Chapter 3!

My Balrog got too hungry and escaped! Aaaaargh! Run for cover!

But wait, don't fear, Glorfindel is out to get him Go elf-boy!

Disclaimer: I own nothing of LOTR except for Legolas….

No?

Damn….

They sat in silence and the sun got agonisingly hot, Ava turned to look at the elf, but he did not seem to notice the heat. How that was possible she did not know, because he was wearing a long, grey sleeved type of tunic and brown leggings with a cloak! So are elves then cold blooded as well?

Orion gave an impatient snort and stomped his right hoof against the ground. He looked at the cool shadows of the forest and wondered why his master did not steer them there.

"So, may I know your name?" Ava asked after the silence stretched out for too long. The elf's ears pricked, but made no other indication that he heard her. His gaze was still set upon the trees in the distance.

"So rude…" Ava muttered and wiped the tiny droplets of sweat from her brow. She really thought elves to be more friendly and outgoing. The elf next to her gave a quick glance toward her and furrowed his brow.

"Daro"

Ava turned to look at the elf "Well, Daro, it is a pleasure to meet you" This was untrue, but at least she could try and be polite. She will need their help after all…so she could afford a bit of a suck-up attitude.

He suddenly gave a low humourless chuckle and shook his head from side to side. Ava could not understand what could cause such a response and scrunched up her face at the weird elf beside her.

"Daro is not my name" he clarified "It means, 'stop' in my language"

"Why did you say it then?" Ava asked annoyed "I was not going anywhere!"

"Not intentionally, but your horse had other ideas. He was ready to make for the shadows if I did not command him to stay" the elf replied and sounded bored in explaining himself.

Ava rolled her eyes at the elf and wondered if her entire trip would consist of dealing with these obstinate beings.

"Whatever…" she mumbled. This conversation was getting her nowhere.

Ava irritably tucked at the flowing, white blouse she was wearing and pondered if she could loosen a button. It would probably be inappropriate for her to do that. She knew that with human culture here it was considered inappropriate when women revealed too much flesh, but did it also relate to the elves? After leaving so quickly she did not have time to pack more suitable clothing for this realm. She perhaps could have asked her 'contact' for the clothes they always wear when transported here, but the urgency just did not leave any time for that. She was in a way thankful that she did not have to wear it right now. Woman's clothing here was always so hot and uncomfortable. Ava was tired, hungry, lonely, frustrated, angry, sad and, due to the elf, annoyed. Too many emotions to carry at once and it made her feel even more confused than she already was.

She placed her hand in front of her mouth to hide a yawn, but the sudden wave of weariness consumed her and she blinked a couple of times to keep her eyes open. The uncomfortable heat was not helping her to stay awake either. She rubbed her eyes with one hand and yawned again.

The buzzing of bees nearby distracted Orion's attention from the woods and the horse looked hopefully in the direction of the noise. His big, black, beady eyes scanned the lone trees in the distance in search of the golden treat. Orion had an unusual interest in the taste of honey. On Ava's first encounter with the horse, Orion nearly bit her fingers off when he stole the honey sandwich from her hand.

Ava noticed the horse's distraction and flicked one of his ears with her finger.

"Orion, focus" she whispered and watched as the horse turned his gaze back towards the wood. He gave another impatient huff and flattened his ears giving the impression of charging away.

"What's wrong with your horse?" the elf asked, raising a perfect eyebrow and casting an odd glance at Orion.

"He thinks that the elven hospitality is dreadful" Ava replied flatly and reached for the water bottle in her satchel. Time to wake up. She could feel the curious gaze of the elf upon her and when she looked up, she saw him staring at the bottle. It was a plain, see through, plastic bottle with a few grooves marked into the sides, nothing special, but to the elf it was an unfamiliar object. Yes, the elves did possess bottles, but all of them were made from glass and with his keen elven eyes he could easily see the difference between the crafty elven glass bottles and this one.

"What?" Ava asked rudely after a swig of water. She swiped her mouth with the back of her hand to catch a droplet that escaped from her lips.

"Curious" he shrugged and faced back to the front.

Ava shook her head at the elf and then took another mouthful from the bottle. The cool water down her throat was soothing and she felt more awake. She poured a little bit of the water between Orion's ears and the horse shook his head lightly to spread the cool water down his face and neck. The horse bopped his head backwards indicating Ava to drizzle more water, but just as she lifted the bottle the elf spoke again.

"Daro!" came the irritated command from his lips and he threw an annoyed look at the two.

"What now? Orion was perfectly still this time!" Ava opposed the elf's remark and shot him an equally aggravated look.

"I was not talking to the horse"

"Then what is your problem?"

"You attract flies by wetting the horse. It stinks"

This time it was Orion who gave the elf a death glare. He snorted and did not divert his gaze from the elf. Ava watched with mild curiosity at the behaviour of Orion and was amazed that the horse seemed to really understand what they were saying. She thought about it on previous occasions, but never really investigated the matter. She just thought he was a smart animal.

"You have a very unusual horse" the elf remarked and shifted uncomfortably when Orion still stared him down.

Ava smiled, patted the horse between the ears and crooned in a sweet voice "Yes, Orion knows how to make rude elves feel uncomfortable"

The elf gave another sigh and leaned his head forward. One of his thin braids escaped from behind his pointed ear. "It's not that I am rude, I just dislike pointless conversation"

"Well, then you must better stop talking now" Ava dismissed him and purposely continued to sprinkle water on Orion's head. She was not sure what the dominant cause was; relieving Orion from the heat or annoying the elf.

The elf ignored her and kept his gaze fixed at the gap between the trees. He was relieved to see an elf emerge from the line of trees and beckoned for them to come. The elf in the distance gave a sort whistle and then disappeared back into the thicket.

