Taiya sighed bitterly as she stared at the mess before her. Books were scattered everywhere, the bookshelf was over turned,
pictures graced the floor with shattered glass and her favorite book was torn to shreds. She whimpered and sank down in the
middle of it all, her step-mother was going to kill her! Tears filled Taiya's eyes at the thought of Karen - the she-monster from
hell. Well, that's how she felt about it, and she was positive the feeling was mutual. She sighed, wondering how the book had
gotten all the way on the top shelf in the first place. Taiya didn't put it there, all of her books were on the bottom shelves so that
she wouldn't risk knocking the shelf over, but she'd done it. Who knew how many books in this enormous pile were ruined
because of her clumsiness. She refused to call it anything but clumsiness, she wasn't a klutz - just a little uncoordinated.

She whimpered again, falling backwards in the pile and pulling the hood of her sweatshirt over her face. She pulled her feet out
from under her, revealing tan hiking boots and dark blue jeans. She knew she was in for it this time - that is, if she didn't get it
cleaned up before Karen got home. Of course, Taiya wasn't known for her cleanliness, she stared up at the cieling after trying
to suffocate herself with the hood of the black hoodie and soon she was asleep.

****

She awoke to the sound of voices, rough, foul voices. She opened her eyes as one of the voices said something in a foriegn
language and found herself staring up at the tops of beautiful birch trees. Wait, trees? Since when did trees grow in her living
room? Suddenly a the head of a dirty, scruffy looking man appeared in her line of vision. He grinned, showing yellow teeth and
Taiya screamed. She continued to scream, crawling backwards like a crab until she ran into something. Her screams stopped
for a moment and she looked up, only to find herself staring up at another bandit. Another scream was about to rip itself from
her throat, but she was gagged quickly. The man whose eardrums she had nearly blown out yanked her to her feet and pushed
her forward.

Taiya stumbled over what seemed like the fiftieth tree root and sighed around the gag in her mouth. The men had tired
ungagging her two days ago, but had quickly decided against it as she started screaming again. Her hands were bound in front
of her and every once in a while, the man holding the other end of the rope would yank on it as if it was a leash. Taiya's wits
here frayed and any courage her being had held in the first place was now scattered to the four winds. She felt like a slave, and
she figured that that's what she was going to be if she wasn't able to get herself out of it. The man pulled her forward and she
flew past him, landing in a heap on the ground. She whimpered as the man unbound her hands and yanked her to her feet,
jeering something at her and laughing with the others. He yanked her off into the trees where he threw her against a tree. Her
eyes widened when she realized what this man's intentions were and she tried to scream around the gag, but she couldn't get
anything out. He advanced on her, running a grimy hand down her cheek, she yanked away from the touch in disgust, wracking
her brain for an idea as it began to shut down from her shock. He suddenly grabbed herroughly and pressed his lips to hers and
she whimpered. Movement suddenly found its was to her arms and legs, she slammed her knee up into the man's groin and bit
his lip - hard. He cursed and collapsed to the ground a few feet away.

Taiya was begining to hyperventalate, she stared wide-eyed at the man before taking off in the opposite direction. She ran
blindly, not knowing which way she was going, and unable to choose one as tears blurred her vision. Anything was better than
this - even Karen screaming at her. Suddenly she tripped over a tree root, and with a scream she flew forward, the ground
rushing up to meet her. She slammed into the ground and screamed again as her ankle twisted. Taiya began to curse angrily as
she stumbled to her feet and continued forward, trying to get away from the fast approaching vocies.
"Get a grip you idiot," she screamed to herself on the inside. She stumbled again, and entered a clearing where, much to her
amazement, wasn't a clearing at all. Tall white buildings and waterfalls graced her vision, and Taiya momentarily forgot the pain
in her foot and her terror to gape in awe. The sound of vocies broke her from her trance and she screamed as a group of men
came nearer to her. She backed up against a tree, tears pouring from her eyes and her sobs effectively stopped her from
screaming.

