Disclaimer: I do not own anything Tolkien created. Ithilwen is my own original character.

Here is the sequel to "Life Unknown." This will pick up pretty much where the last one left off. If you haven't read "Life Unknown" it would be best if you did before reading this one. I hope you all enjoy this one. I couldn't wait to start it off so I wrote the first chapter the same day I finished the first story. :)

I'm also going to try and add elvish into my chapters the best I can. I was a little scared to do it with the first story, but now I think I'm ready to start adding more into it.

Life Forged

Chapter 1

His feet continued to pound the ground as they ran. It felt like they had been running for years, but it was only a day or two. He felt as if they were never going to catch up to them, as if the fate of the three that they chased to save was already written. He didn't feel tired, only empowered to keep going. He could still make out the group of orcs in the distance and that still gave him hope that they would get there.

He could keep running, but knew the other two with him would need to rest at moments so they weren't completely winded. He was running to save her, to forgive her, to love her, but was afraid he wouldn't get that chance. The further they went the more distance that came between them and the more his fear grew.

Legolas continued to keep his sights on the orc pack that carried Ithilwen, Merry, and Pippin. He needed to keep them in his sights so he wouldn't lose her. Aragorn and Gimli were able to keep up as well as they continued heir journey. It was a hard journey and one they hoped to complete successfully.

His mind wandered to the events that transpired just recently and to what he had seen. She was with Boromir. Was she telling the truth? Was she truly trying to be with another? He didn't know how to make sense of it. He didn't know how to tell whether she was telling the truth or not. His mind ran over those images over and over again. He saw the pain and heartbreak in her face as she cried, but he just walked away. He didn't stay to hear anymore of what she had to say. Now that look could quite possibly be the last thing he'll remember seeing of her if they don't reach them in time.

Ithilwen felt herself stir awake, but felt her body being bounced around in some way. Her head was throbbing, like it was going to be split in two. It was hard to open her eyes right now due to the pain she was in. Her shoulders were numb and sore and she felt her arms hanging possibly causing the pain in her shoulders.

Her midsection was in a lot of pain. The more coherent she became the more she understood as to how she was being carried. She was draped over the shoulder of one of the orcs. His armor was digging into her midsection, and rather painfully.

She could hear the large foot falls of all the orcs around her, but dared not say anything. She didn't want them to do something to her if they found out she was awake. She looked down a little and saw that her hands were bound and then noticed something even worse. Her gloves were gone.

She wasn't sure where Merry and Pippin were, but she just hoped that they were still alive. She then heard the orcs coming to a stop. "We'll take a break here for the night," one of them announced. She could now see that it was getting darker out. The one that was carrying her stopped and put her on the ground, but she still didn't see Merry and Pippin. She laid there and looked around before seeing them in the distance laying on the ground. "Start a fire," one of them said.

She carefully looked around trying to take in what was going on and just how many there were. As she looked around two of them stepped up to her, "Ahhhh she's awake," one of them said with a laugh. They both towered over her, with their dark bodies, horrible smell, and grotesque faces.

"You know what the orders were. They're supposed to be brought to Sauroman unspoiled. We can't harm them," the other said as a matter of factly.

"Oh but we can try and have a little bit of fun. No one will know the difference," the first said as he knelt down next to her. She didn't say anything as she looked up at him.

"Now, what kind of fun can we have with this one?" the first sneered as he looked over her. "We always have fun when we get a woman."

She cringed on the inside and didn't dare say anything to him.

"We love torturing them and playing with them until they can't take it anymore. They ask for death," he chuckled as he took out a knife and ran the tip over her cheek slowly, but didn't break any of the skin.

She turned her head away from him and then heard them gasp, "She's not a woman. She's an elf. Look, she has pointed ears," the second one told the first. Pointed ears? When did she get them? She knew that it might be unlikely that she'd have the physical features of an elf, but only the immortality. Apparently her ears had finally changed, showing everyone that she was indeed an elf.

