As promised, here is your next chappie…

And I dedicate this to Pix2345 for my first review! Thank you so much!

And so far my Balrog is still going hungry…

Disclaimer: I still own nothing, except a really hot naked Orlando Bloom poster…(What? A girl can dream, right?)

Ava's brow knitted together and shook her head. She did not understand the language and desperately hoped that he knew English. How foolish to go into an unknown land and not even speak their tongue.

"I'm afraid I do not understand you. Do you perhaps speak English?" Ava replied.

Her hands were still in the air and she slowly lowered them. The elf gazed intently upon her face and cocked his head to the one side. Unexpectedly Ava heard a wavering whistle carry on the wind. The note fluctuated in an extraordinarily mesmeric way and Orion raised his head, ears rotating to the sound. It was only afterwards that she realised that the whistle came from the elf in front of her. Movement behind his head caught her attention and in the distance she saw another horse heading their way.

It took mere seconds for the rider to reach them and for a fleeting moment Ava envied the skill and swiftness of the elf. If she only had a fraction of the ability to ride like that, she would have reached Lorien days ago. The elf's hair was of a light, golden colour and hung sleek over his shoulders. On each side were two thin braids, one tucked behind his pointed ear. The elf had an incredibly handsome face, with a strong jaw, smooth skin and piercing blue eyes. Ava watched as this attractive elf halted next to his companion. A quick exchange of elvish words passed between them before he directed his attention to her.

"It is strange to see a lone maiden near the Southern side of Lorien. Tell me, have you lost your company and your way?" the blonde elf said in flawless English.

Relieved that she was able to communicate in her own language, Ava responded with more confidence "I have been travelling unaided for days in these harsh lands in hope to find Lorien."

"Then pray tell me your name and purpose of your visit to Lorien" he requested politely, but he did not seem very friendly. His jaw was flexed and hard. An uncomfortable shiver went down Ava's back.

"My name is Ava Fairlin and I have an urgent message for Lady Galadriel" her voice faltered a bit at the last word. The dark haired elf gave a sudden cry at his lady's name. Ava gave the elf a strange look and continued to talk to the blond one "It is a matter of great importance that I speak with her"

"Surely it cannot be such an important message if they send an unaccompanied woman to deliver it. Important messages from your kind are delivered by squadrons of men or heroes. May I ask the sender of this message'?"

Ava could feel a prickle of annoyance at the elf's words, but swiftly suppressed the feeling before it could completely surface. She however could not control the little irritation that slipped into her voice when she replied. "From where I come from, no man was experienced enough to be assigned this quest"

"What a weak folk you must be!" the blond elf laughed "To send a woman to do a man's job!"

Ava's face turned bright scarlet at his words. Not sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. The elf quickly translated the conversation to his friend and soon enough he was also laughing at her expense.

"Do not laugh at something you know nothing about!" she exclaimed when their amusement did not cease. Ava was weary and was in no mood to be teased by the daft elves. She was also in desperate need of rest and food. Not to mention the great burden plaguing her heart and thoughts.

Ava was not sure if it was the gravity of her voice or the flash of the anger in her eyes, but the elves stopped laughing and looked at her curiously. Even the one that could not understand her language.

Ava remembered what her father told her about how she could not reveal that she comes from another world and considered her word carefully.

"I bring a message from the Grey Havens" she clarified in an even voice. Her face did not falter at the lie. After all, she could hardly say that she brings a message from another world, they would think her crazy. The Grey Havens was apparently the closest thing to which this realm's people could relate to, but not investigate. Ava had actually no clue what the Grey Havens were, but the phrase seemed to always work for her father in Gondor. Though, the people of Gondor also did not seem quite sure of what the Grey havens were….

The absolute shock displayed on the attractive elf's face was very satisfactory after his flippant behaviour, but it soon it turned from surprise to complete outrage.

"What would a mere mortal know about the Grey Havens!" he demanded. His eyes seemed to blaze a deep blue fire and his already tight jaw clenched in a very hard line. Ava swallowed uncomfortably at the hard look in his face. Shit, the Gondor people were right; definitely dangerous.

I wonder why the elf is so upset about the Grey Havens. Ava thought. Ava shook the uncomfortable stare from the elf and tried to alter her face to be as equally threatening! No backing down!

"Once again, elf, you just assume that I am a mortal!" Ava countered with a firm attitude and watched the face in front of her process this new information. She was not really supposed to reveal this information, but she seemed to get nowhere with this stubborn elf. Were all elves this hard to deal with? Now they would ask questions about how a human could be immortal. Isn't that just peachy…?

The thought sometimes confused her in the beginning, but at least she will not stay immortal forever…if that made any sense. Besides, she is only like a sort of half mortal, right? It is only time which does not affect her, but countless other things could still kill her. Ava shook her head at these confusing thoughts.

The blond elf turned to look at his companion and quickly whispered something to him. The hasty exchange of words seemed to aggravate the dark haired elf and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously at the other.

With an irate click of his tongue, the elf commanded his horse to turn back towards the woods and dashed off at a great speed to get the back under the covers of the trees. Ava waited for the blond elf to give her some sort of sign to either follow or wait, but he sat motionless on his horse and watched the woods in the distance.

Ok, so there we go with chapter two. Bilbo inspired me so I wrote chapter three as well. (And it is a bit longer) Just need to check some details….

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Love,

The Poet.