A/: Phew, so the writing is coming a little better, can't say what I am trying to express is coming out as clearly as I want, but at least I don't feel stuck. I really can't express my thanks for all the wonderful feedback! You all are wonderful, and make me feel very special.

Legolas knew the precise moment Hermione had fallen asleep. Her boneless form slumped into the cradle of his arms, as her head lolled back and forth with the horse's steady gait, until it finally came to rest upon his chest.

"And that's how I learned to use an axe." Finishing up his tale, Gimli looked up to where Legolas sat smirking, as his eyes settled onto Hermione's sleeping face. "Is she asleep?"

"It seems the heroic tales of your youth lulled her into a deep slumber." Seeing how the Dwarf's face fell in disappointment, Legolas flicked away one of Hermione' curls from his face, and sent his friend a compassionate look. "I am sure she was enthralled. But it seems her hike this morning exhausted her."

Gimli's frown deepened as he processed the words, his eyes resting on Hermione's peaceful face. "She sure is a tiny thing. Perhaps we should've insisted she ride."

"No." The curl once again floated up and Legolas glared at it before tucking it behind her ear. "She would've resisted. It needed to be her idea."

"Too stubborn for her own good is what she is." The smaller man grumbled under his breath. "I've never met someone so pigheaded."

Covering a snort with a slight cough, Legolas schooled his features when Gimli shot him a withering glare. "Are you implying with that girlish little cough, that I am stubborn?"

Gimli appeared to be affronted at the mere suggestion, making it even more difficult for Legolas to keep his amusement to himself. But if that day's progress was any indication of their remaining journey, it would be wise to keep his teasing comments to himself. Or he'd have not only a wary, and obstinate girl on his hands, but a grumpy Dwarf as well.

"Of course not my friend." The words slipped off his tongue smoothly. "As for Hermione, I think the best approach is to allow her to make her own decisions when the circumstances allow for it."

"If we had insisted on her riding, we wouldn't have wasted half a day's progress, nor would she have been injured." Gimli shot back.

"True." Looking down on the head of curls, Legolas sighed. "Perhaps then you'd rather we give her no choice and just tie her on the horse."

"I said no such thing." Flustered, Gimli sat up straight in his seat, a look a deep concentration settled upon his features. "Though had we done that in the first place we'd be much further along, and her foot would not be wounded."

"Gimli."

"I'm not saying we should do it, but that the idea does have some merit."

Legolas's body tensed, as he moved his head slightly so that the gentle breeze hit the shell of his ear. "Gimli."

"Though, knowing her, she'd kick and scream the entire way-."

"We're being followed." His warning cut off any further ramblings from his companion, as Gimli's face hardened into the mask of a warrior.

"Why didn't you say so?"

Clearly exasperated, Legolas turned his head to settle his piercing gaze at his friend, before returning to his previous position. He slowed Arod until the horse stood still, his hears flickering, and tail swishing his displeasure.

Gimli paused his pony, knowing from past experience the Elf had an uncanny intuition of coming threat. It didn't mean he fully supported the belief that Elf's overall, had an advantage over Dwarfs, and his patience in this matter had its limits.

After what seemed an eternity of Legolas pretending to be a statue, Gimli rolled his eyes and huffed. "Are we being followed or not."

"We are." Letting out a long suffering sigh, Legolas wished over their time together, that Gimli would have learned to be a tad bit more patient. "We aren't in imminent danger at the moment, though we should find cover."

"Are you suggesting we hide?"

"I am suggesting we find somewhere suitable to keep Hermione safe." Looking down at the sleeping girl in his arms, he felt Gimli's attention settle there as well. "I can't say for certain what is tailing us, but we'd be at the disadvantage by having an innocent to protect."

Clearly not liking the idea of cowering like a cornered animal, Gimli spat on the ground, while several emotions crossed his face. "Perhaps we could let her cast that invisible bubble. It could keep her safe."

With a slow nod, Legolas considered his friends suggestion. "I believe that would be sensible. But I don't think it would be wise to tell her why. For all we know it's a group of farmers using the same path."

