Author's Note: Ha! Chapter 2! I'm in a LotR mood so writing for this and Fathers has been easy-peasey. Tauriel makes her appearance! Yay! *picture me flailing like Kermit the Frog*

So I totally based Tauriel's family off of Lor's in the show The Weekenders (it was from my childhood). She's the only girl in a huge family. Tauriel is tough so I figured she had to have a lot of brothers to pick on her and make her that way. You'll get to meet the rest of them in a bit. Ironically as I was writing I realized up until her I accidently created the Weasley Family. There are three older brothers, a set of (almost) identical twins, another brother, then Tauriel and her twin. Totally a coincidence but awesome all the same. So in this chapter we introduce the twins: Ruscion *fox* and Ononion (pronounced oh-no-nee-on) *twin/second born*, Balanidhren-he'd be the Ron I suppose-(pronounced Bahl-ahn-ee-threnn) *wise power*, and Gellamdor *combination of jubilation and brother*. Morcion *bear* is mentioned; as is Lacien's father, Canadrion. Thranduil's elk's name translates to warrior. Anywho...on with the story!

In the forest of Eryn Galen, among the trees, a young, red haired Elleth walked amongst the branches and leaves, keeping a steady pace and slowly leaving her four companions behind her. With an annoyed sigh she paused and turned herself around, waiting impatiently for her brothers to catch up, "Will you hurry up? It'll be dark by the time we get there!"

Another redhead, an Elf slightly older than the Elleth in question, named Balanidhren rolled his eyes but nevertheless did quicken his pace, "Where exactly is 'there', Tauriel? Where are we going?"

Two of the Elves in the small group were unnervingly similar, yet not quite identical if one looked hard enough. They kept their pace slow and casual. At Balanidhren's questioning of their sister the twin on the right, Ruscion, smirked up at the trees, "Taur is stalking the prince."

Tauriel leveled him with her most intimidating glare, "I am not stalking anybody!"

The other twin to the left, Ononion, smirked as well, "So we just happen to be in the forest, heading in the direction the trees mentioned Prince Legolas and his friends went in? That's one impressive coincidence."

Tauriel sent them both a gesture she had seen her elder brother Morcion give on more than one occasion, "Just follow me."

The last member of the group, another redhead the same age as Tauriel swung up into the trees to catch up with his twin, "Taur, why are we following Prince Legolas?"

Tauriel sent him a hard look, "We're not following anybody, Gellamdor. We're going to practice our sword drills," She glanced away and chewed at her lip for a moment, "If we happen to run into the prince and his friends and end up practicing with them...well...that'd be fine."

Balanidhren hopped into the branches by his sister, "If you want to 'happen to run into' the prince you're going the wrong way. The trees having been saying they stopped in a clearing about ten minutes ago."

Tauriel felt the banging both her head and his against the tree, "And the reason you couldn't have said this sooner?"

Balanidhren gave her a look, "Because I'm not helping you stalk the Prince of Eryn Galen!"

Ononion turned to head in the direction the trees had told them the prince was in, "What happens if you 'happen' to meet him? Do you have a plan if it actually happens or are you going to hide in the trees and stare at him?"

Tauriel swung down from the tree and dropped down on top of him, nearly taking them both to the ground. He hoisted his sister more firmly on his back and continued walking. Tauriel wrapped her arms around his shoulders and rested her head on his shoulder, "...I don't...but he seems so nice. He the golden prince! And he's around my age...and he's...dashing...and a great warrior, and a great prince...I just want to get to know him."

Ruscion appeared on the side of his twin with a fond look at his younger sister, "I understand that, Taur, but keep in mind he's the prince. Don't be heartbroken if he has enough friends. He may not want to spend time with Silvan merchants' children."

Tauriel nodded somberly and rested her chin back on Ononion's shoulder. The group of siblings continued in a comfortable silence until they heard soft laughter and Elvish voices coming from up ahead. Tauriel's head shot up and she slid off her brother's back, stopping in her tracks, "I change my mind. Let's go back home."

Balanidhren groaned, "Are you kidding me? After all that?"

