Along the edge of the forest, peering anxiously through the bushes and leaves, a centaur maiden with deep brown hair stood, breathing heavily. The journey had been long and extremely tiring, and Aljed was grateful for the rest and the cool shade.

'Well, centaur, where to now?' she asked herself. The little part of her mind that was always mean answered back, 'Why did you leave anyways. What was wrong with shelter, Stupid?'

Defending herself against herself, which felt incredibly weird, the maiden whispered quietly, "Shut up." She held out her staff and unlocked her knees, preparing to move on.

Sirevende was prwoling on the edge of the forest of Mirkwood. She was on her way to Lothlorien, but she was stopping to hunt for Orcs along the way quite frequently. The thought of Orc-hunting did little to cheer her, because they reminded her of the happenings in Ost-in-Edhil so many years ago. But she felt she was getting some revenge against Sauron by hunting his Orc creatures everywhere. She heard a whisper nearby and had her bow bent and an arrow cocked in less than three seconds. "Who goes there?" she shouted. "If you are not a servant of Sauron I will not harm you." She was peering in the direction of the noise she had heard, waiting for a response.

Hearing the voice slice through the silence, Aljedra instantly stopped and held her staff at ready, waiting for the owner of the voice to attack her. "I am no servant of Sauron!" She called to the shadows, wheeling her head about. She thought she heard a rustle in the leaves to her right, but she couldn't be sure. Many creatures occupied the forests. Creatures that could make no sound.

A raven cawed over head, breaking the next stillness. Shuddering slightly to herself, the centaur maiden yelled again, "Show yourself!" She hoped against hope that the hidden creature that was now stalking her would prove to be good.

Sirevende was relieved that the creature had not rushed at her or anything like that, and she was glad she had spoken beofre shooting. The voice was strange, though. It did not sound to her like the voice of and Elf, a Man, or a Dwarf; she had never heard a voice similar to this one before. She walked towards the voice, sidestepping trees, and when she saw the source of the voice- a centaur- she could barely keep her mouth closed. She had never seen a centaur before, let alone in Mirkwood. But she knew that she must be polite, so she greeted the centaur, who was obviously a girl. "Hello," she began, "My name is Sirevende. I am sorry if I frightened you, but in Mirkwood, one can never be too careful. Why have you come to such a dangerous place? Surely you have never been here before, for I have never seen a centaur, nor any others of the Elvenfolk who live here..."

"I...," Aljedra paused, trying to pass the question, "I... am Aljedra. Not from here, like you said. I've been... traveling." The centaur looked over the elf standing in front of her. At least, she thought she was an elf. Only having met one before, from a distance, Aljed could not be sure.

"You are an elf, correct?" Hoping she would not offend the girl if she was wrong, Aljedra added, "Call me Aljed."

Sirevende nodded. "Yes, I am an Elf," she said. She noticed that Aljed did not seem to want to reveal much about her reasons for coming to Mirkwood, but she wanted to be hospitable. "Are you looking for a place to spend the night? If you are, I can help you find one. I know this forest nearly as well as any of the Elves who were born here." She paused, pondering what she could say that would not be too personal for the Aljed to answer. "Have you only that staff as a weapon?" she asked. "I only ask because a staff is not much use in a forest. Were you in Lothlorien, or even Fangorn, it would be fine. But here, there are many Orcs and other dangerous creatures. A bow and quiver of arrows are the most suitable weapons for defending oneself among the trees, or so I feel. If you do not have one, I could make one for you. It would not, of course, be the finest of Mirkwood, but it would be suitable for defending yourself at the last need." She then stopped speaking, knowing that she had asked many questions already.

Aljed raised her eyebrows. Yes, the staff was all she had, but it was all she wanted. Her staff had been with her since before she left home, and it was her only possession. She had no desire to learn to use a new weapon.

"I think that a staff is my only need, thankyou. I know that you are only trying to help me, but I do not need your help. I have lasted years by myself, and have fought all manner of creatures with this staff." Aljedra sighed. She hated it when other beings told her what to do, when she was happy enough already. She turned and started to leave the forest.

"It was nice meeting you, Sirevende."

Sirevende was slightly shocked by this answer. After all, she had only been suggesting a bow and arrow. But she didn't get annoyed. "Okay," she said. "Just know that you are welcome in Mirkwood. If someone asks you who told you this, tell them that Sirevende Nenlindale said you could stay. They will respect my judgement, I think. If you are leaving, I will also go on my way. Goodbye," she finished, turning to walk southwards in to the forest. She thought it would be a better course, for Aljed seemed to be leaving the forest, and she did not want her to think she was trailing her. She also would be able to catch more Orcs by staying under the cover of the trees for a longer time. "Namarie," she called over her shoulder as she walked away.

