Disclaimer: I own the plot, though I apologize if it's been done before. Lord of the Rings belongs to J.R. Tolkein. Everything relating to Tamora Pierces novels, obviously, belongs to her.

AN: This is a Tamora Pierce/Lord of the Rings Crossover!

"Talking"

‘Thinking’

"Talking in Elvish"

‘Thinking in Elvish’

Translations

Daine –known to many as Veralidaine Sarrasri, the Wild Mage of Tortall – sighed, rubbing her aching head. For several days now she had been plagued by a merciless migraine, which was steadily worsening. She didn’t know what was wrong with her.

No one – at least none of her human acquaintances – had really noticed her affliction, when asked she’d always passed it off as a headache. But it was more than that…

It had started out as a mere annoyance, this persistent feeling that she was… forgetting something… But what? Of course, there was more. For some reason she’d been feeling extremely depressed lately, but she had no recollection of why…

At first it only came when she was practicing with her bow, not that she needed the practice, she just loved doing it.

Then it came whenever she used her Magic…

The migraine had started when she’d tried to analyze the sensation, during meditation. From then on, it was always there, slightly overridden by the throbbing inside her skull.

She’d thought of telling someone, but something held her back… What it was, she didn’t know, but she didn’t want to tell anyone anything…

Besides, her friends had enough to worry about, what with the Carthaki’s coming over.

Originally, the meetings for peace were intended to take place in Carthak, but after some debate it had been decided that Corus was a more just journey. So now, the court and all of Corus was abuzz with preparation for the upcoming arrival of the many delegates.

She didn’t want to trouble them with a headache, even if it was seconded by an aching heart…

Legolas Greenleaf sighed as he brought a paddle down into the water once again into the river in the same steady, melodious pattern.

The Fellowship was progressing slowly down to the Falls of Rauros, from which they would move onward; to Mordor.

He’d awaken this morning with a heavy heart. At the time he hadn’t been able to explain it. He’d thought it might be because they’d decided that today they would be leaving Caras Galadhon this morning, but he soon realized that his heartache was shared by the High Elves AN: that is what they’re called, isn’t it? And he’s a Wood Elf? And he was somewhat surprised to see the empathetic glances of his kin.

It was then that he remembered what day it was. And it had taken all of his self-restraint not to break down into tears, especially when he met with the Lady of the Galadrim herself, who felt the same pain.

Today was the day his beloved was lost…

Unconsciously his hand came up to his chest, to the pendant his beloved had given him, a century past, a mere week before she had vanished from the face of Middle Earth.

The pendant bore close resemblance to the pendant Arwen Evenstar had given Aragorn. As it should, for the pendants were of close relation.

Arwen’s pendant had originally belonged to her mother, the elder daughter of Lothlórien, which she had passed to her daughter before traveling West.

The pendant he wore was nearly identical, and had belonged to Galadriel’s second daughter, Aarien of Lothlórien. Aare had given the pendant to him shortly before he departed to fight against the Dwarfs, as a symbol of her undying love. She had then left Greenwood (now known as Mirkwood) to return to her home, but had never arrived.

Halfway through the journey her company was overtaken by Orcs, all there were killed, but her body was never found.

The Greenwood Elves quickly joined the Elves of the Galadrim. They searched for years, even going so far as to raid Mordor. But the princess was never found…

Legolas didn’t notice the single tear that slipped down his fair cheek, but another did.

Unbeknownst to the Prince of Mirkwood, his friend, Aragorn, had noticed the Elf’s melancholy mood, and was both startled and concerned by this show of pain. Elves rarely expressed strong moods, and hardly ever cried, at least not in front of other races, it had to be a terrible thing indeed, to bring tears to the Prince’s eyes.

"Legolas, le maar?" Legolas, are you well? he called.

Legolas blinked, startled out of his reminiscences. "Yes, Aragorn, ve maar ve na enga. Hanta le." Aragorn, as well as can be expected. Thank you

"Ya raika?" What is wrong? the Man asked, thinking his friend might’ve been made homesick by the departure from familiar grounds.

"Uunat," Nothing, the Elf replied, "Im er nwalya ne daana…" I am only trouble by the day… he finished quietly.

