Author's Note: Yes, I had to bring her in. ;)

Chapter 24-An Unexpected Friendship

Karra wasn't sure how long they walked, but it seemed like hours, or even days. Karra was kept moving at a fast pace, just fast enough that she couldn't slow down enough to look for any of the other dwarves. She finally just gave up and focused on keeping up with the elves.

As they walked, the forest became less dark and gloomy and more cheerful and pretty, more like a forest should look, Karra thought. Actual beams of sunlight slanted through the orange and yellow leaves, and every so often, Karra saw some signs of civilization, of people living here. Eventually, they reached a thin, graceful bridge, and crossing it entered through a large rounded doorway into the elven mansion.

The whole place looked like a slightly less refined version of Rivendell, with the same graceful curving architecture, except here it was made of branches and leaves, giving it an earthier feel. Karra was led through several large passageways, and into a large, branch-lined room. There it seemed as if the elven company split off, and two guards led Karra down a smaller corridor. She figured protesting was useless, so she followed them meekly, her head bowed.

She heard a door creaking open, and then one of the guards pushed her firmly inside what looked to be a prison cell. The door slammed shut again, and she heard the sound of a key grinding in the lock. Then the guards were gone.

It took her a moment to process what had just happened. In one day, she had gotten bitten by a giant spider, captured by elves, and…and had the only link to her home taken away from her. That last thought echoed in her mind. She would never see her mom again. The key had always been there, a comforting reminder that should she ever want to return, she could. But now…she sighed and stared out the bars of the cell dejectedly. Now she was stuck in an elven prison cell with nothing to do and nothing else to think about.

In an effort to take her mind off…everything, she took a moment to actually look around her. The cell had bare stone walls and a metal barred door separating her from the outside. Nothing interesting here. Some of the architecture could have been interesting had there not been so little of it. She had pretty much examined everything there was to examine in a couple of minutes. She slumped back against the wall with a sigh. Now what?

Her eyes popped open. Had she fallen asleep? It was so hard to tell how much time had passed. She glanced around once more, half disappointed to find that this wasn't all a dream, and she was still sitting in this same boring cell. She yawned, got to her feet, and began to pace. The cell didn't provide much room for exercise, so she sat down again.

Karra wasn't sure how much longer it was before something happened, but eventually a guard came by and dumped a plate of food and a cup of water though the bars of the door. She wanted to thank him, but he was gone before she could speak.

At least they weren't trying to starve their prisoners. The food was good, and presumably healthy, though it wasn't all that flavorful. As Karra set the empty plate back down near the door, she made the mistake of bumping her bad arm on one of the bars and nearly ripping the bandage off.

She felt a wave of dizziness. Dull pain throbbed through her arm. She carefully began to unwrap the bandage, figuring now was as good a time as any to take a look at the wound.

As always, it didn't look at worse, but it didn't look any better. It was still red and puffy, and may or may not have actually been oozing something. Everything was still a bit fuzzy to Karra. It was probably the lingering influence of the forest and the spider bite, both of which should wear off soon. Karra hoped. The headache was still there too, just adding to everything.

Since there probably wasn't much Karra could do about the wound, she began to rewrap it, wishing she had another bandage to replace it with. The dirty cloth was probably only adding to the infection, or whatever it was.

As she clumsily rewrapped the bandage with her left hand, she heard footsteps outside the cell. She glanced up briefly, assuming it was just another guard. She was surprised to see a tall, beautiful elven woman with long red hair the same shade as hers. She was dressed in what looked to the uniform of a guard. Karra stared up at her. She didn't know how long it had been since she'd seen another woman!

The elf stopped for a moment, looking into her cell. Karra met her gaze, trying not to look too shocked. Her hand lingered on the bandage and she felt as if she looked rather groggy.

"Does something trouble you?" the woman asked kindly.

"What?" Karra said blankly. Suddenly everything seemed to register in her mind and she said hastily, "Oh, no, I'm not troubled! I mean, not really, other than…" her voice trailed off. It probably wasn't best to complain to a guard about sitting in a boring old cell with nothing to do.

"Than what?" the elf asked, and she seemed like she actually cared.

"…my arm hurts," mumbled Karra, gently nudging the bandage off her arm so the elf could see, though she wasn't exactly sure why she wanted the elf to see.

The woman dropped to her knees so she was at the same level as Karra. "Let me see," she said gently. Karra unwrapped the bandage a little more and scooted closer to the bars, feeling as if she could trust this woman. The elf gently and skillfully ran her fingers over the wound, examining it.

"It's slightly infected," she said after a moment. "How long have you had this wound?"

"Like maybe two weeks or so," Karra replied, still sort of wondering why she was talking to a guard so personally. "I honestly don't know. I kind of lost track of time since we entered this forest."

The elf woman smiled slightly. "Yes, that happens to many who enter Mirkwood," she said. Her expression darkened slightly. "Too many," she said. She stood up and smiled again, as if to say, enough with that. "I will return," she said, turning and walking down the corridor and out of sight. Karra watched her go. She hadn't expected to meet someone like this here! Another woman, and a guard at that. She grinned, wondering if Kili were here. He would surely take a fancy to this lovely elven woman. She wondered where she was going, and what she had meant by her parting words.

