Chapter 37

Over the next week of traveling, the weather turned colder and Annelise was extremely grateful for the warm clothes that she had received before leaving Erebor. Although she still had nightmares at night, Legolas was relieved to find that she was able to go back to sleep after waking from them each night.

With this new development, the atmosphere between the two friends during the day was much lighter. They spent much of their time during the week traveling to Amun Sûl lightheartedly teasing and joking with one another. Inwardly, both Legolas and Annelise were happy to see the other laughing so freely after their own individual struggles.

They continued riding through the plains of Rhudaur and made it to Amun Sûl after six days. There they rested for a full day to allow their horse sufficient time to rest and eat before continuing on their journey north to Fornost and the Dunedain.

"I never realized you were such a prankster, Annelise."

"It took nearly three months for Kili to stop cringing every time he saw Bofur," Annelise said, laughing loudly.

"Yes, I would imagine so," Legolas responded, laughing along with her heartily.

She and Legolas had spent that day telling each other anecdotes of their misadventures during their time apart. The last few days had worked wonders for the two friends. Annelise was finally able to laugh and smile at her memories of her beloved family and with each laugh and smile, Legolas felt the concern that had built in his heart for the young woman fade away.

Once their laughter died down, they were silent for a few minutes before Legolas spoke once more.

"We should be no more than a day or two from Fornost, so hopefully we will run into some of the Dunedain soon."

This statement caused Annelise to go silent as she rode behind the elf. After a moment, he felt her lay her head against his back.

"You are worried," Legolas stated, knowing some of her fears as she had spoken to him of them in their days traveling. He felt her nod her head slightly in confirmation of his words.

"He will not resent you for not coming to him sooner. Nor will the others. They will understand once they know what you have been through."

"I know, Legolas," she responded quietly, sighing to herself. "I just can't help but feel anxious. I just wish there was a way that I could have let Estel know I was alright. Arwen spoke to me of how my 'death' had affected him. I just wish I could have spared him some of that pain."

"I say this as someone that was in the same position as he is now. The knowledge that you are here now is worth any pain that he felt in the past," he said gently, reaching down to touch one of her hands that was wrapped around his waist.

"Thank you, Legolas," she said, after a moment of silence.

"You're welcome, my friend," he said happily before changing the subject. "There is a small grove of trees ahead that seems to have sprung up around a small stream. I propose we stop for the night once we reach it, seeing as the sun has started its descent."

Annelise responded in agreement and the pair continued on in silence until they reached the edge of the treeline. Once Legolas pulled their horse to a stop, Annelise shifted to dismount but halted when Legolas suddenly grabbed onto her arm.

"Wait," he said suddenly, and Annelise froze at the tense tone in his voice. She was silent as she tried to listen for whatever was putting the elf on edge. She was just about to question him when she heard the sound of a twig snap.

At the sound, they both reached behind them and grabbed their bows and strung an arrow. In the blink of an eye, Legolas had dismounted and was standing before her with his bow held at the ready.

This seemed to be an unintentional signal when a group of six hooded men broke from the trees as one, each with an arrow strung in their own bows pointed directly at the pair.

"Who are you? And what is your business in these lands?," came the gruff voice of a taller man standing slightly before the others. Annelise guessed that he was an older man, based on the sound of his voice. Beyond that she could not tell much else about him because of the hood that was pulled up over his head.

"I am Legolas of the Woodland Realm and my companion is Annelise, daughter of Thorondil of the Dunedain. We have come in search of her people," Legolas said calmly.

Annelise was surprised that he would give that information so freely to strangers, and turned her eyes to look at her friend more closely. It was then that she noticed that while he was still holding his bow up, he was not pulling the arrow as far back as necessary and his posture was almost relaxed.

She then turned to study the men before her more closely and gasped when she realized what Legolas must have noticed as well.

"You are of the Dunedain?," Annelise questioned, lowering her bow and sliding off the horse to land next to Legolas.

This sudden movement caused three of the men before her to shift their aim towards her, and she saw Legolas pull his arrow back completely and take a small step in front of her.

"Thorondil and his family were killed many years ago and are held in high honor amongst the Dunedain. If I were you, I would think carefully before you continue to disrespect their memory by pretending to be someone you are not."

Annelise was left speechless at the man's harsh words. Seeing this, Legolas lowered his weapon as well and spoke up for her, with his hands raised in a placating manner.

"Please, she speaks the truth. My father, the Elvenking, sent us here in search of the Dunedain, specifically one who goes by the name of Strider. We just need to speak with him and then everything will be explained."

While Legolas was speaking, Annelise noticed the rangers before them stiffen at the mention of the name Strider and assumed they must know the man they were looking for.

After a moment of silence, the leader of the men lowered his weapon and gestured for the men around him to do the same.

"Our Chieftain will know if what you say is true. There will be heavy consequences if your words prove untrue," the man spoke sternly.

At his words, Annelise and Legolas nodded in agreement and put away their weapons.

