Chapter Two

Elf

On the way to the camp of the Rangers, Aranel was "escorted" by the same group of rangers that had surrounded her in the forest.

The moment that they had gotten back to the camp, the one ranger that questioned her as to why she was here, bound her hands and put her in the corner of the cave with the other three surrounding her yet again.

"They just never let up do they?" Aranel thought to herself. "No, they never do." She mentally rolled her eyes. "Stubborn humans."

No sooner had she thought this, than the gruff ranger which bound her hands came over and told her to stand up. "Lord Faramir will see you now, follow me." His cloak billowed about him as he pivoted on one foot and stalked away with Aranel in toe.

As they approached another section of the cave, Aranel saw Faramir sitting down at a table. His vambrace was on the table next to him, and a healer was just about finished bandaging his left arm. Faramir rolled his eyes at how much care the healer was giving him, and swatted his hand away when the healer went to fiddle with the bandage.

"Leave it be, it was only a graze, not a war wound."

"But my Lord—" the healer started to protest, but Faramir cut him off with a glare; the healer bowed and left, leaving Faramir alone for a moment.

With a sigh of frustration he picked at his bandage and tucked the end of the cloth into the last overlap. "Healers, they think they know everything and here they can't even bandage a grazed arm right."

At that moment, the gruff ranger leading Aranel came up to the table, he was so big that he (and his cloak) blocked Aranel from Faramir's view completely. "Sir, you requested to see the prisoner after your wounds were taken care of."

Faramir looked up at the ranger and nodded. "Yes, did you bring him?"

"Yes sir."

"Good then, you may leave." The ranger looked at Faramir with confusion. "But sir he wounded you!" At this, Faramir became rather perturbed. "It was nothing but a graze on the arm! I'm perfectly fine now get back to your post!"

The silence that lasted for a moment seemed to last forever as the gruff ranger finally gave up the mental battle and returned to his post. As soon as he stepped away, Faramir looked up and flinched.

His slate blue eyes locked with electric hazel ones that pierced his very soul. Aranel was there standing before him, eyes locked to his. "A man am I?!" Aranel seemed to broadcast her furiousness and her "message" through her glare at Faramir.

A minute passed which felt like an hour; finally Faramir was able to break his gaze away and pulled up a chair. "Please, sit….You said you had news from the North."

"I do, as well as questions that need answering." Faramir nodded as Aranel sat down, placing her bound hands in her lap. Faramir noticed the bindings as she wriggled her hands subconsciously, as if trying to free herself. Faramir sighed internally and reached for his knife which hung on his belt.

"Here," he said as he put his hand gently on top of Aranel's; pulling up her hands so he could cut the bindings. Aranel was grateful, "Lady Galadriel was right when she said he wasn't like other men." She thought to herself. As she thought this she looked down at her hands, where the bindings had just been cut.

"Thank you," she said quietly as she rubbed her wrists with her hands. She looked up at Faramir for a moment, the look on his face seemed to say "Your welcome," and "I'm sorry," at the same time. Aranel gently smiled as to reassure him that it was alright.

Once the brief moment between them had passed, Faramir broke the silence. "I am sorry about…my men." Aranel looked up at Faramir; he was wiggling his knife back and forth while it was stuck in the table, making splinters pop up every now and then.

"They were only doing what they were trained to do." She said; Faramir nodded. "They are good men; they just seem to be overprotective." Faramir said as he looked back at Aranel, the mystery of the woman behind the cloak mesmerized him.

"Who are you?" Faramir said, a little too loud, for he was voicing his thoughts. Thinking that he wouldn't get a reply, Faramir blushed and went back to carving a hole in the table.

"Some call me Rána." Aranel replied, smiling behind her hood.

"Rána? It sounds like elven tongue." Faramir had turned back to Aranel, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"It is," Aranel answered. "They gave me that name after I became a ranger." She raised her eyes to meet Faramir's and he saw a deep sadness which seemed to always be there and would never go away.

"You are an elf?" He asked, quietly so as not to alert his men.

"I am." Aranel replied, suddenly taking her hood down and reveling herself. Faramir's eyes widened as he saw how beautiful she really was.

Her fair skin was almost pale in the light of the cavern, while her almost raven hair cascaded down her shoulders to the swell of her back. Her hair was braided in elven fashion with a fishtail braid connecting the smaller ones in the back. Her eyes were electric hazel which seemed to sparkle like cavern crystals in the dim light. All of which was accented by two lithe, beautiful, short, pointed ears.

Faramir stared at the wonder before him, never had he seen anything so beautiful in all his life. He released a breath he didn't realize he was holding and blinked several times. Awestruck, he quickly gathered his thoughts but couldn't seem to put them into words. "I am from Lothlorien, if you wish to know." Aranel saved him by answering the question he was about to ask.

Faramir nodded and finally managed to say something. "What does it mean? Rána, I mean." Aranel smiled at his random statement but knew why he couldn't think straight. "This happened to Haldir the first time he saw me, that day in the clearing." Aranel thought; but feeling the grief slowly edge it's way back into her heart made her shake off the thought and she told herself that she would save it for when she was alone.

"It means 'wanderer.'"

"Oh, is this your real name or did they just start calling you that?" Faramir asked intent on trying to make some kind of conversation. Aranel looked back down at her hands, "They started calling me that after I had gone on my first mission for my Lady." She quietly sighed and continued. "My true name I will not utter here at this time, for I have let that part of me die as far as I'm concerned."

Faramir was confused by what she had said, but he remembered well enough that right after word had reached them about the battle of Helm's Deep there was also word about an elven princess that had put herself in exile. As the story went, the princess' life was not the greatest tale that was ever told. He did not know all of the details but apparently she was the grandchild and only surviving heir of one of the elven kings that died during the Last Alliance.

With a hushed tone in his voice, Faramir leaned closer and asked Aranel the one thing he desperately needed to know.

"You're her, aren't you? You're the elven princess that went into exile." Aranel's eyes widened in horror as Faramir guessed at who she was. Quickly responding to her change in emotion, Faramir gently put his hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her.

"It's alright, I won't tell anyone. Your secret is safe with me; we shall go to a more private place to talk." He said, as he stood up and sheathed his blade. "Come with me," he said, politely giving Aranel his hand. Aranel looked at his hand and then up at him, the look in her eyes was a mixed emotion of the eternal sadness, confusion, anger, and fear.

After a moment, she took his hand and he led her through the many caverns and out to the forest once more, leading her to a clearing where they could talk. For Aranel was not the only one fearing for her safety. Faramir knew that he would have to protect her; whether or not she was a ranger did not matter. For he had a feeling that she was indeed the one; Aranel, princess of Lothlorien, the only surviving heir and granddaughter of Gil-galad.

AN: WAHOO!! Ok so second chapter's done!!! YES! storyline's gonna get a little crazier soon, so hang on tight and keep reading!!! =)