She didn't have long to wonder. Soon, she heard footsteps in the hallway again, and the elf was back, this time holding something in her hand. Leaning down, she passed a clean bandage and a bottle of something through the bars to Karra. "Put some of this salve on your wound," she said. "It should lessen the pain and quicken the healing."

"Thanks!" Karra exclaimed. "Why are you doing this?" she blurted out. "I mean, why are you helping me so much?"

"Because I," said the elf, in a tone that said there were issues at play here, "believe in treating our captives with respect." She gave Karra a little smile to indicate that her irritation was not directed at her, then turned once again and walked down the hallway.

Just as she was almost out of sight, Karra thought of something. "Wait!" she called. As soon as the word was out of her mouth, she felt terribly disrespectful. She had nearly forgotten for a moment that she was the prisoner here, and the elf was the guard. She felt a flush rising.

The woman turned and looked at her quizzically. "Umm…" Karra began. "I…I wanted to ask you if the rest of my company got captured too. They're all dwarves," she added hastily. "Thirteen of them. And one hobbit."

The elf nodded with a smile. "Yes, we have all thirteen dwarves here," she said. "But I haven't seen a hobbit. What is a hobbit?" she asked.

"Oh!" It suddenly dawned on Karra that Bilbo might be still wandering around in the woods, lost. The thought had never occurred to her that he wouldn't have gotten captured with the rest of the company. Great, now she had another thing to worry about. "A hobbit is…well, sort of like a dwarf, only with big feet…er…short, about three feet tall," she fumbled. "Nevermind, I don't think you'd understand, really." She cocked a grin up at the woman, trying to lessen her awkwardness. "Did I ever get your name?" she asked, momentarily forgetting her prisoner status again.

"Tauriel," the elf replied. "You may call me Tauriel."

"Oh, okay," Karra replied, lapsing back into awkwardness again. "Um, well…thanks." She grinned again, hoping she looked friendly. Tauriel smiled back, turning and walking down the corridor once again. Karra watched as she disappeared around the corner. This bit of companionship had been nice, and she couldn't help hoping she'd see this elf again. And Tauriel was an easier name to remember than some, so that was a plus.

Karra couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned on the hard cell floor, first pillowing her head in her arm, then leaning against the wall, then leaning against the door, but nothing worked. At least the forest had had a soft layer of leaves and underbrush to sleep on. This cell had nothing but stone, and Karra didn't even have her bedroll.

It seemed the elves didn't even turn off their lights at night. It was still just as light in the corridor as it had been in the daytime, assuming it had been daytime earlier, and that bothered her too. She squirmed and sat up, leaning against the wall again. She should have asked Tauriel for a pillow or something.

Hearing a sound in the hallway, she turned her head, expecting another guard. But instead of a guard, a dark shape came slowly around the corner. It seemed to be looking for something, for it would stop, peer into a cell, then move on. Unable to look away, Karra watched as it approached her cell.

As it moved closer, she recognized the silhouette to be that of a spider—a giant spider. She gasped and drew back to the farthest corner. The horrible thought entered her mind that the elves were planning to kill them all by releasing spiders on them. She reached for her weapon, but it wasn't there. She couldn't move, and stared transfixed as it reached her cell and looked in. It gave a horrifying hiss.

She jerked upright and looked around her. The corridor was dark. There was no spider. It was a dream. Only a dream.

She almost collapsed from relief. She reached instinctively for the key, to feel its comforting familiarity around her neck, only to realize she didn't have it anymore. She stared out the bars of the cell. Why hadn't she called her mom that last night at home? Now she would never see her again. She blinked back tears.

She must have drifted off to sleep sometime later, for when she opened her eyes, the hall was light again. She didn't feel as if she had gotten a good night's sleep, and she wasn't sure how much time had passed since her nightmare; like the forest, these halls had a certain sense of almost disconcerting timelessness. It must have been after breakfast, though, for there was a plate of food inside her cell.

Breakfast was the same as dinner had been; food without much taste, but at least it was food. After she had finished, she unwrapped the new bandage on her arm, not sure what to expect from Tauriel's healing potion. To her surprise, her arm was nearly healed. Whatever it had been oozing was gone, and a scab covered the wound. It was still a little red, but she didn't feel any pain, even when she touched it. She almost found herself hoping they'd be kept here until it healed entirely.

She spent most of the afternoon doing pretty much nothing. She was half tempted to make a face every time a guard walked by, but she figured that probably wasn't a good idea. Once she stuck out her tongue at one's back and winked at him when he turned around. She had just started playing connect-the-dots on the ceiling when she heard footsteps outside her cell. She looked out the door, wondering what silly thing she could do this time, and was surprised to see Tauriel walking by.

She had the sudden urge to call out her name and wave wildly, but she resisted. After all, she was prisoner and Tauriel was a guard, or something of the sort. If the elven woman wanted to greet her, she would let her do it.

She was a little surprised when Tauriel actually approached her cell with a smile. Didn't the guards have better things to do than to talk to their prisoners? Not that she was complaining.