Ruscion sighed and looked his sister firmly in the eye, "Let's get a bit closer. We'll see what they're doing. Maybe that will give you some courage to 'happen to bump into them'."

"But we walked all the way out here and you back out I promise we're leaving you in the woods next time," Ononion threatened lightly.

Tauriel screwed up her face and took a deep breath, "Just a little closer. I don't want them think we're hiding from them or stalking them."

Gellamdor followed his siblings with a mutter under his breath, But we ARE stalking them."

The group of siblings crept closer, keeping their footsteps as quiet as possible. As the clearing drew closer Ruscion, Ononion, and Tauriel moved into the trees to conceal themselves better while getting a better vantage point. Balanidhren and Gellamdor stayed stubbornly on the ground. At Tauriel's gesture for them to follow Balanidhren shook his head, "No. I don't want to be exiled or killed for stalking the prince. I think that's considered treason. If you decide to talk to him I'll go with. I'm not spying on him. That's creepy."

Tauriel rolled her eyes and settled on one of the upper branches of the tree, peeking through the leaves at the group below. The group seemed to be preparing some sort of play with a smaller Elf directing them on what to do. Prince Legolas was seated in a tree, resting against it's trunk, a bow on his lap that he was fiddling with. Perched across the top of the clearing was a blonde Elleth clad in breeches and a half bodice, exposing her midriff. She was balanced, alarmingly on a rope that seemed far too thin that stretched between two trees. Tauriel looked her over and looked down ruefully at the tunic and pants she wore that had once belonged to, no doubt, at least three of her elder brother before her. Also among the group was the Captain of the King's Army's son, Lacien, as well as the prince's personal guard, Halden.

Tauriel settled on her stomach to watch, quickly getting caught up in the story being told. As a mock sword fight began between a tall Elf (who she thought may have been named either Bolon or Emerion...she wasn't sure) and Lacien movement across the clearing caught her attention.

"Did you hear that?"

Tauriel looked down and saw Halden on his feet. Apparently she wasn't the only one. As Halden's eyes scanned the trees and his head moved in her direction she held perfectly still, desperately hoping it wasn't her he had heard. The small group dismissed the noise as nothing and Tauriel felt her head spin with relief. A hand on her shoulder almost caused her to yelp, clamping her hands over her mouth at the last second. She whirled around to see Ruscion looking at her anxiously, "That was too close. Balanidhren's right. I'm not being thrown in the dungeons for stalking the prince."

Tauriel shook her head and kept her voice nothing more than a breath, "It wasn't us. There's something on the other side of the clearing."

Ononion frowned, "Like an orc?"

Ruscion frowned as well, "Not an orc...the trees would have told us if it was an orc."

Ononion's frown deepened, "Either way we should tell them. And we're going home. Something doesn't feel right. The trees are too quiet."

The trio made their way down the tree to the forest floor where Balanidhren and Gellamdor were pressed against the trunk, eyes wide. Ruscion dropped down in front of them and started walking, "We're going home. Something is wrong. I can feel it."

Gellamdor's voice was hushed and strained, "The forest is silent. There's no noise. And there's something here. It hissed."

Balanidhren nodded, "We both heard it."

Ononion began scanning the wood around them, "We're going home. Forget warning the prince. The trees will warn them if something's wrong."

No sooner had he spoke that the trees began screaming a warning of danger to all the Elves nearby. The siblings spun around in time to see a dark, black shape lunge into the clearing. Tauriel made a strangled screech and quickly ascended the tree again to see what happened. Ruscion turned to his younger brother's, "Go get help! Go to the palace! Now!"

Gellamdor took off at top speed but Balanidhren followed the twins up the tree behind Tauriel. The siblings all froze in horror for a long moment at the scene below. There was a spider. A massive, massive black spider. It was something you only saw in nightmares and tales. It rushed into the clearing, making a horrid hissing noise that seemed to turn skin. Instantly the prince's party, despite being caught off guard, was in warrior mode. Swords were pulled out seconds before the creature reared up and sliced the rope holding the Elleth. She went flying and didn't reemerge. It the same instant it seemed to knock the tallest Elf into a tree where they heard a sickening crack. Without thinking Tauriel drew her practice blades and leapt from the tree onto the spider's back. Cursing, Ruscion and Ononion followed, drawing their swords as well. Balanidhren slid to the ground and rushed in front that level, feeling sick to his stomach as he did.

