"Ahniel slowly opened her eyes and looked at the dark night sky. She was beyond confused for a moment until she remembered what had happened before she lost consciousness. Then the pain in her side began to burn through her very being, and she groaned out loud. The elven woman who had come to her rescue, turned her head from the fire that was dancing on the makeshift bonfire. "Are you alright, little Pheen?" The female elf's light voice rang through the air like wind passing through a bell. "Thank you for coming to my help. I would surely be dead without your help. May I know your name, my saviour?" Ahniel spoke as she carefully sat up trying to keep her movements small as to not hurt her side even further. She glanced down and saw that the wound had been bandaged. "My name is Tauriel. We will wait until morning to keep going. Some of our troops have left ahead to inform our king of your presence. Once we arrive you will have an audience with him, and he will decide if you will be welcome to stay in the protection of Mirkwood." The woman, now named as Tauriel informed Ahniel. "I am in Mirkwood?" Ahniel questioned, trying her best to hide the growing weariness inside her.
"Yes. We haven't had a pheen here since most of you were wiped out by the orcs and humans." Tauriel explained and Ahniel's chest tightened, but she said "Yes, because once there was a pheen living among you. But then one of your citizens sold her to the humans. The humans wanted to have her wings and horns and the group of elves gladly sold her away." Ahniel spoke bitterly and Tauriel sighed and nodded in disappointment. "Yes indeed. We are ashamed of that small group that once lived within our protection. So what is your name then? You know mine, but I do not know yours." Tauriel spoke locking eyes with Ahniel and Ahniel could see that she truly was ashamed of the elves that had betrayed the trust of their kingdom's closest companions.
"My name is Ahniel Lauricè. I have been travelling for a long time. I am not particularly happy about residing here, but I am tired of running. If you will only have me here then I will gladly stay for a short while." Ahniel said as the weight of her 100 year long exhaustion began to weigh her down once more. She spent most of her life running and hiding and never being able to have any meaningful friendships, and she had been all alone. She sometimes stayed with different species for a few days but never long. She had learnt to survive on her own. Sometimes she would go years without coming across any civilization.
"I am positive that our king will be merciful. He has very high respect for the pheens. His father was once an older brother to the pheen that the traitors sold off. Thranduil, despite having been so young, still remembers the pheen being very close to him." Tauriel explained and Ahniel was sad for a moment that so much time had passed. She was aware that her old friend had passed and his son was now the ruler but still she was sad that things had turned out that way, and she had never returned. But she felt betrayed by him.
"Then I am glad to meet him." Ahniel said with a small smile and Tauriel's gaze softened, and she responded "Yes, but now you must sleep. You need to heal and sleep makes the process faster." Ahniel smiled gladly at her, and she laid back down on the soft grass that tickled her cheek. She was terrified of how the meeting would go, and she dreaded that he might remember that Thranduil could remember what she looked like. She wanted her past to stay in the past and there was no need for it to be revealed to the world just yet. She closed her eyes and let herself fall into the blissful hold of sleep.
Sorry for the wait. I have been having a really stressful time for the past half a year.
Word Count: 685