The next day Galadriel saw the Fellowship off on their way, and she brought each of them gifts. To all she gave cloaks, supplies, and her best wishes. When she pulled Kali aside, she handed her a flask. "For the road, you will need it soon." She said vaguely with a smile. Kali shrugged and put it in her bag that she got from the elves. And as Aragorn and Boramir helped ready the boats, Legolas looked through all their packs to make sure they hadn't left anything. His face expressed joy as he pulled out leaf-wrapped dry bread; he turned to Merry and Pippin, who were helping him,
"This is lamnas bread; one bite can keep a man full for a day." He explained with gladness.
Merry turned to Pippin with a hurried look, "How many did you eat?"
Pippin's stomach made a gurgling noise, "Four."
Kali groaned inwardly at their stupidity, now we're going to have to stop every five seconds for them to go number two!... She giggled and imagined Pippin and Merry complaining the whole way, "But, Aaaaaaaraaaagooooorn! We have to gooooo!" Aragorn came up to her and said, "May I ask what is so funny?" She tried to catch her breath and she gasped,
"Merry and Pippin ate" she laughed some more, the others walked over. "Four of them!" she gasped.
Gimli grunted, "Four of what?"
Legolas gasped, "They did?" The others were left in the dark, still very confused.
"Four of what?! Explain Elf!" Gimli roared, stamping his axe on the ground impatiently. Then Aragorn got it; "Oh-no…"
"I'll never eat lamnas bread ever again!" Pippin moaned from the boat, leaning over the left side.
"I hear you Pip." Merry concurred, leaning over the right side of the boat. They both had become terribly sick and had thrown up over the side constantly an hour after Lothlorien was out of sight.
Gimli groaned from behind Kali, "Just watching them makes me feel sick!"
Kali whipped round, "Don't you dare!"
"Don't worry lass, I won't. But I was wondering, what did Lady Galadriel give you?"
Kali pulled it out of her pack and studied it, "A flask of some sort, I don't know what's in it."
"Open it lass! Let's have a peek!"
"No, I think I should wait until the moment is right, whenever that is…"
"That is the wisest choice," Legolas voiced from the back, rowing steadily and keeping them on course.
"Bah! And what did the Lady give you Elf?" Gimli harrumphed.
"A bow and a new quiver."
"Well that ought to make you happy."
"And what did you get Gimli?" Legolas asked,
"I asked for a single golden hair for me to remember her by… she gave me three." His voice cracked with emotion at the end, Kali smiled as Gimli talked about how fair Galadriel was and how he would go back there if he could.
Ten hours later…
"Are we there yet? I need to stop and stretch!" Gimli asked again, for the twenty-fifth time that day.
Kali clenched her hand into a tight fist, "If you say that again, I swear…" Gimli opened his mouth to say something, "Zip! Not another word."
"Are we there y-"
Gimli was whacked over the head with the paddle as Legolas switched hands.
"Oh, sorry Gimli, I didn't see your head there."
Gimli fake-laughed, "Pretty words coming from an pointy-eared elvish princeling with perfect eyesi-"
Legolas whacked him over the head again with the paddle, shutting the dwarf up for about five seconds,
"You want a fight or something? Come on we can go right now if you-"
Kali turned around, grabbed his head, and dunked it underwater. "I told you to be quiet!"
Aragorn watched this with amusement until he saw a suspicious-looking log floating, or so it seemed, right next to their boat. Aragorn shook his head; it was getting dark and harder to see, so maybe that wasn't what he thought it was.
They all beached their boats and stepped onto the river bank, stretching their aching limbs. Kali went to tie the boats to some trees with some rope as The Hobbits started to get a fire going. Legolas lie down and his eyes glazed over in sleep so he could take part of the night watch later. Boramir and Aragorn sat down heavily next to Gimli on a log and sighed heavily, tired from ten hours straight of rowing. Once the boats were safe, Kali went over to the group and looked to Aragorn, "I'm going to have a look around in the nearby area and maybe get some dinner for myself along the way." Aragorn nodded and watched as she disappeared into the forest, the sky grew darker and the grey clouds above shifted to reveal a beautiful sunset, lending a last bust of light to the Fellowship as Aragorn tiredly examined the map. "Legolas, what way do you think we should take…?" Then he realized Legolas was sleeping. The elf sat up and looked at him,
"Yes Aragorn?" (Spoken in elvish, 'cause I'm too lazy to use an elvish dictionary)
"Go back to sleep Legolas, I'm sorry."
