"Nice try, Mr. Hobbit, but I'm not that easy to catch," she cackled.

The courtyard went absolutely still. Aragorn froze where he stood, eyes flicking between Elrond's blanched face, and Stealth Elf's angry expression.

"Now, drop your weapons, or I kill him," she hissed, her eyes flaming. Green smoke swirled around her menacingly as she glared at them.

Every weapon clattered to the ground loudly in the stunned silence.

"How? I would have heard if you had approached me!" whispered Elrond, not even attempting to hide his shock.

"There's a reason why I'm called Stealth Elf." the elf said. But her voice was not coming from her body, which was still glaring at them, sharp blade still at Elrond's throat.

They all looked around, trying to find where the voice was coming from.

"Shiny swords you have here. Ignitor might want to trade out even. Are these fireproof?" asked the elf, Aragorn looked down to find her sitting on the ground in front of him, peering at his borrowed sword. She had been sitting there the entire time... Her name had not been idlely given.

"Fire...proof?" asked Elrond, pushing the now false Stealth Elf off of him. Suddenly, Aragorn realized that the tangible stuffed replica had only appeared in place of an illusion, after the illusion was revealed. He also noticed that the false Stealth Elf that Frodo had fallen upon was no longer lying on the courtyard stones. It had disappeared.

Suddenly, he felt a slight tingle on his neck. That usually meant that someone was sneaking up on him. Of course, he knew exactly who that might be.

And he was right. But he was wrong as to what the tingle on his neck was. Stealth Elf's voice rang out from directly behind him, "Ooh, what's this?"

Everyone spun to look at him, and he too turned swiftly to see what the elf was looking at.

To his horror, the elf was peering intently at a necklace. His necklace. Arwen's Evenstar, her gift to him. It represented the sacrifice of her immortality to be with him. Fury boiled up to his face, which was turning red, and he growled quietly as the elf prodded the necklace like it was a ridiculous trinket.

"Ooh shiny, I bet I could get Persephone to upgrade Chop Chop's shield with this pretty little thing!"

"You won't be doing anything with it," Aragorn growled, his voice deadly quiet. "Now give it back, thief, before I lose my temper."

"Oh, feisty are we? Fine, take it," she huffed, tossing him the fragile necklace carelessly. In his surprise that she would treat it in such a way, he barely managed to catch it. He sighed with relief when his fingers wrapped around the delicate thing. He glared angrily at the sneaky elf, who now was peering at Legolas' bow, as he carefully hooked the clasp of the necklace, letting it fall back to rest on his chest.

"Hmm... Nice bow... Flameslinger would like this. Probably wouldn't hold up though.

"Wouldn't hold up?!" Legolas choked, standing up and snatching the fine elvish bow from Stealth Elf's grasp.

"Whatever..." she muttered, looking once more at the group scattered around the courtyard. To Aragorn's dismay, her eyes came to rest on Frodo's chest. Aragorn instantly knew what she was looking at. His own eyes could catch a slight glimmer of gold at this angle, from the opening of Frodo's shirt.

"What's that? Gold?" she asked, approaching a very frightened Frodo, who was trembled in his seat. Aragorn wished he had a sword, but it was stuffed in Stealth Elf's cloth belt. Stealth Elf reached for Frodo's neck, and the hobbit let out a squeak, trying and failing to shrink away from the curious elf.

The whole courtyard seemed to hold its breath, as the elf gave a tug on the silver chain and the ring fell out onto Frodo's shirt.

If the elf became ensnared by the Ring, there was nothing they could do to stop her. She was very powerful, and the Ring pulled more strongly to powerful figures than to weak. Aragorn knew this very well, for the Ring was calling to him even now.

But no change came upon the elf's face, as she picked up the ring, glanced at it, and put it on her finger. Instantly, she vanished from sight. Everyone in the courtyard cried out, and a moment later, Stealth Elf materialized, slipping off the ring, with an expression of distaste marring her features.

"What is wrong with that thing? Seriously, what's the point of a ring that makes you invisible, if it comes with deafening winds, and tendrils of smoke, and an giant flaming eyeball shouting 'I see you'? Useless. But I suppose, for people who can't already turn invisible, it might be worth it. "

She let the Ring fall back to Frodo's chest, and the hobbit snatched it up and stuffed it back down his shirt hurriedly. Aragorn marveled at how easily she had overcome the Ring's pull. It almost seemed as if...the Ring had no effect on her... She regarded it like it was an ordinary gold ring, up until the moment she had slipped it on her finger. And even then, she had thought it was uninteresting, and had casually thrown it away, without a care in the world!

"Amazing..." he breathed, unable to stop it from slipping out.

"What? Me picking up a ring and turning invisible? I mean, surely you knew it... OHHH! Now I get it! This is the 'Ring of Power' that you were planning on destroying isn't it?"

"Indeed. It is shocking to us that you feel no pull by the Ring, for it lures us in with its malicious power," he said calmly, trying not to reveal to Frodo just how much it had called to him when he had first seen it. He was past that now, and he couldn't let the hobbit think that he was being influenced by the Ring. He knew that it was essential that the members of the Fellowship trust each other entirely, or the quest would fail.

"Weird. But, no mind that. If it's so tempting to you, why don't I just take it for you?" she asked, reaching for Frodo again. And at that very instant, Legolas loosed an arrow that he had aimed at her when she had first reached for the Ring. Before she could even react, the tip of the arrow was poking through the front of her shirt, blood seeping from the deadly wound. The arrow had pierced her heart, and Aragorn knew instantly that Legolas had killed her.

"Legolas, why would you do that?!" he yelled in shock, as the elf staggered, and crying loudly, she fell to her knees. She sagged her head in defeat, and suddenly, there was a flash of light, and a loud sucking noise, and she was gone.