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The Bargain Pt.3 (1.4k words)

“How long will you be gone for?” The tension in the room was suffocating as I watch her face the flames.

 “I will leave for Harrenhal in two days and I will not return for four moons. When I do return I will be a married man and my wife will live as a noble woman representing the north in the capital.” I sigh as I finish what is left in my cup. “I assume I don’t have to say it, but I will for clarity. We cannot continue our ‘alliance’ after I am married, it may be arranged and without love but she does not deserve that.”

 She keeps staring into the fire,the twitch of her hand showing her dislike for the situation. “I know and it appears my father has also arranged for me to marry Sir Laenor Velaryon.” She stands up and walks over to me and I stand up as well. She puts her hands against my face and rubs my cheek. “We know our duties and we must do them. But remember you will always hold a piece of my heart.” 

“And you a piece of mine.” I lean down to meet her lips in the middle. This kiss had a bitter taste, a reminder of the end. An end to what could have been a great life together. Before it goes forward, I separate our lips and grab my cloak to depart back to my chambers. “Princess, have a good night.”... 

   I arrive at my chambers and see my father sitting at my desk with a scroll in his hands. “Father what brings you here at this late hour?” I sit in the chair facing him as he silently hands me the scroll, the seal is that of House Mormont. “They have decided to leave 3 days early so we’re riding out tonight. I’ve asked the chambermaids to pack your clothes and you pack your other things. I have arranged our early departure already and sent your brother ahead to Harrenhal.” I sit there without much response and my father seems to notice. “Harwin, I turn a blind eye to your indiscretions, but it’s time to take your place as the heir to Harrenhal. I tried to convince the king to allow you and Princess Rhaenyra to be wed but he declined, I am sorry my son.” With those words my father kisses my head and leaves, I assume to prepare his own things. As I begin to pack I remember telling Rhaenyra I would see her in the morning during her stroll, but it appears I will not be able to.

   “Father must we ride out at night, isn't it safer during the day?” My father scoffs and mounts his horse. 

   “My son, we live in kings landing. It is never safe. The sun only frightens the new criminals; the ones you should fear are always out. We will be fine. I summoned some of the guards from Harrenhal to escort us, they are waiting outside the city.”

 I take one last look at the red keep before turning and following my father towards the outer gates of the city. 

   “So father, what do you know of my soon to be wife? I would like to know what kind of lady I am to wed.” I ask as we settle in pace after crossing the gates.

    “You can think however you want of her; I made sure to find you a match to keep you on your toes. She is the younger twin of Corbin Mormont and while her brother Alastor doesn’t have a useful bone in his body, she has upheld the Mormont name with her father.Lady Alara has earned the name Iron claw because of her unique fighting style. She uses two steel swords. Originally meant for her to share with her brother upon her mothers death, but her brother decided he wanted no part in upholding the family name.

“She has no qualms with being given the brunt of the responsibilities that would’ve been given to her brother as the oldest?”

“Northern women are very different from those of our land son. From what her father has told me and what I have personally witnessed, she has always wanted to take over the responsibilities of the house and has no problem fighting for its name.”

“Is this your way of ensuring our house's security; marrying me to a woman with only the house's concerns in mind.” He only laughed before continuing.

“Before Lord Mormont reached out to me he feared for her life because she turned down a marriage proposal from Lord Cregan Stark's nephew who threatened her if she didn’t accept. Apparently she laughed in front of the whole of Winter fell; when he tried to reach for her, she landed him right at the feet of Lord Cregen himself.”

 I was taken aback by what I heard. “So she’s crazy with a sharp tongue and carry’s weapons meant for two. Well father I’ll say you’ve outdone yourself this time.” 

Father laughs but stops and says one more thing. “She didn’t agree to this Union either, her father arranged it giving her little room to argue. She will go along with it but she will fight you at every possible point. And any excuse she finds to ruin the alliance she will use, be very cautious of her.” 

“If she is so against it, why did her father entertain the idea? It seems more logical for him to marry her to a northern lord instead of shipping her off.”

“It is a good match for our house; an alliance with the Mormonts will secure our standing in the North. I know it is not what you wanted and believe me I tried to get you the match you wanted, but the cards were not in your favor. Now it is time to make the best of what you have been given, we have neglected Harrenhal for far too long. It is now your duty to uphold House Strong, why not a bride to match the name.” After that we rode in silence, giving me plenty of time to think.

>>>

“Father, will you also be meddling in my life the way you have with my baby sister?” Alastor asks as he hangs out of the carriage window, choosing to sleep off his hangover instead of riding with us.

“Alastor, why would I put a lady through the task of making you a loyal man. Your sister has proven her place and deserves the respect to be able to stand on her own, however we live in a society that does not recognize a woman's power.” My father speaks as I choose to listen.

“Bet you wish you would've been just a little less helpful, dear sister?” Alastor asks as he leans over and displaces the remains of his night.

“I agree with father, ever since the incident with Lord Creagans nephew, a southern man from a good noble house sounds like a dream. I do not agree with how this engagement was made, but there are far worse matches I could have been given.” 

“ I understand that, but you know of the rumors surrounding the former head of city watch no?” Alastor eyes my father as if he has made a terrible error, but now he cannot leave me with questions.

I pull a flask from my saddlebag and dangle it just out of his reach. “Tell me about these rumors, dear brother.” His eyes bounce between my flask and my father.

“Those rumors are unproven, nothing more than talk in brothels. But just so you are not surprised when you do hear of them I will tell you. Sir Harwin was rumored to be crown princess Rheanyra’s lover, most of the rumors blossomed from him being her sworn shield.”

“But lets not forget how he almost killed that queens guard who asked if he was more invested than simply protecting her wellbeing.” Alastor said while snatching the flask out of my hand.

“Rumors or not I will not be made a fool of, he is used to the spineless southern women. He has never encountered a northern one.If they are proven true he will have to make a choice: his house or her.” I say and choose to end the conversations by riding faster to the front of the carriage. If he wants to play in the shadows I will create the fires to burn away the cover he creates. Neither of us will have comfort in this life.

Jack Celliers: Beautiful Eyes

Imagine your best friend/crush(Jack Celliers) discovers that you were a girl the whole time:

Jack Celliers, that's a name I haven't heard in quite a while. He was one of my closest friends, my best friend even, and he's the only one to ever figure out my secret.

The secret I try so hard to hide is that I am actually a girl, I just dress up and act like a boy so that I could go to the good schools, and eventually join the military. I don't know who my parents are since I've been on the streets my whole life; no one knew me before I put on my disguise, so it was the perfect idea, at least until I met Jack

I cut my hair short, but long enough that it will fringe over my forehead and in front of my eyes. I do this in fear that if I truly look someone in the eye, they may discover my horrid truth.

I have boyish features, a passably low pitch voice, wide shoulders, and a lean body, all of which aid me in keeping up appearances. I didn't have to wrap my chest when I was younger, but I started to when I reached my teenage years; this of course caused some problems, especially during physical education classes.

_______

The first time I met Jack was during my first day at school, no one knew me, and that was just how I liked it.

I had managed to get special entry into the school based on my high test scores, which are due to my self-education and extensive reading of all forms of literature. I hadn't been in a real school for years, and I was joining in at the age of 15; so I had grown into my more feminine features. Which seemed to solidify a permanent nervousness that emanated continuously throughout my bones.

Before I began my walk to school I looked in my broken mirror, rechecking the wrap around my chest to assure it was snug. I turned to the side and pulled my white uniform shirt tighter, just to make sure I was well hidden, and to my relief I was. Releasing a shaky breath I straightened my tie and shrugged on the gray jacket, smoothing it down before ruffling my hair and turning to leave.

The longer I walked the more my mind wandered. Do I still look convincing, my lips have filled out more, does my face look too feminine? I try not to smile or laugh as much, and I try to keep my talking to a minimum. Sometimes I'd accidentally break out of my facade, my true tone grabbing the attention of passersby; so I've learned to just not talk whenever possible.

_______

As I entered the school my attention was ensnared by the old charm of the buildings, the architecture, the plants, as well as the boyish atmosphere. I've never been in such a nice place before, I lived in an abandoned building most of my life, so this school feels like heaven.

I was so busy observing everything that I ended up tripping, having gotten my foot caught on a stone; I was about a second away from slamming into a brick wall when strong hands surprisingly grasped my shoulders at the last moment. They pulled me back up and safely onto my feet before relinquishing their grip, I felt anxious as I began to turn around, the stumble already had my heart racing.

The face I met was not what I expected - he looked to be about my age, and unlike most boys, he had a boisterously bright shade of blond hair. I had to look up a bit to greet him, but when I did, I found myself unable to speak. He was beautiful, his skin was light, and his eyes the most calming blue. I immediately noticed a slight peculiarity in his left pupil, but quickly shook myself, having realized that I'd been staring blankly for a few seconds.

I'm about to speak, but he beats me to it.

"Careful there, can't have you hurting yourself on your first day." His accented voice rings out through the noisy environment, and his face adorns a lovely smile with crooked teeth. I'm so entranced by him that I overlook how he knows it's my first day, instead anxiously attempting to form a response.

"Thank you, I really should pay more attention next time." My voice is a little shaky, and I get a nervous chill when I realize that I didn't lower my tone enough. His expression goes from welcoming to curious - maybe even slightly cautious, and a glint of something streamed through his eyes, but it was gone before I could interpret it. His head tilts slightly to the side as he silently gazes at me for a few seconds.

"It's alright, no harm done. Now what's your name? I'm Jack Celliers." He reaches out his hand, the grin reappearing on his face. I force my nervousness away as much as possible, reaching out my hand and carefully shaking his.

"Hello Jack, I'm Shiloh, Shiloh Carmichael."

_______

That was the day I knew I had met my best friend, he was always there for me, helping me with things that I didn't understand, especially when it came to maths and sciences. We were in the same year, which helped out a lot as we had a lot of classes together. I'd end up helping him as well, mainly with literature and history.