"Oh even better," the first grinned showing off his black, rotted teeth. She could smell his foul breath when he breathed.

She looked at them trying to keep her emotions to herself. She was keeping her body as still as possible even though she wanted to shake with fear. She also wanted to make sure her hands didn't touch him. She didn't know what could possibly happen if she did.

"What do you think I should do to you?" he asked her as he played with his knife. "Should I cut little pieces of your dress off? Should I carve my name into your skin? Should I just start cutting?"

She again just laid there and stayed silent hoping he wouldn't do any of it. She didn't want anything to happen to her. She wanted to get out of this, but she feared that once they reached Isengard, that that would be the place she died.

"Maybe I should just leave a little mark right here," he said putting the knife right near her collar bone. He leaned into her and just out of instinct her hands touched his chest to push him away. As soon as she did she was inside his mind and it was filled with so much evil.

His mind stopped on a small memory of him fighting another orc. There must of been a disagreement or something happened. She could hear the screeching and the yells from everywhere. They were battling with swords, one trying to kill the other. The one he was fighting was a little bigger than he was and clearly had the advantage. His opponent slashed out with the sword and cut him across the chest leaving a long slash. She immediately got herself out of the memory and screamed in pain as she felt the blood soak her dress from her new wound.

"Her eyes, did you see her eyes?" the second one said. "They changed. What happened? What did she do?" he panicked.

"I don't know. I didn't even do anything to her. Her hands pushed on my chest and now she has a cut across her body," he said as he looked around to see what was going on. He didn't understand what had happened. He didn't know how that could have happened.

"Let's go before we get our heads chopped off for being over here," the second one said before they walked off quickly leaving her there on the ground.

The pain was almost unbearable as she looked down. The cut went from her right shoulder down across her body and stopped just below her left breast. She could see the blood on her dress. She knew the wound would begin to heal soon, but she had nothing for the pain. The scar would forever mark her body though. She turned her head away from the pack of orcs and closed her eyes letting her tears fall.

Why was she cursed with such a gift? Why was she given this? She didn't ask for it. It was only causing her pain and scarring her body. Who would want to live this kind of life? Who would want this at all?

The tears continued to fall as she laid on the cold, hard ground. She didn't know how to get out of here. She wished she had a way, but it didn't look like she would get one.

Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli continued their journey following the orc pack. They weren't going to give up so easily. Legolas continued to watch the pack as they traveled. It wasn't easy at times, but he needed too. He needed to see them so that he could get Ithilwen back. The longer it took to catch up to them the worse he felt about what happened in the forest before the Orc attack. What if he never saw her again? What if he couldn't talk to her and apologize?

Before dawn the orcs were up and going again. Ithilwen was picked up and flung over someone else's shoulder and carried off as the orcs took off again. She thought she would be ok, but as soon as the orc started to run she felt the searing pain through her chest and midsection again. She screamed out in pain as soon as they started running.

"Shut her up. We don't need anyone hearing her," one of the said as they stopped quickly.

One of the other orcs came over and tied something around her mouth to keep her quiet. It stunk so bad and it was so dirty. She didn't want to know where it came from, but it muffled her screams and cries of pain as they continued to travel. Her mind was about to loose consciousness from the pain when she thought of an idea. It would only work if Legolas was following them. She didn't know how far she could project this to him, but she was going to certainly try.

She took the best deep breath she could before she started concentrating on Legolas and only Legolas. She looked for his mind and did her best to reach out for it. She wanted to tell him where they were and how to get to them. She thought of the area they were at and thought about Isengard and Sauroman, giving him hints as to what was going on. She sent out mental pictures of where they were, but not of what had happened to her. She didn't want him to see that. She sent it as far as she could hoping Legolas was close enough to see what she was sending. She finally couldn't fight the pain any longer. She closed her eyes and slept from the pain and the energy she just spent on sending her thoughts to Legolas.

