walker fic.

Laer4572: Thanks! Luckily, my school is only a half hour away from my house. :) I'm afraid the captive elves are lost forever. That's war!

Ravens Destiny: I've never watched Lizzy MacGuire, but I understand. Names are weirdly evocative. My mom wanted to name my brother Timothy, but she ended up using it for his middle name, b/c she hates the nickname Tim—it sounds to her like "timid". —shrugs—

Alaterial: Yep, giving characters a name tends to be a sign! Same happened with Lossefalme and Sadron. Yes, sophomore power! (That's funny, usually I'm shouting Alto Power!)

Tara: Well, I know there was a plague in Middle-earth, called the Great Plague or Dark Plague in the middle of the Third Age, which struck Gondor particularly hard. I laughed so hard at your comment about Antonio Banderas and Orlando Bloom together in Middle-earth that my roomie wanted to know what was going on! And I'm still disturbed by your crush on Lalorn. :) He always seemed such an avuncular character to me…

theycallmemary: Yep, when he gets reborn in Aman, he'll still be married to his wife, because Elven marriage outlasted death, and was a spiritual as well as a physical union. And in spirit, he would still be father to his children, and they might regard him as such, but he would be in a different body, which would be weird. —thinks about it— Yes, that would be very strange. As far as the disappeared elves, it never says in the book what happened to them, just that all the guards were "either slain or taken". You're probably right about the eating thing, although they most likely had a bit of fun with them first. I did think for awhile about having Legolas and Katie's party attacked by giant spiders on the journey, but decided not to in the end.

Thanks also to IwishChan, ElvenRyder and Madd Hatter!

Now I'm hungry, so I'm off to find out when the dining hall opens on Sundays! Please review!