Beyond The Forest, rated PG, no pairing, for Galadriel (caras_galadhon)

[laura-isabel.livejournal.com]

Warnings: none
About: I went with the "Tauriel dissolving a tense situation" prompt. I hope you'll like it and sorry again for all the difficulties beforehand. Merry Christmas!:3

Beyond The Forest


Tauriel slipped over her bracer as she left her rooms and made for the main gates. She knew a lot of people laughed at it behind her back; mocking the captain of the guard for wearing something only young, inexperienced archers in their three-hundreds really needed. It didn't matter to Tauriel. She guessed there was bound to be gossip about a Silvan elf in such a high position – not that she really understood it. She didn't bother to explain herself, that she saw the bracer as an essential part of every serious archer's equipment, and even though she hadn't felt the sharp pain of a bow string slashing against her skin for many decades, she wasn't above thinking it possible to happen any time. She had to worry about much more dangerous wounds when fighting spiders or orcs, but every little piece of her armoury gave her a sense of security. She didn't feel invincible or invulnerable, as she had seen even most venerable fighters act like. It also was a reminder of her own individuality, that no matter what happened to her, she was still Tauriel, and these daggers had belonged to her mother, this quiver had been made by her father, and this bracer she had spent hours on decorating herself, at her favourite hiding place in the forest.

Arriving at the gates, she found Legolas and Eiliant*, her Lieutenant, in conversation. On first glance this name didn't seem to fit the experienced elven woman at all – her hair and eyes were both so light that they almost appeared colourless and her clothes were all shades of grey, brown, or dark green, but never very colourful. But she had a talent to blend in with her surroundings, becoming part of the foliage or underwood, seemingly being able to take on any colour herself.

“Tauriel – we thought you had wandered off too far among the stars last night,” Eiliant greeted her. Her teasing of her sentimental, nostalgic side was typical. And I barely show it to her, Tauriel mused. If she knew the extent of my dreaminess, she'd lose faith in my capability as a captain. The thought amused her and made her eyes shine with mischief as she reached the two.

“And so I did. But the stars told me that there were two idiots in need of my help waiting down on earth here,” she retorted.

Eiliant laughed, but Legolas looked indignant. Tauriel threw him her best dorky grin. No matter how well he got along with everyone, he was still a prince and had his vanities.

“Now listen, Tauriel, there's a mission for us. Something is happening at the eastern border and my father told me to accompany you to check it.”

“The eastern border?” Tauriel felt the familiar tickle of excitement in her stomach at these words. How often had she imagined what the world beyond this border would be like. How often had she sneaked out to roam the land of twilight between the deep forest and the open fields. And now, finally, she was allowed to go there, in plain daylight.

“Don't get carried away,” Legolas added, seeing the growing amazement in her eyes.

“What's the matter?” She asked, ignoring his comment.

“That's just what we're supposed to find out. Smoke has been seen to rise from that part and animals are fleeing.” Legolas looked the opposite of excited. Apparently he didn't think much of this.

Looking down, Tauriel's eyes sprung from the stone floor at her feet to the moss covering the edges of the bridge outside and back to the floor. She was shocked. Animals have been fleeing and I didn't notice. In this forest. In my forest, she thought. No doubt some would think her arrogant to sound so possessive. But Tauriel had always felt connected to these woods, in a very personal way. They had raised her as much as Thranduil and her nanny after her parents had died. They had taught her everything important and more than any elf ever could have done. That was why she had made it her life's purpose to protect her home. If the forest was out of balance, she felt she had to be as well.

“We'd better get going,” Eiliant interrupted her straying thoughts. “The sun doesn't wait for us.”

“You're right,” Legolas agreed. “Let's stick to the canopy, just in case.”

“Just the three of us?” Tauriel wondered.

“Yes. We're just supposed to observe and gather information,” Legolas explained, with a slight edge to his voice. He knew that Tauriel was impulsive and tended to interfere.