"Or a bloody pack of Orcs who have empty bellies and are looking for a fight." Gimli countered. "I say we warn her."

"There is no reason to alarm her." Legolas insisted. "Besides, didn't you say just yesterday that Orcs don't travel this close to the city?"

"Weren't you just sprouting some nonsense about giving her the choice? Make up your mind."

"I also stated when the circumstances allow for it." Legolas sighed, wishing he'd been more careful with his previous words. "Either way there is not much she will be able to do. Clearly she isn't trained as a shield maiden, so her arm will be of no aid in a fight. She'd also be insistent on the return of her stick."

Again Gimli mulled over their options. "Bah! This doesn't sit well with me, and I am warning you Elf, if she is angered, I have no problem letting her know where the blame lies."

"I expected no less." His eyes already scanning the land ahead, Legolas looked irritated over their limited options. He would prefer to find a rocky area, they could use for cover, while tucking Hermione safely into their crevices if it came to that. Instead he found the bland stretch of the plains, with only a cropping of trees to the north. "We'll head for the trees."

"We've had worse plans." Gimli's upper lip curled, as he cast their destination with a scornful glance.

~H~

Startled awake, Hermione nearly unseated herself with a jolt, only to find Legolas's arms securely balancing her from falling on her face.

"You're awake." His tone was tense. "We're going to make camp."

Blinking away the fog inside her head, Hermione stared at his stern expression, wondering if she'd missed something. She hadn't meant to fall asleep, had in fact fought the pull as long as she could, but after the long hike that morning and the fresh air, she'd lost the battle. Was he angry over that? Had she perhaps drooled on him in their travels? Or had riding together had been more uncomfortable than he'd anticipated.

Clearing her throat, while silently consoling herself she had done no wrong, she inched away from his ridged form while contemplating how she was going to dismount the horse without falling on her face. Instead, Legolas solved her dilemma, by effortlessly landing on the ground before pulling her down beside him.

Turning to utter a thanks, she was startled to find him already ten paces away, as he headed for a group of boulders. He jumped from one to the other, his eyes scanning the area around them. Turning her attention to Gimli, she noticed the Dwarf's ridged posture as he watched Legolas intently. Movement from the corner of her eye had her turning her attention to where Legolas was heading back toward them, his hand already reaching inside of his tunic pulling out her wand.

"Cast the protective barrier." His words were clipped, and his tone set her teeth on edge. Taking her wand from him, noticing his eyes refused to meet hers, Hermione frowned at his actions before pointing the wand up above her, as she recited the words she now knew by heart.

Remembering the wands odd reaction that morning, she was disappointed to find that nothing odd occurred. The shields went up without a glitch, no sparks, or increased magical surges. With a sigh, she turned to look up at the edgy Elf. "Should I set up the tent?"

"We will have no need of the tent tonight." Again his reply was short, as though her question was a great inconvenience to him.

"Why not?" Not missing that she sounded like a disgruntled two year old, Hermione ground her teeth at his sudden change in attitude.

Her rebuttal drew his gaze toward her, as he silently held out his hand for the wands return. "We will survive a night without its comfort."

"But it makes no sense." Stepping back, refusing to drop the matter at hand, Hermione kept the wand safely at her side. "It takes no effort at all to put it up or break it down again."

"Hermione, return your wand." It didn't escape her notice how he neglected to tease her about her wand being a stick, nor his deadly serious tone. Something was obviously off.

"Not until you explain why you're suddenly acting like this." Her mouth pinched as she took a stepped back a step.

"I am not acting like anything." Lines appeared between his brows. "It's been a long day, now return the wand so we can eat before retiring."

Eyeing him critically, before shifting her gaze to Gimli, who was busy avoiding them, Hermione shook her head in a jerky motion. "You're lying. Tell me why it's such an inconvenience to erect the tent."

Her accusation seemed to fuel a fire in his eyes. "You're being stubborn again, remember how well that turned out for you this morning?"

Gritting her teeth, Hermione felt her ears burn, but she refused to allow him to distract her. "Now you're only avoiding the question. What's really going on?"

"Legolas." Gimli finally spoke up, earning him two heated glares.

