Disclaimer: I own none of Tolkien's creations and only lay claim to my own humble creatures.

Chapter Quote: "All people fear what they do not know." Teacher said simply. "And elves especially do not know death. We shall turn you into a ghost."

Chapter Fifty

Searching For a Ghost

"In which direction did she ride?" Legolas asked of the warrior before him.

The elf frowned, "It is difficult to say milord-"

"Take a guess!" He snapped. Another elven healer was at his side, bandaging cuts here and there as he sat on a log with his tunic clenched tightly in his hands. The snow flakes which were falling now sent tingles down his spine as they landed and then melted upon his skin... no so much because he was cold but instead because he knew Victoria was wounded out there somewhere... and he'd been unconscious too long to do anything about it.

Besides... being fussed over by a healer never put him in a particularly good mood... but being unaware of the whereabouts of someone he loved just made him plain foul. Aragorn was sleeping in a tent a little ways off... the healer had promised to attend to the human again once the Prince's bandages were in place. Araviniel was still awake, a blanket was draped around her shoulders and a bowl of steaming soup was in clutched tightly in her hands. Her eyes looked hollow as a warrior knelt by her side and whispered to her words meant only for her ears.

But Victoria was not here... no... and that was making else about having been rescued wrong. She was innocent! His mind screamed, raging over the injustice of it all. She deserved a public apology... a reward for having rescued him... anything but this... anything. He no longer cared what anyone else felt about her... he just wanted to find her. The warrior before him mellowed, stiffening into a more attentive pose.

"Reports say that her horse bolted into a more eastern direction milord... but they are unsure as the snow has started to cover any trail that they would have been able to follow."

Legolas sighed heavily... east. The entirety of Eryn Lasgalen could hide someone like Victoria forever and all he had were rumors of the direction she had fled. She trusted me... and one of my own warriors went off and shot her. The thought made him burn in fury all over again.

"Finished, milord." Said the healer softly to his right. Legolas stood abruptly, ignoring the twinges of pain that reminded him that he wasn't entirely invincible. He pulled his tunic over his head and tied up the clasps, then moved to reach for his bow. His quiver, newly stocked with arrows, he slung over his shoulders- briefly checking the condition of his white- handled daggers before he did so, and then he tied his bow down as well.

"I am going to need a horse." He said to the warrior once his weapons were secured.

The warrior frowned again. "You are going after her, milord?"

He nodded, gesturing eastward as he fought to hide a rising irritation. Victoria never called me anything besides my name. "If her horse was injured as well then they would not have gotten far."

"Will all due respect, your majesty..." (Legolas fought the desire to narrow his eyes) "... it would be... most ... unwise to travel on your own."

Legolas considered this for a moment, thinking on all of the other lives that had been lost going out on these search trips already. But he knew the company assembled here probably had strict orders not to let him out of their sight once they had rescued him. "Four warriors may accompany me. If you receive no word from us by dusk then you can come searching for us."

The warrior, now looking distinctly uncomfortable, protested. "But the king commanded-"

"Hang the king!" Legolas said sharply. The glade fell silent as the other elves turned to look at him in astonishment. Leveling his voice, he spoke again. "You have found me... I will see to it that I will not be lost again."

The warrior clamped his open mouth shut and nodded mutely. He turned away, "I will get you a horse." He said briefly, then walked off.

Legolas hadn't meant to snap at the warrior whom he knew was only trying to do his duty in protecting him. Which I no doubt need considering all the trouble I have gotten myself into lately...

"Off on another adventure?" He heard a voice say softly from behind him. It was Araviniel. Bruised and battered, she still held the regal beauty of the elves beneath the layers of blood and grime that coated her body.

"You should be resting." He said lightly.

She shrugged, "I will find no rest here." She glanced around the glade and she shuddered. "Too many memories..." She stopped, turned to look at him apologetically. "I can hear their screams still sometimes." Legolas nodded in understanding but said nothing otherwise. Tipping her chin up she continued, "I want to go with you."