"Daana?" The day? Aragorn frowned, "Ta luu o alasse?" Is it a holiday? Was today an Elven holiday he’d forgotten? He had noticed the sympathetic looks the other Elves had been sending the Prince, but he had thought he knew all of the Elven holidays. He was, after all, raised by the Elves.

Legolas sighed, "Laa, mellon nîn, uuluu o alasse – danna o mornie…" No, my friend, not a holiday – a day of grief…

"You know," Gimli son of Gloin began, "if you’re going to keep shouting across the river, it’d be nice if you’d do it in a tongue we can all understand!"

Aragorn shook his head.

Daine barely suppressed a groan, dearly wishing she hadn’t come to this… disagreeable gathering. The many ambassadors shouting at each other across the supper table certainly didn’t help her throbbing headache. "Ilya merenin uuran…" All I want is quiet… she sighed quietly, shaking her head.

From her right side, Kalasin of Conte looked at her, "Pardon?"

Daine blushed, "I’m sorry, I’m just not overly fond of all this shouting…"

The princess nodded, her expression still one of puzzlement, "Understandable, but what did you just say? It didn’t sound like it was in Common…"

Daine blinked, then laughed, "What? All I said was ‘All I want is quiet’... I don’t know any language aside from Common!"

After a moment, the princess shrugged and turned her attention back to the conflict.

Legolas sighed as they drew the boats up along the shoreline, just before the Falls of Rauros.

The Dwarf was complaining of the rode Aragorn intended to take them into Mordor on. "Oh yes? Just a simple matter of finding our way through Emyn Muil; an impossible labyrinth of razor-sharp rocks. And after that, it gets even better! Festering, stinking marshland as far as the eye can see."

Aragorn met the dwarf’s eyes, "That is our road." He stated firmly, then he raised an eyebrow. "I suggest you take some rest and recover your strength, Master Dwarf."

"Recover my –?" the Dwarf gasped, then turned away, muttering and shaking his head.

Legolas shook his head, thinking that he’d best remember that for later reference. He then made his way over to his friend, to express his own concerns. "We should leave now."

"No." Aragorn shook his head. "Orcs patrol the eastern shore," he explained, "we must wait for cover of darkness."

"It is not the eastern shore that worries me." He replied, looking around restlessly, "A shadow and a threat has been growing in my mind… Something draws near," he stated firmly, turning back to meet his friend’s eyes, "I can feel it…" Then he froze.

"What is it?" Aragorn asked.

"Nin tennad… quente o lambe uuistima nin…" I heard something… a word of a language I do not know… the Elven Prince replied, looking around.

Then, all of a sudden, heavy winds tore at them, pulling the Fellowship towards and into the river.

"What’s happening?!" Merry shouted over the roaring winds.

Before anyone could answer, though none had an answer to give, they fell over the Falls of Rauros…

Daine sighed once again. No progress had been made in the past few hours negotiations, now it looked liked swords were soon to be drawn and spells exchanged.

The air was thick with tension…

One of the Tortallian courtiers had brought up the attack on Pirate’s Swoop, and now, not only did the Carthaki’s present have to make an effort to deny their involvement, but they also had to repress their anger, drawn from the bitter, only just healed emotional wounds caused by the loss of family and friends involved in that battle.

After several minutes of heated quarrel, one of the younger Carthaki mages lost it. He leaped to his feet and pointed at his antagonist, shouting a Word of Power, which made the ground shake and the sky roar.

When the chaos finally finished, and the room was still, the air quiet once more, many of the other mages were glaring at the young dark robe with expression of both horror and anger.

"You idiot!" one of the older Carthaki’s yelled, "What were you thinking?!" he shook his head, "No! Forget I asked! You couldn’t have been thinking at all!"

"Why?" A Gift-less Gallian noble inquired, "Nothing happened… At least there were no long term effects…"

"Yes, we may be thankful for that," a mage from the Copper Isles nodded to the Gallian, then shook his head, "but the possibilities…"

Another mage nodded, glaring at the embarrassed youth, "What did you do, pick that Word of Power out of a book and not even bother to study the theorized consequences?"