Her former captors dashed into a clearing and yelled something in their language. One of the new men said something in the
same language, and much to her surprise, stepped in front of her. The other men cursed and took off.

****

Aragorn walked over to the girl and placed a hand on her shoulder, and her head snapped up. She looked terrified, and she
had a reason to be. Suddenly she threw herself at him, mumbling what he assumed was thanks - though hi didn't quite
understand what it was that she said, since she spoke in a language he didn't understand. He held her for a moment until she
passed out from exaustion before picking her up and walking toward the city. Arwen ran up with a cry, "What happened?!"
"I do not know," Aragorn replied, "She was running from bandits though. She speaks a language I have never heard before."
"Come, we'll take her inside," Arwen said, leading Aragorn inside and to a bedroom. He laid her down on the bed before
leaving to fetch Elrond. Arwen immediately called for help, and two other female elves came in. They began to clean the girl's
wounds and washed her as best they could before dressing her in a nightgown and tucking the covers up around her chin.

****

Taiya awoke feeling safe and warm. She opened her eyes and stared around her in awe at the beauty of the place she was in.
She sat up and noticed the white filmy nightgown she wore. She moved over to the open air window and leaned out, smiling at
the sound of birds sining and the sight of flowers below her.

"You are awake."

She turned to see a beuatiful woman walking toward her, dark hair flowing around her and blue eyes filled with concern. The
woman spoke again, "I am Arwen, you can understand me?"
Taiya nodded and Arwen smiled, "Well, let's get you dressed and then take you to meet my father shall we? Let's see here, ah,
yes!"
She pulled out a pale lavender gown that was unlike anything she had ever seen. It had a low, circular neckline and sleeves that
strangely reminded her of the sleeves she'd seen in the movies on girls from th middle ages. The skirt trailed onto the floor, and
it shimmered slightly, a sliver embroidery running up the sleeves and down to sprinkle the bodice of the gown. The embroidery
was simple, yet elegant and Taiya was immediately in love with it. Arwen helped her dress in it before the other woman sat her
down and brushed out her long golden-brown hair that she usually held back in a braid. She only realized that her hair was
down and showed its true length, reching down to her hips. Arwen weaved a few tiny lavender flowers into her hair, sprinkling
them over it like lillies on a pond. Arwen then smiled at her, "You are beautiful."
Taiya blushed, "I'm anything but."
"Why do you say such a thing? You have beautiful eyes and hair, you are an elf are you not?"
Taiya stared at her reflection and realized that Arwen mean her ears, she looked at Arwen's ears and noticed the same point
and smiled, "I can't be."
"And how is that," Arwen asked.
"I'm everything an Elf isn't. I'm not graceful. I'm accident prone and I'm scared by a lot of things," Taiya replied, "But here I feel
like a princess. I'm Taiya."
Arwen smiled, "Then a princess you shall be. Come little sister, it is time to see father."
"Sister?"
Arwen smiled, "You have no one, your eyes say this. I would have you be my sister."
"I'd like that."

****

"Father?"
Elrond looked up from his conversation with Aragorn and smiled, "Arwen."
Arwen walked in, leading their new guest in, "This is Taiya, she says she is not an elf because she is a little clumsy, but I do not
belive this."
Taiya looked really confused, for she had spoken in a language she didn't understand, Arwen however, continued, "She has no
family... And I have always wanted a sister."
Elrond raised an eyebrow and looked at the girl who was trying to hide behind Arwen. He smiled and held a hand out to her,
"Welcome to Rivendell daughter mine."
Taiya smiled, and took his hand, "Hello..."
"Ah yes, this is Aragorn," Elrond stated.
Aragorn smiled and bowed over Taiya's hand, "It is an honor Lady Taiya."
Taiya turned bright red, and Arwen spoke up, "I am going to show our new sister around Rivendell."
She turned to lead Taiya out of the room and Taiya went to follow, but tripped on the hem of her gown, let out a startled
squeak and closed her eyes, expecting the floor to rush up and meet her. Arms surrounded her and she looked up into the
amused gaze of her new father, "You'll grow out of it." He said simply before kissing her forehead and pushing her out the door
after Arwen.