Legolas shook his head. "You are in no condition-"

She cut him off with a wave of her hand. "I know Lord Aragorn would have wanted to be with you... but he is in worse condition then I." She gestured over her shoulder. "The orcs would have killed him if you had not intervened when you did. They wanted to break the bones in his body one by one for not telling them where you were."

Legolas winced... he hated the fact that Aragorn had suffered for his sake... and he felt worse then guilty about how his friend had risked all to come find him. The early rays of sunlight caught the elf-maiden's face. "She told me about you." He said quietly. Araviniel said nothing, she glanced momentarily at the ground. "Why did you want to find her now? Why after so long?"

She met his gaze and half-smiled... but it was a regretful sort of expression. "That is a tale for another day." She replied softly.

He crossed his arms over his chest... noticing for the first time how cold it was getting. He didn't have a lot of time... Victoria could be dead or dying at this rate. "Can you ride?"

She nodded. "I am in... able... physical condition, milord." She answered slowly.

"Very well." He gestured to her ragged clothing. "Get some warmer clothes and mount up." She inclined her head and then turned to do as he had commanded. "Lady Araviniel..." He called after her suddenly. Memories from Victoria's explanation of who she was filtered back into his mind. "Faerlain...your brother... he was a good friend."

Araviniel stared blankly at him, opened her mouth to speak. "How did you-"

"Gwenèl." He persisted. "You realize who she is... do you not?"

Araviniel stared at him for a moment, then averted her gaze to the trees. "Yes... I do."

He hesitated, his own fears rising in his throat and threatening to choke him. "You know... you know the chances of her... of her having survived..." He couldn't bring himself to say it and he felt a small hand squeeze his shoulder. He looked up, saw her nod with sad eyes.

"I know."

Five Years Past...
"I will teach you the ways of a warrior... I will make you an unstoppable force. No one will contradict you and all shall respect you. You shall be all you could ever be." That was what Teacher had said to me on my first day of training. Every day from dawn to well past dusk, Teacher would train me.

I'd eat in the mornings and then he'd start my physical training. At first it was more like physical therapy as I gained back the use of my limbs with renewed vigor. He would teach me how to train in top physical performance... and accomplish what needed to be done through pain. After we ate at noon, he would train my spirit. I had to become a rock- unpenetrable. An actor per say- I was never allowed to let my enemy know my emotions.

I was taught how to discover weaknesses... how to exploit them... how to interrogate a living being. Most important of all... Teacher taught me how to forget. Not all things... no. He taught me how to thrive in my anger and to use it as an asset. But he also taught me how to forget the ghosts of my past... those who had left me behind. I hunted the orcs who had slaughtered my village and I guarded the borders of Teacher's gílorn realm. My name and reputation spread.

I ambushed my first elf one cold December night. Let them blame me for what happened to Gilloth... I would make them pay for leaving it unprotected. Teacher told me I was strong... and every day I would see less of the old man who had rescued me and more of my conniving master. Teacher was many things... but he was not a fool. He told me to start bringing home my victims' weapons... I never told him that I could never bring myself to kill them. I had to sharpen my techniques... and I could take them down in a matter of minutes when I found them alone.

He hung the weapons as trophies in the great hall. I never commented on them... but I'd always feel a rush of pride as I tasted the satisfaction of my revenge. Teacher taught me to forget that those I loved had ever been elves, and in doing so, he taught me to hate their kind. He schooled me in history, he taught me of the recent war in the East and of Sauron- the deceiver. He taught me how to kill... but never to love. I never loved Teacher... but I did love Talorta.

Never the less, one day when I was patrolling the forest- I wasn't careful enough and they captured me. It was the first year of my reign of terror. I had lulled one of them into what I had considered a trap... it would have been simple. The warrior had come alone into my part of the forest. Confident and cocky, I strode boldly up to him... counting more on his fear of my then anything else.

I shouldn't have been so stupid.

The other warriors who filed out into the forest as soon as I attacked out-numbered me twenty to one... I had no chance against them. I was taken captive and led back in chains to their encampment.

