An Unexpected Encounter

Warning: English is not my first language, so the English may not be perfect!

She tried to pull the dagger from her hair even more frantically now, under no condition breaking her run, so the other elf in the clearing went unnoticed. Finally the dagger was loose after a last desperate pull. Tauriel squealed in delight and tossed her hair out of her face to crash face first into someone's chest.

Cautiously she slipped out a side passage and shut the door silently behind her, careful not to attract too much attention. Not that there were many elves indoors today to possibly spot her, since the weather was beautiful and it was very early. It was the first real summer day of the year, most elves were enjoying the sun outside or patrolling the borders as she had told them to. She flipped her bow over her shoulder next to a quiver she had picked up randomly in the weapons chamber along the way, checked her two daggers in her boots and smoothed out her distinct green attire that was common for the Woodland elves. Scanning the hallway once more she walked towards the front gate confidently.

Approaching the front gate Tauriel whistled contently under her breath when an all too familiar voice bounced through the quiet halls.

"Tauriel!"

She froze. A breathless Legolas came hurrying towards her from the Great Hall.

"I've been waiting for you all morning!"

He continued excitedly, his straight blond hair standing up slightly at his right cheek, as if he had just woken up and immediately put on his clothes to find her.

"The weather is great! You want to go hunting, with me, I mean?" he added hastily.

Tauriel was trying very hard to keep herself from laughing, he looked ridiculous! He hadn't noticed his shirt was inside out, full of crinkles. His feet were bare, probably also forgotten to put on any boots before leaving his chamber. If the King saw him this way he wouldn't be happy. After a few seconds she realized what he had asked her,

"Um, well, I was actually hoping I could get some paperwork done…"

She lied awkwardly, not wanting to hurt Legolas.

"You know, duty is calling, I'm so sorry!"

She backed away from a confused and slightly disappointed Legolas.

"Bye! See you later! Maybe ask Meliorn, he would love to join you!"

Tauriel gave him an apologetic smile and turned around praying he wouldn't go after her and begin questioning her clothing and accessory choices for her so-called-paperwork.

Luckily Legolas just shrugged and looked down to finally notice his missing boots. He blushed and looked around self-consciously, then slipped away towards the royal quarters. She snickered quietly and proceeded her way out.

The guards at the front gate silently let her pass, nodding curtly in greeting. She started running anyway the moment she entered the dense vegetation of Mirkwood Forest – or, as she liked to call it still, Greenwood. She started laughing as she ran further and further into the dark forest. It was still early, but it was already quite warm. Birds chirped contently and sunlight kissed the treetops, occasionally even reaching the forest floor. She was completely alone, no one knew about her plans for this day, for she hadn't told anyone she would be going out today. It was wonderful!

Soon she had found her favourite hunting spot. It was a small clearing with a beautiful view on the mountains and she could even see Lake Town if she focused hard. But this was no time for sight-seeing, she was planning to hunt! A very welcome break in her usual busy duties of being the Captain of the Guard. The last few weeks had been busy with a huge nest swarming the forest with new baby spiders. She had to arrange extra patrols, roll a huge search-and-extinguish party on the King's request and had attended more meetings than ever with her fellow members of the guard to discuss tactics and had done endless planning. She checked her quiver again, picking an arrow at random to place on her bow for when she would see any game. She started shooting a bit at a tree nearby with a natural target consisting of a dark spot on the trunk of the tree.

Suddenly (or so it felt, she had been busy for three hours straight) she heard a cracking noise on her left, followed by the flapping of birds flying away in a hurry as if frightened by something. Her head snapped up, listening carefully and her emerald eyes scanning the greenery. Aha, the sound was coming from the left. Quickly deciding on following the noises she climbed a bulky tree and quickly found the source of the commotion. A big fat spider crawling a few yards further down towards the creek. She readied her bow to kill the creature immediately. Releasing the string the arrow pierced the air in an incredible speed, narrowly missing the spider, but cutting a nimble tree in half hanging over the creek. The young tree fell down with a huge splash in the water. Cursing in Elvish Tauriel saw that the spider was turning around to search for the source of the arrow, hissing in its own tongue. She quickly got up and jumped to the ground, narrowly avoiding tripping over a log, she started running. The spider's many footsteps sounded faintly behind her, crushing the undergrowth where it trod with its long hairy legs. Climbing an ancient towering tree while wiping her long hair out of her eyes, she heard the spider moving on in a different direction, probably lost her trail or maybe even forgotten about her at all. Still she followed it. If Tauriel started something, she just had to finish it. No matter how long it would take or how pointless it was.

Tracking the spider wasn't that hard, he left a clear path behind and a foul stench. But it took long. After a few hours she saw the spider again. She smiled glumly, once again glad with her own tracking skills. She reached back for another arrow to find the quiver empty. Oh no! That was her luck! The quiver was empty! She hadn't bothered to check if the quiver was full when she left the clearing and target! In the time she had used on contemplating her own weapon choices she saw that the spider was gone. She cursed again and moved in a random direction, hoping it would be the correct one.

