Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings however sad it may be. I only hope to represent Tolkien's work with an OC of my own. What you do not recognize from the books or movies or appendices or anything else of Tolkien's belongs to me.

"Not all those who wander are lost." ~J.R.R. Tolkien

Hey, everyone. It's been a year since I last touched this story, and all of a sudden a bout of inspiration had me editing the whole of what I'd posted. Readers may want to take another look, from the beginning here, and re-read since some crucial information has been altered. Thanks all, love ya!

1.

Jolting awake, the girl squinted her eyes while the sun shone brightly in her face. She thought she could feel this strange falling sensation in her dream and right when she was about to hit the ground, she had found herself here; under a clear blue sky and breathing the clean morning air. For the life of her she could not remember what the rest of the dream was about. Actually, she couldn't remember a thing.

Her head was pounding with a constant rhythm such as the beat of a drum; she closed her eyes again hoping that the sensation could go away. Rolling over onto her stomach, she almost screamed when she realized that she was on the edge of a cliff. If she had rolled over just a few more inches, she would have fallen over the edge one hundred feet into the ravine. However, the reason she did not scream was because of the thousands of men making up a powerful army right before her eyes.

They were strange, with dark skin, dark hair, and they were all wearing seemingly intricately woven armor. Of their faces, all she could see were their eyes, ears, and some tufts of hair sticking out of the dark fabric they wore. There were swords on their hips, bows on their backs, and spears in their hands. The army was completely uniform and marching to the same drum beat resounding in her head. They steadily marched with solemn expressions, ready to ride right into battle. Their features were twisted with war paint and every time one looked up or near her, the girl would completely flatten down.

The girl's head twisted to the right, watching even more soldiers come out of the trees. But then with a loud crash, many enormous animals followed the foot soldiers. Trees were knocked down and the ground seemed to shake before her eyes every time one of the gigantic beasts would take a step. Their steps are the drum beats. The girl surmised. She could clearly see the animals' backs and what looked to be small huts between their shoulder blades. On every beast there was a man sitting atop its head seemingly directing it.

The huts held everything from food, to people resting in chairs, to archers on the lookout. Even as they got closer to her hiding place, she widened her eyes in surprise at the many spikes attached to the animals' trunks and tusks.

What are these people doing here? She wondered. Then after a moment, she also wondered, what am I doing here? What is going on? She tried to remember anything at all, yet no matter how hard she tried or how deep she delved, she always formed a blank. She couldn't even remember her name or, hell, if she even had one.

She was about to crawl backwards deeper into the trees and try to find someone to help her, when she noticed movement directly across from the ravine. Two people; small for adults and yet too mature to be children, were sprawled out much in the same way as her. One was slightly fat, with a mop of tangled blonde hair atop his little head. The other had black hair and was skinnier than the other. She realized after a moment what was so unnerving about him.

He was staring at her.

And she was staring back.

He started to crawl backwards as she had been planning to do before. She watched him stand and say quietly to his friend, "We should go."

The girl widened her eyes in surprise. How had I heard that? Her hand immediately went up to her ear, wondering if she had just imagined his small voice in her head. As she felt her ears, she noticed something else. They were pointed. After looking down at the still-marching army in front of her, she concluded that none of their ears were pointy. Perhaps we are enemies. She thought to herself.

The girl gave up on the thought that maybe realizing her ears were pointy would trigger a memory of sorts after a few minutes of concentrating hard again. It was difficult to focus on anything with those giant beasts crashing around in front of her, however, and the noise really was starting to make her head spin.

Deciding she had nothing better to do than try to get out of here, the girl started crawling backwards once again. When she thinks she's gone back far enough to stay out of sight of the men, she stands up, also noticing that the two little people she saw earlier are out of sight. She wasn't sure if she was still actually detecting movement across the ravine or if it was simply a trick of the light.

She looked to her left and to her right, not knowing which direction she should go. When she heard a rustle behind her, however, she spun around quickly. Before she could move further, she saw a man dressed much like the others standing right in front of her with a blade pressed to her throat.

Wanting to back up, the girl somehow knew that it would only anger the man and cause him to lash out at her. The only thing she could do at the moment was to observe him and maybe beg for her life. This one had no cloth covering his face and head, and even more of the woven armor. His skin was darker than hers and very scarred, leaving white laceration marks where they were visible.

Somehow, she was getting a very bad feeling just being around him. She was itching to run away but she was stuck. She did notice that while she was observing and judging him, he was doing practically the same with her. She looked down immediately, not knowing if staring into his eyes like that could be taken as a challenge or if it would anger him.

"Who are you? State your business!" He finally said. The meaning of his words eluded her. She racked her mind searching once again for the answers he was seeking yet she found none of them.

"Man?" What? She asked timidly. She had absolutely no clue as to what he was saying; she couldn't remember hearing that language before. He started staring at her again. She finally decided to look up at him again, showing obvious signs of confusion.

Suddenly a gust of wind blew through the trees which displaced her dark hair; the many layers flew into her face and obstructed her vision a bit, though she dare not try to correct it. Out of her peripheral vision, she saw his eyes flicker over to her pointed ears and back at her face, though his expression gave her no hint as to what he was thinking.

"A chi?" And you are? He spoke, it seemed not to be a language very comfortable in for his tongue. With no response he spoke again with more force. "Man de?!" Who are you?!

"Man ebennig?" What did you say? She murmured and the man smirked, barely opening his mouth. She smelt his foul breath but did not react to it.

