I was in a forest, by myself. It was dusk, and the trees rustled lightly as the moon shone in the deep blue sky. I was tempted to lie down on the soft earth and fall asleep in this relaxing atmosphere; but an unknown force pushed me forward until I was meandering amongst the trees. As I walked, the shadows became darker, the warm air became colder, the leaves underfoot became sharper. I stopped, the forest had turned silent. I knew enough about nature to know that it never stops moving and it never stops changing and it's never silent. There suddenly came a voice, sinister and merciless, I couldn't make out what it was saying. It sounded like a different language.

This was starting to creep me out, I spun around in every direction searching for some kind of answer or escape.

"Who's there?" I asked cautiously. "Who's there?!" I shouted, but all I was returned with was the echo of my own voice.

I turned around again, looking for someone, anyone. Legolas? Aragorn? Instead, I looked down at the ground to find that it was snowing. White, perishingly cold powder flew into my face and swirled around me until the wind picked up and turned the snow into a blizzard. The wind screamed and the soft snow became slits of ice, cutting into my skin. Another wave of ice hit me, it felt as if a million swords had dug themselves into my chest, and I fell down onto my knees in agony. I cried out, the words hardly left my lips before they withered up and fell into the air.

I looked up to find that I wasn't in the forest, I was on some kind of mountain. The wind was deafening and harsh, yet I could still hear a faint voice, "Victoria."

A loud crack was sounded, and as I looked up to see where the noise came from, large clumps of ice came crashing down right on top of me, crushing my body. Darkness closed in, but I could still hear a voice, raspy and terrifying.

"Victoria."

She sat bolt upright in her bed, her eyes desperately searching for her unknown enemy, but it wasn't there. Victoria was safe in the camp with the Fellowship. She collapsed back onto her pillow and let out a long breath to try and calm herself down. She was shaking, and her body was covered in a light sheen of sweat. Just breathe... In…and out…In…and out…

Victoria sat up and glanced round to see the group of sleeping hobbits in the far corner of the forest clearing. 'They're so peaceful.' she thought with a smile. Gimli however, was making a noise that resembled a foghorn. Quietly chuckling, she slipped on her boots and rose to her feet. She urgently needed to clear her mind from the remnants of the dream and moved as quietly as possible away from the group, hoping not to wake anyone up.

Aside from her own noisy breath there was nothing to be heard and the woods were simply too dark to see much at all. Black trunks against an almost black backdrop didn't make for much too see and her imagination began to supply horrors to fill the void. Faceless shadows and branches that stuck out like spikes started to infiltrate her mind where they were then twisted into monsters. At that point she decided to turn back, it seemed like a stupid idea to continue walking and get lost in the middle of the night. She didn't want to admit it, even to herself, but she was starting to get a bit frightened.

She picked up her pace for about five minutes until she came across a clearing that had a spectacular view of the moon. All she could do was look up, unable to take her eyes off what was above her. Victoria sat down, her back leaning against a boulder and tilted her head up.

The never ending blackness consumed everything, except the stars that stood out like pebbles in front of a storm. She was overwhelmed by the sheer amount that filled the sky. The moon took the spotlight as the stars danced and twinkled like diamonds. Ever enduring these shone as the inky sky cowered to the background of the cosmic stage. It made Victoria feel small and irrelevant amidst the grand performance, a feeling she liked very much. It felt like she could simply melt away and forget everything as she marvelled at the skies above.

The stars here were so different from Earth, she couldn't find Orion's Belt or even the Southern Cross. She wondered if she was still even in the milky way galaxy, "I could be on the other side of the universe... or in a different universe altogether!" She whispered with a smile. It felt so strange; she had never paid much attention to the night sky on Earth. Because of all the city lights there was nothing to see anyway, but here in Middle Earth it was so clear, so...beautiful.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, alerting her to the fact that someone, or something, was watching her. Quickly jumping to her feet, Victoria spun around and let out a small scream when she saw Legolas standing only a few meters away.

"What the hell?!" she spluttered, "you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"What are you doing so far away from the group?" He asked sternly.

The fear and shock Victoria was feeling quickly turned into anger, "What are you doing sneaking up on me in the middle of the night?!"

"I was not sneaking up on you," he spat.

Victoria turned and sat back down against the boulder, wishing the elf would leave her in peace.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping?" she hissed, trying to persuade him to leave.

"Elves do not require sleep... I thought that you were aware of this?" Legolas asked with a slightly confused look.

"Well I do know things about your world, but not every single thing about it." she explained.

"Why did you run off?" He asked.

"I wasn't running off, I was just walking around for a bit, or am I not allowed a bit of freedom?"

"You could have gotten hurt. My duty is to protect you, and I cannot do this when you wander."

"Sorry," Victoria said as she looked away from him.

"Tomorrow we start the climb up the mountain, you should rest."

"Can I stay for a bit longer?" She asked hopefully.

Hesitantly, the elf walked over to the boulder and sat down next to Victoria and leaned against the rock, legs stretched out in front of him.

"I'll take that as a yes," she muttered.

After a few incredibly quiet minutes passed, and Victoria's mind began to circle back to the topic of astronomy.

"I was wondering," she blurted out suddenly, making Legolas jump, "do you guys have constellations here?"

"Yes, we do," he replied as he began searching for his favorite constellation, seven large stars all connected into the shape of a man holding a sword.

"There," he said, pointing to a large cluster in the west, "that is Menelmacar."

"Menelmacar?" Victoria repeated.

His lips twitched into a small smile and continued, "sometimes known as the Swordsman of the Sky, it represents Turin Turambar and was one of the early constellations created by-"

"Varda... right?" She exclaimed. Legolas nodded in confirmation.

"And that one?" Victoria asked, pointing to a slightly smaller patch of light in the north.

"That is Anarrima, created just before the awakening of the elves by using the dewdrops from Telperion..." he looked back at her and waited for her to finish the explanation.

"One of the Two Trees of Valinor," she answered boldly.

"Yes, correct," he said with a chuckle.

"Who taught you all this?"

"My mother…" Legolas admitted with downcast eyes that now looked more grey than blue. He suddenly snapped his head up and locked onto Victoria's slightly concerned gaze, eyes shining once more. "What about you? Who taught you the history of our stars all the way from another world?"

A smile reappeared on her lips, "well, there was this famous guy called Proffeser Tolkien, he wrote about the history of Valinor and Middle Earth; the War of Wrath, the fall of Gondolin, the Battle of the Five Armies, everything! Even the War of the Ring!"

Alarm spread across Legolas' face, "are you saying that there will be a war?!" he asked seriously.

Victoria sighed, "yeah… unfortunately."

Legolas gazed at her doubtfully and shifted uncomfortably in his spot. An awkward silence sat in the cool night air for a full minute. Victoria glanced up at him as he sat like a statue come to life, his expression was unreadable.

He leaned in towards her untill his voice lowered to a whisper, "we should return to the camp."

She nodded and reluctantly stood up to follow him back to the campsite. Everyone was still asleep, thank goodness. She sat down on her bed roll, and craned her neck to see a silhouette making it's way back to the opposite side of the clearing. Legolas muttered a few words which she was just able to hear. She rolled onto her back, closed her deep brown eyes, and let his words mull over in her head, "Sleep well, Lady Victoria."

And she did.