Tauriel just shrugged and climbed up the next tree in a quick succession of swift movements. She loved “travelling by tree”, as she called it. Not only did it give them excellent cover, but it also felt somewhat like flying – or at least, how Tauriel would imagine flying. She had often done it in her dreams, though it always was over open spaces then. Now she was fully surrounded by glowing green – the upper leaves swaying slightly in the breeze, the lower leaves catching the falling drops of sunlight from above. The whole world turned into a flicker of vibrant golds and greens, dancing around her, as if to a silent melody.

It always ended too quickly. After what seemed only a moment to Tauriel, they had reached the outskirts of the forest and were slowly crawling towards the clearing that lay about a mile north of the eastern exit of the river from the forest. The first thing she noticed was a smell of smoke and something else she couldn't put a name to. Then she heard voices and something that sounded like a metallic cluttering.

Legolas mouthed the word, but she had already realised it herself. Humans, she thought. Her heart began to beat faster. She had never seen them up close. Even thought the Woodland Realm was dependent on the people of Lake Town for the wine they traded, Thranduil still ensured that there was no more than the minimum of contact between the two races. Tauriel once had seen two humans from afar as a child – traders or boatmen they must have been. She had begged nanny so long until she had agreed to take her to the riverside near the bridge. “Only to make bark boats and watch them fall down the waterfall!” as she had sworn not quite truthfully. And she had been lucky. Just as nanny was about to drag her away again, a boat had approached them from downstream. Of course nanny had dragged her away twice as fast then, but at least she had been able to catch a glimpse.

Now she could take her time watching them. Getting closer to the edge of the crown of the oak they resided in, she tried to find the source of the voices. After a second she spotted one human, approaching what seemed to be a camp from the south. Tauriel counted three tents, a fireplace that they were grouped around, and something she guessed must be a work place a few meters right to the tents. The human she could see seemed to be a girl or young woman. She couldn't quite tell. In both her hands she was carrying two buckets full of water. Her dress looked worn and dirty, and she was barefoot. Apparently she was talking to someone inside one of the tents, but they could not be seen.

Tauriel made to climb even closer, but Legolas held her back with a hand on her shoulder. He shook his head and nodded towards Eiliant. Of course he was right – she was the one who should get closest, as she was the most skilled in not being seen. Tauriel followed her with her eyes, wishing she had spent more time on practising stealth and cover.

Still, from what she could see, it didn't make sense to her why it would be something important enough for them to investigate. A few humans had come to live beside the border of the forest, for whatever reason. It looked harmless enough. Why would animals flee in anything more than ordinary numbers from here?

Tauriel watched Eiliant's every movement, but she kept perfectly still at the far end of a branch, becoming a part of the tree herself, as it seemed. A new voice was carried up to them – whoever had been inside the tent, now had come out to answer the girl. It was a deep, female voice, and only now Tauriel noticed that none of them were speaking the common tongue. Did the people of Lake Town have their own language apart from Westron? Her own ignorance of the world, even that closest to her, made Tauriel furious. How had they become so isolated?

In a flash of impatience, she shifted the weight of her legs – how much longer were they going to just sit here? She was about to retort something angrily to Legolas' look of reproach, when they noticed that the chattering from below had ceased suddenly. Eiliant drew herself back into the thicker foliage, so slowly she barely seemed to move, but when she reached Legolas and Tauriel, there was a look of fright on her face.

“They heard us,” she mouthed, almost inaudibly, and then pointing in direction towards home. Legolas nodded and made to follow her, but Tauriel held him back.

“Wait!” She whispered. “They are only a couple of humans, probably a family. Why don't we go down and just ask them why they are here?”

Legolas stared at her as if she had suggested taming a giant spider (she had actually thought about that), while Eiliant's face remained expressionless.

“I said we were only here to observe,” Legolas finally answered, frowning in annoyance.

“Yeah, but what use will our information be to your father? What have we actually found out? Not much, if you think about it.”

Legolas didn't reply as he pondered over this. Tauriel grew bolder. “He'll surely be disappointed and it'll mean we have to come back for who knows how many times to keep on observing. But we might observe these people for the rest of their days without being any wiser. Talking to them will tell us so much more. Also, it's not like it's a secret that this is the Woodland Realm. And,” she added as an afterthought, “Who knows if they might not travel further into the forest. They should be warned about its dangers.”