"‘Theorized?’" Queen Thayet inquired.

"Yes, the Word was invented several centuries past, but it has never been tested…"

"So how do you know what it will do?" Another courtier asked, "Why are you so angry at him?"

"The inventor of the Word theorized a rather powerful… change of some sort will occur…" Lindhall Reed, a mage from Carthak and a friend of Numair Salmalín; once known as Arram Draper, replied.

"What kind of change?"

"The Inventor was a Mithran priest… the Word was invented as a way to right wrongs… wrongs done by Mortals that caused things that the Great Gods did not like or intend…"

"It reverses all sins?" Someone asked, awe in their voice.

"No." Reed replied, "It changes only one thing. The nearest, most out of place thing…"

"But… nothing’s changed…"

Everyone looked around, nodding in agreement.

Suddenly, a gasp came from a far end of the table, "Daine?!"

They fell for much longer than they should have, but then… they just… stopped…

Now of course, that shouldn’t be possible; you can’t stop falling… but they did.

After a moment, the heavy silence was broken.

"Where are we?" Pippen asked.

And, suddenly – as though they’d been released by whatever great hand that’d been holding them – they started falling again.

And they stopped… again, except this time, they weren’t left hanging in midair.

This time, they stooped with a ‘SPLASH’ when they landed in a body of water.

Realizing that they had control back, the Fellowship swam towards shore, of course, the Hobbit’s and the Dwarf couldn’t swim…

So Aragorn helped Frodo to shore, Legolas helped Merry and Pippen, and that left Boromir with Gimli…

When they finally made it to shore, they sat there for several minutes taking in deep breaths, and coughing up water.

"Alright," Boromir said, once he could breath normally, "What just happened?"

"What’s happening to her?" Kalasin demanded of the mages who now encircled her end of the table.

No one really knew.

Veralidaine Sarrasri was now surrounded by a silver and gold light… actually, she was surround by two lights; one gold, one silver, which were battling each other.

After several flashes of intense light, the silver sent several bursts of yellow-green flame at the gold, and with a burst of silver light, she was surrounded only by silver; the Mage who’d cast the Word of Power earlier had collapsed.

The silver light had faded down to soft glow.

And then the Wild Mage began to change…

Her normally pale skin seemed to become clearer; flawless, glowing with an inner light.

Her dark, naturally curled eyelashes became longer, her eyes; open and staring unseeingly ahead, became an extraordinary shade of blue, no longer clouded by gray.

Her lips became softer, her mouth firmer, more delicately shaped.

Her face gained a heart-like shape as her hair uncurled to fall down past her waist, and lightened until you could barely see it against the silver light.

Her body lengthened, until she was several inches taller, at the same time gaining a much more shapely figure.

The silver glow intensified until it was too bright to view, and when it fade moments later, a beautiful ‘young woman’ that none of them recognized lay on the ground before them.

Silence met the man of Gondor’s query.

After a moment, the company rose up, to begin looking around.

"Legolas," Aragorn called, "Man cenich, mellon nîn?" What do you see, my friend?

"Nin istima uunat." I recognize nothing. the Prince of Mirkwood replied.

Aragon shook his head, meeting his friends’ eyes, "Nin uuenyalievoite o si men…" I have no memory of this place…

Legolas nodded, "Uunin, dan…" Nor I, but…

"Hwæt?" What?

"Nin…nad…" I sense… something… the Elf shook his head, "nad… laa – elda – moina…" something… no – someone – familiar…

"Quendelie o Lórien?" The Elves of Lothlórien? Aragorn asked. "Could it be we are still near–"

"Laa," No, Legolas shook his head, "Uumintya, er mine… er elda…" Not many, just one… one person… after a moment, he nodded, "Ar anwa, hene ta heri o Quendelie…" And yes, she is an Elf…

"Lady?"

Legolas nodded.

"Would the two of you care to tell us of what you speak?" Boromir inquired.

"We are merely attempting to decipher our location, Boromir." Aragorn replied.

"And what does a ‘Lady’ have to do with our location?" the other Man asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Legolas senses someone nearby, perhaps," he glanced at the Elf, "she will be able to help us…"

Legolas shrugged, "Ta toi." It may be.

