Thanks for all the reviews! Chapters 2 + 3 took me forever to write. Thanks for hanging there. I mean, what can Aragorn say to convince his friends to let him go in #2? And what on earth do you say to Eowyn to make her stay behind in #3!

No, this is not a "kissing book". If I meant it to be a romance I would have stated that in its genre. The most you will get out of this is embracing. No lip touching of any kind and nothing that that may lead to. I have found those things in too many stories and I'm tired of it. So, naturally, I will not write something that goes along those lines.

Camreyn and Uncle wanted more out of the LOTR characters as far as emotions and their own opinions and after going back through what I had previously posted I completely agreed. There wasn't enough to them. I hope there is now, if not feel free to let me know.

For the Regulars on here I believe this is the last chapter I posted on here before going over them. I promise the rest you have not read yet!

Don't forget to R&R!

And then they found themselves breathing hard and slightly sweating. The men's eyes were big and the horses stepped nervously. Ilara sank a few inches, the magic taking its toll on her physically. They were standing in a small clearing near the edge of dark green trees. Green grass lay beneath them and thick mist filled their view.

"Where are we?" Aragorn asked between breaths. He grabbed her under her arm to help her stand.

"We are in Britain, during the period where Woad and Roman are at war for this country. In their conquest for more land, the Romans went into Sarmatia where they fought the Sarmatian cavalry. The Romans, impressed by the Sarmatian's weaponry and fighting skills, included them into their army as knights. After 15 years of serving and fighting for the Roman Empire the Sarmatian Knights, lead by Arthur, are about to receive their freedom as the Romans will be leaving Britain. But for now, they are fighting the Woads, the native peoples of this land. Or so everyone believes."

"What do you mean by that?" Legolas squinted at her.

"I mean that the race of the Woad is the same as my own."

"And what exactly is your race?"

"My race is called the Elman. The full name of the Woads in my language is Faleen Bas Del Woad, that means 'people of the mists'. This has been shortened over the years to just Woad, which means 'mists'."

They all gave her quizzical looks and she told them to sit down and she would tell them more. She had to remember that they were not her people and so did not fully understand what she was saying. The more they understood the better their mission would do.

"My people, just like every other race or species, long to know the unknown. We are explorers by nature. We also have the magic and so we have more means to explore. Some of our people chose to come here. This world was just beginning and there was plenty of room to live and grow. The thought of gaining more land never crossed their minds. They decided to stay. They found that the people here did not have the magic abilities that we have and decided not to use it so as not to alarm them. To do so would only cause fear and anger. Eventually they lost their ability to use the magic as I do. They became the Woads of Britain."

"So what does that mean for us?" Faramir asked.

"We may eventually need their help, though I do not know exactly where to find them if we do. All I know of their whereabouts is that they live in the forests north of Hadrian's Wall."

They all stood up then, wrested from their ordeal. That was when Ilara took a look at their clothes and her brow creased with irritation. She closed her eyes, crossed her arms, and blew out a breath.

"What is the matter?" Aragorn asked. She figured that the questioning look would stay on their faces for a while.

"Your clothes" She answered.

"What about them?"

"Well if you wear the wrong thing you will stick out. Now you in your Ranger clothes will just barely make it. Gandalf you will have to keep your cloak on to hide the white robes you wear. Faramir your clothes are border line and I suggest that you do the same as Gandalf. Legolas…" she trailed off as she looked him up and down.

"What about me?" his face changed into one of confusion.

"I don't think there are any Elves running about so we will have to hide your pointed ears. Also, you wear clothes that aren't seen here and rich garments will only make us stick out more and might get us robbed or attacked, so we will have to find some."

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

She looked down at her shoes. She knew that they would have to do this before they met any Romans. That only left one thing, which was very risky, even for her. They would have to ask the Woads for help. Even then they would have to hide Legolas' ears before they met up with each other.

"First we need a way to hide those Elf ears of yours and your cloak doesn't have a hood." She went to her horse and pulled out a square of cloth from one of the bags. Folding it into a triangle and using it as a bandana, she placed it so that it went around his forehead, over his ears, and tied it under his hair. The funny part was that it matched his tunic. "That should do."

"What do we do next?" asked Gandalf as he walked a few steps further into the group.

"We seek out the Woads and ask for their help."

"You just said you don't know where they are."

"I said I don't know exactly where they are. I also said that I know that they are somewhere in the forest. We should leave the horses here and travel in on foot. We are less menacing that way and it will be less trouble for all of us to deal with."

They took their horses and placed them in a more secure spot before turning and heading into the woods with Ilara in the lead.

As always R&R and let me know what you think! The next chapters are all NEW!