Both horses took off in the direction of the whistle. A startled Ava clutched onto the reins and tried to regain some stability from her wavering balance, but Orion was determined to keep his pace with the elven horse and was also quite relieved to be moving again. The plastic water bottle nearly slipped from her hand as she tried to hold onto the runaway horse. Stupid elf could have given her a warning!

They moved from underneath the sun's glare to the shelter of the woods. The coolness of the air both relieved Ava and Orion, but soon their attention was occupied by looking down at the faces of a group of elves. They stared at her with a mixture of interest and distrust.

Ava shifted awkwardly under their gazes and felt herself going red. She looked nervously at them and wondered if she was in any danger. All of the elves were armed archers and two in the distance even had their bows drawn. Ava also noticed that almost all of the elves were dark haired except for the elf on the horse next to her and another elf standing tall in the middle of the assembly. He wore similar attire like the other elves, all in browns and greys, but his tunic was hemmed with olive and golden leaves. Ava noticed that he had handsome features and wondered how old he was.

"Vanidar, I present you Lady Ava Fairlin, Messenger from the Grey Havens" the elf next to her suddenly announced in a clipped tone. He lightly hopped from his horse and stepped towards her, holding out his strong, but slender hand for her to take. Even though Ava was not all too fond of this rude elf, she allowed him to help her from the horse. She was not at all surprised to see the tall, handsome blond elf, named Vanidar, strode forward and respectfully bowed his head in greeting. Not sure what to do, Ava gave a short curtsy, without a dress, and blushed furiously when the elf looked at her quizzically. How do elven customs work? Don't they curtsey?

"Welcome, Lady Ava to Lorien. Meet Legolas Greenleaf, our guest from Mirkwood" Vanidar said and motioned to the elf she 'knew' the longest. He gave a short nod and Ava scrunched up her face at the elf.

"Legolas" she tested the name on her tongue and then muttered an afterthought "Think, Daro suits him better"

Ava clasped a hand over her mouth after the words escaped her lips. She was just as surprised at her own bold statements like the other elves, and could only blame her weariness for such a remark. There was a flicker of amusement in Vadinar's eyes before he commented "Why, Legolas! What did you do to deserve such an unusual title from the Lady?"

Legolas did not look at Ava when he answered, but she could see that the reply was directed more towards her than Vadinar "Do not blame me for her ignorance in our language. I was merely instructing her horse not to run away when she mistakenly assumed that, 'daro' was my name"

"I would not have thought that, if you would have just answered my question, elf!" Ava seethed before Vadinar could speak. She took a step towards Legolas out of anger, not sure what she would actually accomplish by that, but it still made her seem more daring than just standing there.

Ava could hear the strain on the bows as the elves pulled their strings tighter. She was supposed to come here in amity, but Legolas just seemed to aggravate her so much that all thoughts of self-control seemed too fled from her mind!

Vadinar stepped in between the livid woman and proud elf with his hands raised "Peace, my friends!" he controlled, but he found the argument quiet interesting. Vadinar has never seen anyone talk to the Prince like that, but then yet again…she did not know he was a prince. Legolas discarded the title after the incident with his father and absolutely forbade anyone addressing him by it. He did not mind being associated with Mirkwood still, he loved his people and the wood, but that was the main reason he left them. Vadinar shook his head lightly and redirected his thoughts back to the matter on hand.

"Peace" he repeated and placed a hand on Legolas' shoulder. "Legolas, why don't you go and fetch Haldir? He will need to escort Lady Fairlin to our Queen."

Legolas gave a curt nod and turned to the direction of where Haldir was last seen. He walked away with long, quiet strides and Ava felt the insane urge to pick up a rock and throw it against the back of his head.

Vadinar turned to Ava and clasped her hands between his "I apologise for Legolas' behaviour. He is a guest in our woods, but has been here for so long, that we consider him as one of our own and therefore we do not approve of his actions".

"Why would you send out a guest to confront a stranger?" Ava could not help asking. It was like having a guest at your house answering the door of your party.

"Well, Legolas and Elior were riding through the woods, when Legolas caught site of you. He fired a warning arrow, but Elior, young elf as he is, wanted a confrontation and rode out to meet you. He has never seen a human woman before and curiosity got the better of him. He soon realised that he cannot understand the common language and signalled for Legolas to join him. After your explanation, Legolas instructed Elior to come and find us. We apologise for taking our time..."

"Elior seemed angry when he left, did he not wish to bring me here?" Ava asked and saw a faint smile on Vadinar's lips. He raked his hand uncomfortably through his hair before answering.

"Elior was upset with Legolas for staying with you. He wanted to be the one escorting you. We do not always get enough chances to be in our Lady's presence"

"Oh. So why did Legolas insist in taking me? "

"You ask a lot of questions, don't you?" Vadinar stated and Ava blushed at his comment. She saw some of the other elves listening intently to their conversation and wondered what they thought of her. First impressions were lasting ones and so far all she did was to pick a fight with one of them and then interrogate the other. Mind you, she only now thought how she must look and smell to them. Not having a bath for weeks, hair tangled, sweaty clothes form the hot weather and probably bad breath. She tried to brush her teeth along the way, but water was scares and a blop of toothpaste in her mouth was not always very appealing.

"No matter, you can ask all your questions later. For now we must make haste. I hear Haldir approach and we need to be on our way." Vadinar turned to meet a dark haired elf with deep brown eyes. His face looked kind and the soft smile that lingered on his lips seemed to make Ava feel more relaxed.

Mmmmm, grouchy Legolas….don't you just love him?

So if you could be any character of any book/movie.

Who would you be?

If you like this story, please do not hesitate to review. And flames are welcome too…just don't be too harsh! I will run of to Tortuga and drink a whole bottle of rum! Who know what nonsense I will write then!

Love,

The Poet