"Hi…" she said shyly, not sure what else to say. "You…you came back."

Tauriel laughed lightly. "Of course!" she said in a tone that indicated that the answer was obvious. Karra was surprised that an elf would actually want to spend more time with her, but hey. It was nice. Dropping to her knees so that she was at Karra's level, she requested, "Show me your arm."

Karra gently unwrapped the bandage and stuck her arm through the bars of the cell for the elf to see. Tauriel gently ran her fingers over the wound. "I don't believe you ever told me your name?" she said while examining it.

The names Karra Oakenshield and Karra of Erebor flashed through her mind, but she pushed aside the temptation and just said, "Karra. My name's Karra." She figured her surname was irrelevant here, since the only person she had met with an actual last name was Thorin, and Oakenshield was much more epic than McPherson.

"Karra," Tauriel said. "I've never heard a name like it before." She finished looking over Karra's arm. "I see much improvement," she said. "Keep putting the salve on it, and it should be healed in a matter of days." She handed Karra a new bandage, which she produced out of seemingly nowhere.

Karra nodded gratefully. "Thank you…so much," she said awkwardly. "Not…not that I had expected anything worse," she said, trying to make conversation. "I mean, elves are kind of…perfect…" Her voice trailed off as she realized she sounded a little sarcastic.

Tauriel gave her a look that could only be described as knowing. "Perfect? No, we are not perfect." She looked away. "Some of our race is far from it."

"Yeah, but you're definitely better than anybody else here," Karra said, not even sure why she was continuing this line of conversation. "I mean, take the dwarves. Not to be down on my own race or anything, but they're kind of uncouth, and can be rough, and sometimes don't have a sense of manners." She laughed. "I should know," she said. "I've been traveling with them for months." She saw a slight smile on Tauriel's face and continued. "They complain about everything, and toss food at each other, and have belching contests. Fili and Kili are cute, but they're just as bad as the others." She perked up. "Have you seen them? They're younger, Fili has light hair and Kili has dark hair. They're brothers." She stopped, realizing that she was kind of monopolizing the conversation.

"I think I might have met Kili," Tauriel said with something of a grin on her face. Karra raised an eyebrow.

"Did he…you know…flirt with you?" she asked with a laugh.

Tauriel shook her head. "You don't want to know," she said.

"I'm sure I don't." Karra grinned. So they had met. Oh, she couldn't wait to tease Kili about this later. If…if she did see him later. If they ever got out of here. She shouldn't be thinking about this in front of a guard; it might show.

"Tell me more about dwarves," Tauriel said, and her tone indicated that she found what Karra had said so far slightly amusing.

Karra grinned. "They're stubborn," she said. "But strong. And did I tell you they don't have good table manners? And they like to drink. And not your elven kind of wine. Like, beer and ale. Of course, I'm not really a dwarf, so…" She trailed off. What had she just said?

Tauriel seemed surprised. "You're not a dwarf?" she asked.

"Oh!" Karra exclaimed. "I…I didn't…I mean, I'm half dwarf, half human. My dad was a dwarf, my mother was human." There wasn't really anything else she could say without skirting around the issue, so she figured she might as well just tell her.

"I have never heard of a half dwarf before," Tauriel said. "Of course, I don't know much about dwarves, so I suppose it's possible."

"Of course it's possible!" Karra exclaimed. "If it wasn't, I wouldn't exist." She giggled, realizing that was quite the obvious statement there. "And that would be bad, wouldn't it?" Tauriel laughed. Karra grinned back. How strange, an elf and a half-dwarf.

They ended up talking for a while after that. Karra wasn't sure how long they sat there, laughing and chatting, but then again, she had had enough of counting the hours here, and was glad of something to do. Tauriel seemed quite interested in anything Karra could tell her about life outside of the forest, and Karra was interested in anything Tauriel could tell her about…well, life here in general. While she avoided telling her she was from another world, Karra did amuse the elf with some of the little quirks of life in America. All in all, it was a very enjoyable afternoon, and Karra was disappointed when Tauriel stood up and said with an apologetic smile,

"I'm afraid I must go now."

"Oh," Karra said. "Well, it's been fun!" She gave the elf a smile and a wave as she disappeared around the corner of the corridor. She might just have found a friend.

It must have been bedtime, or at least Karra's inner clock was telling her it was, for she was feeling rather sleepy. Once again, she reached for her key only to realize it wasn't here. With a sigh, she leaned back against the wall and stared up at the ceiling.

The next day went slowly until about mid-afternoon, or what Karra guessed to be mid-afternoon. Looking up hopefully, she once again saw Tauriel approaching. She had a smile on her face that spoke of something, though Karra wasn't quite sure what it was.

The elf walked over and leaned down. She seemed to be holding something. Leaning down, she opened her hand. "I believe these are yours," she said.

The golden necklace and the key spilled out and dropped to the floor.

Well, yet again there's a strong chance I won't be updating again this week. Our computer decided to conk out yesterday evening, and there's only one other computer I have access to, and it's old and slow. While we may get the computer fixed this week, we may not, so I just thought I'd warn you that there might not be another update for a week.