Oh, no....

Legolas took me aside that evening, with a rather stern expression on his face that did not bode well. I watched him out of the corner of my eye, apprehensively, hoping he was not going to act fatherly and ruin my fun again. My father, who had been a good friend of Legolas, had died during the War of the Ring, which, for some reason, had made Legolas feel responsible for me. Which, in itself, wouldn’t have been so bad, since I liked Legolas, but when it came to messing up our—Vila, myself, and sometimes some our friends—plans, that was just too much!
And it seemed he was going to again.
“Lira, I noticed that you were flirting with that young ranger earlier,” he began, frowning at me, and my heart sank. So that was it. Well, no matter what he might say, I wasn’t going to stop this time. I liked Anarion.
“So?” I said, my voice sounding a bit more defiant than I had intended it to be.
Legolas’s frown deepened. “I knew letting you and your sister join this fellowship without proper supervision would cause trouble,” he said with a sigh, more to himself than me. “But your mother seemed to think that being maids of Queen Arwen had settled both of you down a bit, and given you a chance to mature. It seems she was mistaken, however.” He waited for me to say something, and I cast around hastily in my mind for something to distract him, but he went on before I could think of anything.
“It’s a good thing I’m here to keep an eye on you now.”
Oh, no.
“Will you be staying with us?” I asked, carefully making my voice sound bright and cheerful, as though I was happy to have him with us. He looked rather suspicious at my tone, though, as well he might. I was fuming inside.
“Elenatintil had kindly invited me to join her fellowship, and I gladly accepted her offer.”
Oh, no.
My feelings towards Elena at that moment were anything but glad or kind, but I tried to look pleased. He was not fooled, though, and returned to the original subject.
“I hope you will stay away from Anarion, Lira, or I shall have to have a talk with him,” he said, the stern look back on his face. "He is a good man, and I won't have you breaking his heart for fun."
I considered denying his accusation indignately, but decided it would have the opposite effect.
So instead, I agreed meekly, while contemplating my revenge.

If you give an elf a cookie - I mean hug

This morning, I woke up to the sound of voices. Sleepily, I glanced around, but it appeared that all of my companions were asleep. Bemused, I sat up and looked around. Sounds from behind alerted me and I turned to see Ella along with another, very tall, blond haired elf, who looked very familiar...

"Legolas!" I shrieked happily, waking the rest of the camp. I bounded over my sleepy friends and strangled my cousin in a delighted hug.

"Rosriel!" He laughed and returned my hug. "I hardly expected such a greeting, even from you. It has only been a month since I last saw you!"

I hugged him happily, laughing as well. "You should know by now, my dear cousin, that I am always happy to see you... especially when you are unexpected."



He made fake choking sounds. "Well, you will not have the pleasure of my company much longer if you continue your strangulation of my neck!"

Giggling, I released him. I happened to look over at Ella, and saw that she looked slightly jealous. What could she be jealous of? I wondered. I turned back to the fellowship, who was now awake and staring. I was puzzled to notice that Raewyn and Lira also look a bit upset and envious. What is wrong with them? I am only greeting a cousin who I happen to be very close to.

"Legolas!" Elladan stepped forward, breaking the silence. "It is a pleasure to meet you again."

"And you," returned my cousin, who had apparently not noticed the envious looks I was getting. Feeling a bit self conscious, I let go of his arm.

Elena stepped forward, smiling. "Glad to see you again! What brings you here?" Well, I thought At least someone is not unhappy.

By turn, each member of our Fellowship greeted Legolas. Raewyn and Lira offered a slightly cold greeting, I noticed. Samdo and Elanor - the only two who had not met Legolas before - seemed slightly in awe of him.
"You were with the first Fellowship, weren't you," Elanor said.
"What was it like?" Samdo asked at the same time.

Legolas smiled. "Yes I was, and if you would like to hear about it, I would be happy to tell you sometime."

As long as he was occupied, I was determined to get to the bottom of the jealousy I was noticing among my friends. "Come here," I whispered to the three, dragging them off a ways.