It took me a while to open up to him about my past - 2 years to be exact, but I eventually told him of my situation. How I have no memory of my family, that I live in an abandoned and crumbling building, how I learned everything from staying up at unreasonable hours reading as much as possible, how I only have two other pairs of clothing, and that I have to beg for enough money just to get them washed.

Needless to say, he became quite distressed and worried about my situation; don't even get me started on his reaction to learning that my first real meal was the school lunch I ate on my first day. My heart raced at the worry he was displaying for me, I wanted him to care for me, but not in the friendship way. I try to bury those thoughts though, he thinks I'm a boy, there's no way he would ever care for me the way I want him to.

_______

I scrambled into class just before the bell rang, my body shaking with adrenaline as the teacher harshly glared at me, telling me to take my seat in a curt tone. I nod my head as I rush to my seat, Jack immediately looks to me, offering a smile before returning his attention to the teacher.

I was unable to pay attention to any of my lessons, my mind kept straying to what happened last night. I had walked back into my 'home' after a tiring day of school that was followed by Jack talking me into playing a couple of sports games with him and his friends. I just wanted to fall onto my raggedy mattress and drift away, but the sight I was met with was a group of about 3 men.

They were all much larger than me, and ransacking through what little possessions I had. They all turned their heads to me, eyeing my backpack and nice uniform, glancing at one another before grimly smirking at me. One reached into his pants pocket and flicked out a switchblade, but before they could even take a step towards me I had bolted out of the building.

This isn't the first time this has happened to me, but it is no less scary; the last time I was caught they took everything but the clothes on my back.

Being a teen now, I hoped they would give up, but they chased me for a good while, almost catching me a couple of times, but they eventually gave up. I had run into a small store along a busy street, my lungs felt like they had been ripped in half, and my feet were about ready to fall off.

I had nowhere to sleep that night, and I had lost all my other clothes, meaning I was going to be stuck in this uniform for a while. I had taken my chest wrap off when I started walking home too, and I ditched it as soon as I took off, so I'm in a bit of a rough spot. This means that I have my shoulders constantly pushed forward, and my jacket buttoned all the way up today.

As lunch lolled around, I found myself sitting on the stairs away from the lunch hall. I just wanted some alone time to think, to try and figure out how to get spare clothes and a new place to stay. I'm sucked out of my thoughts by something landing in my lap, I glance down to see a soft, fuzzy looking peach. Staring up in confusion, I am met by the concerned gaze of Jack as he offers a quiet greeting. I want to respond, but I really have nothing to say at the moment.

After a second of no response he sighs, dropping himself onto the stair next to me, his elbows resting on his knees as he looks over to me. I, of course, avoid his gaze at all costs, only finally giving in after a few minutes of silence.

"What's wrong Shiloh? You haven't said a word all day, and now you're skipping lunch, you never skip lunch." His voice is concerned, he's sitting so close to me I almost want to blush, but I know I can't allow that.

"Jack... I'm f-" I begin, about to say I was just feeling tired from sports yesterday, but got cut off by him.

"Don't tell me a lie." His accented tone was sharp, almost warning me that there would be consequences. I shy away from him now, he's never talked to me like this, I don't want him to be angry at me, and I know lying will only aggravate him further.

"...When I got 'home' last night.. There were some people there." My sentence comes out hesitantly as I tentatively look at his stoic face, the sternness quickly shifting to concern.

"What?" His voice raises in surprise, he shifts his body to face me as I continue.

"To cut a long story short, I don't have any place to stay, and the only clothes I have are the ones I'm wearing. Everything else is theirs now... I'm just glad they didn't catch me to-"

"Catch you! You mean they chased you!" The shock in his voice is evident, but not as obvious as the distress that's radiating off him in waves.

A silence settles over us as his eyes shift from me to the floor, wringing his hands as he thinks, his mind seems to be running a mile a minute.

"You can stay with me." It takes me a few seconds to acknowledge that he actually just said that. My head snaps towards him, I can't help but be stunned. I open my mouth to argue, but the look he gives me tells me that he won't take 'no' for an answer.

My eyes dart to the floor, a moment passing before I release a sigh and reluctantly accept his offer.

_______

I tried to slip out of school before Jack could stop me; I thought it would be easy to disappear amongst the throng of students, but the hold on my arm tells me something different. I turn to see Jack giving me a warning look, his serene blue eyes holding a protective element in them. I turn my gaze to the students leaving before lowering my head, allowing Jack to lead me away.

The whole day I've felt on edge, maybe because I don't have a chest wrap on today, maybe it's because I didn't sleep last night. Or perhaps it's because I am undeniably attracted to Jack and now he's having me live with him and his family until further notice. How am I supposed to hide my true self now? How am I supposed to hide my love for him? It certainly doesn't help that he towers over me, all the boys at school say I'm short, but at 5 foot 6 I am the average height for a woman.

"I called my parents during break, they're fine with you staying with us, but they need the living room and guest room clear, so we'll be sharing my room." I swear my heart was trying to rip itself out of my chest with how hard it was beating, and I could feel my breath getting caught in my throat, but I tried to cover it with a cough before nodding my head 'okay'.

We stay silent the rest of the time, but I could tell that Jack had something on his mind that he desperately wanted to say, and it's making me nervous.

_______

Jack said his parents and brother were out until tomorrow evening, so we spent our time exploring the house; him showing me his room, the kitchen, where the bathroom and laundry rooms are, as well as showing me the garden. I could tell he was surprised when my face lit up at seeing the beautiful plants. I was so caught up that I grabbed his hand and dragged him around as I named all the plants as well as little facts about them. I couldn't see it, but he had a warm smile on his face as well as a light blush dusting his cheeks.

We spent our time sitting in the garden, doing our homework underneath the shade of the trees. Him helping me with my maths, myself helping him with his literature homework, he always seems to have trouble understanding the assigned chapters.

The sun was beating down a little harsher than usual for this season, and the jackets were making us a little stuffy. I shrugged mine off without a second thought, Jack doing the same thing, he turns and places his jacket beside him while talking to me about the passage. As he looks back towards me he suddenly halts mid-sentence. I look towards him in confusion, but his gaze seems to be even more confused as he looks from my face to my chest in a quick succession.

My entire body goes rigid as I realize my fatal mistake, quickly grabbing my jacket and wrapping it back around me. My breathing stutters as I hurriedly shove my books into my backpack before I hurriedly start walking away. Jack sits there for a second in shock at this revelation before bolting up, running towards me as I too had now begun to run.

I should've known better than to try and run from Jack for he catches me in no time, tightly holding my wrist as he pulls me back towards his house. I tried everything from sitting down to biting him, but nothing stopped him as he dragged me inside, only releasing me to shut and lock the door.

I drop my bag and bolt through the house and up the stairs, trying to find some escape; in my delirium I corner myself in his bedroom. I can hear him right behind me, slamming his bedroom door shut as he grabs both my wrists and pushes me back to the wall. I don't know what to think, he's probably just as confused as I am - maybe even a little angry. I'm also terrified, I could lose my best friend right now.

He hasn't said a thing to me the entire time, and now all the stress and anxiety is just too high, so high that I find myself no longer able to hold back the river of tears. I turn my head to the side, not wanting him to see me in such a weak and vulnerable state. His grip loosens as he surveys the situation, unsure of how to react, especially after what has just occurred.

"Don't.. Please, don't cry, Shiloh." His voice is soft, softer than I've ever heard him speak before, and his tone seems different than his normal caring one. I turn my head away from him even further, but he gently places a hand against my jaw, tenderly turning me to face him. I shut my eyes tightly, fearful of what I might see.

"Open your eyes darling." My eyes open slowly in shock, him calling me 'darling' sets my chest a flare as my attraction for him comes forward with a vengeance, my cheeks burning with a crimson blush, my tears slowing as I gaze up into his doting eyes. My hair still drapes over my eyes, obstructing our eye contact - something that he quickly fixes.

Gently raising his other hand, softly combing his fingers through my hair as he brushes it to the side. My breathing is shallow as I gaze deeply into his eyes, his cheeks also seem to be tinted red as he smiles affectionately at me.

"Much better, I've been wondering what your beautiful eyes looked like."

Jack Celliers: Sadie

Imagine your husband(Jack) finds you in the POW camp:

I've been here for so long that the beatings don't seem to hurt anymore. It's like I'm not quite in my body anymore, instead I'm watching it, almost as though I'm just an onlooker.

I don't know how I managed to get here, all I know is that I tricked my military into thinking I was a man, and next thing you know I'm out here fighting a war, only to be caught. My trial was short, I was nearly sentenced to death, but by a stroke of luck I was detained as a prisoner of war. That's not to say that I feel lucky, most definitely not, you have no idea how hard it is to hide being a female when you are a prisoner.

I've lost so much weight that I no longer have my period, so that is a big help, but I also know that this quick weight loss is incredibly unhealthy. Now the only issues I have include hiding the fact that I wrap my chest, as well as making sure that I consistently lower my tone.

I don't socialize too much with the other soldiers, I barely even talk to Lawrence, and the only reason I do is because he goes out of his way to initiate conversations with me. I think he has assumptions about my true identity, he does have quite the analytical mind, and I would have to be an award winning actress to pull the wool over his eyes; but as of yet he has made no mention of this towards me, my only evidence being the cautious glances as well as a sudden protective nature.

_______

I can't say for sure how long I've been here, but I know it's been at least a couple of months now. I've gotten closer with Lawrence, no longer minding our occasional chats. I seem to be the preferred punching bag for the guards, so I told Lawrence early on, that should anything ever happen to me, I want only him to treat me; I don't care how bad my injuries are, only he is allowed to treat me.

