O yes my lovelies. This is part two of originally one chapter. I am having so much fun with this story! I just hope to wipe out every other memory of any version of the twins that was ever written. But more modest: please review! It really really keeps me going! Let me know what you like and dislike!

6. Dusk was approaching faster in the forest…

Dusk was approaching faster in the forest than in the open plains. Elrohir was scouting a bit ahead and where they could see him from time to time, he was now lost in growing shadows. True to their word, the twins informed her of the enemies whereabouts and how they wanted to approach them. Knowing how close the orcs were made her nervous and suddenly concerned for Elrohir. She hated not being in control.

Concentrating she could hear the sounds of his horse past the soft thuds of Mithrochs hooves. She felt uncomfortable, shivering while she stared at the ever growing darkness, trying to pierce it with her eyes but failing. Tuned in on her feelings as he was, Elladan rubbed her arm to comfort her.

A sudden silence rolled through the forest, Elladan's hand stopped moving. They held their breath, every fibre in their body alert. Then he unsheathed his sword softly. Rin followed him mere seconds later, the metal of her katana hissing.

As if the darkness was watching her, she suddenly felt like a sitting duck on the horse. Acting on impulse she slipped out of Elladan's grip, quickly running to a large tree, her ankles stiff from sitting still on the horse. Moving on her own accord, she felt no fear and in control, her thoughts empty and calculating. She took off her hoodie quickly, she wanted to be able to move unhindered.

Glancing back at Elladan she expected him, considering their argument earlier, to be concerned or angry for her impulsiveness. But instead he nodded at her seriously, his grey eyes clearly visible in the darkness. He motioning to the side with a shake of his head, holding up a few fingers to indicate the number of orcs.

Suddenly a loud clang of metal on metal alerted them. They shared another look. His wise eyes seemed to understand the situation and her intentions immediately. He motioned for her to run towards the sound. Then quickly turned his horse thundering through the trees and disappearing into the shadows. The sound of hooves was quickly absorbed by the darkness. She could only hear the sound of her own breathing.

So she was on her own for now. It gave her strength that he treated her like an equal and gave her this amount of trust. She had to live up to that trust. Running towards the sounds of weapons clashing, she held her blade sideways, the point tipped towards the ground. Silently she ran, like a shadow. The terrain was rugged but still she reached him before his brother did.

To her surprise, his legs half in the thicket, Elrohir lay on the ground, his eyelids closed. He seemed to be temporarily knocked out. When she approached he was trying to get to his feet, shaking his head to get rid of some dizziness, groaning. Bending over him, to her dismay, stood a giant orc holding a club. The creature yelled at the fallen Elf in a strange language, dark words spoken with a raspy broken voice.

Without hesitation she ran at the scene and sliced at it with one supple downward movement from her katana. He was twice her size. In slow motion she saw him registering the pain and turning his head to look down at her. In the wake of this movement his body pivoted slowly and the large club, with spikes, she noticed distantly, was being hurled towards her.

Within a split second, she knew that countering it would be suicide; she had to dodge it. She crouched down low, effectively evading her head being split open. Involuntarily, the orc's massive body followed the movement of the club by the sheer force that he had used, baring its unarmored side body to her. Seeing this opening in his defence she jumped up quickly, her katana already in action.

But then his head exploded in a spray of blood. The large body slowly tumbled over towards her. Feeling the blood dripping from her face, she stared blinking at the enormous lump of flesh heading her way. She was pulled forcibly to the side in one swift motion by a hard tug on her arm. It was Elladan. He did not look at her, but stared into the darkness, hissing at her: "Focus Rin… more are on the way…"

Elrohir had gotten up, staring in the same direction. He seemed uninjured. And then the world slowed down again. Five orcs came crashing through the darkness, gaining visibility as if they stepped out of an ink jar.

Elladan ran at them, a fraction faster than his brother. In his wake followed Elrohir, calling with a clear voice, making the echoes bouncing off the trees: "Lacho calad! Drego morn!". It seemed as if their charge pushed light into the darkness for a moment, making their enemy hesitate. She stared in wonder, rooted to the spot, watching the shadows cower behind the trees. What was this feeling? Was this the might of the Elves?

And then the moment passed and with a loud metal clang, they fell on their enemy like hungry birds of prey, slaying them as if they were Death himself.

The power of their battle cry gave her a strength that she did not know she possessed. She ran after them, cutting down the first orc that she happened upon. It fell easily with one smart move of her blade. It filled her with an intense adrenaline high that made her scream out in euphoria. The next one was not so easily defeated. It evaded her sword and managed to hit her in the face, making her tumble backwards and slamming into a tree trunk. She scrambled to her feet instantly. It was upon her in seconds, but she was quicker, making her katana collide point first with its flesh. At its cry of agony she locked eyes with it and they held nothing but hatred and pain.