"Stay out of this Gimli." Though his tone was slightly lighter, Legolas's stern glance had Gimli raise his beefy palms in surrender. Turning back to her, he breathed in deeply several times. "The wand."

"No." Reading the calculation in his eyes, Hermione felt hers widen as he advanced on her. Purely by reflex, she took a dueling stance and had her wand pointed at the center of his chest. Not knowing who was more stunned, they stood frozen staring at one another with only a few feet separating them.

Without any warning, Legolas was a blur in motion, as his hand easily captured her wrist, and his foot swept around the back of her calf, unsettling her balance. Before the yelp could pass from her lips, she was airborne, barely realizing he had positioned their bodies so he took the brunt of the landing before rolling them over to pin her from above.

Straddling her body, one hand holding both her arms above her head, Legolas gave her a dirty look before snatching the wand from her fingers. Anger boiled inside her veins over his sneaky attack, causing her to try and buck him off her much smaller form. "Get off me you prat!"

"You have tried my patience for the day." He bit out between clenched teeth as she continued to squirm.

"Well bully for you." Raising a knee, an act she'd never had believed herself capable of, she was even more infuriated when her kneecap barely grazed his lower back. "Shove off!"

"Not until you stop acting like a spoiled child." Squeezing his legs tightly against her sides, he shoved her wand back into his tunic.

"You attacked me because I told you no. Who's the bigger child? You or me?" Growing tired, Hermione stilled and sent him a withering glare.

Refusing to answer, Legolas waited until she stopped her struggles. Both stiffly glared at one another, neither speaking, as Hermione breathed heavily through her nose. The world around them seemed to pause, finally after what felt like an eternity, Legolas spoke.

"I am going to let you up. You will eat, and then retire for the night." Waiting for her reply, he sighed when she turned her head to the side, refusing to respond.

Springing up off the ground, he held out a hand to assist her up, and wasn't surprised when she disgruntledly ignored it. Pushing herself off the ground as quickly and gracefully as she could muster, Hermione dusted off the dirt from the back of her jeans, and silently moved to a rock and sat down upon it.

Another apple was thrust before her, and every fiber of her body screamed at her to refuse it. Instead, she resentfully snatched it out of the Elf's hand. It took considerable effort not to lash out at either of the males, with the many things floating about her head, most of the dark thoughts were directed at a certain Elf, and his highhanded behavior.

As the rage dulled into a simmering anger, another emotion made itself known. Disappointment. Where ire nearly consumed her, burning through her veins, this new feeling gnawed in the pit of her stomach. The harder she tried to ignore it, the more pronounced it became, until she was forced to analyze why she would possibly feel regret.

She had done no wrong. She wasn't the one whose attitude had dramatically changed, turning her into an insufferable, domineering prig. After their headway that morning, she had expected a tentative truce of sorts. Instead she'd fallen asleep, and awoken to a stone faced, ill-tempered arse.

Frowning, she bit into the neglected fruit and let her eyes move to where the men were silently talking, their backs to her. Even Gimli had appeared stiff and on edge. Pausing, her mind racing, Hermione sat up straight and wanted to smack herself for being so thick.

"We're being followed." She announced as the puzzle pieces fell into place. "Aren't we?"

Her unexpected words had both men freeze, as they turned in unison to stare at her. Gimli's eyes shifted, as he peered up at Legolas, before looking back at her.

"Why would you say that?" The Dwarf's gruff voice didn't fool her, she was onto something.

"Because I've been hunted for nearly a year, along with my two best friends." Making a face, Hermione shook her head. "I can't believe I missed the signs."

"No harm will come to you." Legolas insisted, his posture as unbending as his tone.

Gimli though, eyed her suspiciously. "What do you mean you've been hunted?"

Realizing she'd shared more than she'd intended, especially since she was still miffed at Legolas, Hermione rose from her spot and coolly eyed the men. Inside though, she was anything but cool, as she considered her words. She wasn't particularly inclined to share too much. Not when she knew little to nothing about her sometimes unwanted companions.

Perhaps it was self-preservation, or just plain stubbornness, either way the two already had adequate leverage over her. "We weren't overly loved by the opposing side of the war, they had dispatched Snatchers to round us up and bring us in."