This is the third time this week I've ended up in our makeshift hospital, no one but Lawrence will even come near me in fear that my bad luck might rub off on them. I'm more than sure Lawrence knows I'm a woman, but he still hasn't said a thing about it to me.

All I know is that I can trust him... I hope.

_______

Lawrence's POV:

Bailey Stevens... quite a good soldier from what I remember, but I barely know him really, or should I say 'her'; because I obviously know that this soldier is a woman, and I suspect that she knows of my assumptions.

She's extremely reserved, which is expected from everything she's been put through; the guards here seem to love beating on her. I'm not sure whether it's due to her being physically smaller than everyone, or because she has an intrinsic need to act; probably both.

I can't help but feel a need to protect her, she's like the rebellious sister I never had. I can't allow the Japanese - or anyone for that matter - to figure out that she is a woman. Who knows what they would do to her.

_______

She's been unconscious for a couple of days now, only having brief periods of consciousness where she might drink some water, or says 'hello' before going back under. I don't know what to do anymore, I've told our doctor everything, and I've done everything he's told me to do, but she still sleeps the days away.

To add on, I've got another friend here now, Maj. Jack Celliers, another determined soldier who was born to act. I know I'll have my hands full with these two when they both get back on their feet.

__

It's late into the night when her form begins to stir, I quickly sit up, wondering if today will be the day her strength returns. I must admit that I've missed her rebellious spirit, though I also fear how she will react to having possibly lost sight in her right eye.

Her eye flutters open, wandering around the rundown building before focusing on me. She tugs the covers tightly against her chest, and I can see the underlying fear emanating from within her gaze, I can only offer her a soft smile to try and calm her down.

"I know Bailey... I know. No need to worry, your secret is safe with me." My tone is gentle and friendly, and I can see her body losing the tension that had been building. Releasing a quiet sigh before bringing a hand up to her face, gently running her fingers over the gauze covering her right eye. I feel my body slightly go rigid as she looks to me for an explanation.

"Bailey, during your last beating... you were struck quite a few times to the head... It caught you right in the eye. We're not sure whether you'll have sight in it when it's healed...I'm sorry."

_______

Bailey Stevens' POV:

My chest tightens at the explanation, knowing you might lose sight in one of your eyes is an incredibly scary thing to be told. Especially in a place like this where surviving is already hard. I raise my gaze to Lawrence and see the sadness in his eyes, he looks ashamed of telling me about my injuries, almost as if feeling at fault.

I reach out my left hand, softly resting it atop his.

"It's alright, it's not your fault." I offer him a gentle smile as he gives me his own. Our moment is interrupted by the groaning of another person, I look to him in question as to who it is. He responds with another smile before shaking his head.

"That's another troublemaker quite like yourself, Bailey." His voice contains a sad humor in it, one that makes me want to laugh and frown at the same time.

"What's his name?" My voice is a whisper, but I have switched to my normal tone, it feels refreshing not having to hide who I am.

"That would be Jack Celliers. He quite reminds me of you actually, almost ironically." His tone once again holds that same gloomy humor. I however feel my eyes widen in shock as I hear his name, my heart rate increasing at the thought of it being my Jack Celliers.

"Jack Celliers?" My voice holds confusion as well as surprise, I never thought I would see him again until the war ended, that or in heaven. When he left for the war, I knew he might never return, so I put on my disguise and rolled the dice. It's been so long that I thought I might never see him again, but here we both are, stuck in the same POW camp.

"Yes.... Do you know him?" Lawrence looks confused at first, but upon seeing the worry on my face, he quickly contorts into a knowing gaze; a small smirk grazing his features at my lack of response.

"Ahh, so you do know him." His voice raises above a whisper slightly, and I quickly shush him, not wanting anyone to wake up and hear our conversation.

"Yes... Yes, I do know him. Is he alright? What's happened to him? Is he going to be oka-"

"Slow down there Bailey... When he arrived his condition was just as bad as yours, but the doctors say he's recovering quite well and will be good as new soon." My whole body relaxes at hearing he's getting better and will be alright. As I lean back, a strong sense of sleepiness rushes over me, that and the pain of my beatings; but I've never fought harder in my life to keep my eyes open, I know Lawrence can tell I'm struggling.

"Is there anything you might want me to tell him should he wake up before you?" He speaks quickly, wanting to give me enough time to respond before I lose consciousness.

"Tell him.. tell him Sadie says 'hi'." You can practically hear my smile as I tell him to use my real name. He also gives me a smile, and that's the last thing I see before darkness consumes my vision once more.

_______

Lawrence's POV:

Sadie, what an oddly fitting name for the girl who acts to survive.

I quietly walk over to Jack's bed to see if he's is awake. I'm not sure this is the best time to tell him, but at the same time, who am I to withhold this information.

As I reach his secluded sleeping arrangement, I watch as he turns slightly, his eyes fluttering open. Recognition flows through them as we look at each other.

"Hello Jack."

"Lawrence." His voice is gravely, and I can tell his body is exhausted. I slowly sit on the bed beside his own, rubbing my hands together in thought. He looks at me as he awaits what I am clearly contemplating saying.

"Jack... Is there the possibility that you know someone named Sadie?" My voice is hesitant as I speak, but the look of recognition over hearing her name immediately tells me everything I need to know. He carefully nods his head, his eyes now fixed on me with a new sense of focus.

"I only ask because another soldier recognized your name and asked me to tell you 'hello'." I can see the confusion swirl in his mind as to how another soldier knew your name, or why they would ask me to say 'hello'.

"Jack... That soldier is a woman, who goes by the name of Sadie, and claims to know you. Is there something I should know?" When he hears that the said soldier is a woman, his body jolts forward, not only in shock, but concern as well. I don't know their past, but the way they react to hearing about each other tells me they are much more than friends.

"I have to see her." Jack gasps, hurriedly stumbling to get out of his bed. I immediately rush forward, providing support for him as he attempts to stand.

"Are you sure about doing this right now? How about in the morni-"

"No, I need to see her. NOW." He doesn't raise his voice at all throughout his sentence, but the way he speaks is with such conviction, such certainty and determination that I know there will be no talking him out of this. I hesitantly nod my head, helping him walk over to her own secluded sleeping area, carefully setting him down on the bed beside hers.

He just sits there, staring longingly at her unconscious form. He looks sad, depressed even, at the sight of her. His hand slowly reaches out, softly gliding his fingers over the rough gauze that covers the right half of her face.

"How... What happened?" His tone exudes concern, but his face remains stoic.

"She tried to stop the guards from harming another soldier, I suppose you could say she got their attention." My sentence is formatted in a humorous way, but my tone remains serious. She nearly died from this, I don't find anything about that to be funny.

Jack sat there for a few more moments, just silently thinking to himself as his fingers continuously drift along the gauze.

"Will she be alright?" His tone is slightly higher, like what happens when your throat tightens up in the early stages of despair. I can tell that seeing Sadie like this brings him immense pain, maybe even guilt, but I know that he probably doesn't want me to bring it up.

"She's quite the fighter, just like you. The doctor says she should be fine, but we have no conclusive evidence on what will happen to her eye. Odds are 50/50." I try not to sugarcoat anything, but I also try to be respectful of what I say. This is the woman he loves, the last thing he needs to hear is that she might not make it.

Jack solemnly nods his head. I move forward to help move him back to his bed when he suddenly looks up to me.

"Can I stay here? In this bed?" His eyes are pleading for me to say yes, and I know that if the woman I loved were here, I too would want to stay right next to her.

"... Alright, you can stay here. But there are some things you should know first. No one else but us two know that she is a woman, alright? And she goes by the name Bailey Stevens, so when she does come around, and others are awake, just call her Bailey, alright?" Jack's eyes burn with curiosity at hearing her chosen name, but he nods his head in understanding.

I say goodnight to him, before turning and walking off a little bit. Slightly intrigued, I turn and watch from afar as Jack gently kisses one of her hands before laying down in his own bed, not once facing away from her. My mind only has one thought running through it the entire time:

"This could either be really good, or really bad."

Ch.2: Pack Placements

Ch.1 Ch.3

I try to get up after he's off me, but he quickly growls a warning to stay down; I don't listen and try to get up only to be pushed down by the alpha. I growl at him in frustration and anger before I bite his paw, causing him to hop up in surprise and jump off me; allowing me to try to get up again.

I'm quite weak however, and can barely stand up after wasting all that energy that I required to go hunting for food with. If I'm not accepted into his pack I could die of starvation, dehydration, or of having another animal kill me while I'm in my weakest state. I might even accept being an omega if it means I'll survive long enough to gain energy and kick his arrogant ass.

The alpha turns away and starts to converse with the oldest of the females. I sigh and try to get up again, but he left a few deep gashes in my sides that I didn't realize were there until the adrenaline wore off. So I simply lay there waiting to see if he might still allow me to join his pack after my attack. The white wolf walks over to me, looking down at me in gratitude.

"Here, let me help you." She says as she pushes me up and allows me to lean my weight on her. She walks me over to an area slightly away from the pack where she then lets me sit. I see her looking around. I wonder what she's looking for, but then she picks up a couple of dandelions. I look at her strangely, but her face says 'trust me', so I simply allow her to walk up to me.

"This might freak you out a little bit." She voices before placing a dandelion on each of my wounds, which then proceed to disappear as if I was never injured, there was however light scars on my side from where the alpha raked his claws; but at least the wounds are gone as well as the pain.

"My name's Huata, I just wanted to thank you for having my back over there." She says as she gestures to when she was getting attacked due to her unwise attempt to be friendly.

"My name's Ceska, and thanks for healing my wounds; it would've taken ages for them to heal naturally." I respond as I get up and start walking slowly back to the pack, Huata follows me closely. Seems like I actually have managed to meet a wolf that isn't arrogant or annoying, what a surprise; this is probably my first friend I've made. Well she seems happy as well, she must not be popular in her family; well, at least we have each other now.

