Birds; that was all the noise there was in the forest. Legolas quite enjoyed that, actually. No footsteps and no enemies. Enemies had been far too abundant these days, at least in his opinion.

"Are you ready, Legolas? We must head out soon," one of the elves accompanying him to Rivendell said.

"Yes, of course," Legolas replied before mounting a horse borrowed from his father's stables. The journey was quiet until they stopped for a small break to allow their stiff backs and legs to rest. The forest was still very quiet but he could not shake the feeling of being watched. All of a sudden, there was a loud snap, like a small limb breaking from a tree. Legolas and his men rushed to the sound, two with their bows drawn. It wasn't long before they reached the fallen limb and saw a most unusual sight.

It was an elleth with hair as dark as night and large, leaf-colored eyes that darted from one elve's face to the next, untrustingly. Even stranger were the pants and tunic she was wearing, for if they had not seen that she had the chest and hips of an elleth, they would have thought her an elve.

"What is your name?" Legolas asked, assuming she wasn't a threat, as she was completely unarmed.

"Why should I tell a stranger who has his men's bows drawn and pointed at me? I have no reason and no intention of telling you anything. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll leave you to your business if you'll leave me to mine," she snapped. When she had finished speaking, she hurriedly pushed the branch off of herself and took to the trees, leaping from one to the next with amazing speed and grace.

"That explains the pants," one of the elves joked. One laughed and other looked at him, disgusted with his joke about an elleth, no matter how masculine.

"Come, we must follow her, it is not safe in the woods anymore," Legolas said before following the path she had taken, except with even greater speed. He could hear the occasional rustle of leaves or small groan of the impact she made on a branch. He glanced behind and saw none of his men following.

'Suit yourselves, there's nothing to be afraid of in the trees though,' he thought, still going at full speed. He wasn't paying much attention to where he was going so when he came to a break in the trees, he missed it and tumbled into a small creek. He yelled out slightly at the sudden loss of footing and at the cold shock of the water. When he came to his senses, mere seconds later, he heard a tinkling laugh from one of the trees on the opposite side of the creek. It was the raven-haired elleth.

"Okay, I give. Since you seem so set on getting my name, I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours first," she giggled.

"My name is Legolas Greenleaf," he replied.

"Sisal is at your service. I couldn't tell you my last name, as I don't know it myself," she said happily.

"How could you not know your own last name?" Legolas asked. 'What a queer girl, but she seems harmless enough.'

"I have no memory of my parents or any other family; I was have lived with the animals in this forest for as long as i remember and I was probably only a young adult when I came to live here. I have hardly ever seen another thing that travels upon two legs, let alone another that speaks the same tongue as me. I don't know how I even know how to communicate with you now but I must have learned when I was with other elves," she chortled. "You look so silly, sitting there in the creek. Come out before you catch cold or something."

"Why are you so friendly now? Weren't you hostile just moments ago?"

"Well, right now you are alone and we are on equal ground."

"Yet I have a weapon and you don't."

"Are you so sure about that?" she said, suddenly becoming icy and cool. Her eyes narrowed as she studied the way he held himself. He had stood up and was now standing on the bank right below her perch.

"I do not see one around you," he said, studying her as well. He did not see an obvious weapon and if she had one hidden, he could injure or kill her before she even had time to draw it. Of course, he would feel bad, killing a creature as beautiful and mysterious as her.

"Typical, even though you are an elve, you, being raised by other elves, still don't know about every single trick the forest has," she smirked. He could feel something wrapping itself around his waist and looked down to see that, without his noticing, a long, thin tree root had had crawled up his leg and around him. "With one thought or word to this tree, I could have you injured beyond mending. So, if you please put all your weapons on that rock there your hands in the air afterwards."

He did as he was told and she lightly hopped down from her place of temporary rest to land on the balls of her feet in front of him. She quickly patted her hands over him, checking for hidden weapons. When she found none, the root released him.