In the Present, in the Northeastern parts of Eryn Lasgalen
The snow had started to cover any signs they might have found in the bare earth as the elven company pushed on. Scouts kept a vigil, glancing up constantly into the barren canopies for any signs of life. Legolas didn't blame them for their nervousness... the orcs had ambushed them far too many times. But you could almost see a hint of pride in their expressionless faces now... for they now knew for certain that the ghost of Eryn Lasgalen was flesh and blood and that she had been shot down. Shot down by one of their own. After a five year reign of terror... that alone was reason enough to give courage to the faintest of hearts.

Yet it did nothing to instill hope in the heart of Legolas, Prince of Eryn Lasgalen, as the snow started to destroy any hope he still clung to of discovering the whereabouts of the ghostly imposter. No, instead it filled him with dread- especially knowing that the longer they spent looking for Victoria, the lesser the chances of finding her became. His insides twisted as he recalled the orc blade slicing her arm... and then the light colored elven arrow thudding into her flesh. All my fault... it is all my fault. He gritted his teeth and set himself to concentrate on the search once again.

He would find Victoria... and if the Valar were with him she would be all right.

After two hours they found the first sign that they had found her trail. It was an empty brown pouch half-covered with snow. Legolas peered inside it once he had dismounted and examined it. He could still see the faint traces of the star-flower dust still visible on the inside. He glanced back at the rest of them, straightening.

"She has been here... not too far ahead by the way this was buried."

So he mounted again and they pressed forward, the weakest of grim hopes rekindled deep inside of him... as well as the desperate desire to hold the living body of Victoria once more in his arms.

Five Years Past...
They were not kind to me in my captivity... but through some bluffing and a great rouse by Talorta, I escaped mainly because they had underestimated me.

I was captured twice more after that. The third time I received a rather harsh beating... mainly because I nearly killed the elf I had been so foolish to attack. (1) And I realized as I got away that I had been far to careless... and that they no longer feared me.

Teacher sat down with me the night I returned and he tended to the cuts and bruises I'd acquired during my stay with the elves. I sat still beneath his administrations, letting no hint of my pain appear on my face.

"We must not let this happen again." Teacher said as he wiped some salve on a cut decorating my right forearm. I nodded in agreement. My escape this time had been a close one... and costly. It would next to impossible to pull it off again... if it ever happened again. Which it was sure to if I didn't change something soon.

"They no longer fear me." I said through tightened lips. Teacher finished tying the knot of my bandage and he wiped his gnarled hands on a towel.

"Well... we can remedy that." He mused aloud. "They venture too close to our borders... too close, too bold."

I slid a fresh, black tunic over my thin undergarments and I twisted in the chair to face him. Teacher, like myself, was an expert at hiding his emotions. But there was a gleam in his hazel eyes that gave away his eagerness. He looked up at me and with a quick jerk of his hand, he gestured towards the cellar door.

"Come." He said. "I have something to show you."

I rose, hooking my belt around my waist that held my scimitar scabbard at my side and then I paced him. I'd never been in the cellar... it had always been unnecessary. I only did things that were necessary- anything else only got me in trouble. It was well lit down there, even in the darkness of the earth. There were small windows shining fading sun rays into the room.

There were shelves stocked with food and other provisions which included a few bundles of clothing and other tools stacked up on a few wooden tables. And there was another door. To this he led me and he paused when he touched the handle.

" I have been working on something that just might work to our advantage."

I nodded for him to continue and he swung the door open. There was a table in the center with various glass and wooden tubes and cases scattered upon it. There were bottles of power of all sorts of colors... it looked something like a primitive chemistry set. Lining the walls however were shelves, shelves filled with clear jars containing silver power.

"I have been developing this for some time now." He said, reaching for a jar and plucking it off a nearby shelf. He gestured for me to take it and I held the jar out curiously in my hand, examining it closely.

"What is it?"

"A toxin." He replied, a hint of excitement in his voice. "Made from star-flowers. When inhaled it gives the victim temporary to long term amnesia and renders them unconscious with feverish side effects for days depending upon how much is inhaled."