Aragorn nodded, "Taare kanuva, mellon nîn."Then lead on, my friend

"I tell you she’s a spy!" one of the Carthaki’s insisted. "She’s here to sabotage the conference!"

"That is ridiculous," Queen Thayet maintained, "Daine has lived with us for several years now, she has our full confidence. And I might add, Ambassador, that it was one of your own that attacked one of ours, it would indeed seem that you sought to sabotage the conference."

Another Carthaki stepped forward, "Nonetheless, can you say this… change in appearance was expected?"

"No."

"Then," the dark-skinned man continued, "She may indeed be a spy! She must at the very least be interrogated! Immediately."

King Jonathon placed a hand on his angry wife’s arm as she began to rise, then turned to the ambassador, "Of course, I am sure we all wish to know the story behind this…"

"I think she’s waking up!"

"I thought you said this lady was nearby." Gimli grumbled.

"Relatively close," Legolas replied.

"Usually," Aragorn decided to explain, "Elves can sense the presence of powerful beings, and friends from a far distance, in comparison to how far the other beings of power feel, the lady we seek is nearby."

"So it is a lady the Elf knows?" Gimli asked.

"I believe so," Legolas nodded, "Her presence feels very familiar…"

"Well that’s reassuring!" the Dwarf retorted, "We’re looking for a female that not only may not even be able to help us, but may also not even know us!"

All present watched as the Wild Mage’s eyelids fluttered, a moment before opening to reveal dazzling cerulean orbs.

"Hwæt...?" What…? she murmured, she looked around, clearly confused, "What happened?" she pushed herself up off the floor and rose to her feet with an almost abnormal grace.

"Daine…" Thayet began, not wanting anyone else to startle the girl. "Are you alright?"

"Alright?" Daine blinked, "Yes."

Everyone stared at her. Whatever the language flowed off her tongue was, they didn’t recognize it, and they’d certainly had never heard it before, for forgetting it would never be possible. It was the most wondrous, musical speech that could ever grace their ears.

Thayet blinked, "P-pardon?"

‘Daine’ now appeared to be very confused. "Yes, I’m fine…" she replied, her voice still holding that same extraordinary, harmonious accent, "Why? What happened?"

Thayet held her hand out to the girl she still viewed as a friend, taking her hand, and leading her over to a mirror.

Once there, the young woman’s ethereal eyes widened, right before they rolled back in her head, and she collapsed to the floor with the same newfound grace she’s shown when rising.

Not too far, but some distance away, the Fellowship set up camp beside a foreign river. AN: You know, tent camp fire, sleeping arrangements, camp songs... Ok... that was a strange image...

Daine sighed, shaking her head, only faintly irritated by the stunning, silky silver-blonde hair that swished back and forth because of this action. Thanks to a Carthaki idiot, no one knew what to make of her. The headache that had plagued her the day before was no longer present, but that aggravating sense of having forgotten something was still there, stronger than ever.

The Word of Power had done more than change her appearance, it had also made her realize that what she had thought was her past, had never really happened. Sarra Beneksri, who only yesterday, she’d thought of as her deceased mother, was never there.

Her whole life was a lie…

It didn’t help that she couldn’t even remember the truth…

The mages at the conference had been infinitely interested by this information. After some debate, they had agreed that someone had obviously blocked her memory’s, and then sent her to some place she’d be unlikely to see anything to remind her of her past, in order to prevent the recovery of her lost past.

Therefore, she needed to see something, or someone linked to her past, and that should counter the final effects of the spell. But in order to do that, they needed to decipher where she was from.

Of course, they assumed the breathtaking tongue that suddenly seemed second nature to her, was in fact, her native language. But, that didn’t help much, because it wasn’t a language any of the mortals recognized.

She hadn’t known whether she should point out her new ears, but after some thought the night before, she decided against it.

Now, she was lying in an old tree, located in the middle of the herd’s field. She’d found, upon going to bed the night before, that her open ground floor room no longer felt safe, and it felt far too closed in. So, she’d wandered around searching for a pace she did feel comfortable in. While visiting the field, she’d noticed the tree, and had felt a sudden urge to climb it. She had reached its higher branches with astonishingly graceful, natural swiftness. And, once there, had fallen asleep with no difficulty.