An intense urge to hurt him pushed out any rational thought and while staring at it, she turned her blade and cut the wound further open towards the side, spilling its intestines on the ground. The horror of what she was doing was nothing compared to the relish she felt when she saw the panic in its eyes when the pain hit fully. The weapon fell from its hands, but it was not done yet. A small knife that she hadn't noticed cut through the skin of her arm. She cried in pain triggering an intense anger. She yelled her rage into its face. The creature cried in agony and surged with a battle crazed madness, she stared into its eyes until death found it suddenly and let it slide to the ground with a dull thud.

She ripped her katana from its belly severing its head from its body in one blow. She assessed the small battlefield. The twins were cornered by more orcs in a tough fight. The brothers fought seriously, she noticed their concentrated faces.

Then one of the orcs cut Elrohir on the shoulder which made her jump into action running towards them and slicing at its ankles, successfully crippling it. Elladan immediately took advantage of the opening and ended the creature with one blow. She jumped on to the next one, using her favorite reverse grip since the space to move around was limited. Elladan seemed to adapt to her intrusion in the battle with ease. He supplemented her, finishing moves that she initiated. And within moments the enemy was slain.

They stood there for a while panting. Elrohir already sensing their surroundings for more. He motioned silently with his head towards another direction. Rin felt excitement flooding her stomach. Without second thought she ran towards the shadows, only followed by a soft Elvish cursing sound.

Silently running through the trees. The orcs appeared soon enough and she ran at them silently. Vaguely she realised that there was no sound of the twins following her. But she trusted them to guard her back.

As if the previous encounters were just a warming up, she felt her mind and body just click into place. For a fleeting insane moment she thought of Hideo. This must be the state of mind that he was always talking about! And it felt great!

When she slayed the first orc, a battle rage took control over her brain and body. She moved automatically, everything becoming fluent, her movements, her tactics, her thoughts.

She craved for more with every blow and every cry of their enemy, that was now also her enemy. There was an enormous amount of orcs and she was moving without pause, working her limbs, cutting through flesh, skin and bone, pivoting, twisting, jumping, ducking.

And then for the first time in her life she gave herself completely to the experience, to herself, letting all barriers crashing down in one liberating ecstasy. She lost herself, she felt her mind and body becoming one, energy flowing, filling every cell in her body. Her identity reduced to zero. Time ceased to exist. There was only the fight and the tsuka of her katana in her hand.

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After an eternity, ever so slowly, she came to her senses. She was standing in a silent forest, cutting feverishly into a large lump of flesh. The meat shook with every blow. She was making sounds with every move.

Vaguely she realised it was dead. The stench of spilled guts mixed with blood and rusting metal, penetrating her nose almost painfully. She seemed to taste the smell on her tongue, nauseating her. And ever so slowly disgust started to grow in the pit of her stomach.

She stopped dead when she heard a soft voice murmuring in Elvish very near to her. It took her too long to recognize Elladan. Blood caked the side of his face and oddly enough his mouth and chin. He was panting. Dark blood was dripping from his sword. He was softly speaking to his brother, his hand on his arm.

Elrohir behind him seemed still dazed from fighting. His eyes wild, panting, his clothing soaked with blood. His sword was stuck in a grey corpse. He held an elegant knife in his hand, his arm up to his elbow covered in blood. He seemed injured at his shoulder, clear red blood oozing from a wound.

The sight of the wound alerted her, making her mind clear in an instant. She approached him quickly, touching his shoulder, concerned. He stared at her with those harsh wild eyes, as if seeing her for the first time. She said softly: "You are hurt… "

He didn't answer but grasped her waist and pulled her painfully into him with too much force, staring down at her with strange eyes. His strength and force surprised her and she gasped in his hold. Holding her tight, he slowly put his head into the crook of her neck. He held and she realized with a start that he was inhaling her scent. She must smell disgusting, but he inhaled deeply.

Behind him she noticed Elladan's concerned look. "You will get more blood on you." she said it gently, trying not to provoke him. .

"I like you covered in blood…", the words left his mouth before he realized what he was saying. As if the awkwardness of the situation slowly dawned on him, he stilled in the embrace. He slowly stood straight and met her eyes. She looked shy and flustered at the comment, not knowing what to think. When his thoughts cleared he wasn't sorry that he said it, since it was the truth. He knew his brother thought the same thing right this moment.

She had stood there, blood dripping from her blade, her arm and her face. Her eyes wild her face fierce, chest heaving, the muscles in her arms tense. And he had to admit that it did things to his stomach seeing her like this. Standing there like some exotic war goddess.

