Attack

"Oh my god!" Natasha whispered.

The eyes of both elves were wide open, glazed over in an unseeing stare. Heart pounding with trepidation in her chest, she edged closer and waved a hand in front of their faces. No response. Kicking into doctor-mode, she steeled herself and reached out to feel Strider's pulse, only to have her wrist caught in a fierce grip. Needless to say, she screamed.

Legolas was instantly awake and reaching for his weapons before he realized what had happened. A swift kick to Strider's rear brought the half elf out of his sleep with a jolt, immediately releasing Natasha.

"Lady Natasha?" he asked groggily, trying to understand why he'd been so brutally woken.

She clutched her injured shoulder, and felt to see if the stitches had broken in the struggle, before replying. Still intact, thank goodness.

"You weren't blinking." she gritted out. "I was checking your pulse."

"Ah." Strider sighed, running a tired hand over his face and falling back onto his bedroll. Legolas chuckled and sat down next to Natasha, turning her to check her shoulder.

"It is merely how elves sleep, my lady. Nothing to fear." Legolas soothed. "No damage done, thankfully. I hope we did not frighten you."

"All of you? That's a bit strange. I wasn't really frightened, at least not until he grabbed my wrist."

"Yes." Legolas chuckled again. "But imagine how difficult it is for us to watch you humans sleep. Elven eyes are only closed in death."

Natasha hummed in agreement, and sighed, trying to release all the tension that had built in her body. Strider stood abruptly with a huff and left the hideaway without a word, leaving Natasha just a little confused. She didn't think her reaction was that uncalled for.

"Don't worry, he's just a little grumpy in the morning." Legolas smiled and moved to the entrance. "I don't think he was quite ready to be awake just yet, wouldn't you agree?"

Shaking her head with a smile, Natasha pulled her hair back, and pulled out the spare set of clothes from her pack. Thank goodness she always kept an extra set. She quickly changed, and was just pulling her shirt down when the two elves returned, each bearing a load of wood which was deposited in a corner of the shelter.

"Ah good, you had spare clothing." Strider smiled, dusting himself off. "I was about to offer you a set of mine. Though they wouldn't have fit nearly as well as what you've got." he winked at her then, before continuing. "We make for the Palace today, though we won't get there today. As long as we don't meet with any signs of danger, we'll be able to keep the pace light for you. Are you ready?"

Nodding, Natasha followed them out of the shelter and onto the trail. Legolas quickly took her pack from her, swinging it lightly onto his own shoulders as though it were nothing, before she could say anything and lead the way down the faint path. Natasha would have had difficulty finding it without a flashlight, but Legolas led the way, calm and sure as though he were walking in daylight.

Much to her dismay, the forest much the same as it had been the night before. Dark and gloomy. The canopy was so thick here that no sunlight reached the forest floor, and she could barely make out her companions, who for the first time, she had noticed, had a slight glow to them as them moved along the trail. Putting it down to another 'elvish thing,' she concentrated on keeping Legolas in sight.

"How do you know if it's morning?" Natasha asked.

"Instinct." Strider replied, hopping nimbly over a log. "It gets brighter down the trail. Are we going too fast for you?"

"I'm fine." she assured him with a smile. And she was. Her shoulder only ached a little, now that the painkillers had taken effect, and the pace wasn't nearly as grueling as it had been the night before. "Would you mind telling me a bit about your world?"

For the remainder of the morning, they traded questions about their respective worlds. At one point, she'd described her kidnappers to them and been informed they were called 'orcs,' horrifying creatures who delighted in terrifying, torturing and killing people. Strider and Legolas hadn't said anything to this effect at the time, but they seemed to Natasha to be deeply concerned about this development.

Around mid-day, they stopped to refill their water skins and have a bite to eat (more lembas, the Elvish word for the waybread she'd had the night before, she was told). Legolas apparently relished the taste, though, in her opinion, it could get old really fast. Strider agreed, if his grimace while he ate was anything to go by.

It was a brief respite, while they ate, and as the silence stretched on, Natasha's thoughts turned to her brother. Would she ever see him again? Was he safe or had the orcs gotten to him too? And what if this Gandalf person Strider had told her about couldn't send her home? What would happen to her? Would she be able to continue her work as a doctor…healer here? Where would she live? There were so many questions that needed answers, and the night's rest had done nothing to clear them up.

Perhaps it was fortunate that Fate ended up conspiring against her that day and prevented her from thinking about her situation for too long, for surely she would have ended up screaming in frustration from all the questions floating around in her head. However, the method of intervention left much to be desired.

Thunder boomed as a storm rolled in, its appearance covered by the treetops but Legolas had been vigilant and they'd been searching for shelter long before the storm hit. Unfortunately, shelter was not to be had and they were forced to dart from tree to tree.

"Great, just what we needed." Natasha muttered and wrapped the cloak Legolas had lent her tighter around her shivering body.

"Don't worry my…Natasha." Strider caught himself quickly as Natasha glared at him. She'd gotten fed up with the formality around mid-morning and had told them so. "There's another ranger station not too far from here. We'll reach it soon."

"Define 'far' and 'soon,' as I believe you said the same thing about twenty trees ago."

Strider chuckled and shrugged, and dashed to the next tree. Legolas had long since disappeared, and Natasha had no choice but to follow. Thunder deafened their ears every few minutes, keeping them from discovering that while Natasha was following the two elves, something else, many of them in fact, were following them, until it was too late.

The two elves slid to a halt just short of band of orcs, sword ready and arrow already notched to bowstring. Natasha let out a strangled noise as more of them closed in behind them, blocking all escape. The orcs leered and slathered in excitement, clanging weapons to shields and jockeying with each other for better positions.

Strider and Legolas circled around Natasha, faces set with grim determination. Their eyes met briefly, a silent plea to the other to remain safe and whole, before they turned to Natasha.

"Run when we tell you. Find some place to hide and don't come out unless Legolas or I come for you. Do you understand?" Strider said in a low voice so only she could hear. Natasha nodded mutely, very much doubting that she'd be able to escape these things again.

The leader of this new group grinned ferally, revealing pointed teeth, and leapt forward with amazing speed, his followers a step behind. Blades flashed in the lightning that lit up the sky and Natasha lost track of who was where. The leader had evaded Strider and Legolas and tackled her to the ground, she kicked and hit trying to get free but to no avail. His fist connected with her stomach, doubling her over and allowing the creature to grab onto her hair and wrench her around to face him.

"You're more trouble than you're worth, human bitch." he growled, laughing at her terror.

But her terror was not just of the orc before her. Within, she could feel a hot, churning mass boiling in her chest, and she fought harder, desperate to get away. But he was too strong. He pulled her back over the little distance she'd managed to get, crushing her against his side. The mass of power rose steadily and crashed out of her like a tidal wave, and she was dropped to the ground as she started glowing with a blinding golden light. She staggered as far to the side as she could before curling into a tight ball. Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she tried to regain control of herself. Distantly, she was aware of a crackling sound and pained screams from those around her.

'Strider, Legolas, I'm sorry.' was her last thought before she passed out.