Legolas, Brethilior, and their strange, silent companion Hinor had been riding for five days now. Under the advisement of Galadriel, they had taken the circuitous route through Lothlorien to reach Mirkwood, and then the Lonely Mountain, for the way was quicker going, but a much harder ride on the horses. The weather had been bad as they rode, the normally blue sky overcast, and though the rain was not torrential, Legolas found that the constant drizzle made for a tedious, and tiring experience.

Legolas was riding slowly along with the others, contemplating ways of decreasing the amount of water was that soaking into him, when Brethilior rode up next to him. He too was soaked to the skin, and his spirits, Legolas observed, seemed to be as damp as he was.

"Do you really think that an elf stole the stone?" Brethilior asked moodily, "Why would one of us crave to possess something so evil?"

"I told you already Brethilior," Legolas replied wearily, "The Lady told us that these Dark Ones are not as we are. They are evil of the worst kind. They feel, think, and know the turmoil of love and hate as all of our kind do. But they do not choose love, they choose hate. That is what makes them so terrifying, and powerful."

"The evil ones we have fought before, the orcs, the giant spiders, they knew nothing but evil. It was who they were. But to choose evil takes a mind far more twisted then theirs." Legolas paused and looked Brethilior in the eyes, "Those who we have fought before do not know anything of good, or our motivation in upholding it. But this great enemy, they know exactly what we do and why. They know that we would not sacrifice hundreds upon thousands to achieve our goals. They know our weaknesses, because once, a long time ago, our weaknesses were theirs."

Brethilior said nothing, but looked slightly chastened as he continued riding. As Legolas was mulling over the conversation, Hinor, who was riding ahead, stopped his horse. Legolas noticed his halt just in time to steer his horse away from a collision, and looked over at Hinor annoyed. The black cloaked figure said nothing, but raised his finger to where his lips would have been, if Legolas could have seen them.

Legolas had not realised, but they had entered a clearing in the area of forest they had been riding in, all around the riders there was nothing but densely packed trees. The path wound on through the forest, and Legolas could see no reason for the halt in their progress.

"What is it?" He whispered, suddenly feeling ill at ease, "Why have we stopped?"

Hinor again did nothing but raise his finger to his unseen lips, and then gestured to show that Legolas and Brethilior should listen.

Legolas could hear nothing. Feeling rather annoyed, he opened his mouth to speak, and then stopped. He had heard a nearby twig snap. A very small rustling of leaves soon followed. Legolas became tense as the tiny, but not insignificant, noises continued, and grew louder, as though whatever was coming was headed in their direction.

His breathing grew faster, then halted altogether as he heard a scrape of steel againsts steel. His eyes scanned the tiny clearing, and saw Hinor standing on the ground, crouching slightly, sword in hand. The noise he had heard was Hinors sword, he realised, and felt his breathing continue.

The noises continued, and though they were tiny and quiet, something that only the elves or a trained hunter would hear, they were, Legolas felt, slightly threatening.

Legolas looked around again and had a shock when he realised Hinor, who had been standing next to his horse, had disappeared.

Brethilior too had noticed, and was looking around the small clearing, his eyes hardly staying focused on one area for more then a second.

The silence had grown again, and Legolas realised that the noises had stopped. He quickly dismpunted his horse and walked to the edge of the clearing, staring out into the semi-darkness, trying to catch a glimpse of their guide. As he was staring into the woods, he felt a small tap on is shoulder. He spun around startled, while unsheathing his sword, and found himself looking into the blackness of Hinor's hood. Legolas looked at him for a moment, disgruntled, then put his sword back into its sheath.

As he took in the scene before him, he realised that Hinor was holding something, or someone, in his gloved hand.

By the time Legolas realised what it was, Brethilior too had dismounted and was walking towards them.

"Stop." Legolas said quickly, just as Brethilior was reaching out with his sword to touch the thing, "I know what it is."

Legolas pulled away a hood that was covering what he suspected was the creatures face, and smiled. He now knew the reason that the creature made such little noise, because, after all, Hobbits could be very quiet when they wished to.