Chapter Two:

"Tell me again why I'm doing this?"
Aragorn sighed, "You are learning this so that you can defend yoursef."
"But I'm not skilled enough for this... I'll kill someone."
"That's the point Taiya," Aragorn replied.
The girl turned to him, eyes wide and then stared down at the bow and arrow in her hand, "Uh uh. No way. Not in a million
years! I'm gonna poke my eye out - or worse, yours!"
"You have no confidence in yourself Taiya," Aragorn replied, moving over to show her how to hold the bow and fit the arrow
to the string once again.
"With good reason," she replied in her defense.
"If you don't try how will you know that you can't?"
"That's easy," she said, "I can't do anything, I always mess it up."
"Try shooting the arrow this time," Aragorn said, stepping back.
Taiya nodded and bit her lower lip, closing her left eye and taking aim. She really didn't want to do this. It was bad enough that
she was spending all day every day learning history and lanuages and things like that from Arwen. She didn't need to kill
Aragorn too. She let go of the arrow and pressed her eyes closed. The arrow flew up into the air and backwards in an arc,
narrowly missing Aragorn's head. He muttered a curse and Taiya opened one eye, staring at her target, "I missed."
"I noticed," the ranger replied. Taiya turned and her eyes widened to see the arrow protruding from a tree less than an inch
from the man's head, "I'm so sorry!"
She rushed forward to help, but he raised a hand and pulled the arrow out of the tree himself, "Why don't we take a break,
okay?"
She nodded and took off in the direction of the bridge crossing the river that ran through Rivendell.

Taiya sat down with a sigh, dangling her feet over the edge of the bridge in a most unladylike fashion. She stared into the water
below, marveling at how the water trickled past with a murmur of sound. The willow tree that overhung the river shaded the
bridge, making the day seem that much cooler. She laid down on her stomach, completely oblivious to the fact that her green
skirts were now dangling in the water. She reached down, touching the water with a smile as leaves from the willow fell and
landed around her fingers. The wind blew through the branches of the trees with a contented sigh. Taiya sighed and tried to
stand, but her balance wobbled, effectively dumping her into the cold water. She sputtered, and stood shakily, covered from
head to toe in the icey water, "Second one toady, nice...."
She waded to the water's edge and pulled herself out of the water, collapsing onto the ground by the roots of the willow tree.
How was she going to explain this one? She fell into the stream, that was definately new. At least she hadn't knocked down all
of the bookshelves in Elrond's library yet... In fact, she hadn't had the chance to. She'd been avoiding it for that purpose,
praying that the weather would stay nice so that she didn't have to study inside. She groaned, winging out her hair and her skirt
before leaning against the tree. She was clumsy, not a klutz - klutz meant that she was hopless, and she wasn't willing to admit
it. Arwen, Aragorn and Elrond belived that she could overcome this stage of akwardness. She sighed and lay down, watching
the shade-dappled water flow by merrily.

****

She awoke some time later to the sound of her name being called. Taiya sat up, trying to remeber what happened, and
remebered her escapade with Aragorn, then falling into the stream. She was still somewhat wet, which meant she couldn't have
been asleep for more than an hour or so, but that didn't help how she felt. The voice called her name again, and she recognized
it as Arwen's. She stood and made her way in the direction her voice was coming from. When she stepped out into the clearing
Arwen looked her over from head to toe and sighed, "What happened."
Taiya blushed, "I fell in the stream."
Arwen's eyebrows shot up and she chuckled, "Well, let's get you cleaned up, we have visitors tonight."
"We do?"
"Yes, we do," Arwen replied, "King Thrainduil has come from Mirkwood to visit, Father wishes for him to meet you. And you
haven't met Legolas yet."
"Lego-what?"
Taiya was thouroughly confused, who was Legolas?, "Um. not to sound rood or anything, but who's he?"
"Legolas is Thrainduil's son," Arwen replied as they walked down the hall, "He's a great friend to both Aragorn and myself."
"Oh."

