Hi.

I was going to post this chapter on February 3rd, as I hoped I would be finished with the updates for my other two stories too. Unfortunately I managed to get stuck on the 9th chapter for my second Lord of the Rings fics and I was trying to finish it before I posted this chapter. Anyways, I thought it would be mean to stall on my other stories so here is the next chapter.

After the last orc fell, the humans picked there way past the bodies of their fallen comrades and of the orcs they had killed and headed towards their location. The elf watched as the red haired human ignored the desperate pleas and weak grasps of his dying kin as he passed.

One of the younger Adans, lying in a pool of his own blood reached out and touched the hem of the dark leather tunic of the leader. Without any thought to his age or the pain he was in the callous human brushed past the boy, patting his hands away as if they were an annoying pest and continued onwards. The humans' smirk seemed to grow as he approached the elven captives.

Laitheryn rolled away from Dinenant, Almir and Elladan in preparation for whatever was to occur. He was unsure of what to expect, the last human he had encountered had been relatively friendly, as friendly as a ranger could be. Laitheryn doubted that these humans had the same intentions towards friendship as the ranger he had met over two hundred years ago now.

"Would'ya look at that!" The human started sarcastically.

"What is it you want?" Elladan asked warily for the entire group.

To Laitheryn's complete surprise the human smiled grimly at the dark haired Elvenlord, as if amused by the question. The young elf could see the amusement beginning to die in the humans dark eyes as the apparently young elf did not back down under his gaze.

A second passed with both the human and Elladan glaring at each other, before the human smiled once more. Without changing expression the human backhanded the elf across the face.

Elladan stumbled backwards at the unexpected blow but did not lose his footing completely. A second later Elladan rebalanced as if nothing had occurred, except for the slight red mark on his cheek. Laitheryn could almost feel the young lords' anger beginning to bubble to the surface at the treatment.

"You will learn to respect your new master, elf." The human jeered.

"I respect those that deserve it." Elladan shot back. "And you will never be my master."

'What are you doing, Mellon – nin?!' Laitheryn thought to himself. 'Do not invoke their anger. Let it lie.'

The leader merely laughed at the rebuttal, and seemed to be aware that he was in complete control of the situation, despite what Elladan wished otherwise. "You will learn, slave. Afta'all you owe us for saving your hides from the uglies. 'Sides…Elves fetch a pretty penny for those that can afford it. You all will make us rich."

The humans behind the first cheered at that thought and Laitheryn felt his heart sink right there.

Before he could stop himself he broke into the conversation too. "You claim to have saved us from one form of slavery…only to inflict another upon us?! You are no better than those…'uglies' that lie on the ground!"

"You have a way with words, don't'cha?" The human male spoke up again, the amused tone becoming harsher as the sentence continued. "Good way to get hurt, if you ask me, boy."

"I did not ask for your advice." Laitheryn shot back. "Nor do I wish it."

The red haired human glared at him, sending what he thought to be an intimidating look at him. Laitheryn refused to be swayed by the look and glared back in defiance.

"Why is it the young ones are the most difficult to get along with?" The human asked once more.

"Not enough experience with the outside world, boss." A tall human to the left answered. "Too innocent to know better…will change once he's owned."

"Perhaps." The leader responded in a speculative voice.

"You're talk does not intimidate me." Laitheryn answered flatly.

"…I have no wish to kill you, elf. Afta'all the younger ones sell quicker then the others. But keep talking and you'll join the bodies of the dead and dying."

Laitheryn bristled at the words but bit his lip to avoid speaking up again, wondering what had gotten control of his mouth in that moment. He barely managed to control his sudden temper at being treated like a piece of property. It was not right that these humans thought they owned what they did not. No one could own another soul.

'What happened to let it lie?!" An almost amused sounding voice asked dryly.

The unexpected contact startled Laitheryn and he nearly jumped due to the shock of the elders' voice echoing in his head once more. At their last contact Laitheryn had been sure that this elf would not reach out to him as it seemed to cause the elder great emotional pain.

'Does not apply to me.' Laitheryn answered back.

'I see' The voice responded. 'Do not test their patience further.'

'Who are you?'

'We will talk later.'

'…If there is a later.'

'Are you not the one that has been speaking of hope?'

'…Are you here to mock me?'

'Perhaps. And to keep you attention off of sassing the Adans.'

'…Hannon le.' Laitheryn returned in a dry tone.

'You are very welcome.'

The conversation seemed to die there and Laitheryn noted that the red haired leader seemed to have left off the challenge and was now inspecting 'their captives'.

