Shades Of Grey

I'm going through a lord of the rings phase at the moment! This story takes place about one year before the actual war of the ring starts, around the time Aragorn captures Gollum and takes him to mirkwood. I've actually written a couple more chapters, and have a decent idea for an ending, so it will be finished relatively quickly. Hopefully! It's rated T at the moment, but might go upfor some dark themes later on though.

Chapter One

She walked through the forest as quickly and silently as she could, scanning her surroundings all the time, trying to get her bearings. She kept close attention to the shadows on either side of the path she was walking on, trying to sense if anything was following her.

She had only been here for a day, but it was long enough. Already she hated the place. Trees in every direction. The dim, now fading light that barely filtered in from the dense canopy above had a green tint to it. And she didn't like the look of the huge, strong cobwebs that she occasionally spied in the tree branches. It definitely had the creep factor, and not many things gave her that reaction.

It was now starting to get dark and slayer she may be, but she wasn't invincible. She was hungry and terribly thirsty, and there was still no sign of civilization. Damn Mayor Wilkins! And not many things made her say that either!

"It's a simple enough mission, Faith," he had told her in his usual calm and expressionless manor. "It's an item of great value that I've been after for some time. But it's getting close to the Ascension, and I can't afford to let my guard down. You're the only one who can do this for me!"

Of course, she wasn't stupid enough not to ask what the item of great value was, and what was in it for her. He wouldn't tell her the exact details, just that she would get a substantial amount of pay for the job, and it would help them against Buffy and her friends in any future confrontations. That was good enough for her, at the time. But then there had been a few complications and she'd woken up here. Wherever here was!

It was growing incredibly dark now, almost pitch black. Faith was soon about to give up for fear of straying of the path, but then she saw the lights in the clearing up ahead.

She saw a group of people surrounding a fire. Several were standing up around the edges of the clearing, and they were armed with bow and arrow. They all had long blonde hair, but she could see now as she got closer they were all male. What is this, medieval times? She thought with a silent laugh.

Others were sitting by the fire eating and drinking, and Faiths mouth began to water.

Something about these beings made her think they were more then human, their pointed ears standing out for one thing. But they also had…a strength about them. Something….she couldn't place it.

Suddenly, one of the elves standing came to talk to someone who appeared to be the leader of the group. She caught a name "Legolas," but then they started to talk rapidly in some foreign language.

Ok, enough of this, she thought. This hiding won't get you anywhere. Creeping stealthily around the clearing, she was almost inches from one of the armed guards. This was too easy, they hadn't even heard her all this time. She loved being a slayer!

Moving as swiftly as an eagle in flight, Faith took the guard by surprise, and soon had the whole clearing in utter chaos. Before anyone had a chance to aim their weapons at her, she had the guard in a deadly grip, pressing a knife to his throat, so viciously that she drew blood from the skin.

"Stay back!" she warned them all, a dangerous edge to her voice.

Legolas motioned to his small company of woodland elves to stand down, and they all lowered their weapons.

"Who are you?" he asked, speaking in the language of men, for that was what she spoke. He was not unfamiliar with the speech of men.

"Whose the one holding the knife here buddy?" she spat back at him, her eyes shining with anger in the firelight. "I'm the one that's gonna be asking you people questions!"

"Of course," he nodded calmly, wondering how this could be possible. A slip of a girl had appeared mysteriously from the shadows, managing to catch them all by surprise. Such a thing was barely heard of.

He looked upon her now, dark hair flowing past her shoulders, dressed strangely in clothes he had never seen before. She was wild, care free and dark, and even he had the sense to feel some fear.

Faith regarded Legolas through narrowed eyes, sizing up her opposition. He could probably hold his own, she mused, not having any idea of the elf's real strength. Her eyes met his and she was suddenly struck by the beauty of these beings. That was the only word she could think of. All so fair beyond words, she suddenly felt something stir within her. Some dream that she could look that way again, that she could look differently to him. But then that faint hope was washed away by the darkness of all her previous mistakes, ones that would always haunt her.

She tightened her grip, forcing such thoughts away. She didn't know where it had come from, but it wasn't her, not anymore.

"I'm going to do the talking now," she told them fiercely. "And you're all going to listen to me and do what I say."

Legolas nodded at her, wondering how he was gong to get out of this one.