The difference between the land within Rivendell's protected border and the land outside of it was palpable. Where the trees were once verdant and strong, with golden light scattering among their branches, they were now weak and browning, and the forest grew dark and still.

Despite the gloom and confusion of the thicket of trees, Celanor, Elladan, and Elrohir navigated through the flora with practiced ease of those that knew the forest well. Legolas followed along, watching as even the horses knew precisely where to step, never making a single sound as they crept toward the goblins. It didn't take them long to circle around the back of a spot of forest that was particularly eerie, and Legolas could hear the chattering of the goblins from within.

Elladan made eye contact with them all, and tilted his head slightly at Legolas in particular. He drew his bow from his back, knocking an arrow and narrowing his eyes at the gloom before them. When focused, he could see the flickering of a fire, and the outlines of about twenty goblins. A larger number than he would have expected to be traveling so near a place such as Imladris. Idly, he added two arrows to his bow, tilting it to be parallel with the forest floor, drawing back the three arrows and waiting for Elladan's cue. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Elrohir do the same, while Elladan and Celanor readied themselves with blades.

The tiniest jerk of Elladan's chin, and the arrows flew, embedding themselves with precision in the necks of six goblins. Black blood came gurgling from their mouths with broken teeth, and the other fourteen goblins shrieked with anger, frantically looking for the source. Elladan and Celanor had shot forward with the arrows, and charged into the camp on furious horses, brother and sister well prepared to cut down dark creatures. Legolas knocked more arrows, aimed, and fired, though he would admit to himself later that he had focused largely on Celanor, watching as she wielded her new sword, freely slitting the throats of any goblins that came near her.

In the end, it only took a few moments for nineteen of the goblins to die. One was left alive, given a fatal but long-lasting wound by Celanor. She leapt off her horse and knocked the goblin to the ground-teeth bared, golden hair in disarray around her, dress covered in black blood-and flipped a long knife in her left hand to press it against the creature's throat while her sword pressed against its side.

"Where did you come from, orch?" she hissed, as Legolas dismounted as well and came to stand at her side, arrow knocked and readied, pointed at the forehead of the goblin. It only cackled and said something foul in the black speech, and Celanor wrinkled her nose in disgust and withdrew as it continued to laugh.

Legolas, ears hurting from the sound, gladly released the arrow when Celanor shrugged at him, and the cackling stopped abruptly. Elladan and Elrohir, still on horseback, joined the pair, both of them glancing around with irritation.

"I don't see anything that could tell us where exactly they came from or why," Elrohir grimaced at the freshly killed goblin, the black blood dribbling from the arrow in its forehead while its yellow eyes stared blankly upward.

"I'd say it's most likely they came down from the mountains," Elladan glanced at his brother, who shrugged. "It's happened before."

"Yes," Celanor spoke up, wiping her blades off on her already ruined dress, "but it's hard to believe they'd be so foolish to come here."

"Bold of them, really," Legolas murmured, watching her frown at the stains left on her clothing, eyes drifting to a cut on her cheek, likely just from the brush they'd ridden through. She looked up at him, and he suddenly noticed how different her eyes were from her family's-they glinted like gold in the sun. She offered him a small smile, lips tipped upward ever so slightly, before she turned to her twin brothers.

"Bold and foolish, two words that describe goblins quite well," Elrohir said, grinning, clicking his fingers to invite Celanor's horse closer to them from where it had wandered. Celanor chewed her lip, again looking around at the dead goblins.

"D'you think it's just stupidity that drove them here?"

"What else could it be, Anor?"

She didn't answer. Her expression cleared, and she gave her brother a sweet smile as she walked to her horse and swiftly mounted. Legolas finally turned his gaze from her to mount his own horse, studiously ignoring the wink Elladan shot in his direction.

"We'll send someone else along to burn the bodies. I don't feel particularly inclined to stay here," Elladan swiftly turned his horse back in the direction they'd come, and his twin followed. The two moved out of the goblin camp, one muttering something to the other that made him laugh.

Legolas waited for Celanor.

