Dream pains.

Kim: You first lord of the rings fic? Cool!

Me: Yeah, I figured since I am going to dis-continue A Mid-Summer's Nightmare I would start a new story.

Kim: You realize that Kelsey's gonna be pissed; Right?

Me: (Sighs) Yeah, I know. Do you want the honer?

Kim: (Fist pumps) YES! Redemerad6 doesn't own Lord of the rings. Peace!

Chapter 1: Dream or reality?

Karmen pov

I tossed and turned in bed trying to get to sleep. I had to sleep, even if I didn't want to. I have been having the same dream over and over for two months now. Always the same, I am laying on a peaceful field relaxing. I close my eyes for a moment and they snap open when I hear a high pitched shriek. I bolt up right and see what looks like four kids running away from nine cloaked black figures of horses. I get to my feet and run to see if I can help. One of the figures reaches down and grabs one of the kids by his cloak. I slam myself into the side of his horse making the creature panic and the figure had to release to kid, a boy, in order to regain control. "Run!" I would yell and he ran. I would get to work to distract the horse men throwing stones and insulting them. One of my stones would hit the leader in the head and he would dismount and come toward me, his knife drawn.

I never got passed that point because I would awake screaming. My mom had become use to this. Either, I fall asleep and wake up screaming, or I stay up all night. Tonight looked like an all nighter. I groaned and threw off my blankets and went to the kitchen for an apple. I walked in and found my mom sitting at the dinning room table. "Hey, Mommy." I said taking an apple off the hanging fruit basket. "Wha- Oh, Hi, Sweetie." she muttered. I sighed and sat next to her. She kissed my forehead "Sleep trouble?" I nodded "Thank the gods it's summer break, huh?" I tried to joke. Before the nightmares, my mom would have laughed, but nowadays, she just managed weak smiles.

These dreams were hurting us both, and there was nothing I could do. We a gone so far as seeing a dream reader. Even she couldn't determine it's meaning. All I knew was that it took place in a mid-evil setting. It was easy to tell by what the people were wearing. At the start of the summer I had started drawing the figures and the boy. The figures were always shrouded in black. The boy however was unforgettable. His eyes alone were enough to tell me he was the one I should help. They were as blue as the sky on a perfect day. They would be even more lovely if they weren't so full of fear every time I saw them. I have memorized every feature in his face from his curly brown hair to his freckles. His face is always the only thing I see. The rest of him is covered in the cloak.

Mom looked at me sadly as I pulled out my sketch pad. I flipped through it trying to find a free page. It was almost full. I stopped on a picture of the boy. It was the only one of him I had ever colored. Mom peeked over in curiosity "He's cute," she said grinning "what's his name?" I shrugged "No clue. I didn't get a chance to ask. Besides, it would have been a bad time." mom looked puzzled. I sighed "He's the boy I keep saving in the dream." I said. Mom paled "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think of that." I smiled "It's okay, I have been thinking about him a lot lately."

Mom thought for a moment then had an idea "Hey, I have the day off tomorrow. Why don't we have a girls day?" she asked. My heart leaped with joy "Really? You mean it?" mom nodded, I whooped, mom and I hadn't had a day together since dad died. I hugged my mom tightly. We stayed like that for a while then, remarkably, I fell asleep in my mom's arms.

I felt something tickle my arm and I opened my eyes slowly. I was in the field again. I groaned at sat up. I got to my feet and waited for the shriek. But, it never came. I waited a bit longer then actually looked at my surrounding. This was a totally different place. It wasn't even a field, it was a forest. I stared around, it was beautiful. I saw a big oak tree and went to sit under it. I leaned back and relaxed. Maybe this would be a nice dream. I was about to fall asleep when I heard a twig snap. I sat up and searched the landscape. At that moment I realized my sight had improved ten fold, it was the same for my hearing. I slowly stood strained my newly heightened senses.

I'm sure there is someone out there. I closed my eyes and focused. Another twig snap, right behind me. Mom insisted I take self-defense, and a good thing too. I whirled around and kicked. My foot came in contact with something. I moved to fast to see what it was. I got into a defensive pose and glared. Then, realized that I just took down a man at least ten years older then me. He had pointed ears and long white blond hair. He was wearing all green with a bow and some arrows over his sholder.