"I am Halbarad," the man continued. "You will follow me and my men to our camp."

With these words, Halbarad and one of the other men turned and began walking into the wood behind them. At a gesture from one of the remaining men, Legolas and Annelise began to follow after them, a ranger on either side of them with the remaining two following closely behind leading their horse.

Annelise took the time walking to observe the men around her. They all looked very similar in appearance; tall and dark with the most serious look to their countenances. She subconsciously shifted closer to Legolas, feeling unsettled by the stern men.

The elf noticed her actions and reached down to give her hand a quick reassuring squeeze before turning his attention back to the two men leading them, specifically Halbarad.

He could finally see ahead to the camp they were being led to and sent up a quick silent prayer that everything would go smoothly once they were before the Dunedain Chieftain.

They soon passed the edge of the trees and entered into the clearing where the Dunedain camp lay.

There were seven tents in total, a single large one in the middle of a ring of six smaller tents. It was to this larger tent that Halbarad and the others led Legolas and Annelise.

As the group stepped into the ring of tents, Annelise noticed the eyes of the other rangers turn to them in confusion. The two rangers that were at the back of the group moved off to join their companions, along with the one that had been walking with Halbarad.

In total, Annelise counted five men, in addition to Halbarad and his companions.

A few feet from the large tent in the middle, Halbarad signaled for Annelise and Legolas to stop with their escorts a couple feet behind them.

"Wait here," he said abruptly before moving through the entrance of the tent.

Annelise turned and sent Legolas a hopeful look before turning her eyes to watch the entrance to the tent.

It had been a fairly stressful few months for Aragorn, the young Chieftain of the Dunedain. Reports had been reaching him of increased movements of the enemy across the land, as well as a large battle fought over the dwarf kingdom of Erebor. While the news of the dragon Smaug's demise was a welcome one, the involvement of orcs from Dol Guldur and Gundabad were very alarming.

He and his men had spent the last few weeks wandering the wild for news of the enemy's movements in preparation for the oncoming winter. Aragorn had decided to have a gathering of some of the men from the various small Dunedain settlements in order to gather and share news from each outpost.

He was greatly saddened to witness the dwindling number of Dunedain with each passing year, and couldn't help but feel the loss of more in the growing darkness.

He was pulled from these depressing thoughts when Halbarad came walking into his tent rather abruptly. The young Chieftain looked at his friend in confusion at his appearance, knowing that the man had left only minutes ago with others of the Dunedain to return to their respective settlements.

"What is wrong?," he asked urgently, standing quickly from his seat.

"We came upon a couple of travelers just as we were reaching the end of the wood," Halbarad spoke quietly. "An elf and a woman."

Aragorn was confused initially at how softly the man was speaking, but quickly realized the reason at Halbarad's last words. 'They must be just outside of the tent if he is worried about the elf overhearing,' he thought to himself.

"Who are they?," he asked just as softly.

"The elf identified himself as Legolas, son of King Thranduil of Mirkwood," Halbarad answered quickly before hesitating.

"And the woman?"

At this question, Aragorn felt himself tense up at the sight of how uneasy his friend looked.

"She claims to be Annelise, the daughter of Thorondil," Halbarad said finally.

Aragorn staggered back in shock at these words.

"That's impossible," he said emphatically after a few moments of shocked silence.

"They claim to have been sent in search of the Dunedain by the Elvenking," Halbarad continued softly but Aragon could only stare at the ground in quiet contemplation.

"My lord," Halbarad continued, the seriousness in his tone drawing Aragorn's eyes back to the man who gave him a significant look. "They claim to be searching for a ranger by the name of Strider."

This information managed to shake Aragorn out of his shock.

"Annelise and her parents were killed years ago. Why would the Elvenking send his son and an imposter here to find Strider? Thranduil knew Thorondil and his family," Aragorn spoke passionately and Halbarad could see that this news had disturbed his Chieftain, as he knew it would.

"I'm afraid there is only one way to come to the bottom of this," Halbarad spoke, placing a steadying hand on Aragorn's shoulder. "Do you want to meet with them?"

At these words, Aragorn took a calming breath and straightened his shoulders.

"Yes, but I will not be meeting them as Aragorn or Strider."

Annelise grew steadily more anxious the longer they stood outside the tent without any movement from the entrance.

She could see that Legolas was trying to hear any words being spoken from within, but the elf turned his head toward her slightly and indicated that he couldn't hear anything either.

After a few minutes, Halbarad emerged from the tent and gestured to the two companions to approach.

"The Chieftain has agreed to meet with you. I will be standing right outside the entrance and will be able to hear everything going on in there. Do not try anything," he warned before allowing them to pass into the tent.

A/N- I'm sorry for the cliffhanger...please don't hate me. I promise it's worth it! Really didn't feel right including it all in the same chapter. It would have been way too long and lost some of its power and significance. But hey, at least Aragorn finally showed up. Woohoo!!! Thank you all so much for your continued support. It's been a really rough two years and I've hated not being able to continue working on this story like I want to.