Good day to you lovely Christmas Elves!

I'm sorry that this is a little late, I had three assignments in for the same week. My lecturers planned that one as a stab in the back, I'm sure of it! Here is the next installment, it's a soft chapter, so I hope you enjoy! Don't mean to be needy, but I love reviews, they literally will make my Christmas. I like to hear what you're all thinking, and what you would like to see, it cheers me up.

Cheers for the f/f: ca186229, HobbitGirl330, SoraLover987142 and Dady433

ThatAwkwardCrazyAuthor: The Fox and the Hound wasn't my inspiration, but now you mention it I love that film. Todd has been a name that I've loved for a while, and with the story, it just seemed to fit.

Dhalmi93: Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you're enjoying this story. Bofur is by far my favorite Dwarf, it must be his cheeky grin and wicked hat! Who knows what's in store for him ha

Chapter 5 - Remember Thy Name

Todd awoke the next day with a splitting headache. The culmination of being knocked out my trolls, beaten by a stick for five days, and then running for her life and getting almost sliced in two by an Orc pack had caught up to her. In fact, she felt like she had been stomped on by an Oliphuant. She supposed that it didn't help that her mind had been filled with thoughts of the company and their quest either. Her brain was torn between fighting her way onto it or just completely staying out of the way.

She finally gave up trying to rest at first light, sitting up and running her hands through her hair, pulling at the knots she took to looking around. The healing room was pretty much how it was the day before; no one had been in through the night either. She realized then, that maybe she should ask the Elf-Lord to grant her somewhere more realistic. She didn't want to be putting him out of a healing room because of her.

She stretched her body out and found to her great pleasure that there was only the slightest tug at her wounded side. The gash healing nicely in her sleep, and not feeling itchy in the slightest, as new scars tended to for a while after the new skin appeared. She pulled the blankets from her and got herself cleaned up from a washbowl and readied herself for a day of wandering the halls of Rivendell. She wasn't going to be within this magical place and not take the chance to explore. It wasn't in her nature. She was about to start the chore of pulling at her hair properly when a very formal knock came on her door.

"Come in!" She called, her eyes tearing from the reflection of wild crazy red curls to the door. It creaked open slowly to show a beautiful Elven woman. Her skin was clear and as pale was a water lily. Her eyes were a piecing blue that resembled a shimmering crystal and her hair was as dark as the night, much like the Elf Lords, she recalled. It floated down to the small of her back in slight waves. She was stood with her perfect hand resting on the door handle, her body standing tall and delicate.

"My Lady Todd, can I come in?" She spoke, quiet soft words.

"Of course, my lady" Todd stuttered, in awe of the beautiful woman before her. She had to fight to urge to let her jaw drop as the Elven woman floated inside, closed the door behind her and came to a seat on her borrowed bed. "I'm afraid, I do not know your name my Lady, though you are acquainted with mine."

"My apologies, I am Rhianine, apprentice of Lord Elrond" She spoke. Todd nodded then, that must be the Elf Lords name also, Elrond.

"It is a pleasure to meet you!" Todd spoke, bowing her head to the beauty. Not really understanding why Rhianine had come to seek her out, Todd turned fully to her and shuffled on her feet, feeling completely inadequate in her looks in comparison. "What can I help you with?"

"I have merely come to talk, I seek kind words from you, nothing else!" She smiled sweetly. "Over breakfast of course"

"I highly doubt any thing like me should be eating at the same table as you, Lady Rhianine?" Todd questioned, highly confused.

Rhianine stood, opting to leaving Todd without an answer to her query. With her height towering over Todd, moving towards the door Todd realized that she was supposed to be following. She jumped from the mirror and grabbed a ribbon from her bag for her hair, she dashed off to the door as Lady Rhianine held it open for her. She ducked through and thanked her, then followed slightly behind her as they made their way through the maze of delicate flowing light hallways. Finally, as they rounded a corner into a much wider hallway, the arches over looking a waterfall across the way, did Rhianine speak again.

"I was instructed to organize for you to eat breakfast with myself and Lord Elrond, I hope you do not mind" She stated.

"Of course not, just as long as I am not intruding?" Todd asked again, amazed that she was being treated as she was.

"You have been invited, hewould not have done so if you weren't welcome"

With that they came to a door, guards either side opened it for them and they passed through into a beautiful light round room. The ceiling curved upwards into a dome, the top of which was open to the skies above. There were no walls, just columns in which you could see the whole valley between. It was breath taking and Todd had to halt for a minute to soak it all in. She looked to the table in the centre of the room. It was large and round, keeping in theme. Sat at one side was Lord Elrond, his eyes watching her closely as Rhianine sat to his left.