I looked up at him, set the jar down on a nearby shelf. "What does this have to do with me?" I massaged my forearm as I spoke, caressing the tender flesh under the crisp bandages.

A small smile wormed its way onto the old man's face. "The Elves of Mirkwood (2) hate you as an elf-slayer... but we could change that."

My brows raised. "How?"

"By making them fear you instead." He grasped my arm and pulled me over to a section of his table.

"How will we make them fear me?" I asked scornfully as he reached for a bowl of paste. "I have no troops... I am not even a real elf-slayer. What am I to do to make them fear me?"

Teacher surprised me as he smeared the silvery paste onto my face. Then he held up a looking glass and motioned for me to take it. My eyes widened as I viewed my reflection... I was glowing. A soft, whitish sort of glow from skin that now appeared whiter then snow. My eyes shone brightly like beacons in a stormy night. "What shall I become?" I whispered in awe.

"All people fear what they do not know." Teacher said simply. "And elves especially do not know death. We shall turn you into a ghost."

So I became Gwenél... the ghost of Mirkwood. They did not capture me again. The first time I attacked an elf using the powder... he had been alone. A boy... not more then fourteen by human standards. I hadn't wanted to hurt him... I tried mainly to avoid children and civilians... which Teacher told me time and again was foolish. But I didn't listen to him... they were not guilty of Gilloth's slaughter. They did not have innocent blood on their hands.

But once the boy saw me, glowing evanescently in the fading light, I knew I had no choice. I told myself later that it was an accident as I played the part of the ghost and poisoned him with the star-flower dust. But I knew that as that elf shook with fever... that I was enjoying every minute.

I was Gwenél and no one dared to enter my dominion.

Teacher always made it a habit to hide his ears beneath his bushy white mane... I never knew why. But we both changed in the years that followed. Soon Teacher wanted to send me out further from the borders of the star-tree forest. He grew greedy, demanding that I bypass travelers and steal their valuables. I was no better then a common thief... but soon no one would enter the northern wood. It was the fourth year of my reign... I was sleeping outside, my back to tree and Talorta was stretched out by my side.

At times he reminded me of a dog... loyal to the end, always so playful... but too stupid to know that you should ditch your master for a better life. But I guess horses are horses... there's no changing them. He'd sleep for an hour every day when he could squeeze it in, stretched out on his side, demanding that I care for him... but I didn't mind.

I knew a good portion of the forest like the back of my hand... but I realized then that I'd never traveled outside of its borders. Was I afraid? Teacher had taught me to never show my fear... but he'd also never commanded me to stay inside the forest. Yes... he'd schooled me in the ways of the world... told me what had been happening in the great beyond... but what exactly was the great beyond?

What did this place hold beyond these trees? Teacher explained to me once that there were other countries... countries where there were no elves... countries where orcs never roamed and ghosts were the stuff of myths. Such an idea felt fresh in my mind... new. Like a gleam of hope in my dark world. What lay beyond those trees where I had been enslaved for so long? Where did the leafy canopies end?

Teacher was becoming a tyrant... locking himself away for hours at a time in his laboratory in the cellar. Most times he would come up for supper in a foul mood. I did the worked that needed to be done throughout the day. I would train on the rope jungle Teacher had set up before our noon meal. Sometimes I'd read some of his numerous books. Most of the time I'd simply do his bidding. But Teacher rarely saw the sun anymore... neither did I for that matter. Teacher ordered me to wear the glow paste at all times... but it only worked when you stood in the sun. I had grown to despise what Gwenél was becoming... and liking less and less what it was doing to my mentor.

I wanted it all to stop.

So as I sat there, beneath those trees... I realized that there was truly nothing keeping me from my desire to explore those lands... I wanted to never see another elf again. I wanted to forget that I had ever been a part of this forest and of the magic bound to it. So I roused Talorta and I galloped him hard to the edge of the forest. It was just before dawn... there was a light mist drifting through the trees. And that was when I first glimpsed the lands beyond Mirkwood.

And that was when I realized that it was over.