They continued on until Taiya bumped into someone. She looked up from the green tunic she'd found herself looking at into the
eyes of a bemused elf. She turned beet red, knowing that she looked anything but elf-like. Arwen giggled as Taiya stepped
away from him and spoke, "Legolas, this is my sister Taiya, Taiya, meet Legolas."
"Mi'lady," the blonde elf said, leaning over her hand.
She blushed even harder and was not amused to find that Arwen found this funny, "Hello - Arwen, it's not funny."
Arwen giggled again, "It is so. You need to lighten up, it's not every day that you fall into a stream on purpose."
Legolas let out a chuckle and Taiya turned to her new sister, "I didn't fall in on purpose Arwen, it was an accident."
Arwen kept giggling and Legolas asked, "You fell into the river?"
Taiya blushed yet again, "Yes."
He smiled, "Well, that is something I've never heard an elf do before."
"I do a lot of things that aren't elf-like sir," she replied, "Now, if you both will excuse me, I'm going to go humiliate myself
again."
She stalked off and Arwen burst out laughing, Legolas following suit, "She looks like she should be a human."
Arwen hit Legolas upside the shoulder, "Hey! Taiya's as much an elf as you or I, she just has a few coordination problems
that's all."
"That was coordination?"
"She's a little clumsy is all," the blur-eyed she-elf replied, "She'll grow out of it. She's only sixteen  - no wait, seventeen."
"She's but a child," Legolas exclaimed.
"Yes, and to her you're an old man, what with all you two thousand and eightysix years," Arwen replied.

****

And so it was that Taiya was no longer sixteen. Two weeks had passed since her arrival in Rivendell, and with that passing
went her birthday, which they all remebered with much amusement. Taiya had been so surprised when Aragorn and Arwen
jumped out to say happy birthday, that she'd let out a shriek and toppled off the railing of the council chamber into a flower
bed. Elrond had chosen to appear the moment she was climbing back over the railing and asked what was going on, causing
the girl to tumble back into the flowers and remark, "I belive you need new flowers."

Time seemed to pass quickly, and both weeks had, showing just how much of an individual she was. To Arwen's surprise,
Taiya soaked up knowledge like a sponge, and she was already teaching her about the coming of Man in Middle-Earth, that
was the very begining of the Second Age. Aragorn in turn, kept trying to teach her how to use a sword and a bow and arrow,
but her archery was hopless and her swordmanship was to a point where it was rather pointless to continue trying. Elrond had
taken to teaching her about Elvish customs and the goings on the current year. She spent much of her time ouside in the gardens
or somewhere else on the grounds, and despite her clumsiness, the residents had become fond of the newest addition to
Rivendell, and were all rather pleased to hear that she'd been adopted by Elrond.

Of course, none of this had to do with the here and now. In the now Taiya was in the bathing chamber soaking away the
memories of that days events, and it was working rather well. She sighed and got out of the water, wrapping herself in a large
fluffy towel and moving back into her bedroom. She dried off and pulled on her favorite dress, the one Arwen had given her the
day she came to Rivendell. She dried her hair and picked up the book she was reading - or trying to read. it had been given to
her to help her with her Qyena, and so she spent most of her time deciphering what the words were. Though it was a rather
cute story about an elf girl who wanted to wander the globe and how that came about. She sat down in the chair strategically
placed by on of her windows so that she had a wonderful veiw of all of Rivendell and opened to book, looking down at the
page and becoming absorbed in it.