The small face looked up at him, and Legolas couuldn't help but smile when the young hobbit child said,

"Please don't hurt me sir, I never did anythin' to you folks. I was just losted in the forest, and heard your horses." He glanced nervously at the three, his glance lingering on Hinor, "I thought you might help me, sirs." he continued, rather more hesitantly.

Legolas smiled again, and said gently to the young Hobbit, "Of course we'll help you. But first we need to know who you are and where you're from so we can get you back there."

The child looked around nervously, and said, "Before I tell you anythin', who's that one, the creepy looking one, and why is he all in black?"

Legolas looked over at Hinor, and wondered how he would explain this, but before he could say anything, Hinor gently turned the hobbit to face him and, with his back to the other elves, quickly moved his hood so the little one could see Hinors face.

An enormous smile came onto the hobbits face, and he was opening his mouth to say something when Hinor again moved, but this time he moved one hand to his mouth, and the other he rested on the hobbits shoulder.

The little hobbit smiled and nodded, then turned to face the others.

"I am Elanor Gamgee, and I live in Hobbiton." she said, unaware of the shock that registered on Legolas' face, "I've heard lots of stories about the elves, and they were all nice. Elves are always nice." Legolas nearly winced at the irony of her statement, then waited as she continued, "It would be very nice of you sirs to take me home now. Please?"

Legolas smiled. "Yes, Elanor. We will."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The company of three, Aragorn, Gimli, and Gandalf had arrived at the Lonely Mountain. The atmosphere among the Dwarves who lived there was that of suspicion bordering on hostility against the King and Wizard. Gimli, of course, was not under any suspicion, but he was always closely watched by Dain's men. The fact that the Arkenstone had been stolen from under their very noses had made them wary of strangers, and even friends.

The three had been shown to their chambers in the depths of the Lonely Mountain, passing through many suspicious glares from the dwarves that were working along the passages leading to their rooms. Aragorn and Gandalf had been kept under close scrutiny ever since their arrival and neither of them were happy about it, especially as they had not seen the Dain, the king under the mountain, yet.

"When will the king see us?" Aragorn wondered, "And why are the dwarves suspicious of us, especially Gimli?"

"Answers will come, but all in good time my friend," Gandalf replied wearily, "The King will most likely be seeing us on the morrow. I am beginning to feel that he is more preoccupied with keeping his people calm then amusing his visitors," he said with a sideways glance, "No matter how important they may be."

Aragorn gave an indifferent grunt, and continued pacing around their quarters.

"You know," Gimli said from his seat on small bed, "Walking around in circles isn't going to make tomorrow come any faster. We will talk to the King when he is ready for us, and only then. Knowing him, and I do, he will be trying to get the dwarves who serve him to adjust to our presence here."

"Yes, yes." Aragorn said moodily, "Waiting is all very well and I can understand why he hasn't sent for us immediately, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Gimli snorted, and Gandalf bit back a grin. Even the King smiled.

Aragorn stopped pacing, and looked at the bed that the dwarves had supplied. He smiled at the thought, and wondered where they had acquired a bed that would suit a fully grown man. Smiling to himself, he sat down hard on the bed and winced. Apparently, he thought, even beds are made from rock here. And, indeed, under a thin layer of padding, the bed was made of rock.

Aragorn sighed, but he still lay down on the bed, willing himself to sleep and get some rest for the coming day. Doubtless, he thought, it would be a trial.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hello again, my readers, I offer my humble apologies for taking so long to post this chapter. I am afraid that, besides from a serious case of writers block, I have been on holidays and have recently gotten a job, so updates will likely be erratic.

Anyway, I would like to thank all my reviewers, but especially lembas7. The cure of my writers block is solely due to (his?her?) prompt reply to my plea for advice and inspiration.

Now, on the storyline, I realise that there may be a few areas in this chapter that do not stay true to the geography of Middle Earth (eg. Meeting up with Elanor near the shire), but readers must allow some room for the plot to develop, and I couldn't think of another way to bring the hobbits into the story. Well, I could have thought of one, but it required brainpower that I am lacking at the moment :-P

Anyway, enjoy!