I didn't ambush the company of elves as Teacher had instructed me to do. I rode and night back to the house in the trees... brooding on my past in the silence. Things had been fine when I had been merely hunting orcs... they only plagued me occasionally now but Teacher seemed more interested in pleasure... not justice. But the orcs of Mirkwood were forming a group... and someone was in command of it. Someone they called the 'Lord of the Woods'. And rumor had drifted among the forest that this 'Lord' had called for the slaughter of Gilloth.

I knew if I ever met him... if there ever was such a man... that I would kill him. So I rode back home... alone with my own thoughts beside for Talorta as I searched for Teacher.

The glade stunk of orc when I reined Talorta in... he snorted nervously. I dismounted swiftly and silently and bade him to run into the trees for safety. I withdrew my gleaming scimitar and I gripped the handle tightly. I didn't like when I sensed in the air... I didn't like it at all.

I was right. I started as an orc walked calmly from the front door and strode down the stairs. He never had a chance to even spit before I had decapitated him from behind. I ran inside... and I found Teacher in the trophy room... with two more. I didn't let him speak... I killed them both before either of us could say a word. And then we were left alone... Teacher stood stunned before me as their dark blood stained the wood of the floor.

I didn't know what to say at first. I noted the bow clutched tightly in his hands. It was a new one... and I had not given it to him. I frowned and he looked disoriented. He scowled when he noticed I had come back empty handed.

"Were you unsuccessful then?"

He was insane... what on earth had three orcs been doing in my house? Why was he ignoring the fact their dead hides were now stinking up the room? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously but if he wanted to play at this game, I could go along with it. I lowered my weapon and moved into a more defensive position, glancing out of the corner of my eye for any sign of more orcs. I saw none.

"I never fail at anything you set me to Teacher." I said icily, moving across the soiled floor towards him. "I chose not to attack them."

His eyes bulged. "You what!"

I stood, feet equally distanced as I tipped my chin up. "I want this to stop." I said firmly, staring at him through steeled, blue eyes.

He lowered the bow in his hand, contemplating my answer. "You want to stop?" He repeated.

I nodded once and answered. "I no longer wish to impersonate a ghost. I am leaving."

His gaze hardened and he tightened his grip on the bow. He squared his shoulders and I wondered if he was seriously considering taking me on. "You want to quit... is that it?"

I nodded again, and I glanced at the bow in his hand as he tried to formulate an answer to my demand. My heart stopped and I felt my insides quiver. For carved into the side of the bow was the exact replication of the medallion Faerlain had given to me the night he had proposed.

My voice shook as I pointed at it. "Where did you get that?"

Temporarily shaken, he followed my hand and hastily shrugged. "You gave it to me... remember?" He was nervous.

"No... I didn't."

Something was terribly wrong here. I looked straight into his eyes and he recoiled. "It is nothing." He said, clearly flustered, he tried to back away from me too quickly... a small, slender vial fell from his breast pocket.

He grabbed for it, but I got it first. "What is this?" I demanded, holding the vial up to the light. It was filled with a queer, clear substance... one that sparkled with the faintest traces of star-flowers. But my face blanched as I caught sight of an inscription carved into the side.

It read: Faerlain, son of Alphril

My head whirled... and I exploded. Moving faster then even I deemed possible, I darted forward and slammed Teacher against a wall. He cried out in fear and pain but he was no match for me as I lifted his half-staved, frail body off the floor and further up onto the wall.

"Where did you get these? What has happened here?" I asked icily. Teacher kicking uselessly as his face started to turn red from lack of air and fright. "WHERE DID YOU GET THESE?"

Teacher wasn't nearly as strong as I... it was like toying with a child. He gasped as I pressed the blade of my bloodied scimitar to his neck... and traced a shallow cut across the skin there. "I hired another assassin..." He gasped.

"LIAR! I am SWORN to kill these vermin! What have you DONE!" I let him fall hard to the floor and I kicked him full in the face. He reeled from my blow and I followed him. "You've been dealing with them... haven't you?" I hissed. It was all coming together now. But something else made me freeze as if I'd been stabbed in the gut. I looked down in horror at the old man.