As we make our way back, the alpha is greeting the young blonde wolf, which I assume is Huata's sister; well, she looks like a bitch is all I can say. The alpha looks up from greeting her, and growls deeply at me, I return the favor by relaying a louder growl while baring my teeth. The reddish tan wolf looks up and growls at me, I snarl in return which causes him to bare his teeth at me. He lunges but I easily sidestep and pin him to the ground. The alpha and a gray wolf drag me off him and hold me down while I'm scraping holes in the earth as I try to attack the red wolf. He gets up and looks at me in fear, slight anger, and disgust.

"What should we do with her alpha? I asked the oldest female if she was with them, but she was just as surprised as we were when she showed up." He questions as he looks up at his alpha.

The alpha allows me up, but not before giving me a warning growl to not attack. For once I listened, but only because I still wanted to kind of be accepted into his pack.

"She is a strong female Trot, and she could be useful in hunting and battles, but if she gets out of place....", he growls at the end before stalking away, followed by the gray wolf. I turn around to see the wolf known as Trot watching me; I growls at him before stalking off to find Huata. At least I have a friend now. Hopefully she'll continue to be my friend since I know no one else will be.

As I walk up to Huata I see her talking with the black wolf, Hinto, I believe his name was.

"Hi Huata", I address her as I sit beside her.

"Hey Ceska, I'd like you to meet Hinto, he tried to help me before you came into the fight." Huata informed me as I looked at him. He looked friendly, but at the same time he looked dangerous. I think we'll stay as acquaintances. We simply nodded at each other after Huata introduced us.

Dasker allowed me into his pack as a warrior and hunter, sadly Huata is an omega, and Hinto was demoted to lower than omega due to him challenging Dasker to protect Huata. I'll have to challenge him later, when I win I'll make sure to promote Hinto and Huata.

It's night time, and Anemy, Huata's sister, is attacking Huata; sadly Huata does nothing seeing as that would then bring more pain, I however will not allow my only friend get bossed around. I jump forward and tear Anemy off of Huata; ohh how pissed she looked. She even tried to bite me but I threw her into a tree and helped Huata up. She looked at me in gratitude as we walked off and chilled with Hinto. They got into a conversation about what being an omega means for the pack. I suddenly heard them start talking about proving their worth by finding a huge meal. They say they'll go in the cover of night, so I should hear when they go to leave, so I can follow them.

I return to see the pack getting ready to sleep. Kilo seems to be insulting Trot on how he's no longer beta. Trot seems to get offended at Kilo's statement and starts to growl in anger; Trot actually doesn't seem too bad now. He's just sensitive and reserved, he actually seems nice to be around.

"He's right, I've been replaced, I'm unworthy." Trot says in despair as he lays down. I walk out from behind the bushes, and start walking closer to him. He looks up and growls in anger as he remembers our fight earlier. I look at him in a friendly way as I wave my tail slightly, and walk up to him. To say he was surprised is an understatement, he looked beyond surprised and confused at that moment where I showed kindness to him, especially after how we almost got into a fight.

"Hi, I believe we got off on the wrong paw... My name is Ceska." I say hesitantly as I look at him.

"Trot, but I'm sure you already knew that." He replies.

"Listen I'm sorry for attacking your alpha, but he was attacking my friend who unknowingly disrespected him. Come on, how do you expect a human raised wolf to react, they know nothing of pack life...... and I'm also kind of sorry for attacking you. At that moment I wasn't thinking straight, I was overly aggressive, and should've been thinking more. I actually think you're pretty sweet, and nice." I explain as I look at him.

"It's okay, I was fighting my alphas battles, not to mention I should've expected you to be aggressive, after all you did just get attacked by our alpha, I should've been more considerate." He replies as he looks at me in understanding. I look at him in happiness, I just made another surprising friend, and he was even one I got in a fight with. I didn't think it was possible.

"Mind if I stay over here with you. I'm not really a favorite of anybody else, and Hinto and Huata are already asleep so I don't want to wake them. Of course that is only if you're okay with it; I wouldn't want to be intruding." I stated as I stood slightly uncomfortable. He simply looked at me and smiled.

"Of course you can stay over here, you're my friend now, so I don't exactly mind." He replies as he motions to the spot next to him. I walk over a lay down a few inches apart, which is a friendly spacing between two wolves who aren't mates, so as to not make him feel uncomfortable. We both drift off into sleep.

Ch.1 Ch.3

Ch.5: Secrets for the Future

Ch.4 Ch.6

"Before we proceed with the festivities, I'd like to formally introduce myself. Fetch the dog!" Lofa yells out; seconds later Huata walks forwards and starts translating what he says. He suddenly swings at Huata, knocking her over after he saw Hinto try to run, knocking Huata into a tree.

'She's not standing up, I know that blow didn't kill her, but I'm mad as hell now!'

I look over to see Sespria and her cousin trying to wake Huata, but she seems to be in a state of unconsciousness, as later stated by Sespria's cousin. Sespria sends her off to fetch water, while I slowly crawl over to the tree Huata is next to.

Dasker bares his teeth then launches at Lofa, they are constantly clawing and biting at each other. Suddenly Lofa has grabbed Dasker's head with one of his massive fore paws, slowly pushing him back, whilst puncturing Dasker's neck with his long claws.

Dasker jumps to the side, raking his teeth across Lofa's arm as he jumps to the side; blood mating the fur on his head as it drips down his forehead. He tries to catch his breath but is smacked down by Lofa as the big cat corners him in anger. He stomps his massive paw onto Dasker's face, preparing to bite into his neck.

I get up, and launch, looking to the side for a split second to see Anemy launching at the big cat as well. I tear into his back leg while Anemy rips into his right forearm, causing him to jump back before letting out an angered roar.

Dasker stood up quickly, looking at us in anger before saying, "What are you doing here! You disobeyed my direct order!" He growls at us.

"Hmm. And this is the thanks we get for saving your butt. Hmm, figures, sit back and watch how it's done." With that she takes off, signaling with her tail for me to attack with her. As much as I thought I hated her, she's turning out to be an interesting character.

I race after Anemy as we attack the big cat, Anemy gets hit, but she seems fine so we continue to attack Lofa. Hinto launches at Lofa, but the big cat swipes at Hinto, successfully smacking him away while also leaving cuts across his muzzle.

We all continue launching ourselves at Lofa; Hinto latches onto Lofa's back leg while Anemy gets thrown to the ground. Lofa begins to repeatedly hit Hinto against the ground until Lofa eventually rips him off before throwing him across the floor like a rag doll. Dasker jumps forward and gets a few good hits in before Lofa has him pinned, pulling at his tail.

I turn to see Sespria and her cousin pouring water onto Huata's face, I look at her but she doesn't regain consciousness. Dasker lets out a loud, pained howl as his tail is ripped off and thrown to the side, blood spewing out of the freshly torn skin.

I look back to see Huata awake and looking at Sespria confused. After Sespria explains a little of the situation Huata walks towards us slightly.

"Stop it, all of you." Lofa looks up and growls at seeing Huata is awake. I try to get up but my body is extremely tired from exertion.

"Look at you all, you're causing more damage than good; even you Lofa. You with all your strength refuse to take us wolves seriously. You played this like a game, and you underestimated us as predators.

I know you're in pain to, choosing to ignore it won't make it go away." Huata voices as she looks at us. Lofa looks ready to kill her with all the growling and snarling he's doing; not to mention he's towering over Huata whilst standing on his back legs.

"Pain you say. I'LL SHOW YOU PAIN! I'LL PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERY!" Lofa yells, but before he can attack her the white lynx from before appears in front of her.

'That lynx looks pissed off, but she doesn't stand a chance against a lion like Lofa; after all he's so much bigger and stronger than her.'

"You shall not cause harm to her. Your presence has drastically altered the natural balance of the forest. Be warned, it will not put up with you for much longer." The lynx states in a slightly threatening way.

"Oh look, we have a talking dog and now a talking house cat. Unfortunately for you kitty, I'm not looking to adopt anymore pets." Lofa exclaims before striding forward and slicing his claws across the chest of the lynx, successfully wounding and throwing her back from the force. However in mid air I see her wrap her arms around her body; when she lands I see she is no longer wounded.

She must be like Huata, I'm making an educated guess that all albino creatures will be like Huata, but that might be a false conclusion, but I'll have to wait to find out.

I look away from the lynx to see that the blood coating his body turns into thick vines that wrap and tangle themselves over him, thus leaving him immobilized.

"What kind of sorcery is this!" He yells in anger at his predicament. The vines have a new appearance, and are coated with thorns that puncture through Lofa's skin; causing him to roar in pain as he struggles to free himself. I turn back and walk next to Huata, watching as the lynx turns to face us; before disappearing the same way as before.

"Go. Now!" Sespria exclaims as she turns from Lofa to us.

"Goodbye Sespria, and thanks for everything." Huata responds.

"Don't forget about me." Sespria states as she watches Huata run after her pack mates.

"I believe we'll be seeing each other soon, whether it be on good or bad terms is your choice." I voice before sprinting after the rest of our pack; leaving Sespria to wonder what my words meant.

As we return to the clearing I see an angry looking Ash as she watches Huata and Anemy return with Dasker and Hinto. I decided to take a different route, which led me to come up on the other side of the clearing.

"Anemy! Huata! Are you crazy?!" Ash questions as she growls at them.

"Chill out mom, I'm fine." Anemy states while Huata stays quiet. I walk up and sit in between the two sisters; I'm starting to warm up slightly to Anemy, but she's still a little to bossy for us to become best friends.

I look over to see Trot trying to apologize for not watching over us, but Dasker simply walks away while Trot is in mid sentence. The pack follows after Dasker, while I fall in step next to Trot.

"Dasker just has a lot on his mind right now, he still accepts you even if you mess up every once in a while." I say trying to get Trot to loosen up on himself, after all it isn't his fault we all disobeyed the alphas order; and if he tried to stop us he wouldn't have really had any luck.