"Thank you, that was most uncomfortable," he smiled. She still seemed a bit on guard but was a bit calmer after he had disposed of his weapons.

"Where are you headed? The woods are not as safe as they once were so you are not simply going on an evening ride, especially with armed men," she inquired, looking straight into his eyes. He swallowed slightly. Never before had a woman looked into his eyes that deeply. He felt as though she were searching his soul.

"We are going to Rivendell, we have business there, that is our own," he said, breaking their eye contact.

"Come on, who would I tell, the trees or the birds?" Sisal laughed.

"We are going to a meeting that will probably take us on a long quest, at least that's what father told me," Legolas sighed.

"Then I will come with you, if you'll have a lonely forest girl?" the green eyes of the speaker danced with light, wonder, and, astonishingly, a pleading gleam. Legolas thought about it for a second. It could prove useful to have such a companion; after all, she could talk to plants without effort and probably animals too.

"How do I know you would not burden me and whomever I am with?"

"The trees, though inanimate at most times, hear everything, even thoughts. They spend long nights, conversing to each other with their roots entwined. I hear the secrets they whisper to the animals, sometimes even directly to me. The animals speak of what they sense in the air, of someone's true intentions. I hear them as well. If you will have me, I will teach you the secrets long forgotten by your ancestors that no book or scroll in any library you will find in Middle Earth can. They too could once hear a tree or deer's voice without so much as a second thought."

Legolas nodded, agreeing with her before gathering his weapons and signaling her to follow him. She did and soon they were back with his men.

"This is Sisal Windwalker; she is from this forest and will be of great use to us. She is hence forth a part of our party," Legolas said in a commanding tone, slightly guarding the elleth from the prying eyes of the elves. Sisal gave the back of his head a funny look. 'Where did he get Windwalker?'

"What use will she be without a horse, bow, or sword?" one asked. The other two nodded.

"I have a horse, and as for a weapon, I have the forest and my wits," Sisal spat, stepping out from behind Legolas. The men looked at her as if she were crazy, even Legolas cocked an eyebrow when she spoke of a horse. She gave a short but beautiful bird-like call and a beautiful elvish horse came cantering towards her a few moments later. It was almost completely black, no, ebony with only a small white circle right between its liquid brown eyes. "This is Taman."

"You did not mention a horse before. How did you get him?" Legolas asked, suddenly unsure of his judgment.

"The same way I got these clothes. I had to steal from living or dead travelers," Sisal said, looking calmly at him.

"But that is against every moral the elves have!" another of the men gasped.

"And living with animals my whole life, I have no need for morals. I have to get what I can by either stealing or claiming it. When you live alone in a forest, you learn things and see things that most do not," the elleth said, looking at him with the iciest eyes in Middle Earth.

"Well, we should get on our way, mount your horses everyone," Legolas ordered. Everyone did as asked and soon they were on their way to Rivendell.

~~Time Skip~~

"Ah, my rear hurts! I've never ridden so long before," Sisal cried as she hopped off Taman. She wobbled a bit before falling right on her bottom and crying out in pain. Legolas chuckled.

"How can you be so sore? It wasn't that long."

"We rode for five hours, nonstop, and I had a horse's spine bumping my ass the whole time," she huffed, picking herself up and dusting off. Sisal looked around her for the first time. "Whoa, this place is beautiful."

"Welcome to Rivendell."

A/N

What do my OC's Look like?

Well, you tell me! I am holding a contest that will last until I get tired of waiting (which may be soon, I get impatient easily). Whoever draws them closest to the image I have in my head, or whomever's looks best, will get a shout-out at the end of each chapter of that particular story. It doesn't have to be the main OC, just your favorite. Send you submissions to me through DeviantArt. (Search for Bunnyhugger91)

Also, this chapter was edited after a comment (that has been removed in a blind rage that was completely out of line) and I now have a Beta to help prevent anything else. Welcome, Arhani 'Hanny' Daforcena, to the team!