Chapter Text
Branches clawed and scraped at her face as Sara bolted through the trees, unsure which direction was which. Fear coiled and knotted through her, propelling her to move faster despite her growing exhaustion, hearing the ravaging howls and warcries behind her. She was being hunted. Monstrous things atop large wolves carrying brutish weapons that seemed as though they were forged carelessly, swinging them at her without mercy. “Help! Somebody please! Help me!” Her screams were ragged and hoarse, scraping her palm against the bark of one of the trees before she’d tripped over an exposed root, tumbling to the ground. Her head impacted against earth and long dead twigs, softening the blow. The cries had become louder, the things were getting closer. Up. Get up!
Sara pulled herself forward as she pushed up to her feet, dodging and weaving through the forest to reach its heart, hoping she would, but never once caught the sound of the rustling in the trees, never saw the eyes on her. Her shirt was torn, her arm bloody, and as she turned around another tree, felt the sharp shove of something pointed and rough in her back, throwing her into the tree as if she were no more than a piece of meat. Her skull hit, directly against the temple, and she slumped as her vision wavered. Hot fluid swam down the side of her face as she hobbled to get away, the ominous laughter around her sealing her fate. One of the monstrosities had pushed her to her knees. She was surrounded, yelping as the oversized wolves snapped at her to keep her from fleeing.
One of the things dismounted, swinging a crude axe and grinned, yellowed tusks coated in saliva. She gagged, backing away, but the snapping of the wolves resumed and she became rigid, panting in short bursts. As she stared in terror at the thing, hearing it speak something but didn’t understand, tears fell from her eyes. She didn’t notice, but her tears only seemed to thrill the things around her, just before the shouts above were heard. Startled, her head snapped to the sound, as did the things surrounding her. The one before her shouted something else, quickly mounting his wolf again, but the girl only saw brief flashes in the trees, unsure of what lay above but remained on her knees, grateful for whoever it was.
As the adrenaline spiked within her, the ache in her skull began to throb, stabbing pains disorienting as she crawled to get to her feet. Sara could hear shouts, cries of victory, weapons clashing, but the noise only made her wish to flee further, or to close her eyes. The fighting didn’t last long, and when it was over, she thought she’d gone deaf. That was until rustling was heard moving closer to her. Sara whimpered, backed against a tree, but found… people? Men and women, long hair on each of them, dressed in a way she’d never seen before. They were speaking to one another, pointing at her. One crouched in front of her, hair the palest shade of gold she’d ever seen, and tilted her head up. Still, she didn’t understand what they were saying.
“Am I dying?” She rasped, chest heaving. The man released her chin, gesturing for someone. This one possessed hair of rich chocolate and had broad shoulders, lifting her effortlessly. All she could do was whimper, eyes finally closing as the pain became too much to bear.
Unconscious for less than a week, her eyes opened under an open sky, stars shimmering bright as a fire crackled close by. A pained cry left her, turning on her side and hissed, every part of her in knots. Something was pressed to her lips, someone speaking to her. It took a moment after grabbing the wrist of the person for her to understand what he’d said. “Drink, it’ll help until we get out of here.” Not believing she had much of a choice, the girl drank, wincing as it went down. “Ay, Legolas, she rises!” Sara lay her head down again, eyebrows knitting together. Legolas? No… It was then that same shade of pale blonde, now reflecting the moon, hovered over her, his face analyzing. “Why have you come here? What is your purpose?” Her own hazel became bewildered then, breaths short with the pain still coursing through her. “Wh-what?”