Legolas shook his head. Who was this person he felt? Her presence felt so familiar, but he couldn’t place them.

"Legolas, quente?" Legolas, a word?

"Yes?" the Elf replied.

"Le nwalme daanaya. Edhored nin, nin uutyaro penda loomin, dan–" You were rather disheartened yesterday. Forgive me, I don’t mean to pry, but–

Legolas cut him off, "Ú-moe edhored, mellon nîn." There is nothing to forgive, my friend. he insisted, "It’s quite alright, I assure you…" he sighed, "Yesterday, was a day all my people remember with pain, myself and the Lord and Lady of Lothlórien most of all."

"Why?" the Man asked, honestly curious. Now that he thought of it, he did remember that many of the Elves of Rivendell seemed depressed around this time of year, but he’d never thought to ask why.

"Can’t the two of you ever converse in Common?!"

Legolas shook his head, chuckling quietly, "Edhored, mellon nîn." Sorry, my friend. He murmured.

"Why is yesterday a day of infamy to the Elves?" Aragorn inquired quietly.

"Yesterday?" Gimli broke in. "T’was the day the Wars between our peoples started, though I doubt that is why they look on it with sorrow…"

"Not exactly, mellon nîn," the Elf Prince murmured softly, "though the explanation is related."

"Perhaps we should stop," Boromir offered, "the Hobbits are tiring." He nodded over his shoulder to the Ring Bearer and his three friends.

The others nodded and they made their way over to some large rocks a short distance down the shore of the river they’d been following.

Daine sighed, making her way through the forest. She’d finally managed to convince her fretful friends to allow her to go hunting. She didn’t know why, but for some reason she’d wanted to try hunting moving through the treetops.

Once the idea had planted itself in her head it wouldn’t leave, so now, here she was; moving through the canopy with astounding ease and grace, making no more noise than the breeze that danced with her.

She kept checking her magic, which for some reason, instead of being a coppery color as it was prior to her… change… was now silver. She always made a point of not using her Magic and the advantages it could give her, yet now, for some reason her hearing was much, much better than before – akin to that of a bat, her eyesight could rival that of a hawk. Needless to say, it was more than a little disturbing.

She moved through the treetops silently, not really looking at anything. She could always catch something on the way back… Right now, she just wanted to get away.

A short time later, she was rather surprised to hear a small group up ahead, so swiftly was she moving through the canopy, that she was in sight of the group almost as soon as she heard them.

She didn’t want to talk with anyone right now, and would have turned away, had she not been so surprised by the group itself. For this group was an odd one…

Legolas sighed, shaking his head as he sank back onto one of the stones with the untainted grace inherent to all his kin, to begin his tale. "I had actually lost track of the date throughout the course of our journey… so I was surprised when I woke yesterday morning with deep despondency within my heart… It did not take long to notice that my Galadrim kin shared the same heartache…" he sighed. "As Gimli stated earlier, yesterday a century was the start of the wars between our kindred’s… It was also the day Aare was lost to us…"

"Aare?" Boromir asked.

Legolas nodded, "Aarien of Lothlórien, Galadrimien, selde o aara…" he murmured, "Second daughter of Lady Galadriel and Lord Cereborn… melda nín."

A stunned silence met this statement, though the Elven Prince could easily see the puzzle pieces falling into place in his friends’ eyes.

He continued with the story, finishing with, "We searched for years, but Aare was never found…"

Daine listened to the eye-catching blonde’s story with fascination. The story seemed so familiar, everything about the man himself felt familiar…

But how could that be?

This day was the first time she’d seen this magnificent young warrior… wasn’t it?

Suddenly both blondes AN: Legolas & Daine froze, listening.

"Ya ta?" What is it? Aragorn inquired his friend quietly, looking around.

Just as quietly, the Elf replied, "Nad no ennas…" Something’s out there…

Daine’s eyes widened; not only surprised by her discovery, but also by the language the male spoke in. It was the same one she’d been slipping into! She frowned, drawing her hood up to conceal her fair hair, and slipping backward, through the shadows, back the way she’d come.