Still Legolas didn't speak. He only hesitated for a moment, but before he could make his decision they heard a shocked gasp right below the tree. Looking down, Tauriel saw the girl staring up at them in fear.

Acting on impulse, she let herself down gracefully. She could hear Legolas angry outcry, but it was too late now. She was standing on the ground, trying to smile in a reassuring way at the human. She looked very young from up close. Elves left their childhood behind so quickly, and even then they were different from human children (or so she had heard). The girl kept staring at her with big, brown eyes, until the woman from the tent came running and grabbed her.

“Who are you?” She called out, her eyes lingering on her bow and knives. Her accent was very heavy but Tauriel was relieved that she spoke Westron at all.

“My name is Tauriel,” she began, bowing her head slightly. “I come from the Woodland Realm.”

The woman's expression did not change into anything that could be called recognition. Maybe I was wrong, Tauriel wondered. Maybe they never even heard about elves at all.

“The elven kingdom in this part of the forest,” she explained, motioning towards the trees behind her. “I am captain of the guard and was sent to see who or what had disturbed the animals in this place.”

“Disturbed?” The woman echoed, still looking at her with deep mistrust.

“Zayaa*!” A voice suddenly called through the woods. Then followed a flood of words, none of which Tauriel could understand. There were quick footsteps, from more than one person, and her instinct told her to draw her bow.

Then everything seemed to happen at once. A group of three men with drawn swords came running to the clearing and at the same time Legolas and Eiliant jumped down from the trees, facing them. The men stopped for a moment, staring at them in surprise. But seeing their drawn knives, the man in the middle, who was the tallest and appeared to be the leader, made to charge forward again with a battle cry.

“Wait!” Tauriel shouted, her body acting without thinking, as it seemed to her afterwards. Before she knew what had happened herself, she was standing between the tall man and her friends, arms outstretched. The man stopped short again, staring, and she knew she only had this small moment of surprise to change their minds.

“We come in peace,” she told the men, but she wasn't sure they understood her. So the only left to do was to slowly undo the girdle holding her knives (drawing them would be too risky) and place it on the ground even slower, all the while not loosing eye-contact with the tall man.

He kept staring, but to Tauriel's relief he also sunk his sword. Getting up, she held up her hands in a way that she hoped meant “I'm not dangerous” in every part of Middle Earth. Then she let her quiver and bow follow her knives. By the time she had done this and no one else had moved again, she felt confident enough to tell Legolas and Eiliant to put down their weapons as well, without turning around.

She could virtually feel Legolas' frown, but when Eiliant laid down her knives, he copied her.

“Please,” Tauriel slowly turned towards the woman for a moment. The girl had vanished. “Tell them we mean no harm. We only want to talk.”

The ensuing silence seemed endless to Tauriel, but at last the woman said something in that foreign language, which made the men put back their swords and relax slightly. Tauriel dared to exhale the breath she had been holding and to lower her arms.

“If you'll translate,” she told the woman, “I will tell you why we are here and anything else you'll want to know.” She hoped that this would seem a good offer to them. In reality it was them who wanted to ask questions, but she counted on being able to put those in casually in the process of the conversation.

The woman nodded and came closer, standing next to the tall man and taking his hand (Tauriel guessed that it was her husband). Tauriel waited for a second, then she began with introducing herself and the other two, before telling them about their home in the forest, about King Thranduil, and her role as captain. The men and woman seemed incredulous at first, as if she was talking about things taken from a fairytale. When Tauriel mentioned Lake Town and that they traded with its people, a shadow of displeasure crossed the tall man's face. She quickly changed the topic and told them about the mission they had received this morning and that they were worried about the forest's well-being. She knew Legolas didn't like that she was giving out so much information, but she was grateful that he kept silent and didn't interrupt her.

By the end of her tale, the humans seemed more interested than mistrusting. She closed with saying that she was sorry about their defensive behaviour, but that they had grown used to being attacked, that many evil-minded creatures had started to inhabit the forest and mountains around it (and it was the truth too). She didn't ask them where they came from, but her eyebrows were raised in a way that said “I've finished. Now it's your turn.”