"May I inquire as to what that was for." he said rubbing his sore jaw. "You snuck up behind me. You should never do that." I said starting to walk away. "Wait, it's dangerous." I turn and rolled my eyes "In case you forgot, I'm the reason you currently introduced your butt to the ground. I think I can take it." (A/N: You should know. Karmen has never seen or heard of the lord of the rings series.) The man stared at me in shock. Okay, I know that was rude, but when I am in a strange place I get grouchy.

I didn't get to far into the forest before I sensed someone coming toward me. I looked around and saw a tall tree. I scaled it and sat on a branch and watched. My heart pounded. Something told me that this was not the same person. This person had more of a sense of evil. Then, it appeared. It was one of the figures from my other dream. I covered my mouth so I wouldn't scream. All the same, I squeaked. I sat on my branch shaking and sweating. I closed my eyes and preyed that I would wake up. That I would snap out of this and see my mom sitting beside my bed, soothing me, and telling me it was just a nightmare. I opened my eyes and teared up. I was still in the dream. I realized all to late that my tears were falling toward the figure. I quickly climbed up the tree a bit farther, or tried to. My foot slipped and I fell to the ground.

The figures horse freaked and the figure himself struggled to gain control. I took advantage of this and ran. I reached the place where I kicked the man and searched for a place to hide. I disparately wished that I had not turned down the man. I found a small cave just big enough for me to fit. I slid in and curled up into a ball and cried. I wanted to go home so bad. You see, that fall hurt. Dreams weren't suppose to hurt.

Legolas pov

I was puzzled by the elf-lings behavior. She seem scared and at the same time she was confident. I was also concerned. I had a really bad feeling that this girl was in danger. Aragorn came soon after she vanished and told me to return to camp. I sat by the flames and watched them. "Is something wrong?" asked Frodo. I sighed and told them about the girl. "Hm, that is a first. An elf attacking another elf." Gimli said standing with a grin "I want to meet this elf." I shook my head "She's probably miles away by now. Especially at the speed she holds." Boromir stood "Even so, a child should not be out there by themselves. Even one so strong as this." he grabbed his sword and I stood. He was right, I should never have let her leave.

We walked back to the place where I met the girl. I knelt down and examined the tracks. "She walked that way." I pointed forward and lead the way. Half way into the wood I stopped because the tracks disappeared. "She stopped here," I turned and saw a tree and realized it had perfect hand and foot holds "she must have climbed this tree." I said climbing it myself. I stopped at one of the branches because I got a sense that was where she stopped. I called down and told them this. I laid in the exact same place and position she did. "She was hiding." I muttered, shocked by the realization. "Legolas, come down." called Mary "Pipin's found something." I started to climb down, when my foot suddenly slipped, which strange because I was a very good climber. I fell to the ground

"LEGOLAS!" everyone cried running to my side. "Are you alright?" asked Frodo. I nodded and stood a little shakily. "What did you find." Pipin pointed to some hoof prints in the ground. I looked at it "If I am not mistaken, there is a ring of blood around these prints." I said. Frodo and the other hobbits looked scared. They looked at each other "Wraiths!" they said in unison. I gulped if the wraiths got her then-... I didn't even want to comprehend it. I looked and determined what happened and was relived to see that the wraith didn't get her. There was what looked like a fall body imprint in the ground.

"She fell out of the tree and landed in front of the wraith. It's steed panicked and she took advantage of it distraction to run. "Why did the wraith not give chase?" asked Aragorn "If she moves at the speeds she attacked me in then the wraith may not even know what frightened his horse." I said searching for more tracks. "She turned and went back." we ran back to the clearing and stopped. I lost the trail. "She's here, somewhere." we looked around in silence. Suddenly, my ear picked up on a noise. Crying? I searched for it's source and stopped in front of an entrance just large enough for a child her size. I knelt down and looked in. There she was her face was buried in her knees. Her sobs were heart breaking. "Child," she looked up I could not see her face only the tears falling "please come out. That monster is gone. He won't hurt you." I coaxed. Slowly the girl crawled out and I could see her face. She had sparkling brown eyes and short black hair. She looked as though she would faint. Her skin was whiter then fresh snow. What was more she seemed to be at a lack of sleep. Her eyes were red from crying. What had the wraith done to frighten such a strong spirit? She shivered and looked at my face. "I'm sorry." she said placing her hand where she had hit him. Almost at once the pain was gone. She removed her hand and looked at the ground. "What is your name?" I asked as the fellowship gathered around. She looked at them shyly, but answered "Karmen, Karmen Marks."