Legolas sat alone in dense woods. The serenity filled him with peace, and he could hear birds chirping a mile away. He breathed in deeply, and exhaled his worries. No longer was he part of the Fellowship; the ring was destroyed.
        When everyone else had gone home, he had come here to get away. He opened one eye and watched a doe stop in front of him. She looked at him for a second before deciding that it was best to leave him undestirbed.
        Legolas released his held breath and watched a flock of birds fly by.
        "Strange," he said to no one.
        Alas, no one was there to agree with him. He heard a twig crack behind him. Before he had a chance to react, he found that a girl was on top of him.
        "Exuse..."
        She covered his mouth with her small hand. Legolas felt calouses on his lips. She was an archer, not unlike himself. Her golden hair fell along his face as she remained silent. She pulled her hand away from his face, and their lips were an inch apart. It was so perfect, Legolas felt as though he had to at least try to make their lips meet. Then, Legolas heard it. About ten men running around. He didn't understand what was going on, but he heard someone start to speak.
        "She can't've gone far!" one exclaimed.
        The girl took Legolas's hand and tried to lead him away, but he pulled out his bow and shoved her underneath a dead tree. The men approached him.
        "Who do you think you are?" he exclaimed. "You come here desturbing the peace that I have worked so hard to find? Explain yourselves. NOW!"
        The men fell to their knees in hopes of appologizing.
        "We are deathly sorry," one started to say. "But one of our slave girls has escaped. We were merely trying to capture her again."
        The man put his head back down. Legolas looked behind them. They were not going to capture her, they were going to kill her.
        "You plan to capture her, you say. Then why, may I ask, do you have swords and daggers? Is this not a woman you are trying to catch? Then where are your ropes of silk? I'm sure you were not planing to kill her. Now leave. You anger me."
        He drew back on his bow daringly. Then men realized that they had outworn their welcome, and left without another word.
        After they were out of hearing range, Legolas motioned for the girl to come out. She emeraged cautiously, fearing the return of the beasts who tried to enslave her. Seeing that they were gone, she fell to the ground.
        "Thank you sir," she said, not lifting her eyes.
        Legolas put his bow and arrow back before he approached her. He lifted her chin with his hand and looked into her eyes.
        "They were lying, weren't they?"
        She turned her head and Legolas gasped.
        "You are an elf!" he exclaimed looking at her ears.
        "Yes," she said as he helped her to her feet.
        She was two inches shorter then Legolas, himself, with sparkling blue eyes. Her complexion wasn't pale, but it wasn't tan.
        "Where were you going?" he asked.
        "Away from here," she answered.
        Her clothes were a dead give away that she was not a slave. They were very much elvish, simmular to his. She had a high status where she came from.
        "Dare I ask your name?" he asked.
        "Dare?" was the soft reply.
        "For fear it would be as beautiful as you."
        Legolas took the girl's hand in his and kissed it softly.
        "Nimbus," she said, "like the cloud."
        "With eyes of the sky," Legolas said, "and hair of pure gold."
        Nimbus glowed with pride.
        "My father named me," she said.
        "He named you well," he replied.
        "Thank you. And stranger, what is your name?"
        "Legolas."
        Nimbus sat in thought for a second. She scanned Legolas for the first time. She seemed to know him, but wasn't quite sure why. Then she brightened and bowed again.
        "You're the Legolas. The one from the Fellowship of the Ring of Power."
        Legolas nodded. Although he was proud to have been a part of it, the Fellowship was hard. Many people lost their lives during that time, and he didn't want to become teary-eyed infront of a girl. He would be considered weak then.
        "I prefer not to talk about that," he said.
        Nimbus nodded.
        "I understand. That was a hard time for everyone. We have no need to talk about it."
        Legolas nodded and started to walk away. Nimbus followed, careful not to desturb him, but failed. He turned around and looked her strait in the eyes.
        "I can hear for up to a mile away," he said harshly, "and you expect me not to hear your footsteps."
        Nimbus froze. She downcast her eyes. Legolas rolled his eyes.
        "If you must follow me," he said, "you may walk with me, not behind me."
        A smile lit her face and her lips parted, revealing pearly white teeth. Legolas continued walking and Nimbus stayed beside him.
        Everyone once in a while, he would look over at her. She was so focused, and the only thing that could divert her attention seemed to be him. She glaced over toward him and smiled again. Legolas felt his face become hot and his cheeks turn red; it had never happened before.
        "Are you a witch?" he demanded.
        She shook her head.
        "But I do have some sort of power."
        Legolas raised an eyebrow and haulted. Nimbus laid an open palm infront of her and closed her eyes. Slowly, a small light seemed to form. It became a ball, and lit the area with a golden light. Nimbus smiled at her handywork, then closed her head. The ball disappeared. Legolas was astonished.
        "What was that?" he asked.
        "An orb of light," she responded. "What did it look like?"
        Legolas shook his head.
        "How can you do that?"
        Nimbus shrugged.
        "I don't know. I just learned how to controll it."
        Legolas didn't pause for another second, he started to run. Nimbus froze, then heard something coming. She started to run and caught up with Legolas.
