A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry it took me so long to post this, my boss gave me a kitten, and he's kinda been distracting me. I named him Gimli. Anyway, to my wonderful (in one case slightly hostile) reviewers: Fiona McKinnon-Thank you very much! Enjoy! Elven Stranger- I never said I wasn't evil, lol. Enjoy! Shero- I'm glad you liked the last chapter. Hopefully you'll like this one too! Gulwen­-Wow, you liked it enough to review twice! Thank you! Enjoy! Elvnchic9-The orange munch-munch didn't criticise anything in particular. They just said that My fanfiction was terrible and that they hoped...uh...wait a sec...((checks the reviews))...they said they hoped the dead barbie dolls ate my computer. And they asked if they knew my foot was as long as my forearm. Interestingly enough, I checked and they were right. lol. Enjoy the new chapter! Navaer Lalaith- Ouch. Nothing like a good old brutally honest review to let some air out of my ego, lol. But hey, if I screw up my facts (or my elvish), I want people to let me know. Thanks! Hopefully I can improve the quality of my fic thanks to you! Hope you keep reading! animebishieluver- O.O...eep. Please don't hurt me. I updated! Consider yourself appeased! lol.

Great big hugs to everyone who reviewed!

Disclaimer: I do not own Legolas or any other character you recognise. They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien and his associates. However, I do own Donna.

Chapter 7

"I couldn't possibly be one of what?" asked Donna, looking from Elrond to Gandalf uncertainly.

"Can you say that for sure, my friend? Who is to say that one of them could not have went to her time, centuries ago?" said Gandalf to Elrond.

"One what?"

"Well, it is possible…but is it plausible?" Elrond replied.

"Who is to say? What is known about them is all based on theory and accounts from unreliable sources," said Gandalf. Donna sighed, wondering if she had suddenly become invisible. "Besides, with all the evidence, how can you have any doubt?"

"That is true," said Elrond, turning his attention back to Donna. "Tell me, Donna, how much of your past can you recall? What is your earliest memory?" Donna bowed her head, deep in thought, as memories of events long past came back to her minds eye.

A small form limps out of an alley on the streets of downtown Toronto. During the day, it is a place of diversity and excitement, but at night, the demons come out to play. She wears nothing but a torn skirt, pantyhose and a beaded necklace, everything else is gone. Her face is bloodied and broken. People pass her, and see her tears, but none help her. She continues to limp on, using walls and posts for support when she can.

She looks about in confusion. She does not know where she is. She feels wave after wave of dizziness, it becomes harder to walk. She stumbles; her feet are numb from the cold. Cold, so cold…

…A bright light. Am…I dead? The smell…antiseptic…a hospital…The girl looks around. She is in a room with five other beds, three of them are occupied.

"So, you're up are ya?" The girl jumps and looks over to the corner of the room nearest to her. A plump woman wearing a waitresses uniform sits in a chair close by. Her dark red hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and she wears no makeup. She looks to be in her late forties.

"Who…where…"

"Well, ain't you the talkative one? Let's start with somethin' simple: I'm Rita. What's your name?"

"I…it's…I can't remember…where am I?"

"You're at Toronto Western Hospital. I found ya unconscious on the street. You were half-frozen, an' it looked like some bastard beat the shit outta ya. Can you really not remember yur name? Can ya at least remember what happened to you?" The girl says nothing for some time.

"No…nothing…why can't I remember?"

"I wish I could tell ya hon, but I ain't no doctor. I'll go get him for ya. You sit right there, an' I'll be back!" The woman pats the girl's hand and leaves the room.

She looks down at herself. She wears a hospital gown, and an I.V. is sticking out of her right arm. She begins to fiddle with it, trying to get it out.

"Don't do that. You'll bleed like a sonuvagun." The girl looks over at the man in the bed next to her. "That lady, Rita? She's been here since they brought you in the night before last. She's a mighty nice lady, once you get past her dirty mouth."

"Why thank you very much Earl!" The woman has come back with the doctor. He sits down next to the girl's bed.

"Hello there. I'm Dr. Winter. How are you feeling?" He is a tall man, with salt and pepper hair and grey eyes. He removes the I.V. from her arm and checks her reflexes as he speaks with her.

"My mouth feels funny…"

"That does not surprise me. You lost two molars."

"Oh."

"What is your name?"

"I don't know."

"What's the last thing you can remember?"

"Someone yelling, and pain…then I was alone. And cold. It smelled bad. I walked for a while…then I fell, and I…I guess I went to sleep."

"There is no evidence of rape. However you had no identification, and your jacket and shoes were gone. What most likely happened is, you saw a robbery, and the criminals did not want to leave any witnesses. It happens often enough. People witness a homicide, and the trauma causes a case of hysterical amnesia. It usually only lasts a few weeks. What you're going to do in the mean time, I have no idea. Your vitals are fine, your bruises are healing surprisingly quickly. You will be discharged tomorrow."

"Ya mean you're just gonna throw her out on the street?" The girl looks from Rita to the doctor, the realization of what's going to happen to her slowly sinking in.