The leader of the group shot her a calculating look, before he started to converse with the woman and other two men. Apparently they were discussing how to answer her. Tauriel took the time to observe them more closely. They all had black hair and light brown skin, their eyes the colour of dark ambers. The woman was wearing a dark blue dress that looked very worn, but was richly embroidered at the sleeves, collar, and hem. Her hair was neatly pinned to the top of her haid in a heavy, braided bun. The men all wore long tunics of either red or blue, and knee-long trousers over colourful leather boots. All of their garments seemed to be made of wool. Hearing a faint rustle, Tauriel slightly turned her head and saw that the girl was prying at them from behind the tent entrance. She smiled at her and gave her a secretive wink, which made the little human quickly hide her face again.

Then the group stopped talking and the tall man addressed her, the woman translating slowly. “My name is Gantulga* and these are my wife and brothers. We come from a land far to the east from here.” He paused for a moment here, thinking, and then added: “I think the people from the town on the lake called it Rhûn.” Tauriel's eyes widened – they had come as far as that! Ignorant she may be, but she had studied maps as much as star charts.

“You say that there are evil things coming to live in your forest,” Gantulga continued. “It is the same in our homeland. Foreigners have come, taking power and talking of war against countries we have never heard of, saying they are oppressing us. There also are coming more and more demons from the mountains in the south. That is why we left our home. My wife Zayaa here has a gift of seeing. She said that things would get worse. A cousin of her lived in the town on the lake, or so we thought. She had married a trader from there and followed him to live there. That is why we went there. But when we arrived, they told us that there was no woman of that name living there. The guards and the man in charge were unkind. They didn't allow us to enter the town and search for her cousin. So we left and searched everywhere around for miles, trying to find another place, but only found waste and ruins. Then we made our camp here, trying to figure out a new place to go. But apparently darkness has crept back to all parts of the world now and it doesn't make much difference where we wait for it.”

Everyone was silent. Tauriel felt very sad all of a sudden and she wished she could offer these people to live in peace in their realm. But of course Thranduil would never allow it. And even if she could, would there be peace? Maybe Gantulga was right and it didn't really matter where they went if everywhere was the same.

“But I don't understand,” Zayaa's voice broke through Tauriel's reverie. “Why our presence here would have such a bad impact as you described. We have done nothing wrong.” She looked at Tauriel defiantly, as if daring her to accuse them of being in league with the forces of darkness.

Before Tauriel could ponder this, Eiliant stepped forward and touched her lightly on the shoulder. “If I may,” she started, quite unusually. She was Tauriel's elder and most times it was her, who had to be deferential towards Eiliant. But, Tauriel realised with growing respect, she seemed to have gathered that the humans trusted Tauriel the most, so that it would be wise to make her appear as their leader.

“There is something I sensed, before you left the tree,” Eiliant explained. “Some sort of evil aura. Of an object,” she added quickly, as Zayaa's face darkened. “Is there anything with magical properties that you own?”

Tauriel was baffled. Why hadn't she told them about this before? But this was Eiliant's way, she knew, she always waited to be sure about something.

Zayaa translated and Gantulga looked at them in mystification. “Magic?” she translated his bewildered question. “We have nothing of any power. Only talismans, lucky charms...” But Tauriel noticed that his eyes had darted towards the tent. Were they hiding something?

She turned and looked at the tent. The Lonely Mountain loomed dark and brooding in the distance. Everyone she knew saw it as an ill omen. Suddenly she had an idea. “You said you travelled far, through waste and ruins. Maybe you picked up something on the way? Maybe without knowing?”

Gantulga and Zayaa shared a look. There was a question in her eyes and something apologetic in his. Then he turned back towards Tauriel. “There are some things we picked up along our wanderings. But they were findings and didn't belong to anyone any more.” He puffed out his chest and sniffed proudly.

“We are sorry to be so nosy,” Tauriel conceded. “But we must find the source of this aura. Did you, by any chance, come through Dale?”

“Dale?” Zayaa repeated.

“The city ruins near that mountain.” Tauriel pointed towards Erebor.