The spider hissed loudly as one of Tauriel's blades made it into it's back before she was knocked off and rolled to the side. Fear took over for a moment as she saw both her brothers get knocked off as well. The spider loomed over her for a second and her mind went blank, fear paralyzing her instantly. The creature was by far the scariest thing she could image. Far scarier than any orc, goblin, or trolls. It's fangs dripped with some kind of thick fluid and she distantly realized that they were all going to die before the spider lurched back as if hit with something. That split second gave Balanidhren enough time to pull her to the side and Tauriel snapped back to herself. Sticking out of the back of the spider was an arrow, no doubt belonging to the prince. Prince Legolas managed to fire two more shots before the spider lunged at him and he jumped out of the tree and out of the way.

Halden and Lacien lunged from either side at the thing, swords slicing at it the best they could manage. Prince Legolas rolled to his feet after a moment and fired another arrow, this time hitting it in the head. The spider screeched at them and made it's way into the trees, trying to retreat. Halden, Lacien, Prince Legolas, and the twins briefly made to follow it before Nibenon threw the knife he was holding at it. The blade struck true in the spider's abdomen and it screeched again before rushing off.

The whole clearing went utterly still for a moment; Balanidhren blocking Tauriel from harm's way with one arm when she spoke shakily, "What was that thing?"

As his siblings fought for their lives Gellamdor ran as fast as he could through the forest, leaping over branches and logs, entirely focused on getting to the palace. As his legs started to go numb and his vision began to go black around the edges the palace gates came into view. No caring what happened around him and utterly focused on his goal, Gellamdor rushed past the guards who followed him with a startled cry. One of them caught him around the middle and lifted him clear off the ground. Gellamdor struggled the best he could, "I need to see the king! There's a monster attacking! The prince!"

He wiggled his way out of their grip and bolted to the throne room where he prayed the king was. He heard the guards' cries of dismay but ignore them, intent on getting help.

Thankfully the king was on his throne, speaking with a few other Elves in the room. Not even thinking Gellamdor bolted in front of the throne, throwing himself down to his knees as he gasped out what he could, "Majesty! Monster! Attacking!"

After fighting in the Last Alliance which saw the death of his father, making him king as an Elf barely out of his childhood, losing his wife, causing him to have to raise their young son as a single father, many, many years on the throne, and, last but not least, raising a son who-in his opinion-was the only perfect thing on Middle Earth but spent had spent half of his young life in the healer's ward, not much could surprise King Thranduil on a day to day basis. However a young, Silvan Elf running into the throne room completely out of breath manage to stun him into silence for at least a short moment. Behind the child (for that's what he was) can two of his guards, both of whom looked incredibly sheepish at having allowed him to slip past. Both dropped to one knee before they both spoke, cutting each other off.

"So sorry, Your Majesty-"

"Slipped past-"

"Something about needing help-"

"Monster-"

'Help' was the word that registered. Thranduil was instantly out of the throne and on the same level with the small Elf, "What's wrong?"

The boy gasped for breath, "There's a monster attacking my brothers and sister and the prince and his friends!"

Thranduil saw white briefly before he looked at the child intensely, "Are you sure?"

The boy nodded, eyes utterly terrified but not by him. Thranduil tried to stay as calm as he could, "Can you show me where?"

The boy nodded, still breathing hard. Thranduil briskly headed out of the palace, the child running to keep up. Canadion, his eldest and closest friend and Lacien's father, fell into stride with him. The guards had rushed out immediately, no doubt (if they wanted to keep their jobs) to retrieve his elk. Sure enough, outside the palace gates, Maethor pranced impatiently. Thranduil mounted fluidly and reached down to pull up the boy behind him, "Show me where."

The boy pointed and Thranduil took off, praying to the Valar that his son was once again able to escape this trouble with his life.