Her face had again crumpled into a frown as she looked around at the creatures littering the forest floor, and her hands loosely gripped the reins. Legolas watched as her shoulders dropped with a sigh-her horse snorted, and she leaned forward to pat its withers and murmur to it soothingly.

"Are you well, my lady?"

Celanor started, turning to look at him with some surprise, whatever fog she'd been in clearing suddenly. She shook her head with a grin, and turned her horse toward the path her brothers had gone on.

"I'm fine, Legolas, and please-there's no need to use any titles after we've just killed a goblin party together, don't you think?" she smiled at him cheekily, and urged her horse forward into a trot. Legolas followed, though he found himself reeling at the way his name had sounded coming from her lips, and hoped rather desperately to hear it more often.

He wondered what his father would think of him falling for an elleth of Imladris so quickly, for surely that was where he was quickly headed. As he rode behind her, watching her golden hair flow like a river of sunlight at her back, he could feel his heart waiting on the precipice of a cliff. He'd already felt it during their talk under the stars, when she'd turned to see him step from the forest, glowing in the moonlight like a river spirit. He was holding himself back, he knew, reeling himself in from the edge that he almost needed to throw himself over.

Elves loved deeply, fully, and only once. He couldn't let himself drop over that edge if there was a chance she wouldn't feel the same-though, as he recalled the few moments they'd spent together since their meeting, he couldn't deny there were clear indications that she was at least attracted to him. The way she'd looked at him under the stars by the river, and during their dance when she'd laughed with him and fumbled for words, how she'd avoided looking at him directly.

And, how she was now, as she glanced at him when he ended up riding beside her, quickly turning her gaze from him as her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink. He grinned to himself, turning his face from her to hide it-he was older than her, he knew, more accustomed to reading other's feelings and hiding his own. So surely she was unaware of how besotted he already was.

It was ridiculous how difficult it was for him to tear his eyes from her as they arrived back in the city. Only when she disappeared inside, presumably to wash and change, did his eyes leave her, realizing with some surprise that it was mid-morning.

It was even more ridiculous how quickly he found her later that night, when she stepped into the great hall the elves were all dining and continuing the previous night's celebration in. He was leaning on a pillar to the side, sipping from a glass of wine, cheerfully watching the proceedings as his fellows drank more and more and were inhibited less and less. But, as she entered the room, he sucked in a sharp breath-she was dressed more simply than she had the night before, and not in a dress. She wore a simple, soft yellow tunic, cinched around her waist, light grey leggings underneath, light shoes that wrapped to her feet and tied up to her calves. At her hips rested a simple belt, her sword at her side, and at her breast was a small white jewel that glowed brightly in the firelight. Her hair was completely free of any braiding, and Legolas had the pleasure of realizing that the golden curls were rather like a mane, framing her face, wild and untamed.

She smiled at the various partygoers as she entered, giving her father a brief but graceful curtsey and smirking at her sister, who had rolled her eyes upon seeing what she was wearing. Legolas thought that Arwen may have disapproved, but he was… well. When asked he would attempt to be as polite as possible in saying that wearing something other than the elvish style of dress revealed much more about her looks. If he were not polite he might say some things he'd regret.

Legolas had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life.

He swallowed a mouthful of wine, ears burning as he wrenched his wandering gaze away from lingering inappropriately. From across the hall, his father made eye contact with him. He raised a single eyebrow, mouth lifted in an almost invisible smirk, inclining his head toward Celanor, and Legolas' whole face began to burn.

Without his permission, his eyes drifted toward her again, and he nearly made a noise when he watched her notice him from so far away, her pretty face lifting into a beaming smile, her eyes golden again, flickering with the firelight as she made her way to him through dancing couples. As she drew nearer, Legolas found himself enamored specifically with the freckles that dusted her nose and her cheekbones, like the stars in the sky. Well, then there were her lips, which he really did try not to look at, but they looked so soft and pink and-he swallowed another mouthful of wine. The cliff his heart rested on was becoming more of a large pillar of rock, where taking a step in any direction would result in a fall.

She was close now, though stopped to pluck a glass of wine from her brother's fingers as he walked by-he yelled after her, but was quickly distracted by an elleth, and Celanor continued on with a victorious grin.