Hearing the elf walk the opposite way, Aljedra breathed a sigh of relief. Some beings were just hard to communicate with. Not saying that all elves were like that, Aljedra had only met one, and seen two. But first impressions could mean everything. After the centaur could not hear Sirevende any more, she turned to the right and trotted along the outside edge of the forest. Despite the fact that Aljed hadn't appreciated the elf's weapon ideas, she could still take the fact that there were orcs in the forest to heart. No need to meet up with one.

Aljedra hummed softly to herself, just enough so that she could hear it. Above, the clouds rolled gently in and the sun was soon hidden. About an hour later, it began to rain. Just a soft pattering rain that the centaur didn't mind at all. She started to canter, then gallop. Just for the exhilaration of sprinting in the woods.

Aljedra wondered vaguely what humans were like. Now those she had never seen. She guessed that they must be like elves, just... wierder. Maybe... two heads? Extra hair? No nose? That got her to wondering if she'd meet any along the way. Would they be like the elf? Telling the centaur what to do? Or sweeter? 'Ah well,' Aljed thought, 'Guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.' She kicked a stone pensively. 'Maybe they'll just...'

A sharp chattering interrupted the centaur's thoughts. She reared up, brandishing her treasured staff. Rearing right after trotting was not a good idea, Aljedra found that out. Her back left hoof got caught on a branch and she tottered backwards. A scream escaped her mouth as she waved her arms around, trying to regain her balance. It didn't work. She fell sideways and hit the ground HARD. Seeing the squirrel that had startled her so bad out of the corner of her eyes, her last thought before she blacked out was, 'Why in Mirkwood?'

Colors - mainly blues, browns, and greens - swirled through Aljedra's mind. Without realizing it, she remembered that she had fallen. She didn't care much. The dark forest colors were very soothing, making the centaur want to lie there forever. A deep band of black crossed her mind's vision, but didn't alarm her at all. Eventually her whole mind faded into blacks.

Seemingly years later, Aljedra noticed more colors emerge from the black. Images, too. An image of her father, then Sirevende, then the squirrel, then her father again. The centaur shut her eyes harder, trying to stop the dizzying pictures from going fuzzy. Her father eventually did go blurry despite Aljed's desperate attempts to keep it clear. It merged with the dark background until it was just a blue-black shadow. For some reason, this sent Aljedra into a panic. She wasn't sure why, but this image terrified her. She lashed out mentally, trying to kill the vision.

Not knowing she was doing so, physically Aljedra was thrashing about, making a formidable circle of crushed plants. She was making faint crying noises in her throat. They weren't loud, but they were enough for some creatures to hear.

Exhausted, Aljedra rose from the mists. She was aware of a very large bump on her head. And that night had falled. And that she was covered in blood. After looking about for 30 seconds, she fell back, not caring about whether or not there was some creature stalking her. Just didn't care. She felt that she wouldn't be able to defend herself even if she felt like it.

The stars passed slowly over her head. The centaur floated in and out of conciousness, remembering things that never happened, and crying over things that shouldn't have happened. Finally, covered in dust, tears, and her own blood, Aljedra fell into a deep sleep, one without the curse of dreams.

Bright light penetrated Aljedra's eyelids. She was aware of midday heat and a slight breeze. Not really feeling like opening her eyes, the centaur just sat, sprawled where she was. She was tired, despite the many hours she had spent asleep.

Something brushed past Aljedra's nose, crossing her partly open lips. It fell in. Not able to stop herself, Aljedra coughed and spluttered, spitting the small but annoying spider out. It flew across the clearing she had made with her mad thrashings into a fern. Now up, Aljedra decided that she probably shouldn't chance lying back down. Lifting her head, she brought a hand up to brush back her tangled and muddy hair from her face.

Taking a deep breath, Aljedra took a look around. And was surprised by the chaos she had caused. Everything within 5 feet was flattened. Aljed groaned and whispered to herself, "What the..."

Supporting herself on the staff that she had been lying 2 feet away, Aljedra stood shakily. Her knees buckled and she was sent sprawling on the ground. New tears fell down the maiden's cheeks. She tried again. And again. Finally, she was able to lock her knees and stand. Her shoulders ached and her head was spinning. Through the trees Aljedra could see a hill. Wondering why she was drawn to the grassy mountain, the centaur started walking to it

OOC: I guess I'm heading to the Lonely Mountain.