Title: Captured Heart

Author: Maeluiril

Summary: Haldir and his brothers find a child in their woods.

Rating: R (for violence)

Feedback: Appreciated

Characters: OFC, Haldir, Rúmil, Orophin, (others eventually)

Warnings: Mentions of child abuse and other violence against children. Nothing graphic, it is more implied than anything. I do not condone it, but as you will see when you read, it would be a valid background from my character to come from.

Disclaimer: All recognized characters belong to Tolkien. Without that genius Mr. Jackson would never have made the wonderful piece of cinematic greatness that is the LOTR movie trilogy. My work is not meant to infringe on any copyrights or other legal concepts I have no clue about. My only desire was to entertain and add my own humble bit of work to such a wide and prolific fandom.

A/N: This is not a Mary Sue in the fact that there will be no marriage between the child and any elves. The character does not have any powers whatsoever. I simply want to explore the reasoning as to why Haldir might have fought with men in the two towers. This is one explanation. That said this follows movie cannon though dates not mentioned in the movie come from the book. Specifically I used the Encyclopedia of Arda to make my timeline and to research spellings and other information. It can be found here: http:// www. glyphweb. com/ arda/ (take the spaces out)

Sindarin "Common" 'Thoughts'

ARTWORK!!: I've made a banner for this story! You can find it in my profile and there is a link there to a larger version of it. Or you can just go here: www. geocities. com/ maeluiril/ chbanner. html (remember to take the spaces out!)

Please read the warnings as this story will deal with delicate topics I mentioned there!

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CHAPTER 1: The Disturbance

Haldir relaxed as a breeze blew by and ruffled his hair. He was on watch, though no signs of disturbance had been seen for weeks. The night was quiet and peaceful. Everything he loved about being on the boarders. Closing his eyes he concentrated on the sound of the water rippling over the rocks in the nearby stream. A twig snapping caused him to tense and once again scan the area. He was prompted into action when another foreign sound reached his ears.

Soundlessly he moved in the branches closer to the sounds origins. It was bringing him closer to the stream. He stilled when he reached a spot overlooking the water and pulled his bow. As his eyes moved over the rocks and reeds, his bow moved with him ready to fire a shot at any threat. His lips pulled even more into a frown when he saw nothing. Releasing the tension on his bow slightly he scanned the area one last time.

If he had not been so alert he might have missed the small figure once again. Deep in the shadows there was movement. Even with his elvin sight the only reason he saw it was the light from the full moon. The figure moved again and he immediately pulled his bow back assessing the threat. He paused when he saw that it was a young human girl. No more than eight or nine summers it looked like. It surprised him that she had gotten so far into the boarders. Any group of men should have been easily spotted.

He watched as the child leaned over the water and drank. Once he decided that there were no other of her company around he put his bow back on his back. Not taking his eyes off the girl he made the bird call for others to join him and waited. The girl's head rose sharply when he made the noise but she did not look to him. It seemed he had frightened her as she quickly finished what she was doing and turned back into the woods.

Haldir waited for the others on watch in his patrol group before following the girl. They easily caught up to her and followed her through the trees. She never once stopped or looked to them though they were almost directly above her the entire time. When she stopped at a tree they spread out surrounding her and waited for Haldir to decide how to handle the situation. He motioned his brothers to him and pulled back letting the others keep an eye on the child.

The child can not be out this far without adults around. We should wait until she reaches them, said Orophin.

Why is she out here though? Maybe she has separated from her party and is lost. We should at least make sure she is safe, argued Rúmil. Haldir considered both options while his brothers argued amongst themselves. His mind was made up when one of the sentries he had left came running towards them.

Sir, the child is not alone. There is another down there among the shadows and hurt from the sounds that it is making. The elf's voice was tinged with concern and Haldir frowned more at the new complication.

Rúmil, Orophin and I will go introduce ourselves and assess the situation. The rest will form scouting parties and go to the nearest boarders and see if there are any humans here. The sentry nodded and left. Haldir and his brothers approached the camp quietly. The remaining guard he had posted withdrew and left to scout the woods with the other elves. From the trees Haldir could see the girl sitting close to the base of the tree. Then he heard a moan. The girl instantly moved over the shadows, he could just pick up what she was saying.

"Shhhh, it's gonna be okay Alar. I got us some water." The blankets shifted and he could just make out a face. It was another child that looked to be younger than her. The girl held up a small water container to his lips. "There you go. See it's good isn't it."