"I am awake now. What is it?"
"I feel something wrong, like we are being followed from multiple routes, do you feel anything?"
"Yes, I am uneasy about the other bank of the river, there is darkness there that I do not wish to confront."
"And they follow us on foot?"
"Yes, I think a troop of them… they may have a way to get across the river, but I hope not… Where is Kali?"
"She went to find food and to look at the surrounding area."
"Do you think she felt something off and went to go investigate?"
"I wouldn't put it past her, she is a strong woman."
"I want to make sure that there really is no threat on this shore, I will be back soon Aragorn." Legolas stood and went into the woods.
Boramir glared at Aragorn, "Would it kill you to just speak Common so the rest of us can understand?" the tension between Aragorn and Boramir became so stressful that most of the company decided to go elsewhere and take a leak.
Legolas found Kali up in a tree, watching the sunset from up high. She noticed him and jumped down, landing on her feet lightly. "I thought you were getting some rest," she said, a small frown puckering her forehead.
"I have rested long enough, there is something foul in the air that makes me feel alert, I cannot sleep now. Do you sense it as well?"
She looked at him and sighed. "That's why I came out here… I'll take the watch tonight, you need to get some sleep or else you will fall asleep while fighting and we will take you for dead!"
Legolas smiled softly and looked down at her, "No, you need your sleep more than I do." Kali just gave the argument up; she knew she would win later.
"By the way, I have something to give you," Legolas pulled out his old bow and quiver and handed them to her.
"But why?" She asked, purely confused.
"I was given a new bow to use, and it is quite an honor to be given a bow made by the elves of Lothlorien. The Lady Galadriel told me that I would know what to do with my old bow when the time came, and that is now. I want you to keep it, to use it, and to have it with you always to keep you safe from harm."
Kali's eyes grew wide as she took in the importance of the gift he was giving her, "Thank you!" she said, and instead of hugging him, she stood on her toes and kissed him on the cheek. He had no idea what to do; his mother was the last person to do that to him, and he had been a mere five hundred at the time. He blushed lightly and hoped Kali couldn't tell that he was flustered.
"I made that bow when I was two hundred and just learning how to use it, please take care of it."
Kali's jaw dropped, "And you are just giving this to me?"
Legolas smiled, leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "But I'm not giving this to just anyone,"
Kali shivered in delight when his warm breath felt hot against her ear, she would love to just kiss him… or bite him. She bit her lip hard, trying not to think about anything but what she ate a few minutes ago. Blood, you had blood very recently, get over your hunger already! Suddenly Legolas spun towards the camp and grabbed her hand,
"We have to warn the others!"
Just as they were coming onto the bank a loud screech came from overhead, they all clutched their ears and shook. Frodo was having an especially hard time with everything, struggling not to just put on the Ring. Legolas grabbed his new bow and Kali aimed hers; they both shot at the same time and with a loud squeal, the Felbeast fell to the ground dead, crushing several trees in the process. The Fellowship ran quickly over to where it fell; they found it dead with two arrows sprouting from its neck. Aragorn admired their teamwork, together, simultaneously; they took down the flying terror of the skies with two arrows. Boramir glared at Legolas, "Why didn't you sense this earlier? Aragorn told me that you sensed trouble on land on the opposite bank!" Boramir looked ready for a fight but Legolas just felt ashamed, he didn't show it but he said,
"You are right; I should have been paying more attention."
Aragorn turned to Legolas, "Do not blame yourself for this, my friend, I too am to blame. Now, let's get some sleep, I'll take the first night watch-"
"No." Kali said firmly, "I tried to tell you guys once before that I don't sleep at all, so I will take the entire night watch. I never get tired, and you three rowed all day, you two are sick, and you two need your sleep. Just leave it to me."
Aragorn reluctantly nodded and went back to the camp.
Even though everyone was dead tired, they all slept very little that night from the feeling they were being watched. But they all managed to shake off that feeling as paranoia. No one saw the creature Gollum creep back into the shallows and swim away.