"T'is a goodly number. And all seem to be in good condition." The red haired Adan mused once more. "Move out. Make for the outpost in Gondor."

"What 'bout the others?" Another brown haired man asked from further behind the party of humans.

"Let them die…the less of us there are, the more gold we'll get each."

There were several answering smirks and cheers for this statement.

It was not long after that Laitheryn found himself marching away from the desert the orcs had been driving them towards. It did not escape his notice that the route they were traveling on now would lead them back in the direction they had come, directly towards the elven warriors he had summoned from Greenwood. The gloating humans were walking directly towards an ambush and would be unprepared for an elven counter attack.

The elves would be forewarned of the humans approach by the nature that surrounded them.

The soft grasses whispered a comforting melody as he passed and he knew that the message of danger was echoing all over the country side and right to the ears of the Greenwood elves. Laitheryn only wished he could hear some sort of acknowledgement from the Greenwood elves that they would intercept the human army. Yet this talent was beyond the skill level Laitheryn had learned in Lorien. The best he could do was listen to the soft voices that danced on the wind and be ready for the attack.

As he walked Laitheryn tried to keep this thought in his mind, trying to keep his hope alive that all would escape this situation with no more injuries than what had already been given. They would be free soon, and free to travel among their own kin once more. It was only a matter of time.

Yet time was something that Laitheryn found he had less and less of. It had been over a week since he had been taken by the orcs at the southern outskirts of Mirkwood. While this had been his choice, Laitheryn could not help but feel the slow passing of time, and marked it in such a way a human might. He counted the hours that slowly etched by as the sun set and the moon rose to follow the course set by her lover. The more time that passed him by, the more exhausted he felt. Laitheryn was sure that this tiredness he felt around him was a direct result of the wounds he had suffered, and he was not alone...in the eyes of the others, as far as he could see, Laitheryn could see their exhaustion too.

There was still so much he had to do, and time was more of an enemy than before. The most serious concern Laitheryn had was to be free of the captivity the humans had pressed them further with. He then had to find the elf that kept speaking with him. The young elf found himself at a loss at how the two were able to communicate, only that the elder elf seemed to be using the nature surrounding them as a medium to speak.

It was all so confusing and it frustrated the younger elf that he could not establish a connection with the elder elf whenever he wished to. Instead it appeared that the elder had almost hosted the connection, and had direct control of when they could speak. A disturbing thought wormed its way into his head and Laitheryn found himself musing on whether the elder was privy to all his thoughts all the time. In that case the elder may already know exactly who he was.

But…for some reason Laitheryn found himself sure that the elder elf only resorted to connecting with him through nature only if he was in immediate danger and would allow him his privacy when he was not. How he knew this, he did not know…yet Laitheryn was sure it was true.

It almost seemed that their connection caused the elder elf great emotional pain, as if a deep well of grief threatened to overwhelm the elder at any moment. Even in their last conversation, which had been more of a bantering tone; Laitheryn had gotten a fleeting impression of the constant pain his physical and mental presence was causing the elder elf. 'If I upset you, why do you hurt yourself to help me?'

Laitheryn waited a moment to see if the elder would respond to his query. His initial thought was confirmed in those seconds as the mysterious elf did not answer, and, possibly, had not heard his thought. 'Did not hear…or chose not to answer?! Which one is correct?! Ai, this is quite the problem!'

Laitheryn had not missed the possibility that one member in the party of elves that had been captured by the orcs, may be a relative, if not his Adar. It was possible that the connection he felt to the elf that had spoken to him to keep him from further harm was a close relation. 'Mithrandir did say the Valar's work appears as coincidences to those involved…perhaps these current events are an example of their will….Not all the powers in Arda are darkness…light still exists…hope still exists.'

Even with these assured thoughts Laitheryn still felt worry gnawing away at his troubled soul. He, first, had to find his father out of the many Greenwood elves that had gathered. And with the center few he could not make out their features enough to be able to recognize which one, if any, would match his young memory of his Adar. Second, and the most difficult of any tasks, would be trying to convince his relative that he was who he claimed to be, even if he could not claim the name.

As the elf he had come into unexpected contact with had shown no emotional signs of recognition, Laitheryn was sure he would have to be convinced…yet how could he do that if he could not lay claim to his true name? Laitheryn frowned at that thought as he continued to keep pace with Elladan.

"What troubles you, Laitheryn?" Elladan asked, seemingly catching his frown.

"I am musing…and do not like the direction my thoughts went."

"Sharing a problem offers more solutions than hording one."