Suddenly she heard a sound to her right. Her head snapped towards the sound immediately, eyes wide in determination and excitement, and she was moving within a second. It must be the spider!

She started running and fumbled with her belt to get out her beloved daggers. A bow was nice, but a good old dagger was always better in Tauriel's eyes. Rhaich! Her dagger was stuck in her hair. How did that even happen? She thought disbelievingly, rolling her eyes at the thought of her best friend seeing her this way. It was good Legolas wasn't with her now, the hours of teasing she would have to endure! She tugged a few times as she stumbled over a branch, hoping it would just fall out that way. Obviously, with her luck, this was not the case. Her fiery hair now completely tangled made it almost impossible to see where she was going. She tried to pull the dagger loose more frantically now, under no condition breaking her run, so the other elf in the clearing went unnoticed. YES! The dagger was finally out after a last desperate pull. Tauriel squealed in delight and tossed her hair out of her face to crash face first into someone's chest. Woah!

Too stunned to move, she stayed put. Feeling well-defined, but strong, muscles moving under her hand laid on his broad chest in response to the unexpected collision. Hmm, abs… He smelled nice as well, kind of wild, forestry and dangerous. Ugh! That sounded so cliché she almost gagged at her own thoughts. Still pressed, quite intimately against the other, considerably taller, elf she became quite interested in who this other quiet elf would be. Finally she cast up her green eyes to meet icy blue ones looking down at her in astonishment. NO!

The other elf's icy blue eyes quickly interchanged his surprised look for an amused one, almost grinning. She stepped back rapidly, almost tripping over her own feet again.

His tall figure and light-blond long hair stood out against the now almost dark forest behind him. He wore a thin, light blue robe with silver embroidery that matched his eyes. King Thranduil bit his lip to stop himself from laughing, his eyes sparkling with retained laughter. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and managed to attain a straight face, which apparently took him quite long, before speaking.

"Ah, my Captain Tauriel, good day to you as well. And to what do I owe the pleasure?"

Tauriel couldn't hold his gaze – it looked like he was humouring her, or did it only look that way? – for long and looked down, blushing severely. Ai, she could murder herself right now. This was awkward.

"Um… Well, I was, um…, chasing this spider and…"

She started to just fake a professional and impartial look, as if this whole incident had not affected her in any way. Honestly, she would rather run around naked in front of a company of dwarves than have this particular conversation. Right now she was once again glad Legolas wasn't present. The King listened politely.

"I got from Legolas that you were planning to do some neglected paperwork in your Captain's chambers?" he lingered on the last two words as if knowing that was a lie,

"But I guess your plans changed along the way…" he finished finally.

She blushed even harder now, and decided that telling the truth would be the best option now. She explained her King what she had been doing before…well, before that. She was the Captain of the Guard for Valar's sake! She shouldn't be acting like this! She should just apologise and excuse herself! Avoiding the whole conversation completely! Thranduil nodded politely, still silently smirking behind his also fake professional face, after she finished her speech and she quickly excused herself to leave.

As quick as possible she walked away, trying very hard not to look like she was fleeing. When she looked back quickly she saw him still watching her, now with a big toothy smile, his face opened up in a way she'd rarely seen before. Suddenly he didn't seem that kingly anymore, younger actually, more handsom – NO! She squeezed her eyes shut and balled her fists as if that would stop her from imagining his abs under her fingers again, and his scent… He knew, he freaking knew she had touched him way too long to be appropriate and he hadn't said anything. She sighed, hitting herself mentally, and entered the palace through the front gate, hoping the gatekeepers wouldn't notice their Captain's flustered expression.

Thranduil watched her walk, or rather, flee away from him. When she looked back one more time with a distressed expression he just smiled at her, freely now. He saw that she knew he knew. It had been awkward, that for sure. But not as much for him, as it was for his Captain of the guard. The sight of her lithe body running from the trees with her hair in tangles in front of her face was actually quite endearing. Did she really have her dagger in her hair? How did she ever even get it in there, not to mention the fact that she bumped into him afterwards. She had her hand on his chest, and literally caressed his muscles under his thin robe. She even sniffed his robes! Like, why? He smirked when he thought back of her almost lustful gaze making place for a shocked one when she looked up and saw it was him. He knew most elleth, maybe also males, found him quite attractive. But since he was a King he rarely had any such contact with other elves. And with his reputation of being dangerous and ruthless even less so. To have another elleth, not to mention his Captain of the guard, react to him that way was still to say the least intriguing. Still laughing silently thinking back to the incident he entered the palace through the front gate. Then his thick dark eyebrows knotted together as he thought of all the paperwork he'd neglected on his desk to wander the forest alone on this wonderful day. He groaned. Thinking back of Tauriel he smiled lightly. Oh, he would speak again to her tomorrow. Oh, he would.

This is my first ever fanfiction, so I'm really not sure if this is good or not. Please R&R to give your opinion, please be honest! I'm not offended if you say it's bad or not haha :) Let me know if you want more!