"Thanks Ceska, but it was my responsibility and I failed. I need to be more responsible; and if Dasker ignoring me is the price, then I must earn back his trust." Trot states, leaving no room for argument. We stop by Kilo's decomposing corpse, causing me to feel worried for Trot and Hinto who didn't react that well last time they saw it.

"You know, even though he could be a bully at times, he always knew how to make us laugh." Troy voices as he looks off, probably remembering a memory of Kilo. The laughing after a couple of seconds at what must have been a humorous memory.

"Yah, good ole Kilo; and to think that if it wasn't for him I wouldn't even be alive right now." Hinto states, but Huata suddenly begins to dig into the ground, creating a hole.

"Uh, why are you digging a hole?" Hinto questions in confusion.

"I hear it's how humans show respect for their dead." Huata answers before continuing to dig.

"It's respectful to throw dirt on them? Human culture is really strange." Hinto states as he questions why.

'You'll see what I mean." Huata states before pulling Kilo into the hole, then layering the dirt over his body, while the pack watches from the sides of the grave.

"You know what, it does look better. It's as if Kilo's at peace again, suddenly it's not so hard to smile." Trot voices as he looks up from Kilo's grave.

"Yah, I guess you're right." Hinto states as he looks at Kilo's grave as well.

The pack starts to howl, but soon after Dasker falls to the ground, and appears to be in a state of unconsciousness, probably due to all the injuries in his head and body which he failed to have treated.

_______

It's sunset when Dasker finally wakes up after being treated for his injuries, Ash sits up quickly after Dasker regains consciousness.

"You were all lucky to make it out alive, ugh. It's any wonder this pack needed this lot. We need to be out of here by morning." Ash states as she looks to Dasker to confirm the order.

Dasker seems to think for a moment before choosing Huata as his mate, to say she was unhappy was an understatement, but she hid it well so as to not offend him. To say Anemy was angry wasn't realistic, in fact she was well beyond angry as she watched Huata get chosen instead of herself.

"Oh come on, why her. After all the trouble I got in trying to save you; yet she gets captured by a pack of dangerous predators, and gets rewarded for it. Unbelievable. Okay enough already, it's about time someone said the obvious, she's blind. You hear me, blind." Anemy snarls out loud as she looks at Dasker.

"You're blind? What's that?" Hinto questions as he looks to the others in confusion.

"It means she cannot see Hinto." Ash responds.

"Exactly. She cannot see, do you really want to have offspring with someone like that; heck if anything choose me, Ceska is even better than my useless sister." Anemy states as she looks straight at Dasker.

"Let us not be angry at her for deceiving you, despite how wrong it was. We should instead cast pity upon her, it's not like she'll be able to appreciate how handsome and brave you are Dasker." Anemy adds before waiting for his new decision.

Dasker thinks for a few seconds before looking to me, I growl and snap my jaws at him before striding over and sitting slightly behind Trot. Dasker, seeing as he knows I will not do anything if unwilling finally looks over to Anemy where he then walks over and chooses her as his mate. They start to walk away, but not before Anemy sticks her tongue out at Huata.

"This is not how I wanted this to go about. Still it's best that he found out, are you okay with that Huata?" Ash asks as she looks at her daughter.

"I was never meant to be an Alpha female, it didn't mean anything to me; but I could've done without the humiliation." Huata responds before walking away, followed by Hinto. I was about to follow them but Trot jumped in front of me.

"What?" I question straight forward.

"Why did you refuse to become Alpha female? From what information I've collected from Ash, every female wants to be with the Alpha." Trot states in confusion and desperation. As he looks at me, awaiting my answer.

"Dasker isn't my type, and Anemy would have my throat, and I don't want that seeing as we're just starting to get along. After all, I've had another male on my mind instead." I state before stepping around him and sprinting towards where Huata and Hinto should be; after all, I know what his next question would be, and I didn't want to answer it just yet.

I arrive to see Hinto and Huata embracing each other, I walk forward silently as I stride over and sit next to them. When they break away they finally see me, and jump in slight surprise.

"When did you get there?" Hinto questions.

"What are you planning?" I ask as I stare at them. They both look to each other as if unsure to tell me something, but Huata eventually answers.

"Hinto and I have decided to take over the pack. He'll do plenty of training to make sure that this time he wins the battle." Huata responds as she looks to me in hope.

"Well in that case...... count me in!" I exclaim in happiness as I bound up and wag my tail slightly. They both look at me in surprise and confusion.

"So you're not going to tell Dasker?" Hinto questions in hope.

"Of course not, you two would be the perfect alphas, but I won't tell on one condition." I state as I look them in the eye.

"Name your terms." Hinto states. I look at them with a smirk on my lips before responding.

"I will be allowed to have pups as well.", I responded. They looked at me in extreme surprise before Huata questions,

"Who would you have puppies with though?"

"I believe Trots is the male she has her eyes on." Hinto states slyly as he looks at me in happiness.

"How'd you know?" I question, averting my eyes to the ground in embarrassment.

"Trot told me he was attracted to you but couldn't act on it seeing as he isn't the Alpha; but to answer your term, of course you can have pups, it would only help the pack so I see nothing wrong with that arrangement." Hinto explains. I'm so happy I jumped up and ran around them in eagerness.

"Calm down Ceska, we have to wait until Hinto takes leadership, then we can expand the pack, but for now let's head back before the others get ideas." Huata voices as she looks at me then Hinto. We both nod then jog back.

When we get back it's night time, and the others are getting ready to sleep. When we arrive Ash looks up and growls something about leaving without telling anyone, and almost waking Eric. I simply ignore her and walk over to Trot. He seems to be in a peaceful sleep, and it's just too perfect to resist.

I start to whack his tail with my paws before getting bored and simply tackling him. Trot jumps up in surprise, looking around until he spots me; I jump off him and run a little off into the forest, but he pounces at me, successfully pushing me to the ground. I flip over causing him to roll off me. We both stood up and circle each other before jumping and wrestling till one of us got the upper hand. So far I was winning.

At the end I stood over him while he was lying on his back; he suddenly kicked out my feet and turned over, causing me to be swept onto my back in one swift move. I look up to see Trot smirking in victory, before stepping off of me so I could get up, I look up at him before rubbing my head against his neck slightly.

After stepping away afterwards his face is confused, but then becomes understanding, he looks to me and back in the direction of the pack.

"Ceska, you know we can't have pups or anything like that; after all, Dasker's the Alpha, not me." Trot states in slight sadness and anger as he sits down, trying to deal with his emotions. I sit next to him close enough so that our fur is slightly rubbing against each other.

"I have a secret to tell you, but I can't tell you unless you promise not to tell anyone else." I emphasize as I look into his eyes.

"If it's that important, I promise I won't tell anyone else." Trot states as he touches my nose with his.

"Hinto is training to take on Dasker as Alpha." I state as I look away from him.

"Well if Hinto wins we still won't be allowed to be mates, only the alpha pair can be mates after all." Trot responds as he looks up in slight surprise.

"Yah, I know the rules, but I overheard their plan and said I wouldn't tell anyone if I could also have pups. They obviously agreed so when Hinto is Alpha I'll be allowed to have a mate and pups; so technically we only have to wait until Hinto becomes Alpha." I explained as I looked up to see if he was okay with it.

"Really?! That's amazing! We would have a large pack, plenty of offspring to continue; and we could be mates." he exclaims as he bounds around me, rubbing up against me.

I look at him and motion with my tail that we have to get back to the pack before Dasker and Anemy show up and wonder where we went and what we were doing. As we get back we lay a little away from the others, with our backs touching against each other's. That night we went to sleep thinking of the future ahead of us.

Ch.4 Ch.6

Scar's Adopted Brother Ch.3: New Rivals

Ch.2 Ch.4

Since we are a nomadic pride - or tribe as we prefer - we move to new lands quite often in order to not use all of our supplements and resources, since we do value other animals' lives, and how they'd have to live if we chose to stay in one land.

I was leading my pride through a desert. I could tell many of them were tired, but we just needed to move on until we found a suitable campsite for tonight. I continued to lead them on when a new scent drifted through the air, my whole tribe could smell it, zebra. I quickly hurried them towards the direction of our food.

We soon came to a clearing that opened into a beautiful grassland with many different kinds of animals bounding around, peacefully unaware of us.

"Kerberos and Perodia, go scout out a suitable living area for tonight. Merula, you and  I will go catch our tribe some dinner." I ordered quietly so as to not alert the zebras, Kerberos and Perodia nodded before disappearing into the brush to find us a new living space.

Merula and I silently picked two zebras which would best feed the tribe, then we were off.

The sun was high and the wind was blowing, so we made sure we were downwind from the herd. I was hiding in the tall grass when I signaled to Merula that we pounce now, both sprinting through the tall grass and into the open. It was a risky move, but Merula and I are the fastest runners in the pride and could outrun a zebra in an instant. I had no worries; well, that was until I couldn't see Merula anymore. I decided to think about it later, focusing soley on the zebra I was chasing. I pounced and was right over it when a large tannish gold lion barreled into my side, allowing the zebra to escape.

I was pinned down and immediately released a roar for my tribe to help me, my tribe prowling out of the shadows after a few moments. They were a bunch of mean, gruff, and scarred up lions that alone usually scared away any newcomer.

I looked up at my attacker, smiling sickly as I spoke,

"Do you really want to do this, because they will kill you if you so much as scratch me." I state in a slightly cocky but still serious tone as I gestured to my tribe - who were in an offensive position, completely willing to fight.

Slowly, the stranger backed away, but only by a few steps. Before I could get up, he released a roar that I assume called his tribe; but I could not care for that, as I still could not find Merula.

I glance around, hearing some plants ruffling followed by angry growls from behind the stranger. Two lions twice Merula's size strode out of the bushes, Merula being restrained by them. She sported a thin but long cut across her left shoulder. I was proud to see that these two lions seemed quite tired and had many cuts and gashes along their legs.