"What is this for?" Raewyn almost snapped.

"What are you jealous about?" I retorted. "Do not try to deny it, it is very obvious that you are."

"Well then," Ella spoke up, her face red, but I could see she was almost crying. "Why do you get a greeting like that?"

"Yes!" shot in Lira. "And why do you get to give him such a friendly greeting? I thought you liked Aldarion."

My face flamed. "For your information, Legolas is my cousin. He was around while I was a child and growing up, and we are very close. I am an only child, in case you did not know, and he has always been like an older brother to me. Why should I not greet him with a hug? What is wrong with that? How could you be angry with me for showing affection towards a family member?" By now, I was practically in tears, and turned to walk away. I felt myself whirled around and wrapped in a hug.

"I'm so sorry," sobbed Raewyn. "I didn't mean to get upset with you. I understand, oh, please forgive me for hurting your feelins, I didn't mean it..."

I hugged her back. "Oh course I forgive you!"
Lira and Ella, both crying as well, also gave me a hug, "Will you forgive us as also?"
"Of course!" I laughed through my tears. "You are my friends, are you not?"

Hugging and smiling, we walked back to camp.

~Lady Rosriel - 36 miles

Some Added Excitement

Lady Rosriel's news yesterday, mixed with my excitement, has kept my spirits high this day. Last night was incredibly eventful for me (and this morning was for the others). The past few evenings, when others were asleep, I have kept on alert, searching for the elusive eyes. I knew I hadn't imagined them, and something told me whoever it was was still with us, so I continued my search. At last (though it had only been a few nights, my spirit was already waning), my search was rewarded.

I held my sword at the ready. Samdo rolled over in his sleep and I froze. I didn’t want to worry the others—or arouse their suspicions—with my sneaking around. Looking up into the trees, I thought I saw some movement come from one of them. I inched closer. Bad idea.

Whatever it was had now been alerted to my presence. The movement stopped and I knew they had leapt to another tree. If I could just find which one…

“Stop following me,” a voice said. It was firm, but not malicious.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“You know who I am. Is this a friendly group, or are you being held against your will?”

The voice did sound familiar. Very familiar. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought it was… “Show yourself,” I said.

They complied.

“Legolas?!?”

Apparently, while I had been on my way to Mirkwood, he had been on his way to Rivendell, and both of us had been sidetracked. Even with his excellent vision, he couldn’t tell if I had been elf-napped or if I joined on my own, and was waiting for a chance to free me in case it had been the former.

I introduced him to the others this morning (those he had not already met), and he will be joining us for the rest of our journey.

~Ella Ellessanderil, 29 miles

News of Legolas...

I left Samdo with.. that dwarf... and stormed off in a huff. The nerve of him! I fumed. Accusing me of capturing the dwarves and mistreating them! He is so patronizing, sarcastic.... My thoughts were interrupted by overhearing Ella asking Raewyn about Legolas.

"I heard you were distantly related to Legolas," she said. "Have you seen him lately?"

"No, sorry," Raewyn replied. "It's been a terribly long time since we saw each other."

At that moment I joined them. "Excuse me, Ella," I said. "I happened to overhear you asking about Legolas."

She turned to me, eyes bright. "Yes, I was. Do you know him? Have you seen him? How is he?"

"Yes, I know him very well. " I smiled. "He is my cousin. We are both from the Greenwood. I saw him just before I left for Rivendell, and he was doing very well."

She smiled broadly, "That is good news. I am glad to hear it." She paused, "Now that you mention you're from Greenwood, I believe I have seen you before, though we were never introduced."

I thought for a moment. "I believe you are right," I said slowly. "Yes, I now that I think of it, I do remember seeing you briefly before." I looked at her. "Yes, you must be the elf maid Legolas has mentioned on occasion. He never mentioned your name, but you fit his description of you."

Ella blushed slightly, "Um...if you wouldn't mind saying...What has Legolas said about me?"