Todd stood by the door as not only Lord Elrond, but also two other handsome Elven men stood, each looking intently towards her. The two other Elves were younger, and extremely similar looking to Lord Elrong. Therefore she concluded that they must have been his sons. They smiled to her, smiles that looked distinctly eager, for some reason.

"Here, welcome to our table, Todd, daughter of Lisita!" Lord Elrond spoke. Smiling when he saw how caught of guard she was by the use of her Mothers name. She bowed to them all and sat down in the chair between the two young Elven princes.

"Forgive me, but you know of my mother?" She asked, eager for answers.

"Of course" Elrond spoke gently, he gestured to the food in front of him. "Here, help yourself"

Todd smiled to him, the question still lingering in her eyes. She never told anyone here who her Mother was. To be completely honest, she had not spoke of her at all. She knew that Elves were extremely knowledgeable, but there was no way they could have just guessed. She politely looked down to the food, and found the table littered with sweet smelling breads and pastries of all kinds. She spotted a sugary looking loaf and took one piece, breaking it with her fingers politely. She glanced to her left and saw the prince looking towards her.

"Hello" She stuttered.

"My name is Elrohir, this here is Elladan" He spoke, gesturing to his brother on her other side. "It is a pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine, I can assure you" Todd smiled to both of them. Their bright smiles making her feel a little more welcome. She noticed then that their eyes were brighter than their sisters. The obvious difference, being that of their long slender blonde hair. A stark contrast to the black of Rhianine and Elrond's hair.

"Well it is not everyday that we get to swap kind words with a creature such as yourself" Elrohir stated, making Todd tense a little.

"Indeed, I met your mother many years ago, and have not seen her again since?" Elrond asked.

"My Mother is no longer with us" Todd spoke, her voice strong and cold in that moment. She did not wish to talk about it, and she hoped her tone would convey that. Elrond bowed his head, his eyes softening.

"I'm very sorry for your loss." He breathed. "What of your Father?"

"Also no longer with us, I find myself quite the solitary creature these days my Lord" She stated.

"Well not quite so solitary now though" He began. "You belong with the Company do you not?"

"No, I suppose you could say that it was a rather large mix of events, I was trapped in the troll hoard" Todd began, feeling the two brothers and Rhianine lean forward with attention. "They found me before those beasts could harm me, they freed me so I helped them outrun the Wargs and their riders"

"You did more than that!" Elrohir jumped in. His brother finishing his words. "Father said he found you bleeding and unconscious after protecting the dwarves"

"I tried my best" She stuttered. She nibbled at the sweet bread then as the table lapsed into a time of silence. Her mind jumped to why she had indeed, tried so hard to protect them.

Todd took to nibbling as small bites as she could. Eating around such beautiful creatures really did something against your appetite. She found herself feeling very wary of them. They seemed to know a lot about her, yet she knew nothing personal of them. How did they know her Mother? She thought. Father had mentioned once that Lisita, her mother, had traveled a lot, yet Mother had elbowed him into silence before he could explain, then that was the end of it.

Maybe, if it was true, she had met Lord Elrond many decades ago, she thought. She looked up to Elrond and contemplated a while before asking.

"My Lord Elrond?" She asked, sounding quite like a child. "How do you know my Mother?"

He sighed, yet the action was far from stressed and agitated. His eyes were on hers and softening again. This Elf showed his emotions so well through his eyes.

"I was riding from Lothlorien back to my halls here, Orc's had cornered us. I lost many good men that day, protecting me and my wife." He started, looking to his sons solemnly. "We were getting pretty desperate when your Mother appeared, a beautiful large red fox, from out the woods and came straight to our sides."

"She was always brave" Todd smiled to her plate.

"Indeed, she saved us, my wife!" Elrond smiled too. "For that I am eternally grateful"

Todd hadn't heard stories about her Mother for a long time. After it happened... she caught her thoughts before she could digress, then and continued her original train of thought. Her Father had nothing but tender and admirable words for her Mother. Todd had known her of course, but it was always cathartic to talk about her with her Father, learning of their times together before she was around. The thought of her Mother being brave and protecting those she did not know warmed her heart terribly. Quite like her actions with the dwarves, her mind cut in. Yet she had rationalized that with the fact that they had freed her first. Todd knew that she was like her Mother, yet she only ever believed it was in looks. Her mother, like her was short with a slender build. Her long red flowing hair was tipped a brilliant white. Her Father had always teased that the only bit of him in Todd was her eyes. Like his, they were bright green like the emeralds he used to work with, instead of her mothers chocolate brown.

She hadn't realized that she was frozen still in reverie until Rhianine cleared her throat.