Legolas stopped his run when he started seeing images of the orc pack in his mind. He saw where they were camped the night before and where they were headed. His first thought was Ithilwen. She was sending him images and thoughts about what was happening. She was still alive. "Diola lle melamin," he said as a small smile graced his lips.

"What is it?" Aragorn asked as he looked at Legolas who had lagged behind. He went back to his friend to see what had happened.

"Ithilwen. She just sent me some of her thoughts on what she saw and where they are going," he informed Aragorn.

"Where are they taking them?" he asked with an urgency hoping they could cut them off from their path.

"They're taking them to Isengard," he said sadly.

"Sauroman," Aragorn said as he stood there and paced a moment.

"That's not good at all," Gimli commented as he listened.

"She's alive Aragorn. I can't condemn her to her death. We have to catch up to that pack to save their lives. If she gets to Isengard before we catch them I will never see her again. We need to travel as much as we can and as fast as we can," he encouraged. "I can't lose her."

Aragorn put his hand on Legolas' shoulder and looked him in the eyes, "You won't lose her. We'll get her back. Don't lose hope. We will get them all back."

Legolas simply nodded before they took off again running after the pack that still ran from them. He needed to save her. He needed to get her back.

As he continued his mind went back to a time the two of them spent together during the journey. They were able to find a private place to go and have some time to themselves. It didn't happen often, but he cherished those moments.

They were in Lothlorien and she was healed now. They were leaving in the morning. He had only left Ithilwen in her room a few hours before now, but he couldn't sleep. They both needed to get their sleep, but he couldn't shut his eyes and rest just yet. He had to much on his mind. He got up and walked along the pathways of Lothlorien, heading for her room. He quietly got to her room and opened the door. He quietly walked in and closed the door behind him.

He looked upon the bed and saw her sleeping. He didn't want to disturb her, but didn't want to be a part from her. He walked over to the bed and sat down on the side she was laying. He reached down and gently ran his hand over her cheek. She was amazingly beautiful with her soft dark hair and her smooth skin.

Ithilwen stirred slightly and turned over, opening her eyes. She smiled when she saw him sitting there. "What are you doing? You're supposed to be sleeping," she said as she moved and sat up.

"Don't. I'll join you," he said as he moved over to the other side of the bed. He slipped his boots off before he lifted the covers and joined her. He normally didn't sleep with so many clothes on, but didn't want to frighten her.

She turned over and faced him. "Why couldn't you sleep?" she asked as his arm wrapped around her and pulled her closer to him.

"I couldn't stop thinking about you," he told her honestly. "I wanted to get some more alone time in with you before we had to continue our journey tomorrow. We won't have much time together after this, not without everyone around."

"That's true," she said as she moved and laid her head near his shoulder, under his chin while he held her.

Legolas closed his eyes and tried to memorize how this felt. He could hold her forever. She felt absolutely perfect in his arms and it was something he didn't want to go without. His hand ran up and down her back gently as they both rested.

"When this is all over, what then?" she asked him quietly.

He thought about what they could possibly do. He could take her back to Rivendell or back to Mirkwood or they could make their home elsewhere.

"Whatever you'd like to do," he told her. "We can go back to Rivendell, go to Mirkwood, or whatever else you would like to do. I'll follow you anywhere."

She moved and looked up at him with a smile on her face, "And I you," she said before leaning in and kissing him gently on the lips. She let the kiss stay soft and gentle and so did he. Now wasn't the time to try and take this further and they knew that.

He pulled her closer to him as they continued to kiss. He'd never felt so much emotion for one person before and he knew he could never let her go. He cherished this woman.

Legolas put the memory away as he continued running. Somehow it gave him more strength to keep running to get closer to her. He could feel them getting closer and he hoped it stayed that way.

Diola lle melamin : Thank you my love.

There's the start. Not as long as I would have liked it, but its a good start. Please leave some feedback for me on what you think about the start of story 2. Thanks!