"Well, he described you as tall, elegant and very pretty." I couldn't help but smile as she blushed an even deeper red. So... I thought.

"Did he really say that?" She asked.

"Yes, he did. He also told me that he thought you were a very sweet girl and," I paused, "Well, I do not know if he told you, so I do not know if I should say this but..." I glanced at her. "He said, he was trying to help you find your family?"

Ella had been looking down at the ground, as if afraid and eager to hear what I might say, but glanced up when I finished. "Is he?" Her face glowed.

"Yes, that is what he said." I paused. "I hope it wasn't supposed to be a surprise."

"Well," she smiled happily. "If it was, I will be sure to act very surprised when he tells me." She skipped off happily. "Thank you!" She called over her shoulder. Smiling, I shook my head. Love is in the air...

~Lady Rosriel - 37 miles

Making Friends

I was so pleased the fellowship didn’t kick me out. As much as I would enjoy seeing Legolas again, I now have my heart set on continuing with this group on their journey…our journey. I had often wondered what things might have been like had I been allowed to accompany Frodo and the others, and now I shall get a taste of that.

I have never felt so…wanted…before. Though Elrond and others in Rivendell were always friendly, I always knew that to them I was an outsider. I didn’t belong there, but there was no place that I did belong. I’m beginning to feel that here, in this company, is where I am meant to be. It’s a good feeling.

There hasn’t been much chance for me to think about the eyes I saw, nor did I mention them to the others. I have not seen them since. I was spooked, but I believe it was more out of surprise than out of feeling threatened. There is something about the eyes that makes me think they do not belong to someone who means to harm us. Perhaps it is just another onlooker, as I was not long ago.

Tonight as the others are resting, I will try to find the creature. I am glad I brought my weapons along. If it is an unwelcome intruder, I will be rid of it, and if it is someone who would be welcomed, I will introduce him or her to the others.

I noticed one of my companions was only a couple steps’ distance from me, so I caught up to her.

“Miss Raewyn?” I said.

“Oh, Miss Ella, call me Wyn.”

“All right, Wyn. And you can call me Ella. I thought I overheard that you are a relation of Legolas…is that right? He is a good friend of mine, which is why I ask.”

~Ella Ellessanderil, 26 miles

Small Conversations

Well, it has been a few days since someone last wrote, so I’ll just mention briefly what happened after Miss Ella fell out of the tree.

Needless to say, we were all rather startled when she came crashing down on us un-expected. She jumped up right away, flushed, and apologizing for ‘dropping in’.

“Please forgive me for dropping in on you like this, I am so sorry, I was not spying upon you, well, I was, but not for any bad reasons I was just looking, to see what kind of people you were and then I fell.” Her eyes darted around a bit fearfully.

Elrohir stepped forward, and the elf maid’s eyes darted to him. “Ella? What are you doing here?” he asked. “I thought you were safe back in Rivendell.”

“Elrohir! Please do not be angry with me!” she begged. “Can I please come with you? Where are you going?”

Elrohir laughed. “Yes, you may come with, if it means you will stop climbing trees and falling out of them!”

So that is how we acquired our latest companion on this journey we’re all making. So, as I reckon it, there are now eight of us officially in the Fellowship: Lady Elena, Lady Rosriel, Miss Lira, Miss Vila, Elanor, Miss Ella, Miss Raewyn, and myself. Then we have five companions, Aldarion, Anarion, Elladan, Elrohir, and the dwarf Dior. Speaking of him…

As we walked along today, I recalled the soup pot and stew that had gone missing a ways back in the road. Meaning to ask our dwarf companion about it, I excused myself from Elanor’s company and strode as fast as my hobbit legs would carry me to catch up with him. He was up ahead, conversing with Lady Rosriel. When I got closer, I overheard their conversation.

“Ah! From Mirkwood are you?” I heard Dior say. “Yes, you would be one of the folk that held Thorin and company captive on their journey to the Lonely Mountain.”

She gasped. “What do you mean, ‘held them captive’?”