"You are just like her, you see, I saw you on that field and thought of your Mother instantly!" He continued. "Its good to see the strong Tayen blood has endured"

Todd looked to Elrond then, the way he spoke then sounded very strange to her. She thought that was very strange indeed. People never spoke of bloodlines unless there was something special about them. Bloodlines were for the noble, and royal families, even for warriors sometimes. She was none of those that she knew for sure.

The rest of the meal went by with small talk between herself and the brothers and Rhianine . They chatted of the world, places they had all been and seen. Todd found herself warming to Rhianine, she seemed to speak very highly of things, bringing much light to the conversation, where as the twins were mischievous and liked to tease and joke, much to Lord Elrond's disdain at times. She had laughed with them and it was the warmest she had felt in a long time, but she knew not to get used to it. The last time people had welcomed her they had turned on her. When the meal came to an end, she bid the family and Rhianine farewell and left them to their own time together. She didn't want to over stay her welcome.

She wandered the halls and through many archways until she came across a garden. A small but delicately and well-hidden treasure built so it was nestled backward into the cliff edge. She must have been in the furthest reaches of the highest parts of Rivendell. She took a deep breath and smiled as the warm air rushed around her. She wandered around the garden aimlessly, her hands dusting across the heads of flowers, their petals tickling her palms. Coming to a small clearing she sat down in the grass. It cushioned her as she lay down on her back. Eyes watching the soft clouds float above her head. Her ears were listening to the winds and the soft gurgle of the many flowing waterfalls and streams flowing through the halls.

It was the safest she had felt in many years, her body relaxed fully and her chest heaved a great sigh. She had been searching for a long time, running you could say from something that has always been at the back of her mind. Even when she had a home with her Father and Mother. It had appeared as a seed. Her Mother would assure her it was nothing, nothing to ever worry about. Yet when she had… when she was gone her Father would assure her that it was nothing, so long as she had a home that her heart belonged to. Yet now she was alone, it appeared as a tugging in her mind. It prodded and itched at her consciousness. Then the foul creatures had begun to stir around her. So she had run, run from her lost home, to try and find a new one. One where she didn't have to worry about the itching and prodding, one where she was safe and completely at one with her mind, safe in the knowledge that the thing that teased her with its nagging presence was suppressed and no more.

She must of fallen asleep because by the time that she realized that the sun was now further across the sky than it had been when she reclined into the grass, she noticed that she was also, not alone.

Her mind had woken her, her eyes still closed but extremely aware of a presence to her left. She could hear breathing and a rustling of pages, maybe even the scratching of a pen on the paper. She took a sniff at the air, her senses not as clear as when she was a fox, but still heightened, could smell hints of ink and wood smoke.

Cocking one eye open, she looked to find the young dwarf Ori. He was sat cross-legged in the opening next to her scribbling into his book. She watched for a small while whilst he looked up to the flowers then back to scribbling. He must have been drawing them or something, she concluded. She was quite amused that he had sat so close to her, well sat with her at all. She thought that the dwarves had pretty much written her off, but it was nice to see that one of them wasn't so put off by her that he had to hide from her.

"Good Afternoon, Master Dwarf" She spoke quietly, for only him to hear as she shifted into a sitting position. He froze for a second before shutting his book and dropping his quill and inkpot.

"Good Afternoon, you don't mind me sitting here?" He stuttered, his voice almost childlike and soft. He didn't seem angry or resentful towards her at all, just nervous.

"Of course not, its nice to have some company" She smiled to him, shuffling to face him.

"Its just, I went for a wander and got lost!" He stated, looking to his lap, almost ashamed. Todd chuckled. "Then an Elf pointed me towards this garden, said a friend was there."

"Ahh, sorry about that!" She apologized automatically to him for being linked to her. His eyes scrunched a little, his brow furrowing.

"Why do you apologize?" He asked.

"Oh well, people don't normally like being associated with me, I thought you would have noticed from yesterday"

"Yes, well for that I apologize!" He bowed his head, now it was her turn to look completely bewildered. "You see, I feel it was completely unwarranted, their reaction"

"Its frustrating, but I don't blame them, the past of a Rebhane is a dark one" Todd countered.

"Yes, but not you, you helped us…" he spoke up now, his voice more confident. "... You protected us!"

"It was the least I could do, your friends saved me from the trolls!"

"To be fair, we almost didn't make it to the troll hoard…" He stuttered. Sensing a story on his lips she urged him to go on. She liked this dwarf, he seemed more understanding than the rest. Her actions meant more to him than the actions of those she had no control over. He hesitated at first, yet when she smiled softly to him he delved into a story about how they also had experienced a run in with the trolls.

She was just so happy that it wasn't just her that got caught by the overly dimwitted creatures.