SURPRISE! Look! A fast update that didn't take one month long! This is probably because, 1 – I have multiple essay deadlines coming up and strangely, I procrastinate by finishing a chapter before completing my essays. So I suppose you should wish for me to get more work. 2 – I have been waiting. WAITING. For Scarlet to move to Rivendell for the longest time. I will admit that I have a general idea of what I want to happen there but it isn't quite tied down yet so don't get too excited.

Anyways, just have a look and let me know what you think about this chapter okay?

As always, here is the language key for this chapter.

"Scarlet's normal English speak."

"Westron"

"Elvish"

Chapter 10: All the feels!*

*chap title explanation at the end

Scarlet's eyes fluttered open.

Her vision was blurry, the world before her shook up and down in a steady rhythm. Why was her vision blurry? Oh right. She was on a horse.

Scarlet took the time to savour her first time riding a horse. She was in the middle of the elf patrol pack but the patrol moved as one unit, galloping through the woods, leaving her with only brief flashes of brown green and grey. The horses gait was smooth and the rush of wind in her face was amazing and very liberating. If she knew how, she would have loved to be standing in the saddle, arms to the sky, her red hair a banner of glory trailing behind. Still, nestled in Theoraan's arms she couldn't find reason to complain. He made a very good backrest with great seatbelt features. The moment he felt her stirring he had tightened his grasp to pre-empt any incident that could be caused by her movement; for example, the very real possibility of falling off the horse.

A while later, the company of elves and men slowed down into a brisk trot and then eased in a walk. Scarlet had to admit, she was really not used to the trot. She could feel herself bouncing all over the saddle. If it were not for her special seatbelt she was certain she would have been on the floor a long time ago. The jostling about also aggravated her wound a little. She could feel her arm throb with each beat of her heart. She knew her injury was serious but thought nothing of it. The throb she could ignore – she'd had torn muscles before and although physio-theraphy was a bitch she had always been able to recover before. So, she put worries of her health out of her mind for the moment.

Scarlet watched as the group eventually came to a halt and the elves began to dismount. It was mid-day. Scarlet wondered how long she had been asleep. She was certain they must have travelled through the night. After Theoraan dismounted behind her, Scarlet gripped the saddle with her one good hand and copied what everyone else was doing. Following the others, she leaned forward, swung her leg over the horse and slid down before landing and turning to face Theoraan, felling quite proud of herself.

Theoraan was comparatively less pleased.

"You are injured!" he exclaimed the moment he saw her move.

At his tone, Scarlet's girn dropped but she could not help the small smile at the corner of her mouth. She had dismounted by herself! The horse was much higher from the ground than she anticipated but she had dismounted! She never had a chance to learn how to ride before. Her home in Panem was located in a bustling city and at the Prancing Pony the horses were not hers to ride, nor was there anyone to teach her how. She wondered if Theoraan had horses and could teach her.

Meanwhile Theoraan just shook his head and guided her to the elves who were distributing nourishment. When they reached the twins, Theoraan duly made the necessary introductions.

"Scarlet, this is Elladan and this is Elrohir." He said, gesturing to the right twin respectively. "They are very good friends of mine."

Since this was Scarlet's first time seeing them together, she wondered how she was going to be able to tell them apart. Hopefully she would eventually be able to differentiate them by their subtle differences.

"This is my ward. Scarlet" Theoraan had continued the introductions. He briefly wondered when he started thinking of Scarlet as his ward but pushed that thought aside for the moment. He then continued to answer their questions as to how he found her. This may well be the fourth time he had repeated the story. He wondered how many more times he would tell the tale of how he met his ward in the near future.

Meanwhile, Scarlet just stood and watched quietly, listening but not understanding their conversation… except for maybe the fact that they were talking about her, which she inferred from their occasionally looking in her direction. She took note that Theoraan was now speaking in a whole new language she had never heard of before. Judging by how all the Fae around her conversed in what seemed to be the same language she guessed that Theoraan was speaking some sort of Fae language or dialect.

'Great,' she thought. 'Yet another language to learn. Hoo boy. This is going to take a while.'

As Theoraan's story telling continued, the twins guided her to a shade beneath a tree and sat her down on a soft patch. Then, one of the twins – she had already forgotten which one – broke some kind of dry bread in half and handed her a small portion while the other started to unwrap her bandages to check on the wound.

Scarlet watched in fascination as lithe hands gently wiped away the slowly oozing blood and now dry poultice with a damp cloth. Her wound was now turning purple and beginning to swell but other than that, everything seemed normal. The only thing that was strange was the lack of feeling that had spread down her arm to her fingertips. No longer could she feel the throb of before.