"Snatchers?" The world rolled off the Dwarf's tongue, making him appear as though he'd sucked on a lemon. "What in the bloody blazes are Snatchers?"

"Foul men for hire, who hunt down people." It was the only explanation she was willing to share.

"Why would they be dispatched to hunt down a child?" Legolas's question earned him a furious glare.

"Will you stop calling me a child?! And it's no business of yours why I was being hunted down. I only was trying to explain I know something's amiss, I can feel it."

Gimli huffed. "We don't know what is trailing us."

"Gimli." Legolas snapped in warning.

"What?" Not fazed by his friend's sharp tone, Gimli lifted a hand in Hermione's direction. "I am not going to flat out lie to the girl. Now that she's aware, she'll be more complacent when we tell her to run and hide."

"Why in Merlin's name would I run and hide?" Absolutely gob smacked at just the thought, Hermione shook her head at Gimli's premature optimism. "I can help fight."

"No." The negative response came from both males.

"It's ludicrous for me to cower, when I can be of some use."

"And how will you be of use?" Legolas took a step forward, his brow inching up. "Will you throw rocks at them? Perhaps use that sharp tongue of yours to make their ears bleed?"

"I would use my wand . . . which is why you two were keeping me in the dark. You already predicted this." Hermione muttered. "Do you trust me so little that you'd leave me defenseless?"

"Trust?" Legolas repeated. "You nearly attacked me a moment ago."

"Purely on reflex." Hermione argued, feeling his assessment was unfair.

"More importantly." Interrupting the two, before they ended up wrestling on the ground, Gimli shoved himself between the rapidly diminishing distance of their bodies. "While your willingness to assist is appreciated, we have never trained with you. We haven't the idea of how you react under the stress of battle. Mix in that strange stick you're overly found of, what may be an easy squirmish, could instead turn into a blood bath."

Though she wasn't overly fond of Gimli's logic, she had to admit there were several acceptable points. "Then I don't need to fight. But you can't seriously think leaving me defenseless is a good plan either."

"We are wasting time arguing about this." Legolas snapped. "The wand remains with me. Gimli, you and Hermione should rest, I will take first watch."

"Wait!" Astonished, Hermione blinked several times. "That's it?"

Taking a deep breath, Legolas let it out slowly before turning his attention back to her. "Yes Hermione, that's my final word on the matter. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Us bickering over the matter. My only desire to keep you safe from harm. Gimli's right. You are untrained. Your aid would only hinder us." To give him some credit, he looked somewhat apologetic. "I am going to keep watch."

"Come on lass." Tugging lightly on the sleeve of her jacket, Gimli motioned with his head toward the spot near a few trees. "It's gonna be a long night."

Taking one last look at Legolas's retreating form as it slipped into the shadows, Hermione frowned. She couldn't remember the last time when she hadn't had the last word, or had been able to ultimately find some sort of satisfaction with the outcome to an argument. But ever since she'd opened her eyes in this strange world, she'd found herself at the mercy of others.

That in itself was a thorn in her side. It mattered little, that she'd been fortunate enough to of been found by Legolas and Gimli, who seemed to want what they felt was best for her. The loss of control over her own life, threated to choke her.

~H~

It was beyond her how she'd fallen into a fitful sleep. After her unplanned nap on the ride, followed by the altercation, she never imagined she'd be woken awake by a hand settling over her mouth. Her eyes flew open, and found Legolas kneeling beside her, his finger to his lips. She knew he waited longer than necessary, to ensure she fully understood and would comply before gently removing his hand.

Silently motioning to Gimli, how already was at the perimeter of the camp, the Dwarf simply nodded as his fingers clenched around the thick handle of his axe. Feeling his hand on her lower back gently nudge her forward, Hermione rolled her eyes up at the Elf.

"The barrier prevents others from hearing us." Though her tone was soft, it almost sounded like a clap of thunder over the unnatural stillness.

"Why didn't you say so?" Swinging around, his face filled with annoyance, Gimli shook his head.

"No one asked." She replied simply, feeling quiet vindicated.