He laughed, sounding slightly sarcastic. “After they ‘molested’ your folk in the forest, you locked them up in a dungeon, little food and water.”

“I will have you know, dwarf,” Rosriel retorted, “that we treat our captives very civilly.”

“Ah! So you admit to captives!”

“I said captives in general! Not the dwarfs!”

“But they were captive.”

By this time, I had caught up and was walking even with them. I could see that Rosriel was getting a bit red in the face, which if you know her well enough is a sure sign she’s mad. Dior look mad as well, but when I looked closely, I could see a hint of a smile and a gleam in his eyes that told me sure enough that he was teasing her and trying to make her mad. Shaking my head, I continued listening.

“I was only 53 years old then! Hardly involved!” She exclaimed.

"53? Oh how young!" Dior said, somewhat mockingly. "I notice you say hardly. Not 'completely uninvolved."

Rosriel bristled visibly, and was on the point of replying, when I thought it was best to break in. "And so begins another friendship between an elf and a dwarf, one to rival even that of Legolas and Gimli." I commented. "Lady Rosriel, if you wouldn't mind, I had a question to ask your friend here. Why don't you walk with Aldarion? He looks lonely." She seemed only too happy to leave and did so immediately. I shook my head wearily at Dior. "You were aggravating her a purpose weren't you? I thought I heard somewheres that you came to offer friendship to the elves."

Ignoring the question, Dior laughed. "Playing the matchmaker are we? " I must have had a blank look on my face, so he asked, "There was something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes I did." I replied, laying the former matter aside. "You see, there was a pot of stew I made a while back that went missing..."

--- Master Samdo, 27 miles

The end of the first month

I sit down to pen this with the realization that the first month of our fellowship has already passed. We've gained far more members than I first anticipated- and have done a fairly good job of staying on course in our walking.

The general concensus of the party seems to be that for the next month we will attempt to travel 8 miles a week instead of 7. The only people who disagree with this are the males (minus Samdo) who have all gone on dozens of hard journeys and feel that we should be moving much swifter than we are.

And any rate, despite much hinting and teasing from them, I have drawn up the schedule for the next month. For those of us who are slightly behind we must hurry to catch up!

On June 23rd we should be at the 37 mile mark and will camp in a small hollow where the Fellowship spent the night

On July 1st we will reach the crest of a hill where we will finally be able to see snow capped peaks to the east

On July 12th we will reach a small stream and follow it east

and on the following day we ought to have done 59 miles and will have compleated our second month on this journey.

Many cheers to you all! Let us continue on with steadfast hearts and cheerful song!

I decided to drop in...literally

From where I was, I could see there was merriment in the camp. I had the sudden urge to discover what it was about.

Stealthily, I crawled closer. When I was near enough to make out what was being said, I climbed into a tree. I could see my friends Elladan and Elrhoir but there were branches in my line of vision. I climbed down and ran to a tree that shaded the fellowship. I soon discovered I had not been the only one with this idea.

I gasped when I saw the two small eyes peering between the branches at me. I was so shocked to discover my company that I lost my grip and slipped downward...straight into the middle of the fellowship.

I groaned, both for my undesired entrance and for the pain that was starting in my back. I looked up and realized many pairs of eyes were staring down at me. I jumped to my feet, uttering an apology for my manner of introduction.