****

A little less than an hour later Arwen entered the room and smiled at Taiya. She picked up the girl's brush and some of the
flowers that had so quckly become her favorites and moved behind her. She began brushing her hair and weaving the flowers
into her hair, replicated the way it had looked when she'd first arrived. Taiya smiled up at her, and when Arwen was finished
she stood and hugged her, "Thank you."
Arwen smiled, "I think we should go grace the men with our presence."
Taiya giggled and the pair exited the room arm in arm, book forgotten on the recently vacated chair.

They entered the main hall with a case of the giggles as they recounted Taiya's mishap with the stream, which Taiya now found
extreemly funny, but still rather embarassing. Elrond turned and smiled, "Ah, if it isn't the two most beautiful women in all of
Rivendell."
Taiya smiled and dashed across the length of the room, jumping into his arms. He laughed and caught her, a smile plastered to
his face, "And how is my Taiya the evening."
She smiled up at him, "I'm fine Papa."
'Papa' was the name she had given Elrond, because 'Father' seemed to formal, 'Dad' reminded her of a wilted flower for some
odd reason, and 'Daddy' was too childish. Elrond greeted Arwen and she kissed him on the cheek and then he turned back to
thier guests, his arm around Taiya's shoulders. She leaned her head on his shoulder as Elrond intorduced them, "Trainduil,
Legolas, I'd like you to meet my youngest, Taiya."
Legolas grinned, "We meet again Lady, I hope you are dryer this evening."
Taiya turned bright red, "Yes, thank you."
Thrainduil kissed her hand, "It is wonderful to see such a happier spirit in these halls, Elrond is too serious for his own good."
Elrond wasn't paying attention, "Dryer? What happened."
"Nothing Papa," Taiya replied a little too quickly.
"Why don't I belive you," he asked, rasing an eyebrow.
Arwen giggled again, "She had an encounter with the stream Father."
Elrond smiled, "Ah, that explains it. I hope you archery lesson went better than your encounter with the stream did."
Taiya blushed darker and mumbled something. Aragorn smiled, "The arrow went in the wrong direction."
Elrond laughed and hugged her, "Well, I belive it's time to eat, shall we?"
Thrainduil nodded and Elrond led them into the dining hall. Aragorn offered Arwen his arm and followed Thrainduil into the
room, followed by Legolas.

A scream erupted from Taiya's throat and she sat upright, her breathing heavy and her eyes wide. She looked widly about and stared into the darkness that surrounded her. She shivered, she hated the dark with a passion. When she was little she would imagine that monsters would come out from the shadows together - she'd never recovered from it, not with her imagination. The door was flung open and white light spilled into the dark room, momentarily blinding its lone occupant. She winced and stared at the tall male figure in the door way as he strode forward.
"Taiya?"
Legolas. He was the only one close enough to hear her scream. She suddenly felt like running to Elrond's room and climbing into bed with her new father, "I- I'm okay."
He sat down next to her, "Are you sure."
She nodded vigorously, "Yeah."
She was trembling, he could feel it, and she knew that he didn't belive her. He pulled her into his arms and she collapsed into them willingly, finally allowing herself to cry.
"What happened?"
"I- I had a dream - no a nightmare, and then I was surrounded by darkness, it was so scary," she whispered, "I felt like it would swallow me..."
He hugged her closer, "You don't like the dark?"
"I'm terrified of the dark. I usually leave a candle burning, but I guess I forgot," she replied.
She pulled away from him, and whiped her eyes, "Thank you for your concern."
He smiled, "Sleep well Taiya."
He stood and left the room, closing the door gently behind him. Taiya stared off into the darkness for a moment longer before bolting out of bed to the door and down the hall.

Elrond snapped awake at the sound of his door being opened and closed. He opened his eyes to see Taiya walk over to the edge of his bed and crawl under the covers, "Taiya? What is it?"
"I'm scared of the dark," she replied sheepishly before pulling the covers over her head in embarrassment. Elrond chuckled, "Well, you're always welcome here."
She peeked out from under the covers and smiled, he smiled back and pulled her into his arms, allowing his new daughter to cuddle up to him, as an afterthought he questioned, "I don't need to chase away any monsters do I?"
His only response was a sleepy giggle.