"Fancy seeing you here," Celanor joked, leaning on the pillar beside him and taking a sip from her glass, her shoulder brushing against his. He merely smiled in response.

For a moment, he was completely taken aback-her attitude now was completely different from how she'd acted just the previous night. But, as he thought back on some of the interactions between her and her siblings that he'd witnessed, he wondered if she'd simply grown more comfortable with him. It certainly seemed so, as she stood so near to him, her shoulders relaxed, her expression soft and sincere. He supposed she might also be more comfortable with her new attire, and the fact that she was no longer expected to be the center of attention. Her fingers toyed with the neck of her glass, a little grin flitting across her face as she watched one of her brothers charm his way out of an apparently unwanted conversation with a younger elleth.

"I was impressed with you," Legolas blurted, and Celanor blinked up at him in surprise. He realized he'd been staring, and cleared his throat slightly, knowing the tips of his ears were likely a brilliant pink. "Earlier, I mean. I hadn't heard that you were a member of the guard, here, so I was impressed by your skill."

"Does it surprise you?" She tilted her head at him, her expression more curious than calculating. Even so, Legolas knew he'd waded into mildly dangerous territory.

"In all honesty, I would have thought Lord Elrond would prevent any of his daughters from participating in anything so dangerous," he swallowed, and left the "because of your mother" bit unsaid, probably wisely, and turned his eyes back to the party. In his periphery, he saw Celanor smile a little.

"He does try to keep Arwen and I away from the carnage and darkness, but for his part, he does the same to our brothers. It took a great deal of convincing to get him to allow the two of them to return to their duties after our mother sailed." Her voice was clear and matter-of-fact, as was her expression, though he spotted the small trace of sorrow in the tilt of her lips and the way she glanced at the floor a moment. "As for myself, I've always…" here she paused, and Legolas looked at her fully once more. She shifted away from the pillar, standing on her own two feet rather than rest against it. She chewed her lip and traced a finger over the lip of her glass.

"What?" he asked, stepping toward her slightly, and leaning toward her despite how the position made him tower over her. She shrugged, but kept her gaze fixed on her glass rather than look at him.

"I've always gone fairly unnoticed around here, so I've been able to do what I want for the most part." She cleared her throat, and met his eyes, the look on her face far dimmed from what it had been earlier. "My family mourned quite severely, but I found myself turning to lessons and fighting to distract myself from everything. By the time my father caught on, I was far too skilled for him to just decide to make me stop doing what I'm doing."

By the end of her sentence, she had returned to leaning against the pillar, and took another sip from her glass. Legolas copied her, something like sadness simmering in his stomach. He understood what she'd gone through, as his own mother had died, but refrained from continuing on that vein.

Instead, he asked, "Who taught you?"

Celanor grinned. "Glorfindel."

Before Legolas could experience the full amount of shock her response gave him-Glorfindel, Balrog-slayer, one of the greatest Elven warriors of their time, had taught her to wield a sword-the ellon himself seemingly appeared out of thin air. His smooth golden hair was braided back, his blue eyes sparkling, his shadow cast over Celanor as he towered over her, far taller even than Legolas.

"Did I hear my name called? Alas, it so often is in these halls, I sometimes find myself struggling to find its source," Glorfindel spoke loftily, a wide smile on his face, showing perfect white teeth, even as he bowed to Legolas specifically. "My Prince," he greeted, abruptly switching to a perfectly respectful tone. Celanor snorted.

"It's an honor," Legolas responded automatically, an odd feeling taking root in his chest as Glorfindel nodded to him politely and instead turned his full charm to Celanor.

"My lady," Glorfindel cried, positively falling to his knees as he took Celanor's hand in his and bestowed a kiss upon the back. "How incredibly remiss of me to be away during such an auspicious occasion, and to leave you on your own to fight that horrible pack of goblins."

Legolas was altogether appalled when Glorfindel wiped a tear from his eye, sniffling and rising to his feet once more to an impassive Celanor, keeping hold of her hand.

"How remiss of me indeed, to be away from one such as beautiful as you," he said this as smooth as silk, and reached out to brush a few stray curls away from Celanor's face. She stayed completely still, though a soft blush pinked her cheeks.