She was so focused on her wound that when she absentmindedly bit into the bread, she got a wonderful surprise.

'Oh my god! '

The bread tasted like nothing she had ever tried before. However, in her excitement to ask about the bread she had jerked away from the twin tending to her wound suddenly.

'Oops.'

Scarlet offered a sheepish smile to the tending twin who just shook his head once and continued his focused efforts.

Elladan now knew exactly how Theoraan felt when his ward – 'Scarlet' his head supplied – when Scarlet dismounted all on her own. She was not a very good patient which would cause all to worry for her. Elladan ruminated over what he knew about her. Theoraan had told he and his brother that she seemed to be homeless but was well trained to travel on the road. Her capabilities in defending herself against rough men and Figwit's surprise visit spoke for itself. However, he considered that a cause for concern. This girl looked so young. She had to be no older than twenty summers. Yet Theoraan spoke of her constant paranoia and lack of adverse reaction to death. Apparently she had already killed a few rough men and quite a few orcs from the ambush not long ago. Yet according to Theoraan, her behaviour did not change.

Elladan may not be so young an elf anymore but even he remembered his first killings and the consequences that followed. He would never forget the warm splash of blood as he stabbed into the gut of some nameless orc. They had hunted down an orc pack and the adrenalin took charge in the heat of the moment; but when all were dead and the silence filled the clearing, he remembered looking at his blood soaked blade and hands wondering why his hands were shaking.

He knew his brother had gone through the exact same thing for in the initial months that followed, they were closer than before; each taking turns to wake screaming from nightmares and comforting the other. Eventually the nightmares and uncontrollable shaking did go away but the memories never did. He wondered how young this Scarlet was when she took her first kill.

On the other side of Scarlet, Elrohir was involved in something much less morbid. He was patiently explaining to Scarlet the magical properties of Lembas, the dry bread-like thing he had given her earlier. He found Scarlet to be a good listener and eager learner even though she was severely hampered by her language limitations.

Eventually Ellada finished his task and was kindly rewarded with a smile and a badly pronounced "Thank you" from Scarlet. Smiling back, he nodded before absentmindedly ruffling her hair and then walking off. That action was rewarded with a scowl and tongue stuck out as Scarlet tried to fix her hair, causing Elrohir to laugh and ruffle her hair too. Scarlet scrunched her face in displeasure and rewarded Elrohir with a glare too. Elrohir just laughed at her face.

Scarlet decided that she deserved better company and stood, dusting off the crumbs from her attire.

At Scarlet's departure, Elrohir turned his attention to Theoraan to compare notes of their observations on their travels. Times were getting darker and the safety of Imladris was of top priority.

Figwit was well rested when he saw the human girl approach him. She stopped a short distance away and waited for him to acknowledge her. Once he gestured to a place beside him in the shade, she was quick to sit down. Now seating, the girl introduced herself as "Scarlet" and he reciprocated.

Introductions done, he watched as Scarlet seemed to be gathering her thoughts.

"Are you? Erm…. I am sorry I cut you. Will you be healthy?" she said, gesturing to the wound on his thigh.

Figwit blinked for a moment before what she was truly trying to ask registered in his head. Placing his hand on her uninjured shoulder, he was quick to reassure her that he would heal well. He was pleasantly surprised that she had chosen to apologise for he did not view her actions as wrong. He did sneak up on her and she had every reason to protect herself and although some may call her actions of running away cowardly, he had actually appreciated it. It gave him the freedom to focus on the orcs instead of worrying over her safety.

After the initial introductions and apologies, the pair sat in awkward silence exchanging awkward for a little while. Scarlet did not know what to talk about and trying to converse was a challenge she could not be bothered with at the moment.

Thankfully for the two of them, one of the horses had wandered near, grazing on the sweet grass of the land. Both their attentions were instantly on the horse. Realising their mutual interest in horses, the two began a tentative conversation on simple stuff; nothing more than questions about what the horse's name was, who owned which horse, whether each rode, and the like.

The last query was of particular importance to Scarlet for upon confession of her lack of riding training, Figwit had offered to teach her to ride! On his offer, Scarlet grinned in disbelief and was quick to give him a hug with her uninjured side. In her enthusiasm she almost knocked him over and exacerbated his injury but thankfully, Figwit was a strong elf, even if he looked willowy and genteel.

It was to this scene of joy that Theoraan approached his ward.

"Theoraan! Figwit said he show me ride horse!"