****

Taiya awoke the next morning to find her father already gone. She streched and climbed out of bed, dashing to her room in her
nightgown to change before going to breakfast. She  dashed down the hallway, hoping to not be seen, as she was dressed indecently and bumped into someone, falling to her rump with an 'ooph' sound. She looked up at the person she had assaulted to see Aragorn smiling down at her amused, "Taiya? Why are you out here in your nightclothes."
Taiya blushed and scrambled to her feet, "I - um... I don't wanna talk about it?"
"Talk about what," Aragorn asked.
"I'mafraidofthedark,okay," she mumbled quickly and then dashed off.
It took Aragorn a few moments to decipher her words, but then he chuckled and shook his head, what would she come up with next.

Taiya quickly donned a light silver-white gown and ran a brush through her hair before rushing out of the room to make it to breakfast on time. She dashed down the hall and down the garden steps, cutting across the garden to make the trip shorter. She stopped and caught her breath before straightening her gown and walking into the dining hall. The only ones there were Elrond, Arwen, Thrainduil, Legolas and Aragorn, who gave her a sly grin. She walked over and kissed Elrond on the cheek before sitting down and looking at the food on her plate. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Aragorn whisper something to Arwen, who giggled and gave her an amused glance. Taiya blushed and began to eat, turning her full attention to her plate.

****

Later, after Arwen had asked about her episode the night before, and after she got back at Aragorn for telling by pushing him into the stream 'on accident', she went on her usual daily walk. She marvled at the beauty of her new home, the green grass and beautiful trees. The sounds of birds singing and squirrels chittering to each other made her happy and she closed her eyes, relishing in the early autumn air. she stoped at the sound of movement to her right and opened her eyes, moving to stand behind a tree and look out into the clearing. Legolas was there, training with two daggers made for close range combat. His movements were graceful and she couldn't help but stare at the way he used the knives. He seemed to have perfect poise and muscle movement, and she silently decided that she wanted to learn how to use those, not a sword, or a bow, but daggers... Surely daggers were safer that a sword.
"You can come out," Legolas' voice said and she turned red and stepped out from behind the tree.
"I'm sorrry, I was only curious."
"It's alright Lady Taiya," he replied, "You like Knife fighting?"
"I've never seen it before, is it hard," she asked.
"It can be, and can also be easy," Legolas replied, looking up at her, "If you would like, I can teach you."
"Really," she asked, an excited note coming into her voice, then it fell, "Are you sure? I might poke your eye out or something."
He chuckled, "I'm sure."
She girnned and Legolas held out one of his baldes. She moved forward and took it from him, examining the blade closely, "Um, do you have anything less sharp? So I don't hurt anyone while you teach me?"
"I can get something, but you will have to use true battle knives sometime," he told her, talking the kinfe back.
"Okay," she replied, sitting down on a log and watching him, "How long are you and your father staying?"
"I do not know," he replied, "Come, let's go back."
She stood and the pair walked back toward Rivendell.

With her new weponry interest and teacher, Aragorn was more than happy to go on to trying to teach Taiya how to ride a horse. He had laughed and warned Legolas about her accidents, wishing him luck before Taiya let out a panicked shriek, jumping to her feet and yelling, "Arwen's going to kill me!" before running off.

****

Arwen sighed and looked over the top of the book she held in her hands, "You're not listening."
Taiya blushed, "I'm sorry, it's just, well, it's so boring."
Arwen laughed, knowing full well that the period that they were studying was extreemly boring, "If you promise to read this book on your own, I'll move on to the next era. There the events leading up to the Last Alliance take place."
"Last Alliace? Sounds interesting, I promise," Taiya said, quickly taking the book from Arwen, closing it with a snap and setting it down next to her. Arwen chuckled and began to speak to the girl in front of her.