"Well it would seem we have something of yours." Voiced the stranger, in a taunting tone.

"Release her or I, personally, will kill you." I seethed in a low growl whilst I stared straight into his amber eyes.

"Calm down, you may be below killing prisoners but my pride isn't that savage, you may take her back, but you will have to leave or we will fight." He stated in a demeaning way.

"If you want to fight then let's get it over with." I snarled before lunging at him. He didn't expect my speed, allowing me to throw him off balance. Kerberos immobilized the lions holding Merula down, quickly ushering her back to the tribe where our medicine lioness would treat her wounds.

"What's your name kid?" Asked the stranger as he got up.

"What's yours?" I hissed.

"Mufasa." He responded, stalking closer to me.

"The name's Crow." I answered before quickly tripping and pinning him to the ground. I was about to kill him when a lioness with reddish eyes barrelled into my side, shoving me to the side slightly.

"Mufasa, are you alright?" She questioned. I, however, saw more than a question, the look of caring in their eyes told me more. They were partners I assume, and that would work beautifully for my plan.

I quickly lunge forward, pushing Mufasa off balance - allowing me time to score my claws across the female's legs. She roared out in pain before collapsing to the ground, unable to handle the immense pain in her legs. Mufasa looked at me, then to the female before speaking.

"Boys, take Sarabi back to pride rock, this young lion needs to learn some respect."

Before I even had time to think, I was against the ground, back down whilst he smacked a large paw with claws unsheathed across my face. I could feel the pain inside me but I taught my tribe that it is much more intimidating and useful if you don't show pain, so I opened my eyes, I could feel trickles of blood streaming down my face.

I heard my whole pride roar in anger, so much as a scratch on me gives them the right to kill my attacker - since, in their eyes, I am the best leader they've had in years. I can hear them running over to attack him, but I slowly raise a paw up as an order for them to halt. I hear a sudden silence and Mufasa looks down at me in confusion.

"I may be a young leader, but that doesn't mean I'm willing to risk the lives of my tribe for my own." I state plainly as I try to wipe some of the blood off with my paw. Mufasa looks down at me with a sort of understanding.

"I'm sorry about this Crow, but I don't believe you've learned your lesson and I'll continue to punish you until you do." States Mufasa as he raises another paw. Before he gets the chance to hit me again, a young male cub comes out of the bushes looking happy and joyful until he sees his father about to hit my already cut and bloody face.

" D-dad, what are you doing?" He asks, confused as to why his father is attacking me.

"Simba...... Simba, this is Crow. Say hello Crow." Mufasa says. I simply look at Simba and give him my most venomous growl, causing him to stumble back in an effort to back away.

"Simba, go home. I will tell you about this later." Mufasa orders, to which Simba obliges, scampering off in a hurry.

"Must be embarrassing to have such a coward of a son who can't even watch their father 'teach a lesson to' an intruder who has already injured his own mother." I say in the most arrogant tone, and put emphasis on the word 'coward'.

"You know nothing about my family, and you seem like quite the coward just laying here and letting me hit you." Growls Mufasa in disgust, but is quickly silenced when I leap upwards and latch my jaws onto his neck and bite down hard, allowing me to rip him off me and throw him to the ground.

I jump off of Mufasa and turn to my pride, who look at me slightly stunned at how the tables turned, but simply shrug as that isn't very uncommon with me as leader. I turn around to see Mufasa getting up slowly, stunned at how I beat him, looking as if it were impossible.

"I hope you know now that brute strength isn't all you need in a battle." I growl at him before turning back to my tribe and signaling them to follow Kerberos to the hidden campsite he found. We take off at an uncatchable pace and arrive at the campsite in no time. Luckily there is a zebra pack nearby, Merula and I successfully killing two zebras for the tribe to feast on.

Ch.2 Ch.4

Woodland Princess Ch.1: A Journey Begins

Ch.2

My feet ferociously ate up the ground as I silently sprinted from my home under the cover of night, the letter of invitation on a dangerous journey was too good to ignore. I turn my head back slightly as I leave my home of 500 years, my father would never let me go on journey of this danger, especially when most of the company will be dwarves, and my brother would never let me either, his hatred for dwarves running as deep as his will to keep me safe.

The tattered letter gave explicit instructions that I was to be in the shire in 10 days, and knock on the marked door when nightfall occurred. As soon as I got the letter I waited until nightfall, then I silently left my family and my home.

It has been 5 days since I left my home behind me, my father would've for-surely sent guards by the morning after I left, and they must have been searching everywhere in and around our realm, so I must move quickly.

————————

I was nearly to the shire now, my daggers out due to a recent attack by 6 orcs, 2 having wargs; but they were dead within seconds since I was one of the most skilled fighters in all of the woodland realm. The one better fighter was my father, mainly because he has been alive for a little more than 2,000 years.

I arrive at the shire around 7:50pm and look around in an attempt to find the symbol my friend explained he drew on the door. After a while of searching, I finally found the home, and walked up. There is loud, obnoxious laughter being emitted from within, I assume they are from the dwarves. I quickly knock on the door before taking a step back, I hear the lock turn and the door abruptly opens. The hobbit didn't even look up before he practically yelled,

"There are enough dwarves in here as it is!"

I was slightly taken-aback, stepping back, rethinking if he really was not dangerous like the dwarves; but when he looked up, a wave of surprise washed across his features when his view was met by a young blonde silver haired ellith instead of a tough looking dwarf. He quickly stuttered out,

"I'm so sorry, I was expecting another dwarf to barge into my home uninvited." Bilbo states quickly in a slightly humorous tone to try and make me a little less startled by the rude greeting. I smiled slightly, greeting him,

"My name is Aelsar. A pleasure to meet you, I was sent here by Mithrandir or as you know him, Gandalf." I responded.

"I knew it was Gandalf." Bilbo muttered before opening the door allowing me to step in, having to bend down slightly to avail hitting the ceiling. I was led to the kitchen, Bilbo explaining how the dwarves have eaten practically all of his food.

In my head I'm simply thinking, 'Did I get myself in over my head again? I hope this quest goes well, and I hope my father will forgive me for disobeying him.'

Ch.2

Woodland Princess Ch.2: The Company

Ch.1 Ch.3

When I arrived within the dining room, one of the dwarves looked like he wanted to attack me. He'd abruptly stood up, nearly charging at me, being held back by two other dwarves.

"Everyone this is Aelsar, she was sent an invite by Gandalf in case you were thinking she was uninvited." Bilbo shakily stated, waiting for a response. He, however, had to rush out of the room when he heard a sharp knock on the door again.

I hope it's Gandalf because he will get me out of a fight with these dwarves, but if he doesn't come someone will end up hurt, and it sure isn't going to be me.

"Well, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Voiced the two dwarves who'd stopped the other from attacking me. I was about to answer before the dwarf who nearly attacked me pushed the two away, who I quickly noticed were the heirs to the throne of Erebor.

"While it's nice that you want to befriend her, remember she's an elf from that pixie woodland realm led by that traitor who refused to help our kingdom when we needed it most!" Grunted the dwarf at them.

I opened my mouth to say something but the dwarf I would soon know as Dwalin held up his hand as if to silence me.

"Do you really think that your almighty hand could silence me?" I say in a slightly humorous yet deadly tone that seemed to have made him angry.

He threw a fist forward but I quickly dodged it by ducking and threw a punch of my own which tagged him straight in the spot between his eyes. He stumbled back, and nearly fell in surprise to see an elf using her fists, it's an unusual fighting style for elves.

He was, however, caught by an older dwarf who looked at Dwalin as if silently saying "You had it coming."

"Aelsar!" Exclaimed a familiar voice from behind her. I turn and see Gandalf. I ran over to him, grasping him in a tight embrace. He was slightly surprised when he found all the dwarves staring at me as if I was dangerous.

"Might I ask what master Dwalin did that made you punch him?" Questioned Gandalf after noticing that Dwalin had left the dining room and returned with an ice pack in between his eyes. Before I could reply Dwalin spoke.

"She lost her pitiful little temper at a little taunting." Responded Dwalin in a venomous tone.

"That's a lie!" Kili quickly stated after hearing Dwalin's false explanation. All the while I'm just wondering why he feels the need to defend me, after all he is a dwarf like the rest of them who had heard the stories of my people's ill will towards dwarves. I was snapped out of thought as a loud pounding came upon the door.

"He is here." Gandalf spoke in a serious tone. Bilbo left the room to allow the person in while the dwarves cleared the table and cleaned the dishes. Gandalf left to talk with Thorin in another room, I hid in the shadows of their room, listening to their secret conversation.

Ch.1 Ch.3

@tigereyesf

Woodland Princess Ch.3: The Conversation

Ch.2 Ch.4

"Well Gandalf, who is our newest member of the company?" Questioned Thorin. Gandalf looked slightly surprised.

"I believe he let you into his home." Answered Gandalf in a tone that was obvious.

"Ahh the halfling. He will not last two days, and I can not save him from getting killed." Replied Thorin in a slow whisper so that others outside the room couldn't hear.

I moved to get closer, but my dagger slightly brushed against a metal bead on a chair to the side of the room, making it have a quiet slicing noise as it went across it. I held my breath hoping they didn't hear it, but a few seconds later I found myself pushed down with my back to the ground with a sword against my throat. Gandalf couldn't do anything because Thorin would find it suspicious and possibly trust the wizard even less.

"Who are you thief?" Thorin said in a deadly growl. I nearly forgot he still couldn't see my face because of the shadow of darkness over me. I was very thankful for that, or else Thorin would've surely already killed me. Gandalf quickly stepped between us and pulled Thorin's sword away from my throat. I immediately felt my throat for any unnoticed cuts but there were none thankfully.