He seemed irritated, angry with her, and she didn’t know why. She’d read the Tolkien books, how was it possible she’d landed in Middle Earth, in front of the Legolas? So that meant… her rescuers were elves. They were tall , did that mean… Her gaze drifted to her feet, then felt her face. No extra hair or anything prominent, so she was neither hobbit nor dwarf, then… “I’ll ask you again,” he sighed in aggravation. “Why have you come? What are you?” Her breath shook, and out of impatience, Legolas harshly turned her head aside and moved her hair, tugging her ear. “Ah! What are you talking about!?” Her head moved to free herself, but just the slightest grip was unbearably strong, and just as fast as he’d grabbed her, he let her go. “You have these ears that resemble ours, but far smaller. You’ve no hairy, large feet or hair anywhere beyond your head that we’ve seen. So, I’ll ask one last time, since you seem impossibly thick, what are you?”
She didn’t know how any of it was possible, but she was before Legolas himself, being interrogated by him as to what she was. Sara whimpered, withdrawing, but the elf clutched her arm in a painful grip. “Perhaps, if you will not answer me, you will answer my father.” Her stomach sank. Thranduil, the elven king of the forest… that’s where they were taking her? Her eyes stung and she rapidly shook her head. “P-Please, I… I don’t know where I am- I’m lost! I just know I was being chased by… by something on those wolves and-” Laughter sounded around her, one of them shouting to Legolas in Elvish, but the prince only hardened his features. “You cannot sit there and tell me you didn’t know those things were orcs on the backs of wargs?” Immediately, she shook her head. “N-No, I… I swear!”
Sara was sobbing, the pain excruciating as she tried to explain. “I didn’t know… I just want to go h-home…” Something flashed over the prince’s eyes and he stood abruptly, shoulders drawn back. “That is not up for me to decide, half-breed. You will await judgement like any other invader of my father’s kingdom.” Invader?! Her body wracked furiously as she curled on herself, her cries silent but wrenching, and she blacked out once more from her injuries. When she woke, there was forest all around them, so impossibly rich in varying hues of green and flowers littering the area, but before them lay a magnificent castle, elaborate in every part of the structure, its decor resembling something ancient, yet impossibly new. Sara began to squirm, knowing the first stop was to visit the cold-hearted king she’d read about, the one she feared, and the elf carrying her took her arm, dragging her in the castle.
Legolas entered first, and Sara could hear him speaking with another whose voice was deeper, filled with a richness, and already, she knew it was the king. “ Ada, we hunted orcs at the border, chasing a half-breed girl on wargs.” Carefully, she listened without craning her neck. “Half-breed girl? Then tell me, Legolas, what is she half of, specifically?” Gods… “She is half-elven. She would not say what else.” Thranduil must have gestured for the doors to open, because no sooner had Legolas spoke, she was being dragged before the king, thrashing in the elf’s hold that pulled her along before she was thrown at the king’s feet. “Leave us,” he commanded the soldiers, leaving her alone in the throne room with the king and prince. She shook, whimpered, withdrawing on herself as the fair-haired king stood from his intricate throne, stalking around her like a predator.
“What are you, girl? My son says you will not speak of your nature.” His hand drifted to her hair, pushing it from her ear and she flinched, shaking her head. “No?” He scoffed, pale eyes boring into her form. Lovely little thing, whatever she was, and there was something within her. Something alive. “Elleth, you will come to find that I do not tolerate being told ‘no’ on something. You have the opportunity to reveal your nature now, or you can spend time in my dungeons until I decide to ask you again.” Legolas was perplexed, as was Sara, knowing Thranduil’s usual policy to invaders was immediate execution, sometimes by his own hand. She hesitated too long, and the king flicked his wrist, two guards dragging her below the castle. Both the king and prince watched as the girl squirmed, cheeks glistening with tears, but the fight seemed to have been taken out of her. “ Ada ,” Legolas hissed, standing closer to the king. “Why haven’t you ordered her to be executed?”
Thranduil smiled, almost too giddily, those pale eyes still watching where the girl had vanished. “Because,” he sighed, part of his glamour fading before it returned, revealing the garish scars beneath. “She has magic, one I haven’t encountered before. It was good skill taking out the orcs, but luck is on our side with her finding our lands.” Unsure of what his father meant, Legolas merely inclined his head, bowing to his father before he was excused, still mulling over what that girl could have been.