Desperate Times

Chapter 1- Desperate Times

Freya ran through the woods, her heart pounding. An arrow whizzed passed her head, as she hit a dead end. She drew her dagger and stood her ground.

"Looks like you've got nowhere else to go." the lead orc growled. She took a deep breath and braced herself. The two orcs in the back charged first. She spun to avoid the left orcs blade, and took her dagger and stabbed him in the throat. The second fired 2 arrows that she rolled to avoid, then she sliced into his tendons.

She suddenly felt a shooting pain in her shoulder, then her leg, the world went blurry as she fell to the ground. Freya heard one thing before she passed out. "Step away from her." It was a male voice and it sounded familiar to Freya but before she couldn't place it. The world went black.

She woke up to a gray ceiling, she reached for her dagger, but it wasn't there. She tried to stand but when she put pressure on her right leg, it immediately gave out.
"Woah, woah, woah." Freya heard the voice from earlier say. She looked up. It was a middle aged elf, (though on the younger side) blonde hair with blue eyes, he had the look of elven perfection, which was rare even amongst elves. The war left almost everyone scared in some way.
"Where am I?" Freya asked him.
"A cave in the forest outside of Rivendell." he responded. "What's your name?"

She hesitated, for all Freya knew he could be a spy for Sauron, but he saved her from orcs and bandaged her wounds, why would he do that if he was on the other side? "Freya Redwood. Who are you?"

"Legolas Greenleaf."

She was stunned, everyone thought he had died in the war, that's the whole reason Thranduil surrendered to Sauron, he thought his son was dead. "I... everyone thinks your dead. How are you alive?"

"Long story." he said gravely.

"Looks like I'm not going anywhere." She said gesturing towards her leg.

"Well I do." Legolas started to leave. "And don't go anywhere."

When Legolas left, Freya took it upon herself to take a look around, she was mostly just looking for her dagger. There wasn't much in there, except for some extra food rations, a couple weapons, (including Freya's dagger) and some of Legolas's personal items. She never thought much of any of it until she saw a note from a Tara of Paragorn. Freya knew she shouldn't look at it, it was probably personal, but she couldn't help herself.

‍Legolas,
          I will meet you at the crossroads of Rivendell, bring weapons, we will make our final stand on the eve of terror.

         Her head began to spin, what the hell did she mean? Were they going to storm Mordor? They would have to be mad to try that. They would end up getting themselves killed. But if that's not what she meant, what were they planning to do? And what was the eve of terror? Could she be any more vague? Freya could have stayed there all day, lost in her own thoughts, but she heard the shuffling of leaves. Freya put the note down as rushed to the spot Legolas left her.

He came in with two rabbits that he had hunted in the woods. Wordlessly, he made a fire and put the rabbits over it.

"While we wait for those to cook," Legolas said, "I'm going to need to change your bandages." He reached out and touched Freya's arm. She flinched back instinctively, she never liked people touching her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I have to change these bandages or they will get infected."

Freya thought for a moment. Legolas has given her no reason not to trust him. But she had spent her entire life running from not only orcs, but elves as well. "Ok." She said eventually. If Freya wanted to survive, she needed to learn how to trust him.

Legolas changed her bandages. He could see she was tense. Legolas couldn't imagine what this girl had been through. She had to have grown up as a slave to the orcs, and possibly elves too. This was also the first time he had really gotten a good look at Freya. She appeared human, though Legolas wasn't sure. She had auburn hair, and young grey eyes. She looked no older than 14. Her body was also covered in scars. There was a particularly deep one across her lip. He wanted to ask how she'd gotten it, or any of her scars for that matter, but Legolas could tell she was uncomfortable enough, without going into probably traumatic memories.

He finished bandaging up her up, and took the rabbits off the fire. "Here." He said.

"Not hungry." Freya lied.

"I'm not going to poison you. You need to eat."

Freya hesitated, but eventually took the rabbit and ate it slowly.

"How did you end up fighting those orcs?" Legolas asked suddenly.

"I tried to escape the camps." Freya responded shyly.

Legolas knew what she was talking about. Orcs had set up concentration camps for the men, dwarves and any of the woodland elves that didn't follow him. He still couldn't imagine a child like this in a horrific place like that. "How did you escape with your life?"

"Umm..." Freya stammered nervously. "I spent months digging under the prison. I'm the only one who knows about it, and if anyone found it, they would have plugged it up."

Legolas looked at her curiously. It had to have takes immense amount of patience to do that. It must have been worse in there then Legolas thought...

He hesitated before asking his next question. "Family?"

Freya shifted in her seat. "None that I know of."

Before either of them knew it, the sun had gone down.

"I'll watch the camp." Legolas said as he left the cave.

Before he left Freya asked him, "Do you ever sleep."

Legolas held back a small laugh. "No, I suppose not."