"What're you doing? They overheard a secret conversation for only our ears, and I know they are not one of my dwarves because all are loyal without a fault and would rather die than betray me." Confronts Thorin as he is pushed away from me.

"Now Thorin you're going to despise me for this... but," he said while motioning for me to get up.

"I have chosen more than one to join this journey and one of them happens to be..." he continues as I get up and stand behind him to shield my identity.

"Lady Aelsar, of the woodland realm." He finishes and moves to the side to show him who I was. His eyes scanned over my silvery blonde hair, to my face and then quickly to my weapons since he knew I had a bow that no other can have as long as I am alive. He sees the signature blades on my bow and quickly his face changes into one of anger, and betrayal.

He looks back at Gandalf and then quickly raises his blade back to my throat. However I dodge and twist his wrist causing him to drop his sword while remaining uninjured.

Gandalf looks at me with a face of 'I knew this would be a bad idea but it's for the best'. Thorin however after putting his sword in its sheath turns to Gandalf and yells,

"How dare you bring that traitor's daughter here!" Pointing at me in which Gandalf steps in front of me in a protective way, as he was slightly like a second father to me, and I a daughter to him.

"Thorin you know she can help us on this quest all you need to do is give her time. If it makes you feel any better you can take her daggers and arrows but not her bow." Says Gandalf quickly.

I look at him in surprise thinking 'do I not have any say in this decision'. Thorin looks slightly happy as he always likes having the upper ground in a fight and thought 'Without her daggers and arrows she is unable to attack us'.

"Then it would seem we have a deal." Says Thorin and holds out his hand as if to say 'I won this battle elvish scum'. I looked to Gandalf who reluctantly nodded, doing so with a frown on his face.

I take out my daggers reluctantly and place them in his hands and he has an evil smirk on his face as I take my arrows that I store within a pocket on the inside of the silver cloak I wear.

"Don't get in our way and if you fall behind we won't wait." He states in a deathly serious tone that makes me flinch very slightly but he notices and allows a smirk to cross his face knowing that he has control over my actions.

As he steps out of the room so does Gandalf and I'm left there thinking 'Why did that dwarf have to be so difficult and Gandalf just gave him what he wanted, control over my actions and my complete vulnerability in a fight'. I sigh and sit in a chair in the corner of the room, huddled in a slight ball as I slowly drift to sleep.

Ch.2 Ch.4

@tigereyesf

Woodland Princess Ch.4: An Adventure Begins

Ch.3 Ch.5

I made sure to wake up early so the company didn't leave without me. After all, I didn't want Thorin to leave with my daggers, they were special to me cause they were given to me from my mother the day before her death.

They were a gift to symbolize my progress in my training at such an early age. She made them from a very valuable type of metal that only royalty in my kingdom can own. It's called starsteel, left upon the domes of our kingdom to soak in the starlight's energy. It takes 300 years to be perfect, it is then the most lethal weapon you could ever give someone and I did not like the thought of them being in the hands of a dwarf; much less Thorin Oakenshield.

We left early in the morning with some ponies the dwarves tied up a little outside the shire in a forest so they were hidden. I didn't want to leave the shire, it was nice and calm, I would've liked having someone like Bilbo along but he refused.

When we started the trek Fili and Kili had a bet with us that Bilbo wouldn't show up. Gandalf accepted the bet, and I also did immediately after because you should never bet against a wizard. Nearly a half mile through the forest my sensitive hearing picks up on footsteps rushing towards us.

I send Gandalf a glance and he nods in understanding saying, 'If we are to fight I will make sure you have your daggers'. But then we hear a yell saying,

"WAIT!" I knew it was Bilbo and stopped my beautiful silver Arabian mare who I brought from the woodland realm. Soon the company stopped too and looked in the direction they heard the shout. Bilbo came running along before stopping by Balin with the long contract they left him just in case. After a few more seconds Balin said,

"Everything seems to be in order." And handed the contract to Thorin who said in a serious and annoyed tone,

"Give him a pony." Even though he detested it, Fili and Kili picked him up and placed onto a pony where he seemed very unhappy.

"Pay up!" I shouted to Fili and Kili. With that, they each stubbornly reach into their pockets and throw a bag of coins my way. Gandalf and I laughed at their anger and Bilbo was wondering what that was about but Gandalf later explained it, and his expression changed to happy when he saw that at least two people believed in him.

Ch.3 Ch.5

@tigereyesf

Woodland Princess Ch.5: Confrontation

Ch.4 Ch.6

It has been nearly the whole day now, we stop in a high up area where if we get attacked we have the upper hand. It's nearly pitch black apart from the light radiating off of a nearby fire that was created for warmth.

I couldn't sleep so I helped to take care of the horses and found a nice area where I could untie my mare known as Raerthar. After being set free everyone looks at me strange,

"What?" I ask in complete confusion.

"Isn't she going to run off." Asks a dwarf named Nori, he was a nice and unassuming person, so I don't really mind his company.

"No, we understand each other and she understands her freedoms and boundaries." I state and with that they all nod and go back to what they were doing.

Thorin scoffs at my explanation, glancing at me in a cruel way as if saying, 'I hope she runs away because I can promise that I won't give you one of our ponies'.

After noticing this I go to an area where a rock weathered to a flat in the middle but the sides curve upwards. I quickly grab a bunch of pine needles from the trees around me and create a soft patch within the rock where I lay on my back and stare up at the stars.

Suddenly a loud screeching noise reaches my ears and I sit upright within a second staring in the section where I heard the shriek. Bilbo appears confused and asked,

"What was that?"

"Orcs" I answer quickly, eager to change the subject but I hear Fili and Kili laughing about something I didn't hear. I stare at them and they quickly stop laughing but Thorin comes in and says,

"You think a night raid by orcs is funny do you!" He says in a raised voice I quickly try to help them out saying,

"I'm sure they meant nothing by it Thorin."

He turns and stalks over towards where I'm now standing in slight fear, but more adrenaline. The brothers see a hint of fear flash in my eyes as Thorin nears and they see that my daggers are missing. They quickly get up a dash over to where I'm at. Thorin is now right in front of me, and Gandalf gets up but doesn't move in fear that will provoke an attack. Thorin speaks in a dark tone,

"Do not tell me what to do with my own family, you piece of filth." He growls lowly.

By now Fili and Kili are a few feet behind him ready to intervene if anything becomes dangerous. I step back slightly and Thorin steps forward pushing me against the side of the wide cliff edge we were staying on.

"Well you obviously don't know how to deal with a way to break the silence and they were just trying to help, if you can't see that then you obviously need help in managing your 'family'." I reply in a mocking and sarcastic voice that I know will enrage him further. He puts a hand on his sword and goes to unsheath it, but Fili and Kili grab him while Gandalf pulls me away.

"What have I told you, you could be killed by Thorin and he wouldn't care." Starts Gandalf but I quickly use my elvish magic and disappear, not wanting to have this conversation right now. I slump back on the rock I layed pine needles over and fell into a deep sleep.

Ch.4 Ch.6

@tigereyesf

Woodland Princess Ch.7: Turn of Events

Ch.6 Ch.8

I made my way back to the trolls clearing to see that they had placed some dwarves each into separate bags to keep them from escaping and in the middle was the rest of them tied to a log and slowly being rotisseried.

I nearly laughed when I saw this but smacked myself at the thought that I was their only hope and was laughing. I took out my daggers which shone with the starlights powerful energy.

I slowly crept into a tree that was over one of the trolls that was near the edge of the clearing. I created an enduring burning rage which caused the blades to burn hotter than the sun since they are able to use your emotions to your advantage.

I jumped out of the tree and before the troll could figure out what was happening I stabbed the burning hot blades straight through the top of his head which killed him instantly.

Since Bilbo was talking to the other trolls they had no idea what happened when their friend dropped onto the floor with no reason according to them.

I quickly disappeared back into the forest, nobody saw what happened, not even the dwarves, so they wouldn't be able to give me away upon their own stupidity. I was closer to the ground now and crawled underneath a thick bush close to a foot.

Without waiting, I stabbed its leg and dragged it down to the bottom of their foot, and by the time he shrieked I was already back within the trees.

I caught sight of a gray blue guessing it was an animal of some sort, but when the sun's dawn light started to deep through the sky the gray blur turned out to be Gandalf who used his staffs and broke a rock that allowed the sun's light to come through and burn all the trolls to stone.

I didn't want any of them to know I'd helped them because then Thorin would know I have my weapons backs and would save his life even though he made me feel like the ground they step on everyday.

I quickly hurry back to camp and tell Raerthar to say nothing or else they would believe I was weak. Soon enough they came back to camp, some slightly limping and others just fine.

Thorin sent me a glare and thought 'And that's why you don't have a weapon, because you wouldn't even help us even if we're about to die'.

He stalked past me and hit his shoulder into mine as a way to say 'thanks for nothing'. I made no move to respond, knowing it was a bad idea.

Gandalf looked confused when he saw what Thorin did since he knew I was postponing the trolls from killing them, but I told Gandalf none of them had seen me so none of them knew and that that was how I wanted to keep it. He reluctantly agreed thinking it was a stupid thing but nonetheless agreed.

"Mountain trolls down here, this is quite odd." I say to Gandalf as we pack up the ponies.

"Yes, now that you mention it, it is quite odd judging that they haven't been this far since the last dark power fell." Explained Gandalf as he tacked up his horse.

"I find it strange how a wizard and an elf never seem to shut up!" Shouted Thorin from across the area. We decided to search for a nearby cave the trolls must've stayed in and sure enough we found one that smelled of death and decay.

I held my nose as I walked into the troll cave. Gandalf went around and searched for swords I believe he said while I looked around and found an odd looking thing with a deep dark blue color that quickly changed when I put it on my finger.