"W. Where did you get it?" asked the child.

"That's not important Alar, you getting better is all that matters." She held the container to his mouth again but he wouldn't drink anymore. "Come on, just one more sip and that will be all." He opened his mouth and took a little bit more.

"My tummy hurts Zia." Came his small voice.

"I know Alar, but. . but it won't forever. You'll get better and then we can do whatever we want. . we're free Alar. Never again will we call someone master." She smiled slightly trying to comfort him.

"Free." He repeated and smiled too.

"As a bird." There was a pause as the child relaxed back into the blankets.

"Tell me a story."

"Okay, what one do you want to hear?" She sat down next to him and held his hand.

"One with elves." Was the quick response.

"You always want to hear one with elves in it. There are other races on middle earth." The girl laughed causing the boy to smile.

"Elves are the best."

"Okay Alar.. how about the tale of Seran, an elf of the most noble quality. It is not well known but before men ruled Gondor, it was a city full of elves. All were quite beautiful as elves are doing their elfin things. Seran was the king of this great city. He ruled all that he could see and then some. His kingdom was happy and full of food."

"Did he have slaves?"

"No.. his kingdom did not allow slavery. If a master was found. . he was cut down before another command could leave his lips!" The girl moved her arm down like a sword and the child laughed.

"Seran was a kind and gentle king.. but his heart was lonely. He had lived in Gondor all his life. And he was very old. . for elves are immortal as you know." At the boy's nod she continued.

"Well one day Seran decided that he would go for a ride. He left the gates of his kingdom and rode into the nearby woods. He rode for hours and hours and loved the wood so much that he decided to stay the night. The woods looked much like this, in fact many would say that these were the woods Seran slept in."

"Are these the woods?"

"I do not know.. but they look very much like the woods if they are not." The girl paused before continuing. "Well, the elfin king had been to these woods many times and called many among the trees friends. But he didn't know that this trip would be unlike any of the others that he had taken into the beautiful woods."

"How?"

"I'm getting there silly." she paused a moment before continuing with her story. "For it was on this trip that he would find what his heart had been missing since he had started ruling in his fathers place. It was on his second night in the woods that he heard a noise. It disturbed him greatly because he was enjoying his time in the woods alone and didn't want to be bothered. So he followed the noise to see what was wrong."

"The noise led him to a small clearing where he saw something that angered him more than he had ever been angered in all his long life. There in the clearing was a great beast. This beast was one that he had seen on occasion but not very much. It was a great smelly orc." The little boy jumped when she said the word but laughed right after.

"Now this orc wasn't alone. It had captured two small humans, and was being mean to them, growling and yelling. Now the king angered beyond belief, pulled his bow from his back and aimed an arrow at the nasty monster. When the orc was about to hit the little boy it held in his grasp, Seran let the arrow fly. Now the king was not only king, but also the best warrior in all of his land. He practiced everyday and no one could beat him. His mark was true and the monster fell to the ground dead."

"Good." The girl smiled at her brothers statement.

"The king ran to the clearing and freed the two humans. He saw that they were small children the oldest a girl while the youngest a boy. Their names were Zia and Alar."

"Those are our names!" exclaimed the boy merrily.

"Yes they are, a very strange likeness," agreed the girl. "The children were so thankful that they had been rescued that they hugged the king. The king decided to take the children to his kingdom and make them his children. Zia and Alar became the prince and princess of Gondor and stayed with Seran as their father. Seran's heart was no longer lonely and Zia and Alar lived happily for all their lives. The end."

"That was a good story, were we named after the kids in the story Zia?"

"No Alar, they just happened to have our names." The girl pulled the blanket higher on his shoulders. "Now you must rest." Her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Okay, goodnight Zia."

"Goodnight Alar." She brushed some hair off of his face and moved closer to him. She sat down next to him and pulled her knees up closer to her chin and shivered as a breeze blew by. A few seconds later the sounds of Alar's snoring drifted to her ears.

Zia stiffened alarmed for some reason. She couldn't hear anything but there was something wrong about the area around her. She slowly stood up and scanned the woods looking for something wrong. Suddenly she saw a flash of silver billowing in the breeze. She quickly looked around for a weapon and grabbed a big stick and held it like she had seen the soldiers hold their swords. When she looked up there were three figures standing in front of her. Each with hair of silver and very tall. Fear wound its way up her heart but she stood her ground in front of Alar. She wouldn't let him be taken again.