"Kotumo?" An enemy? Aragorn asked

"Uutankanen…" I am not sure… the Prince of Mirkwood replied, looking around. Had it not been for his incredible, Elvin eyesight, he would not have seen the willowy figure retreating into the canopy. "Tangado haid! Putta!" Hold your position! Stop! he called, leaping to his feet, atop the rock he’d been sitting on and into the trees, quickly climbing up into the canopy and dashing after the interloper.

Daine almost felt like crying as she hurried through the treetops along the riverbank.

She didn’t have any idea what was going on. First the head and heart ache, then the change, now a chase through the tree tops! She wasn’t certain as to how much more she could take.

"Tangado haid!" she heard her seeker call again, "Nin penda uunwalya an le!" I mean you no harm!

"Le quetfuru…"You lie… she growled to herself, a little louder than she met to, but only someone with the ears of a bat would be able to hear it.

The Eleven Prince could have hit himself. Why was he calling out to the person in Elvish? They’d be far more likely to comprehend Common.

He was somewhat startled when his Elvish ears picked up a muttered reply, "Le quetfuru…"

That grumble told him 4 things; One; his quarry knew what he was saying and did speak Elvish. Two; it was female. Three; she was probably an elf, because she had a Galadrim accent. And four; her attractive voice was oddly familiar…

Shaking his head, he increased his speed, drawing near his quarry.

After several minutes, Daine began to panic, not entirely sure of where she should go.

Her pursuer was steadily gaining on her. He seemed to have an incredibly surplus of speed and strength. Her strength was wearing thin.

What should she do?

Before she could think of answer to that, she reached the end of the canopy, running out along a branch that extended over the river, right before the waterfall.

If she wasn’t trying to escape someone she could’ve easily stopped and regained her balance.

As it was, she fell off…

Legolas gasped as he watched her slip and fall toward the river. He quickly reached out, and grabbed her hand. He also lost his balance, but managed to get a secure hold of the branch with his other hand.

The abrupt cease in her fall caused his quarry’s hood to fall back, revealing a fair head of silver-blonde hair, and a face he’d never expected to see again.

"Aare?!" he gasped, dark sapphire eyes wide. AN: Are his eyes blue?

Her beautiful ethereal eyes were wide with fear and uncertainty, "Ya le?"Who are you? she demanded.

He blinked, but before he could reply, the old branch they’d been hanging from broke.

End Prologue

AN: That's the end of the Prologue! I hope you liked it, tell me what you think!

Warning: This is a Legolas/Daine pairing. I know a lot of people don’t like to see Legolas paired with anyone, but this makes the story a lot more interesting, and I’ve been wanting to try this pairing out for awhile. If you don’t like it, don’t read, because a flame won’t change it… I know, I should have put this warning at the beginning, but then a lot o people probably wouldn’t have given it a chance. I am sorry if you feel this was a cause for inconvenience to you.

Honestly, the concept of flames have never made sense to me. They’re incredibly childish. "I HATE THIS! I HATE THAT! YOU SUCK!" I mean, really. sigh anyway, I would like reviews, but if you follow any of my other story’s I recommend that you don’t flame, because I’ve never been flamed before, and I’m not entirely sure how I’ll react. The worst-case scenario is that I won’t update my other stories for a long time. I am working on my other stories;

Lady Serenity (which has been giving me A LOT of trouble) is almost ready to be updated again.

True Chosen is also almost ready.

Moralm is progressing nicely; though it would be nice to receive a review for the last chapter.

The next update for Regina Flamma is practically done, I just can’t find a place I like ending it at.

Consanguina I just update, the next chapter is progress.

Wild Mage… umm… I’m working on it…

Anyway; REVIEW!

Translations;

AN: Most translations were with the dialogue…

Elvish;

Aarien o Lórien - Aarien of Lothlórien

Aarien – Sun-maiden

Galadrimien – Daughter of the Galadrim

Selde o aara – Daughter of the Dawn

Aare – (Elvish nickname;) Sunlight

Melda nín – my beloved

PLEASE REVIEW!!

Bye!

Jess S