“Oh,” Gantulga understood. “We've been through there, but left very quickly. There's something unhealthy in the air there.”

“Yes,” Tauriel nodded. “It's been destroyed by a dragon. And since the opposite can't be proved, we fear that he's still living inside the mountain.”

All humans gasped and stared at the mountain in fear. It was obvious that they knew of or had heard of dragons before, and not just as part of a fairytale. Determination settled on Gantulga's face, and he mumbled something before walking towards the tent.

“He will show you what we took from the ruins,” Zayaa explained. As they waited, they could hear the sound of digging from the tent. They must have hidden their treasures in the ground, Tauriel thought, and somehow it made her feel embarrassed. Gantulga came back then, carrying a little wooden chest. The girl came running after him, pleading in a high-pitched voice and despair on her face. Gantulga stopped and told her something in a stern voice, before opening the chest and showing the contents to Tauriel. It contained some folded scraps of half-burned silk, some gold coins, a few lumps of copper and iron, as well as some buttons and glass beads.

“This is what we took from the ruins,” Gantulga said gravely. “And also the doll that my daughter is carrying.” He pointed at the girl, who had followed him and was clutching a one-legged doll that was covered in smoke stains.

Eiliant stepped forward and studied the doll wordlessly for a moment. Then she smiled. “She doesn't need to worry,” she announced. “The doll is completely harmless.”

The girl seemed to understand Westron, or at least had guessed Eiliant's meaning, because she jumped up in joy at once and danced around, hugging her doll.

Looking at the chest, Eiliant's face became serious again. Carefully she reached inside and held up a gold coin. She quickly put back though, as if she had touched something very hot.

“These coins come from the dragon's hoard. He touched them.” She seemed disgusted and fascinated at the same time. “It is no wonder that animals would flee from here, if this was in the ground.”

“What should we do with it?” Gantulga asked, clearly expecting the worst.

Eiliant quietly touched every other piece inside the chest before answering. “Either bring it back to where you found it or burn it.”

Zayaa frowned. “I'm not going back to that place,” she declared before translating to her husband. “Nor could we make a fire hot enough to burn gold,” was his reply.

“We could destroy it,” Tauriel put in. Eiliant and Legolas stared at her. “Our smithies could do it.”

“Tauriel!” Legolas almost hissed. He had stayed silent and let them handle the situation so far, which meant that he had agreed with what they did. But now he was furious. “You can't bring such a foul thing home!”

“And of course we'd recompense you for the loss,” Tauriel added in a stubborn tone, not bothering to translate Legolas' elvish words. She turned to Legolas. “This is my responsibility. But we can't leave these coins here, if they won't bring them back and can't destroy them. We're lucky enough that they are willing to part with them.” She said in Sindarin.

“She's right,” Eiliant agreed, when Legolas didn't speak. “We should get rid of these as quickly as possible. It is said that dragons can sense the loss of even a single coin or jewel. We don't know if it's true and how Smaug lost these, but it would be unwise to risk anything.”

“Won't it leave a stain on our halls,” Legolas gave to think, but Tauriel could sense that he was relenting.

“No,” Eiliant replied. “There may be left a sense of unease after destroying them, but only for a few hours and only in the places they have passed through.”

“I can't sense anything,” Tauriel remarked, looking back at the coins lying upmost in the chest. They looked completely normal to her.

“That's something that comes with time,” Eiliant explained. “But destroying them will set free the part of the evil spirit that took possession of them, and everyone would feel that. But it's worth the discomfort, in my opinion.”

“Very well,” Legolas proclaimed after a while. “You will take these, Tauriel, and bring them to the smithies at once, while I'll tell my father about it.”

Tauriel smiled in relief. She couldn't have borne the thought to leave these cursed coins here with these innocent people.

“I need some money from you,” she asked shyly. It bothered her that she didn't bring the little she had with her, but never before had she been in need of it on a mission. Now I know better, she thought.

Legolas sighed dramatically, but got out his purse nevertheless. “These should be about the same worth,” he said, as he passed some coins to Tauriel.

