Well, I have another chapter up, if anyone cares. But hey, free virtual cookies to anyone who does! This is a short one, not too much goes on, but don't worry, it IS important. I have to go to class now and study for a test for my 6-9 class tonight so bye for now! Hey, anyone know anything about Herman Melville, I have to do a goup presentation on him on the 19...but I have like a million things going on that day...including a reading at a conference and a big test in another class. Hmmm, I say I'm screwed!

I don't own it, but I will gladly accept it for my brithday...that and money so I can buy new tack to show my new horse in barrel racing this summer. But till, then, I don't own anyone or anything, just Eriathwen. Byes!

What Does Anything Mean?

Eriathwen gave the room a quick once over to ensure she hadn't forgotten any of her few possessions. Not for the first time that night she wished she had her sword and knife back. She had been granted her bow, with a few of her precious arrows, but it still wasn't the same.

Having to do without, she sighed and hoisted the bag up farther on her back and turned to leave the room. She had considered leaving the room through the window, but she thought that that would just draw more attention, but if she were to leave through the main door, someone was sure to see her, so she was back to the window, which still wasn't a great idea either. She was once again contemplating which way to go when she heard footsteps on the walk below the window.

This having made her decision for her, she turned once again, this time to face the other direction and eased open the door to creep out silently. It was going just as she planned; she had snuck down to the kitchen earlier and stocked up, which was what filled most of her pack, snagged a shirt that happened to be in one of the drawers, the one she had worn earlier that week in fact, and now she would sneak out of the building undetected, just as she intended, except for one thing that dint go quite as planned.

"Well, where are you going at this hour? Don't you know young elf maidens as your self need to get several hours of beauty sleep a night? Who knows what you might look like in the morning if you don't?"

"Sir?"

"Ignore him, he just got done with his evening drink, all ten of them. Apparently tonight he is 'allowing' the wine to affect him." Legolas glided down the hallway and placed a hand on his father's shoulder.

"Yes, I can, err, see that." Legolas raised an eyebrow at her comment, possibly attempting to suppress a laugh. Feeling it was best to change the subject, he looked around to find a topic of interest. His eyes came to rest on her bag

"Going out?" he nodded slightly in indication to the bag.

"I uh…"

"You are free to go; you can leave whenever you want."

He doesn't even care if I go. I should have taken my chances with the window. This is a waste of my valuable and already well wasted time. They don't care if I leave or not.

Legolas grinned slightly and continued, not noticing as she stared past his shoulder and right through the wall. "I wish you wouldn't leave in the middle of the night like this, I would have liked to have given you a proper goodbye."

"What?"

"It might change the speed of your travels."

Is he trying to get rid of me quicker? "Speak clearly."

"If you really want to go, fine, but wait until tomorrow, then you will see. Goodnight Eriathwen." He turned and continued down the hall, his father trailing behind him, laughing under the influence of the wine he favored late at night. "Come on father, I don't need you running off too."

The branch wasn't exactly what she would call a bed, but she settled herself upon it to rest anyway. This was her tree, the one she had always loved growing up and she knew it better than anyone else. She trusted it to hold her weight as she leaned back against the tree's trunk and relaxed onto the crevices twisted into the old tree's bark.

A light wind picked her hair gently off her shoulders and she looked down to see that it was down instead of braided like normal. Looking about she noticed that there were things growing in the tree. Fruit, strange fruit, but it somehow looked familiar to her. The wind picked up harder and she heard a creaking sound from beneath her where she sat on the one thing where she felt safest.

Weightlessness wasn't always one of her favorite things. As she fell, she thought about what it would look like when someone happened upon her, in this deserted part of the forest far from any town. She waited for her to hit the hard ground, but as contact was about to be made, she was suddenly stopped in her free fall. She looked up and saw a smile looking down upon her.

"Thank you, Legolas…"

Eriathwen woke with a start and looked around to see branches above her and feel his safe arms encircling her still. Her eyes searched wildly for a few seconds when she realized that the suppressed feeling around her was the sheet that she had managed to entwine herself in while she had been sleeping. There were no trees, no broken branches, no favorite spots from places she used to stay, and no Legolas catching her from her unexpected descent from her once sturdy spot. Acknowledging that it was a dream, she sighed, relaxing her body from the tense position she had been holding since she woke.

Clunk. Perhaps she should have noted that she was leaning stiff over the edge of the bed.. Grumbling to herself, she tried to untangle the web of sheets she was intertwined with on the floor.

Wishing to get back to sleep, she decided to be content with the nest like mess she was encircled in rather than groping in the dark for the ends of the sheets and tripping herself up just to get back into the bed, only to put the sheets back on first. Slightly disheveled, she curled up and wrapped the sheet, if possible, tighter about her, and drifted back to sleep, remembering how like his arms the sheets felt when she was knotted within them. But as she fell asleep, other thoughts interrupted her.

Why had the branch broken in her dream, when it was usually unshakeable? And why had Legolas caught her? What did it all mean? Come to think of it, what did Legolas mean when he said wait until morning? If I left tonight and had slept in a tree, would the branch have broken?...Would he have caught me?

As she was falling off to sleep however, she could vaguely hear the door easing open. Had she been anywhere else, she would have given it more thought but by the time the prince left her room seconds later, she was already fast asleep.