~Ella Ellessanderil, 24 miles

Conversations with a Ranger

I sat down next to Anarion, who was sitting next to the fire, ignoring Vila in a quite unsisterly fashion as I did so. “Thank you for rescuing me,” I said shyly, looking up at him through my eyelashes. He smiled at me. “It was my pleasure,” he assured me.After a brief pause, while I tried to think of something intelligent to say, to make up for acting so childish earlier, he said, “Have we met before? You look familiar.”I told him who I was, and he instantly burst out laughing. “I remember now,” he gasped out, while I stared, puzzled, at him. “We met, years ago. You found riding my horse quite exhilarating.” I remembered now, and my face turned bright red. Oh well, so much for acting dignified and intelligent.“I assure you, my skill with horses has improved since then,” I said quickly, still blushing. I could not imagine why I had not recognized him before, but it had been years. He was older now, and I realized he was quite handsome, something I had been to young to appreciate before. He had come to Minas Tirith for some reason, which I could not remember, and I had seen him from a distance riding his horse. It was the horse I had paid most attention to, not him, a striking bay stallion with a blaze running down its forehead, and beautiful, smooth gaits. From the instant I had seen the stallion, I had wanted to ride him, and all it took was Vila daring me to play an unspecified prank on the ranger for me to fulfill my wish. (She left it up to my imagination.) My plan was this. Vila, being the older, would follow him without him seeing, and if he showed any wish to check on his horse, she would show herself, and distract him. (By which, I knew she meant to flirt with him. Quite shocking! )In the meantime, I would steal his horse, and take it out for a ride.We carried out our plan, and at first, it seemed to be going perfectly. No one who saw me with the ranger’s horse thought I was doing something I should not have been—fortunately, no one who would have known what I was up to instantly saw me—and so the first part of my plan was successful.It was only when I had “escaped” safely with the horse, and tried to ride it at anything faster then a walk that I begin to have problems. For one thing, I knew very little about horses, and therefore, once I asked the horse to go faster, he broke into a wild gallop. That was, at first, exciting and exhilarating, but then, when I had no idea how to slow him down, my idea suddenly seemed not so good.Meanwhile, as Vila later told me, her part had so far been successful, until our mother saw her flirting with a ranger, and, shocked, dragged her away. Then the ranger remembered what he had been going to do, and found his horse gone, and some fool told him that a young elf-maiden had been lingering around the horse’s stall (I had been waiting for him to leave, actually, and petting the horse) and told him who I was. He went to see our mother, who, knowing me very well, told him where I most likely would have gone, and went to find Vila to see what part she had in this infamous deed. Vila, however, had most fortunately climbed out a window and gone to warn me, so she was not found. The ranger, however, had hurriedly followed my mother’s advice, and arrived just in time to witness his horse stopping dead in his tracks at the sigh of his master, and rearing. Quite stunned at the sudden sight of the ranger, who had arrived ahead of Vila, I lost my balance and fell off, to my embarrassment.And, to complete my humiliation, he laughed.Like he was doing right now. Vila looked quite annoyed. “I was about to tell you that I recognized him,” she told me crossly, glaring at me. I blushed harder, wishing I could sink straight into the ground, or fall into a well like Elena. Well, not a well, because then I would have to be rescued again. But if I sunk into the ground, would they try to rescue me? Most likely.Anarion, noticing my extreme embarrassment, checked his laughter.“If you wish to ride my horse again, please inform me first,” he said gravely, with a hint of laughter in his voice, and I laughed, rather relieved that he was not angry at me.“I will,” I answered, the color of my face subsiding to a more usual color.

Sorry! And other things

Dear People of the Fellowship! Sulliad!

It has been many days since I have written, and I am very sorry for it! Since last I told our tale several people have become a part of the fellowship. I feel I have missed telling so many things, thankfully the others have done a very good job of recording these past few very eventful days!

I am very happy to have new companions, especially Raewyn, who is part hobbit! How nice it will be to have another hobbit on the journey. Also, Elladan and Elrhoir, who have been following us from day one, but just now decided—after saving Elena, Raewyn and Lira, to join us. There is also Aldarion, who has been telling us tales these past days, how fun he is to have in camp, I think that Roseriel especially likes to have him around. Love is in the air!

Now for my excuse, these last few days I have been ill and tired. Most probably from staying up all night digging holes, but the looks on Rose's and Elena's faces was worth it all and more. That and the happiness in Samdo's eyes, the poor boy has been so sad these past days since the news of Pippin's death. I can only pray that my Grandfather will be alive when we arrive.

I will write more later but now I must fly, my soup is burning!

Elanor