Turning went back towards Zayaa, handing her the coins. “Thank you for your help,” she said in the common tongue. “May the Valar protect you, wherever you go.” Then she took off her bracer and handed it to a stunned Gantulga. “This is worth at least a chest of this size, filled with gold coins to the brim, if not more. And,” she added as an after-thought, before taking the coins from the chest, “if you tell the guards of Lake Town that Tauriel, the captain of the elven king's guard has sworn her friendship and protection to you, I'm sure they will let you in.” She hated how patronising this sounded, but nothing else would make the desired impression. Human officials couldn't be much different from elvish ones in this case.

She dreaded something like an electric shock when taking the coins, but she didn't sense anything. Breathing out slowly, she put them inside her quiver, and made to leave.

“Wait!” Zayaa called out to Tauriel's surprise. She fumbled at her sleeve and took a single, white bead from a leather bracelet. “It's only glass,” she said, a bit embarrassed. “But I got it from my grandmother, who always said she had traded it from a dwarf woman of the Yellow Mountains.”

“Oh no, you needn't-” Tauriel started, but when she saw the gravity and pride in Zayaa's eyes, she stopped and let her put the bead into her palm.

“Ana!” The girl shouted, tagging frantically at her mother's sleeve. Then she told her something in a quick, breathless way.

“Altan* wants you to know,” Zayaa told Tauriel with a fond smile, “that this is not just a glass bead, it's actually a star fallen from the sky. There is a fairytale about dwarves in our home,” she explained, “in which they perform a number of miraculous tasks, and one of them is building a ladder so high, they could pick stars from the night sky to make jewellery of them. Altan says this is such a star and that it will bring you luck.”

Tauriel laughed. “Tell Altan that I shall keep it as one of my most prized possessions and always remember her words. And also,” she added before bowing to them and swinging nimbly back into the cover of the trees, where Eiliant and Legolas were already waiting for her, “that I am grateful to have met you all.”

“Ana!” Altan called again after a few moments of silence in which they had all watched the spot where the elves had vanished. “I know now how to call my doll!”

The End

*Eiliant = rainbow in Sindarin

*Zayaa = Mongolian name, meaning fate

*Gantulga = Mongolian name, meaning steel-hearth

*Altan = Mongolian name, meaning gold

Comments

[lordhellebore]

This was very interesting! There is a distinct lack of encounters with people from areas like Rhun, Umbar, and Harad etc. in fandom, so I enjoyed it very much to read about one. And I like how Tauriel chose diplomacy rather than defensiveness, and convinced the others.

[laura-isabel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!:D The idea about making the people come from Rhun was an impromptu one, but I thought it would be much more interesting than to have them be from Lake Town.

[ladyelleth.livejournal.com]

This was wonderful! I was so happy to find another Tauriel fic at the exchange, and this was every bit as good as I'd expected. You have a fantastic grasp on her as a character, with all her facets, and it was a delight to read about the Easterlings, who are far too underdescribed (both in canon and fanfic). The fairytale to finish it was a lovely touch as well, I really enjoyed reading this. :)

[laura-isabel.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much!<3 I'm so happy you think I got her character right.:3 I didn't really know where this was going until I wrote it, so I'm delighted it's enjoyable!

[talullahred.livejournal.com]

I like how Tauriel goes about things. The interpersonal dynamics between the groups and within them are really interesting. Funny how women run the show, explicitly or not. ;)

Nice one!

[laura-isabel.livejournal.com]

Thank you!:D

[caras-galadhon.livejournal.com]

Please forgive me, laura_isabel, for being slow in giving you feedback. I've been rushed off my feet and incredibly exhausted this holiday season, which has led to me dropping the ball on important things like thanking you for this lovely story!

This is a lovely treat, and I'm so excited to see Tauriel being her badass self! I love that she's so conscientious that even now, she wears a bracer as part of her everyday outfit, even if there's no danger of having the bowstring hit her arm anymore. (And as I recall, those things hurt! Ow!) I love that it's a part of her, and that it brings her a sense of security, and that she doesn't forget that while she may never fail and die naturally, she is not completely immune to danger.

she was still Tauriel, and these daggers had belonged to her mother, this quiver had been made by her father, and this bracer she had spent hours on decorating herself, at her favourite hiding place in the forest.
Oh, I love these details! I love how these pieces all mean something to her, and stand in for important people and things in her life.