When everyone finally left the cave, Gandalf and I mounted our horses but it seems the other horses bolted when the trolls attacked so everyone else was walking which made me so happy at the looks of anger and jealousy Thorin threw at me when he was tired of trekking and carrying the things on his back the horses would've carried instead.

We stop at the edge of the forest where a plain opens up to drink and eat quickly. I slide off Raerthar and slip out two apples and a carrot then find her a patch of grass to eat while we're waiting.

"You know that food is much better off being given to a human other than some animal." Says a voice behind me. I turn and see Dwalin I quickly respond,"

"Why? Did you want one?" I say as nicely as I can and pull one out of the saddlebag and make sure to grab Raerthars attention without Dwalin noticing. I hold out the apple, he reaches to take it but I quickly throw it out of his reach to have Raerthar jump into the air and grab it.

The look Dwalin gave me was one of pure hatred but I laughed, hearing Gandalf chuckling slightly as well.

Ch.6 Ch.8

@tigereyesf

Woodland Princess Ch.8: The Great Chase

Ch.7 Ch.9

A loud howling sound traveled through the forest and I heard Bilbo say in surprise,

"Is that a wolf? Are there wolves out here?" Then a low growling came from behind me and I saw a warg prowling behind me, eyeing my Raerthar.

I quickly grabbed my daggers and allowed the emotion of madness and pure rage to flood through my body but not show. This emotion causes the blades to grow longer and slightly curve like when a tear streams down your face and you wipe it away.

The wild skull launched at Raerthar but I quickly jumped up and stabbed the blade easily into its skull with so much power it came out the bottom of its jaw. Suddenly Gandalf turned and yelled at Thorin,

"WHO DID YOU TELL! WHO DID YOU TELL ABOUT OUR QUEST!"

"NO ONE!I SWEAR!" Answered Thorin.

"Why? What is happening?" Thorin questioned angrily.

"You are being hunted." Exclaimed Gandalf.

Then Gandalf's friend Radagast rides through and says some things but I don't pay attention, I'm busy making sure that Raerthar is okay and safe from the wild skulls. Radagast then bursts out of the forest and I question,

"What is he doing, he will most certainly be seen?"Gandalf responds,

"He's drawing their attention so we can escape." He explains, mounting his horse and follows the company as they quickly leave the forest.

I mount Raerthar and we ride out in time to see Radagast having the time of his life being caused by wargs with orcs on their backs. All of the sudden Raerthar bursts into her uncatchable gallop and I barely manage to hold on before asking her through our telepathic link,

'What are you doing they will see us?!'

'Why let Radagast have all the fun?' is all she replies, drawing some of their attention away from Radagast.

As we continue galloping, I see an orcs and a warg on top of a rock that Thorin and his group are hiding beside.

I shoot the wargs tail and gain his attention. He chases us until Raerthar begins to get tired so I start to shoot all the orcs and wargs that follow us. Soon we are forced to follow the company because Raerthar and I were outnumbered.

When I circled back to the group Gandalf was gone but I recognized this area, but he did too because as soon as we stopped he dragged all of us into the secret passage leading to rivendell.

I refused to leave Raerthar's side, seeing as she couldn't go with us so I said we would go the long way. Suddenly Thorin yelled after he saw I was the only one still outside,

"Get off the blasted creature!" I refused and heard a horn suddenly go off causing the orcs to turn and face the noise.

'Go through without me, I know the guards will not hurt me.' I explained to Mithrandir telepathically, he nodded in understanding and ushered everyone through the secret passage. Some stopped however when they saw I wasn't coming.

"Where's Aelsar, surely she's coming?" Questioned Bilbo as he turned and looked back out to the hill to see I was no longer there. Gandalf and the rest continued while I stayed with Raerthar.

I dismounted and used my magic to make me look like a mortal woman who just brutally killed the orcs. Afterwards I noticed that an arrow had hit Raerthar's left shoulder.

'Raerthar, this is going to hurt a bit', I said and then quickly before she responded ripped the arrow out of her shoulder. She let out an ear splitting whinny that caught all of the guards attention seeing as they hadn't noticed me before. My cloak was still up so they quickly surrounded me in their offensive circle formation.

The leader it would seem dismounted and grabbed Raerthar's reins and tried to lead her away. She bit his hand and trotted back to me. I chanted a healing spell and her wound healed within a few seconds. Finally one of them said something.

"What is a horse like that doing with you, whoever you are?" I couldn't take off my hood, they would instantly tell my father and brother where I was headed so I had to keep a low profile.

I searched their minds to see if I knew any of them. Bingo. I thought to myself as I found that lord Elrond was among them. I telepathically said to him,

'Sir we have met before, it's me Aelstar of the woodland realm. Please don't tell my father I'm here, he would have you send me straight home and I'm a little busy for that.' I pleaded to him.

He stepped forward and took off his helmet, the guards pointed their spears at me once again and Raerthar stomped her right foreleg on the ground and harnessed her magical ability to make all their spears turn to dust in their hands.

They stepped back in awe as they watched this rare type of elven horse protect this stranger who looks much less than elven in a tattered gray cloak with blood stains, with their face and body covered in a shadow.

Lord Elrond smiled at me, causing the guards to become even more confused.

"Raerthar isn't it, if you don't mind I would like to see my starlight." The guards glanced at each other, in all their years he only called one person his little Starlight, and that was Aelsar, daughter of King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm.

"Aelsar, do you mind taking off your spell? No one in my kingdom will be telling your father where you are if that is what you wish." Lord Elrond stated.

I slowly lowered my spell which allowed for my beautiful silver cloak and my silver blonde hair to be shown. All the guards quickly bowed down and then stood back up mounting their horses after they saw who I was.

"Well that was not the best welcome if I do say so myself." I said quickly after lord Elrond's guards had gone to do a last check for orcs that might've been missed.

Ch.7 Ch.9

@tigereyesf

Woodland Princess Ch.9: Memories

Ch.8 Ch.10

Lord Elrond had led Raerthar and I back to Rivendell. When we got there Raerthar and I both stared at the overview of it.

I was remembering how my father would sometimes send me here if he needed alone time to think, or if he found himself incapable of keeping me safe from a threat against his kingdom.

I now started to realize how much I missed my father, even though he seemed cold, he was quite caring and made sure we did what was right. I missed Legolas too, he could be cold like our father but he always was easier to make happy.

Now when I think about it, my father raised us very differently. When Legolas was a kid he had a loving mother and a caring father who always had a soft spot for him, but when I was raised I only knew my mother when I was very young before she died in battle.

After that, father became very cold and reserved, even towards me who he used to spoil with gifts and kindness.

He tried though, he really did, but he usually sent me over here when he couldn't deal with me or when he didn't want to be near me because as he said, "You look too much like your mother."

"I know it's been a while, but I've only ever seen you cry twice. This is the second time." Voiced Lord Elrond from beside me.

I quickly reached up with my hand and wiped it under my eyes.

'I shouldn't be crying, after all I'll see my family after this if my father hasn't banished me for leaving his kingdom unauthorized', I thought to myself before Raerthar began to walk to Rivendell.

Lord Elrond followed close behind, thinking to himself.

'I can read her thoughts as she can read mine, she was thinking about her father and how much she misses him. I always thought she would miss her brother more because he was more affectionate, but it's her father. I really should tell him about her being here, and I will but only after they've been gone for 2 days. That seems reasonable.'

We walk to Rivendell in silence, the guards have slightly encircled around myself and Lord Elrond seeing as we are the royalty in this group. As soon as we arrive the guards move forward and circle my company who stand in the center of the clearing.

Lord Elrond dismounts and greets Mithrandir while he orders a guard to take Raerthar to a stall but then quickly remembers how I said she hates small spaces and tells him to instead release her among the open pastures.

After he has the other elves leave everyone to the dining room he quickly comes over and hugs me. I hug him back, not letting any tears fall from my eyes as I look upon Rivendell.

"Aelsar if you really want to you can just skip the dinner, I remember how you are about eating alone in your room reading your books and writing your stories."

"I think I'll just go to the pasture and hang out with Raerthar. Not really that hungry." I say to Lord Elrond before going to get dinner so I can get back to Raerthar.

_______

I sat in the pasture, with Raerthar for mainly the rest of the day.

'Aelsar, you should go and feast with the rest of your kin. I'll be fine.' Spoke Raerthar as she was worried on how little I had been eating over the past few days.

'Now it will take awhile for you to get back into the flow of everything here, but you must go and socialize. The only people you've had an actual conversation with is Gandalf and I. You've been mostly quiet after the day Thorin yelled at you during the battle. I know you must be angry but you must go and see your friends. They will be worried about you.' Emphasized Raerthar as she nudged me towards Rivendell from within the pasture.

'Fine. I will go and have dinner with them, but if I don't like it I'm leaving.' Replied Aelsar in an understanding tone.

'Deal.' Replied Raerthar as she then used her magic to place Aelsar on her back, and then galloped towards Rivendell.

We reached the edge of the pasture which had a small walkway of stone and jewels that led out of the stables and towards the dining hall.

I silently slipped off Raerthar's back, saying goodbye and began walking down the path. It led me through a beautiful stone stable with a soft sandy ground.

As I reached the outside I saw the path that led to the dining hall. However I didn't want to disturb anyone or enter the room and gain their attention so I took a secret passageway that only Lord Elrond and I knew about.

The secret passage was hidden behind a tapestry which I simply pushed out of the way and walked through the stone corridor. At the end of the passageway there was a sharp turn and a statue which you simply pushed forward and it moved forward for it to move forward, and out of the way.

Ch.8 Ch.10

@tigereyesf

Remember Me

Day 25 Idol Challenge Christoph Waltz 

Had a prompt from a post I re blogged awhile back from a now deactivated account. One of the prompts was Hurt me which was for something with angst. I also got inspired by the lovely cartoon Anastasia. 

This story is between Elisa and Blofeld and she loses her memory after a mission gone wrong. 

Blofeld and James Bond are not my characters. 

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