"You're the Lord of the Wood... aren't you? You're the one they've been whispering about?"

Teacher looked truly and genuinely terrified now. "You are mistaken-"

I let my blade slide cleanly through his shoulder and he gasped and writhed in pain as I drew it back out. "Do not lie to me." I hissed, licking my lips as he panted in pain. He panicked then. He reached for one of his jars but I sliced him again, wrenched the jar from his grasp and smashed it against his head. He fell limp to the floor... unfortunately still very much alive. I leaped over the bodies of the still orcs, the vial clutched in my hand, to the table where I knew Teacher kept his most important papers. And there it was... just as I had expected it to be.

It reeked of orc... and there were two copies. Both were dirtied... as if the parchment had been handed roughly for a number of years. I spread both out on the table. At first they appeared only to be diagrams of troop movements... something you might study in a history book.

But then I noticed that the lines of troops were labeled, 'orcs'. And that the target they had been ordered to attack bore the name, 'Gilloth'.

In The Present...
The trek to through the forest was long... and with the snow falling the soon lost the trail. Once he thought he saw Ana, standing rigid and transparent among the barren trees. She urged him on... giving him a path to follow and somehow he knew not to question her even as her ghostly form disappeared as if she'd never been there at all. But at long last, they discovered what they had been looking for.

Legolas spied it before any of the others and he quickly ordered them all to a halt. He dismounted, turned to face them all.

"Wait for me here."

The only one who looked ready to protest was Araviniel. But she quickly clamped her mouth shut when he glanced in her direction and then nodded mutely. Legolas led his horse carefully through the trees, his heart hammering in his chest. Please be here... please be alive. He prayed urgently. Then he stopped... the snow swirled about him, the tiny flakes dropping noiselessly to the ground in clusters. And there she was.

He knew Talorta was dead almost instantly as he looked upon them. The horse was stiff and cold, and the snow around his wound had been stained a dark crimson. He felt his insides churn as he thought of the horse grazing lazily beneath the trees only that previous day. Dead because of his foolish mistake. His eyes traveled, resting upon the still form laid beside the body of the dead horse. His breath caught in his throat and he started.

She didn't move as he approached her, her eyes were closed with the tell-tale signs of a frozen sleep. Ice coated her long eyelashes where her tears had fallen and her skin had taken on a bluish tint. He knelt beside her, hardly daring to breathe as he reached out to touch her shoulder. Shock tingled through his hand as his fingers brushed her bare skin.

She was alive.

CONCLUSION OF PART TWO

A/N: You guys, I am SO sorry for this horrible delay! My computer broke and its off getting fixed right now but I had no way to tell anyone until today. I'm on my sisters' computer right now and to make a long story very short, I do plan to get back on my usual updating schedule. This chapter was full of flashbacks and such and we're going to be getting deeper into some more angst soon. Yep... it's my specialty though I will once again remind everyone that I hate sad endings so I do write happy endings for my own stories... but whether or not you consider it happy is entirely up to you. :)

When I say conclusion of part two it basically means that I'm starting part three... so don't be alarmed! This story isn't over yet... though it will be the longest I've ever written. :)

I have to go now... it's nearly midnight and I have to work tomorrow! Forgive any errors you spot and I'm sorry for not responding to many of your reviews... fanfiction was down and between that and my computer... I just wasn't having an excellent week. I hope you enjoy the chapter though and thanks a million to those of you who have reviewed, it means the world to me! And thanks a million to my beta, Kiann:)

(1) I know elves treated their captives excellently. This is just a bit of AU here... just wanted to drop you all a line in case I offended any canon fans. :)

(2) Just so no one gets confused, Eryn Lasgalen is Mirkwood renamed. Thranduil renamed it after the War of the Ring was concluded. But I switch back and forth with the names depending on who is saying it. Araviniel calls it Mirkwood and Aragorn calls it Eryn Lasgalen. I just wanted to clear that up a bit. :)

TO BE CONTINUED...