"We need these beds for patients. This isn't a hotel."

"What the hell is she supposed to do?"

"That isn't my concern. Good day Ms. Cole." The doctor gets up and leaves. The man in the bed gestures rudely at the doctor's retreating back.

"What am I supposed to do?" The girl looks from Earl to Rita unsurely.

"Don't worry hon, I ain't gonna let them throw ya out on the street. You'll come home with me, and you can stay as long as you need."

"Donna?" She looked up at Elrond dazedly.

"Wha?…Oh…my earliest memory…ah, I can't really think of the exact moment…but I can remember back about fifty years," said Donna quietly.

"I see. And how old were you at the time?" asked Elrond.

"I don't know. Apparently I looked seventeen."

"I see. And is it normal for mortals to age as slowly as you do in your world?"

"No…they die very quickly." Her statement in itself was very simple. But the way she spoke, her voice so grim, Elrond knew that the girl was slowly being poisoned by grief. She had obviously been raised by mortals for as long as she could remember, and she had watched them age and pass on. At first he pondered why she did not die of her sorrow, but then it came to him. Her ears were only slightly pointed. At first glance it was difficult to tell. And she was small. She was only half Elf.

"Gandalf, I fear your theory is null. She is only half Elf. And the Rendirwere barren. She could not be the child of one." said Elrond, looking at the Wizard with doubt.

"They were barren, yes, when they tried to bare the children of other Elves! There is no record of a Randir ever bonding with a mortal, so who is to say that a pairing between one of them and a mortal could not produce offspring?" said Gandalf.

Donna had had enough. She stood up and slammed her hands on the desk.

"DAMNIT! You keep talking like I'm not here! I was less confused when I came in! Would someone PLEASE tell me WHAT the HELL you're TALKING about?" Elrond and Legolas stared at her in shock.

"I beg your pardon, confusing you further was not the intention of this meeting. I will explain it to you now," said the Wizard, chuckling.

"Hallelujah!" she cried astringently, flopping back down in her chair.

"Ah-lay-loo-ya?" said Legolas with confusion.

"Don't even ask, I don't wanna stall this any longer!" Donna snapped. Legolas jumped and sidled away from her quietly, afraid of her temper.

"Centuries ago, sporadically, an Elf would be born with a very unique gift," said Gandalf. "They could see into other worlds, other dimensions, and some had the power to travel to these worlds at will. They could only be distinguished from other Elves by two traits: green eyes, and a birthmark shaped like the Mark of Eternity. They were called the Rendir." Donna stared at him for a moment, then snorted and said, "Please. Green eyes are common."

"In mortals perhaps, but in Elves, green eyes are unusual," replied Gandalf. Donna looked to Elrond, and he nodded in confirmation.

"Alright, I'll bite. What does that have to do with me?"

"I am getting to that. But first you need to understand more about these Rendir. You see, as rare as it was for one of these gifted Elves even to be born, it was rarer still that they would be able to control their abilities. More often, their powers would be controlled by emotion. When feeling emotions such as depression, or loneliness, they could sometimes cause rifts between worlds that only they could see, and only they could enter. In times of great distress, they could temporarily turn these rifts into portals, and be sent to other worlds. The problem was, they did not know how they did it, and so they would not know how to return. This is the reason little is known about them. They would often not even know that they were different until it was too late, and they disappeared. What I tell you now is a combination of theory and experiments by Rendir who COULD control their abilities.

"Now, you wonder how this concerns you, correct? It is very simple. I believe that one of your parents was one of the Rendir who could not control their powers. In a time of great distress, the Rendir created a portal to your world, and was not able to return. Then by some turn of events, they fell in love with a mortal, and you came to be, inheriting your parent's abilities.

"Now, we get to you. Some event caused you to create a rift in time and space, making the mallorn tree appear in your world. You went to this place when distressed, and it brought you back to the world in which it originated. You could say that history repeated itself." Donna stared at the Wizard as all that he had said slowly registered.

"I see," said Donna, leaning back into her chair.

"'I see'? Is that all you have to say?" asked Gandalf.

"Ah…I suppose it would explain a lot of things…but…it's just so…I thought I was…" she trailed off, looking around the room. "Uh…I need to…do something…excuse me." With that, she got up and ran out of the room. Legolas rose to go after her, but Elrond said, "Let her go, Legolas. She needs time to think. What's more, we have things to discuss."

"We do? What do you wish of me, Lord Elrond?" asked Legolas curiously.

"I have decided that there will be nine in the company that journeys to Mordor. Nine walkers against the nine Riders. I wish you to represent the Elves on this mission."

A/N: Okay, done. Sorry the chapter's shorter than usual, I've been a little distracted the past couple of days. I can't take my eyes off Gimli (the kitten, not the Dwarf) for a second! Sorry if the chapter's a bit boring...I'm not very happy with it, but the next one will be better, I promise. I'll either make Legolas stuff his foot in his mouth again, or I'll throw in an angsty situation. Don't forget to review!