He was disturbed momentarily by his body's reaction to her appearance, but instinctively he had no choice but to give in to his urge for closeness. He wanted to feel her and smell the battle clinging to her skin, the sweat of the exercise still fresh. He knew he was to blame for her loss of innocence and her broken vows. But to give into this darkness, being able to share it with her, was a desire that had been part of him for centuries, but a desire that he nor his brother ever acted upon.

But now she was here. And the desire became too strong for him to ignore. He wanted to share his world with her, make her part of it. And he did not care if she wanted this or not, if she felt the same or not. A dark selfishness surfaced and he just gave into it because it felt good.

Elladan had approached without her noticing. Standing close enough for her to feel his breath on the other side of her neck en feel the warmth of his body against her side and back. She felt slightly embarrassed that he was staring at her while she was in his brothers arms, but as before he seemed not bothered by it.

Looking at him, she saw that his eyes held a dark look that told her he might even like the sight of them together. It made her blush, which made him gasp softly, his eyes getting an even darker wanting look. When he stared at Elrohir however, he said something in Elvish, his brother replied with a short grunt, releasing her.

Elladan had noticed the cut on her arm it seemed. He took her arm, turning it around to asses her injury. It was not serious, but it needed to be stitched together. He cursed softly. And the awkwardness of the situation evaporated just like that.

"Are you ok Rin?"

She shrugged. "It is a shallow wound. It just needs to be cleaned and preferably stitched."

"I can stitch the wound. But we need a fire to boil what little water we have and get warm." he stared at his brother pointedly. Elrohir cursed and stalked away to find firewood.

A fire was crackling soon enough and she sat next to it shivering. The adrenaline from the fight worn out. The Elves seemed unaffected by the cold.

Elladan had dragged the orc corpses into the thicket, showing an impossible strength that made her gape at him. Seeing her reaction he had shrugged mumbling about the obvious differences between Elves and humans. Elrohir had found her hoodie.

When Elladan had soaked some cloth in boiling water, he glanced at her: "Are you ready?"

She nodded. It was a nasty business, but it had to be done. She was not afraid of pain or injuries and she gave her arm unwavering. He washed the wound carefully, the already dried blood dissolving and dripping in rivulets from her arm on the forest ground. Then he took a needle made of fine metal and with a fine white thread he started sewing the edges of the wound together.

"Forgive me Rin, I am not the healer that my father is. This will leave a scar."

"I don't mind. I have many scars."

He went to work quickly but with attention. Elrohir watched her curiously. She did not react in any way to the pain of the needle or tugging at the wound. He thought she was remarkable.

When he was done, Elladan wound some clean cloth around her arm to protect the stitches. He helped her into her hoodie again and wrapped his mantle around her shoulders. She needed to stay warm.

She looked at Elrohir and his bloodied shoulder. "Shall I take a look at that?"

He shrugged. "It will heal."

"But the pain will lessen more quick if I treat it."

He grunted. "I like the hurt. It makes me feel alive."

She blinked at him. She knew that feeling intimately and had felt it many times before. But it was not the answer she expected. He was an Elf. Why would he have the same strange issues as a human girl? These were not the ideal Elves that she read about. They were scarred, dark and dangerous. And apparently they had issues. They had lived for centuries. Of course the brothers must have picked up more trauma than she had in her short lifetime.

She tried a different approach: "I know what you mean."

"I fear you do not."

Her anger flared: "Yes I do! Feeling my body after fighting is the only way to feel alive. When I am not fighting I feel empty, dead if you will. This is the reason that I live with my katana! You are not alone! So don't tell me I don't understand!"

He blinked at her, unable to form a coherent sentence. She pressed on: "Nice that you want to feel alive, good for you! But you are risking an infection and ultimately death if you don't clean it. And that is just a silly way to die for someone of Noble Blood as you put it." she rolled her eyes but pressed on: "And besides, it will hurt anyway, even if I clean it and tend to it…so you don't really have a point..."

He stared at her dumbfounded. Elladan suddenly laughed out loud, releasing the tension in them all. And after a while even Elrohir smiled: "Fine, I guess the verdict of a Japanese goddess of war is final."

But Rin realized soon to her dismay that her plan backfired once again, when he unclasped his mantle and pulled his tunic over his head, penetrating her with his gaze. She stared apprehensive at his torso, his broad shoulders, lean muscles, the scars that marred the delicate white skin.

She felt his eyes burning holes in her, but she did not dare meet them, fighting the burning sensation on her cheeks. She just knew the bastard would be grinning if she looked at him. Instead she focussed on his wound and the dried up crusts of blood on his hands, to remind her that the situation was totally unappropriate for hormones.