        A screech rang threw the forest; it caused Legolas and Nimbus to fall to their knees. Both clutched their ears. Nimbus screamed, but Legolas couldn't hear it over the ear-splitting screech.
        It ended abruptly, and Legolas looked over his shoulder. Towering over him was a monster of an unbelievable status.
        It's black body was taller then the trees around them, and it was lit with blue flames. It was thin, as though starved. When it's beady black eyes fell upon the two elves, it licked it's lips.
        Nimbus's eyes widdened in fear as the creature bent over to grab them. Legolas fired arrow after arrow at it, but it seemed unaffect. Finally, and arrow struck it in the head, and it screeched again.
        Nimbus groaned in pain at the horrible howl. Legolas got to his feet and picked Nimbus up. He ran as fast as his feet would let him, but was filled with dismay when he reached a white river.
        "Can you swim?" he asked Nimbus.
        She nodded and he jumped into the water. Both struggled against the rapids, but the creature didn't follow them.
        Nimbus screamed and Legolas turned around. A giant grey bolder lay in their path. They were going to be crushed against it! They tried to swim against the deadly river, but couldn't get an inch further. Nimbus stopped trying, and let the current take her to the rock. Legolas did the same, and both winced in pain when they hit the mass.
        "If we climb up," Legolas said, "we'll be okay."
        They turned around pulled themselve up. There was no sign of their foe.
        "What was that?" Nimbus gasped.
        Legolas shrugged.
        "I've never seen it before. But whatever it was, it's gone for now."
        Nimbus nodded and sat down.
        "Now what?"
        Legolas looked around. He saw shore near by.
        "We're going to jump for it," he said.
        Nimbus nodded.
        "On three," Legolas instructed. "One, two, three."
        The two flew across the water and landed on the sandy beach. They gasped for air, then laughed.
        "We did it!" Legolas exclaimed.
        Nimbus nodded and laid her head down on the sand. Her breathes were short and shallow, and Legolas watched carefully. He watched her chest fall and rise with each breath of life. She was so beautiful, and her gold hair fell limply on the sand. Legolas walked over to her and sat by her side.
        "You look beautiful," he said, taking her hand in his.
        A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She felt Legolas's strong thumb stroak her open palm. A relaxed feeling fell over her, and she felt as though she could fall asleep at any given moment. Suddenly, there was an odd pressure on her lips. She opened her eyes as Legolas removed his lips from her own.
        "Legolas..." she started to say.
        "Shh...Don't ruin the moment."
        Nimbus was about to say a word in protest, but Legolas sealed her mouth with a kiss. She allowed herself to relax and enjoy everything, from Legolas's soothing touch on her face and back, to his soft lips on her own.
        Nimbus felt Legolas's arms release her and his slowly move away. Although their lips were no longer connected, the kiss lingered on Nimbus's lips.
        "So," Legolas said, staninding up. "You're an archer."
        Nimbus nodded.
        "Yeah. I just started. How did you know?"
        "The callouses on her hands."
        Nimbus was about to speak, but there was a voice in the distance. It was calling her.
        "Do you hear that?" she asked Legolas.
        He nodded and both remained silent. Suddenly, they broke into a run and tried to find the voice. It led them to a creek, and there was a sudden silence. Nimbus looked around, her eyes scanned everything in sight. Legolas listened for something, any sound. There was nothing.
        "Nnnnnnnniiiiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmmmbbbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuuuusssssssss."
        Both elves froze. Legolas didn't move, he didn't even breath. Nimbus looked at him, and he nodded.
        "What do you want?" she asked.
        "Hhhhhhhhheeeeeeeellllllllppppppppp mmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee."
        Legolas glanced at Nimbus in time to see a piece of ivy coming up behind her.
        "Nimbus!"
        He was too late; the branch secured itself around her ankle and lifted her high above Legolas' reach.
        "Help me," she whispered, trying to remain calm.
        Legolas drew his bow and fired, cutting the vine. He ran as she fell, and caught her in his arms. Nimbus slowly pulled her hands away from her face and felt her face turn red as she looked into Legolas's loving eyes. The moment was short lived when three more vines grabbed Nimbus. She struggled against the hold, but the grip of the plant only tightened. Legolas fired arrow after arrow, but for every vine cut, two more came to take it's place.
        Nimbus lost hope and just gave in, but a heroic yell came and all the bindings were cut away from Nimbus. She fell into Legolas's open arms. As soon as he caught her, Legolas ran as fast as he could.
        "Who helped me?" Nimbus asked.
        "His name is Strider. That's all you need to know right now," Legolas replied.
        Nimbus remained silent until they reached a river bed. Legolas set her down and they looked at the water.
        "It's either swim, or sit and wait," he told Nimbus.
        "Swim," she answered.
        They jumped in and swam across the river, this time with very little trouble. As soon as they arrived on the beach, Legolas felt himself staring at Nimbus. Her wet clothes stuck to her body, fully revealing her otherwise hidden figure. Legolas didn't understand why he loved her, but he knew he had to protect her.