But she had a talent to blend in with her surroundings, becoming part of the foliage or underwood, seemingly being able to take on any colour herself.
What a great explanation for Eiliant's name! It's so fitting. And I love the easy back-and-forth the two have. It's a lovely, gentle teasing that shows a lot of care for one another.

I also love Tauriel's excitement at the possibility of seeing the outside world. It's so eager, it's infectious.

Now she was fully surrounded by glowing green – the upper leaves swaying slightly in the breeze, the lower leaves catching the falling drops of sunlight from above. The whole world turned into a flicker of vibrant golds and greens, dancing around her, as if to a silent melody.
What a beautiful image! I can definitely see the green forest and the way the sunlight plays on the leaves. Gorgeous!

How had they become so isolated?
A good question, and a nice callback to canon. Elves in general, but Mirkwood ones in particular, are so isolated during the Third Age, and it's interesting tracking the reasons why.

It's fascinating how quickly their contact with the humans escalates. One minute Tauriel is making quick, impulsive decisions, and the next they're all facing each other with weapons! Very exciting. ^_^ I like that Tauriel is wise enough to defuse the situation relatively quickly, too, and I love that through it all, she's still incredibly curious about these interlopers.

The woman was wearing a dark blue dress that looked very worn, but was richly embroidered at the sleeves, collar, and hem. Her hair was neatly pinned to the top of her haid in a heavy, braided bun. The men all wore long tunics of either red or blue, and knee-long trousers over colourful leather boots.
Again, so beautifully vivid! I love how their dress and clothes seem to tell their own story.

“These coins come from the dragon's hoard. He touched them.” She seemed disgusted and fascinated at the same time. “It is no wonder that animals would flee from here, if this was in the ground.”
I wondered what was chasing the animals away, and this makes so much sense! The touch of a dragon must taint things so badly that it would easily chase animals away.

It is said that dragons can sense the loss of even a single coin or jewel. We don't know if it's true and how Smaug lost these, but it would be unwise to risk anything.
I can believe that. Especially given how jealously Smaug guards his treasure, and how dark and deep Dragon Sickness can be. And I love that Eiliant is able to feel the heavy burden of the treasure, and that it's something that will come with time. I also love that Tauriel does her best to compensate and protect the people they've come across.

I also love the star bead that Zayaa gives Tauriel. It's a lovely token, and one that carries so much more meaning and importance than the tainted treasures of a dragon.

Thank you so much for this lovely story! It was a joy to read, and I'm so thrilled that you wrote it for me. ♥ I hope you've had a wonderful holiday season, and that the New Year is bright and hopeful for you and yours!

[laura-isabel.livejournal.com]

No worries, I gathered that you must be busy!:3

Wow, you've given me such detailed feedback, it makes me feel all fuzzy and warm inside!<3

It felt natural to start it off with something more personal about Tauriel, and since I started writing right before having archery training, this came to my head. And I really wish we could know more about her parents! I'm happy you like my OC - I thought there had to be someone apart from Legolas, someone who trained Tauriel and who could be a bit of a balancing personality to her impulsive and curious self.

Oh, I can't tell you how relieved I am that you enjoyed the action-bit of the story - it's usually what comes hardest to me, and I never quite know how to make it exciting. I pretty much made up the whole plot as I wrote it, but that's about the only way I can come up with something similar to a plot.xD

I was so impressed with Smaug's declaration that he's not going to part with even a single coin, it seemed something so inherently dragon-ish to me and in general a wonderful symbol for greed and its senselessness. I had to build it in somewhere!:D

The gladd bead is supposed to be the one that Tauriel wears in her neck lace in DoS.:D I always love to weave tiny connections to existing things in canon, even if they're too subtle to be noticed.

Thank you so much for your lovely review! It made my day!^_^ I hope you can relax for the rest of the holidays and I wish you a great start into the New Year, as well as lots of love and harmony for the New Year!<3