"…Yet I fear overburdening you in an already desperate situation."

"Small problems lead to bigger ones."

"Are you just reciting your Adar's words?"

"Nay, the words ring true. Despite the number of times they have come from my fathers' lips."

Here Laitheryn sighed and Elladan's concerned look grew deeper. "Do not worry, mellon – nin."

"I do worry." Elladan emphasized.

"There are others that are in more need of your thoughts than I."

"Please, friend…my brother by heart. Allow me access into your thoughts. I do not like seeing you so distressed."

"I still cannot remember the name I was given at birth." Laitheryn stated suddenly.

Elladan looked slightly surprised at his sudden answer. Laitheryn could not blame him; even he was a little surprised that he had responded. Usually he was more secretive than that.

"And…I feel as if I am wasting time. I never marked time as I do now. I count the hours as the sun and the moon circle the earth!" Laitheryn continued.

"Time? Yes I can see why that would cause you much distress. Yet as my Ada would say, the Valars' will is involved even in the littlest of things. You stated you felt as if you were meant to intercept our kin from Greenwood."

"I was trying to reassure Almir. I did not expect for my words to haunt me."

"I would take more stock in what you said. If you arrived any later than that exact time, you would have missed the interception." The elvenlord pointed out. "Perhaps you will find what you seek here."

"…Perhaps."

"Have you had other thoughts?"

"…Only that one of the Greenwood kin may be one of my relatives."

"T'is possible." Elladan mused.

"I pray I will recall in time." Laitheryn murmured softly to himself, although he knew the comment had been heard. "Yet I fear I will not."

Despite his best efforts, Laitheryn had not been able to pick his name up from the confused babble of flickering memories of trees and elvenfolk that lived under the canopies. He knew it was spoken, yet the confusion in his mind did not allow the knowledge he had locked away to surface to this awake mind.

There was something there, a pressing grief, an agony that he barely felt that lay just below the surface…something so sad he had feared to remember for so long. But he could not fear now…not when he was so close…not if it would risk other lives. The grief of the past he barely remembered, while strong, was not enough to force him to abandon his memories once more. Because, while he was content as Laitheryn, there would always be a part of him that would yearn for the truth…and he would never be complete until he recalled what it was that so haunted him.

He had to remember, and remember on his own. Laitheryn was sure he would rejoice to hear his name, and would know it was his if it was spoken to him now; but a part of him wanted to remember on his own and, perhaps, would feel some sort of failure that he had not been able to recall.

"You are still thinking about that?" Elladan asked in a surprised note. "My Ada's right…you are one of the most stubborn elves that have graced Middle Earth."

"….I am persistent….not stubborn. And yes, it does haunt my thoughts. How can I claim myself if I do not have a name I can recall. I would not believe it if I were among their numbers. I would think it was a cruel joke."

"…or perhaps they would think it was a blessing. And look at it this way, Gwador- Nin."

"What?"

"They're not staring at you anymore." Elladan answered with a cheeky smile.

"….Don't remind them!" Laitheryn responded in a whisper. "They just stopped!"

He sent a slightly panicked look around to the members of the Greenwood elves that were in the same predicament he was. A few tense heartbeats later Laitheryn relaxed as none had seemed to take note of the conversation and their gazes had not subsequently returned to him.

"BE QUIET SLAVE!!" One of the humans yelled. "WE DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO SPEAK!!"

Laitheryn did not respond but kept his gaze locked on the ground ahead of him, to avoid the angry humans' eyes. The voices of nature whispered at the Greenwood elves discontent at their situation and Laitheryn could pick up the edges of a soft song that was being sung by the grasses in an effort to soothe the first born who still had the inborn gift of hearing the call of nature. He relaxed under the calming winds, mixed with the whispering song and Laitheryn found his thoughts drifting once more, now calmer and less distressed as the music echoed in his mind.

Despite this thought giving him confidence Laitheryn knew it would be some time before the two armies would intercept and he would be left relatively alone with his thoughts until they did. The humans seemed content with the elves bound, and seemed to ignore them as they traveled.

Biting the inside of his cheek, he risked a glance towards the sky and was surprised to find that the night had drifted by without him realizing and the sun was beginning to peak above the horizon ahead of them. It was a welcome sight and Laitheryn found himself in awe as the colours of dawn danced across the wavering grasslands and onto the assortment of elves and humans that stood below.

Well another chapter done…We're getting closer and closer to the final chappie….Get your votes in for which point of view you would like to read next. This chappie was easier to write. I hope you enjoyed reading it, please review.