Then there was a loud yelling behind her. The man's attentions snapped back to the ravine and his eyes narrowed. He dragged her to the edge. There was an attack or raid of some sort. Men in green cloaks covering them emerged from the foliage and then seemed to melt back into it as soon as they'd shot a few arrows at the army.

The people below scrambled around in surprise, but were also shooting at the tree men. The giant beasts reared and raced around, obviously frightened, though it didn't seem like the tree men's arrows were affecting them at all.

She was secretly rooting for the tree men, even though she had no idea what this feud could possibly have been about. The ambush lasted only a few moments before everything quieted down. The tree men probably had proved a point that they were watching and were ready to take on the army. The troops in the ravine were acting like nothing had even occurred. They had formed their ranks once again and seemed to be marching with more pride after the attack.

The man still holding the girl spun her around and put his knife back over her throat.

"Edhel, Man ceridh hí? Man i eneth dhîn?" Elf, what are you doing here? What is your name? He seemed calm but as if anything could make him angry. The girl barely breathed.

"An ngell nîn, Ú-istonl." Please, I don't know. She was becoming overwhelmed with the day's events and was starting to tire. The man shook her arm roughly.

"Tell me now!" He yelled in her face, switching to the other language. She glared at the ground but stayed silent.

"Ídhron peded! Ú-cheniog!" I wish to speak! You don't understand! She pleaded, her arm starting to ache from his hold. Instead of relinquishing her, he tightened his grip and looked even more suspicious.

"You are lying." He spoke quietly. When she opened her mouth to say, once again, that she knew absolutely nothing, he spoke again, this time with his teeth clenched. "You must be a spy for the Men of Gondor. Tell me your name, Elf."

All she could do was to stare. Men of Gondor? Were those the tree men? Elf? This time in reaction to her silence, the soldier raised his hand and slapped her across the face. Her head snapped to the side even though she could barely feel the sting.

"You are stubborn, Elf. When did you get here? How long have you been lurking?"

"An ngell nîn." Please. She again tried the begging tactic and shut up when his fiery glare silenced her.

"Then you shall come with me and see what my captain is to make of you!" He sneered and started pulling her behind him. She had no idea where they were going, but she instantly started struggling.

"Avon! Sevig thû úan!"No! You have the stench of a monster! She hissed at him. She tore out of his grip, causing five long scratched to start bleeding down her arm. The girl immediately turned away and ran in the opposite direction. She only made it a few steps, however, before the soldier grabbed a fistful of her layered hair that was flowing freely behind her.

Her head was jerked back and she groaned as she fell back into the man she had been free of for a few moments. He shoved her off of him without letting go of her hair. The girl was practically dragged behind him, having to crouch and stay near his hand so her head wouldn't be torn off of her very shoulders.

When she scratched at his hand holding her hair, he seemed oblivious to any pain. At the same time, she was getting weaker. Pain, exhaustion, and stress finally made her collapse. She was still conscious, but the man let out a string of curses in Haradrim, his native language before picking the elf up and carrying her.

The girl was barely conscious when the soldier carrying her threw her down onto the back of one of the huge beasts. The hard swaying gradually brought her back to alertness and she sat up rather abruptly. Her hands were tied behind her to one of the posts of the huts on the animal's back. From up close, they were much bigger, much louder, and much scarier. She flipped her hair out of her eyes and saw another soldier sitting in front of her.

This one had the same skin tones and general appearance as the soldier she came upon, but this one had fine metal armor instead of the woven coverings of the foot soldiers. His eyes seemed harder, but he also seemed more curious.

"Who is this?" He asked. It was the same question the other man had asked her earlier. She looked over at him and he approached the man in front of her.

The one who carried her hear brushed some of her hair behind the point of her ear. "She is an elf, Captain, though she does not speak Westron. It is Sindarin she responds to." He bowed and stepped back.

"Indeed. Man de?" Who are you? He asked her.

"Ú-istonl." I don't know. She held her chin up and stared right passed him. She knew that she did not want to go through this again.

"That was how she responded to everything I asked her, Captain. She is either lying or is incompetent." The other man said again.

"You have aggravated my scout," said the captain, contemplating. "Now you must answer me instead. We come from the Harad…Ú-bedin edhellen mae. Ni cheniog?" I do not speak Sindarin well. Do you understand me?

She lifted her shoulders in answer, hoping the truth may be found in her actions rather than in her words. She recognized the word Harad only because it meant South in her tongue.

"She could be lying." The captain said to the soldier and putting emphasis on the last word. She simply shook her head, still not looking at him.

"Send a scout disguised as a Man of Gondor. Have him speak of seeing an Elven maiden captured by a nameless enemy. See what they make of it."

"Yes sir!" One man walked away and slid down a rope on the side of the animal. After he had spoken of his plan, the captain stared into the mystery girl's eyes intently; hoping for a reaction. When he got none, she knew that he was either thinking she was telling the truth or that she was trying to act.

"We have other ways of making you talk." He spoke softly, "this way just makes it easier for us and for you. Not to mention how loud your scream would be." Some of his men laughed behind him but the girl only frowned.

The elf looked to the side, wondering what to make of her situation. She was completely ignoring the man in front of her. The captain just looked at her, slightly annoyed. She thought she saw movement in the trees, but she said nothing.

"Mûmakil." The captain said. She glanced at him in alarm in a second and he grinned, pointing down at the enormous beast they were riding.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and simply kept staring at the trees, hoping another ambush would occur so she might escape. Already she had tried to wriggle out of her bonds without anyone noticing, but the rope was too knotted, scratchy, and stinging the scratches caused by the scout who was still staring at her.