Theoraan looked over Scarlet's head to confirm her pronouncement before looking down at Scarlet who was watching his face eagerly for approval. He frowned. It was not that he wanted to deprive her of learning how to ride but he had just finished a discussion with Elladan regarding Scarlet's wound.

It was Elladan's opinion that despite the tight bandaging, the jostling of travel had disturbed the wound too much, causing it to swell. This was made worse by Scarlet's careless gallivanting, According to Elladan, several times when tending to Scarlet's wound, he had been less gentle than he would have liked but each time, Scarlet gave no reaction. That meant that either her pain threshold was very high, or worse, she had lost feeling in her arms.

Theoraan agreed with Elladan that this was a very bad sign and so came over to Scarlet to test his theory. Taking Scarlet's right hand in his, he gave a tight squeeze while watching her face. No reaction aside from mild curiosity and confusion. His frown deepened.

Scarlet was concerned. Theoraan had not reacted positively to her announcement at all. She wondered if he disapproved of her learning how to ride or of Figwit teaching him. She could deal with finding someone else suitable to teach her but she would still like to learn to ride.

Theoraan's frown had deepened. Scarlet also responded with a frown before she tracked his gaze to her right hand. Her fingers were scrunched together in Theoraan's tight grip but she felt nothing. She felt nothing!

Scared, Scarlet took a step back and yanked herself out of Theoraan's grip.

Cradling her right hand in her left, Scarlet examined her hand.

'Why can't I feel anything? Something must have happened to my nerves!'

Scarlet was close to panicking but did not outwardly show it. She just kept staring at her hand; as though by sheer will power her arm would heal itself.

Theoraan and Figwit did not know how to respond. Figwit felt infinitely guilty for it was his arrow that caused the wound while Theoraan feel guilty that he had left her unprotected for so long and risked her getting injured.

"Theoraan! Figwit! Scarlet!"

The call of their names snapped them out of their depressing daze.

"We are all ready. Let's go!"

Figwit reacted as he was trained to do and immediately got moving. He limped over to his friend who was waiting by their shared horse and mounted with assistance.

Theoraan gently rested his hand on Scarlet's uninjured shoulder before lifting her chin to meet his eyes.

"You will get better."

Letting her drop her chin, Theoraan firmly guided her to their horse and lifted her up before mounting the horse himself.

Once again the company rode swiftly and silently; each of the characters consumed in their own thoughts.

Figwit kept turning his head back to watch Scarlet and Theoraan. Aside from his guilt, he was getting worried. Scarlet had downcast eyes. She stared with an empty gaze, watching the movement of the horse's feet. The only sign of her torment, the clenched fingers over her right forearm.

Theoraan did not seem to be faring any better. Unlike Scarlet, Theoraan kept his eyes focused on the road ahead. His eyes blazed with purpose. He had to get to Rivendell as quickly as possible to consult Lord Elrond's wisdom on healing. It seemed however guardian and ward shared some sort of connection; like Scarlet, Theoraan's only sign of tension was his fingers that clenched the reins in a knuckle-white grip.

The twins were, on the other hand, more occupied with thoughts about home. This latest patrol had been long, too long. Although they disliked staying home for the memories it brought and they believed it was their duty to protect the people of Imladris from the horrors of orcs and other dark creatures, home was still home.

The company came to a halt upon a hill.

"Scarlet," Theoraan called, shaking her out of her daze.

"Look up."

She did. And it was amazing.

Before her in the valley below was a beautiful city, bathed in gold by the warm glow of the setting sun. It was like nothing she had ever seen before in Panem. Green gardens dotted the kingdom whilst water though in many gleaming silver threads of light. Scarlet wondered if she had found heaven.

The twins watched the awe on Scarlet's face with great pride.

"Scarlet, welcome to Rivendell."

Okay everyone, how did you find this chapter?

I originally wanted her to wake in Rivendell, you know, to move things along. But I felt like some interaction between the characters was important before I threw more new characters at Scarlet. This way we also get to know the new characters a little more.

I know things got a little more serious in this chapter. If some angst is not your thing… uh I guess I should warn you that some angst is going to happen for a while.

Sorry, no omake today. Though if it interested you, at the start when Scarlet goes 'Oh. I'm on a horse', the Old Spice commercial popped into my head. I don't know. I thought it was funny.

Anyway, as metioned above, the explanation behind this chapter's title.

Me: Quick! help me name my chapter! Something to do with what happens in the chatper.

Bestie: All the Feels!

Me: What?!hahaha

Bestie: Because ironically, Scarlet has none in her arm!

...

Bestie: "The one where you find out what everyone is feeling, and what Scarlet isnt!"

HAHAHA. I love my best friend.