Legolas, still desperately confused and realizing the feeling in his chest was the fiery burn of envy, looked around wildly at the hall, surprised to find that the little scene was completely ignored by everyone, including the rest of Celanor's family. The only one Legolas managed to make eye contact with was Arwen, who glanced over the situation, gave him a knowing smile, and turned away. He was just about ready to burst out yelling when he looked back at Glorfindel and Celanor.

"Anor, sweet lady, I do beg your forgiveness," Glorfindel bowed his head and kissed her hand again, except this time it was her palm, a far more forward gesture. Legolas quickly adjusted his grip on his glass so he wouldn't crush it.

For a moment, everyone was completely still, Glorfindel with his head bent over Celanor's wrist, looking up at her almost bashfully, Celanor's expression completely blank, and Legolas standing rimrod straight, ready to blow a gasket.

Then Celanor raised a single eyebrow.

The rubber-band tension snapped, and suddenly Glorfindel was laughing, and had dropped her wrist completely. Celanor was snickering at first, an incredibly improper sound that Legolas had quickly discovered was his favorite, and then she joined Glorfindel in full-bellied laughter. Legolas stayed where he was, blinking rapidly as the two warriors collapsed on each other in giggles, wiping away tears.

"Oh, bloody hell, Glorfindel-"

"I'm impressed! You really-" Glorfindel snickered again, "you really managed to keep a straight face for all of that! I'm amazed you didn't get embarrassed and fall all over yourself stuttering again."

"Don't make fun of me for having a silly crush! I was young," Celanor laughed, and Glorfindel patted her on the back, looking at her with pride.

"Well, thank the Valar you got over that quickly," he quipped, gripping her shoulder with a smile.

"With you beating me into the dirt with a sword every day, it's hard to believe I lost all romantic affection toward you," Celanor said dryly, and Glorfindel threw back his head and laughed. "Anyway," she turned once more toward Legolas, an apologetic grin on her face. "Obviously, this is Glorfindel."

"It really is good to meet you," Glorfindel said quickly, spotting his bewildered looks between the two of them. "I haven't seen Celanor in some time and my favorite thing to do is to flirt with her to absolutely inane degrees to either embarrass her or make her angry."

"More like flirt at me," Celanor muttered, while Glorfindel held out a hand toward Legolas, who shook it, relaxing as he began to understand. "Glorfindel started training me when I was quite young, and I was enamored with him for a bit, so he enjoys making fun of me for it," she elaborated, and Legolas looked at her to find her giving Glorfindel a fond smile and a roll of her eyes. "I got older, realized I was being silly, and Glorfindel and I got to be close friends."

"Right," Legolas replied, and Glorfindel leaned toward him, somewhat out of earshot of Celanor.

"No hard feelings?" the renowned ellon whispered to him, and Legolas swallowed hard and shook his head, feeling his face warm. Was he so obvious? Seeming satisfied, Glorfindel released his hand and stepped away from him, patting his shoulder. "I've heard of your skill with a bow, I look forward to seeing it sometime."

"Absolutely," Legolas replied, warming to him somewhat, finding his attitude to be similar to the twins', noting that this made Celanor smile a little.

"Good to see you, Anor. Where's the wine?"

Glorfindel walked away, and Celanor waved him away as he went, laughing to herself again. "Anyway, he trained me for a few hundred years or so."

"Can't imagine spending so much time with him," Legolas remarked, and they returned to their previous positions, enjoying the small circle of privacy they'd created from the rest of the party. Celanor flashed a grin up at him, and Legolas felt some sheer, complete relief that she and Glorfindel weren't involved at all.

"You get used to it, especially given he's not usually quite so dramatic."

"Really?"

"Oh, yeah, he's relatively normal most of the time, just amusing. It's when he gets really serious that you remember he killed a balrog."

They fell into a comfortable silence, and Legolas realized that both of them had finished their glasses and were simply standing there together. Somehow, he felt nervous again. He could feel that she was as well, as she fiddled with the jewel on her neck.

Across the hall, Lord Elrond sat with some of Legolas's woodland folk. They were deep in discussion, but looked cheerful about something, and one advisor that Legolas knew looked directly at him, smiled, and nudged his chin in Celanor's direction. Legolas glanced at her quickly, relieved that she hadn't noticed.

Legolas knew that his people and Lord Elrond had been discussing something since they'd arrived-a letter from his father had traveled with them, and its contents were not to be seen by Legolas himself. Given the attitudes, he knew it wasn't a life-or-death issue, and had had his suspicions from the beginning. His father had been bringing up the topic of marriage for some time, telling Legolas he was old enough to start searching for whomever was worthy of his heart.

It really wouldn't surprise him if his father had been trying to arrange something to force him to do such a thing, and now, given the looks he'd been given by Lord Elrond and the snippets of conversation he heard, he was reasonably sure his suspicions were correct. Surely his father wouldn't force him into a marriage, but he did think that Thranduil would probably find it beneficial to encourage it in some kind of official arrangement. Perhaps, if the advisors and such noticed he and Celanor were getting along well, and reported back to his father, an official official arrangement would be made.

After all, Lord Elrond wouldn't be able to refuse a marriage proposition from the Prince of Mirkwood to his youngest daughter. Legolas found himself frowning at the thought, and glanced at Celanor-it was very unlikely that she knew, if even he had had to figure it out on his own. From what little he knew of her so far, he thought it was reasonable to assume she would be extremely displeased by the idea of an arranged marriage, even if she did feel something for him.

And, as she found a spot to set her glass down and dragged him out to the dance floor by his hand, he was certain she did feel something for him after all. He just hoped that whatever these things were that were out of their control wouldn't make her feel differently.

A/N: Hi everyone! Back to give you at least a little bit of Content on top of this little note here.

As nothing I'm writing has been updated in, like, a full year, I figure I owe everyone a little explanation! I've realized I really want to make the stuff I put up here actually good, which means I need to spend more time on it. I need to work on things like pacing, character work, emotive work, environments, etc, and so what I really need to start doing is actually write more than just a chapter at a time, and write the full thing all out.

Well, maybe not entirely complete, but I at least need to write like twenty chapters ahead. I have a lot of different ideas for a lot of different stories, so if I get the timing right I can work on several different pet projects at once and actually turn out decent stories. That said, the next time I come back to this I hope to be coming back with semi-weekly updates of something that is fully thought-out.

That said, this is probably gonna end up being a tenth walker thing. I know, it's not original, but let's be real, I'm here to get better at writing and have fun. Despite how these first couple of chapters have gone, this is going to be a slow-burn, and in order to do that right I gotta have Celanor join the crew. Plus I just love all the characters, and love the opportunity to have her develop relationships with all of them.

Right now, I've set up this minor conflict at the beginning, which will later be overshadowed by, yknow, the world ending and all. Since the main theme in LOTR is essentially love and friendship saves the world, I genuinely want to work with that idea here. So, later on, Cel is gonna be a little mistrustful, a little skeptical of Legolas, because of classic misunderstanding :) aka my favorite kind of conflict! In order to have character motivation, you need conflict, right? Anyway.

On top of this, I'm going to be working on a Fred/OC Harry Potter fic (it's gay. and angsty. just FYI) and probably also an Aragorn/OC that might end up being uhhh super sad? We'll see. I might come back to my Star Wars thing and the Star Trek thing but, to be honest, I don't really care about the Star Wars one anymore and I have better ideas for the ST one so.

I'm a simple man, I just want to do a good job with the things I write and also stop leaving the small number of you adrift with unfinished stories. So! I will be writing ahead, which means not seeing much from me for a while. But, while I'm here, may I advertise the amazing Sonny13? I'm taking a leaf from her book, actually, in deciding to write ahead. She's fantastic and is currently updating a delightful Fred/OC story titled "So Close to Magic", and has just wrapped up the first installment of "Heart of the Storm". She is genuinely a wonderful writer and has inspired me to work harder on the things I create!

Anyway, hope this tiny bit of content was decent for you. I thought it would be fun to do a bit from Legolas' perspective, and will indeed be shifting to his viewpoint every now and then in the future. Until next time, my friends! I hope it's not too far away. Thank you for reading thus far!