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Holli had never seen such destruction before. Since she was just a wee child, she had been told that the Shire was safe from danger and fell magic. Her entire life was centered around the outside world being full of danger, and the Shire being the a safe-haven in Middle Earth. But now, as her home was being utterly obliterated, she felt her entire world crumbling around her.

Orcs were on a rampage. It began in the south, the town of Michael Delving being one of the first to fall to the orcs' wrath. Next came Hobbitown and Needlehole. By the time news arrived of the attack, it was already too late. Orcs came riding in on huge wargs, using axes and crude maces to slaughter the gentle folk of the Shire. Fields were set on fire, houses were ransacked and destroyed by the huge creatures from beyond the Bounds. The hobbits fought back, but their measly bows and daggers did nothing against the gruesome army of orcs.

Holli was among the few to make it out of her village before being killed or captured. The orcs were transporting wagons with cages to keep hobbits captive, but for what use she did not know, nor did she want to think about. As she ran through the woods as quickly as her feet would take her, hood up and scarf flowing behind her, all she could think about was surviving. But where was one to go when one's home is the only safe place in the world?

She was ripped from her thoughts of safety when a large hand suddenly grabbed the back of her cloak, yanking her into the air. There was a crude laugh and words spoken in a language she didn't understand. She looked up to see the face of her captor as they began moving back towards the main village. An orc! Holli began struggling madly, calling desperately for help.

Crysor had had no thoughts of fighting in a battle today. His strict policy was to keep to himself and stay off the main roads and away from the main villages. Being one of the few elves left in Middle Earth, he chose to remain solitary and undisturbed, for undoubtedly he would get pestered with questions as to why he was still here and why he hadn't left yet. Truth was, he didn't want to leave; this was a perfectly good place to stay, and besides, he had a feeling his job here wasn't finished yet.

Anyways, he tried to stay away from towns but he was running out of supplies, and he remembered there being a little hobbit village somewhere close by. What was it called... The Shore? No, no, the Shire, that's what it was. He didn't want to scare the little people too long so he'd just be in and out, get some supplies and be on his way once more...

He stopped when he saw what was happening, his large blue and green gaze widening when the destruction came into sight. Good heavens, what was happening here?

He'd figure it out later. There were orcs and hobbits and those two races do not mix well, and although it seemed that most were dead already, he'd try to save what few were left.

His powerful elven bow was a lot more effective against the orcs than the poor little hobbit bows; he was able to pick a lot of them off from long range before darting in with a knife, trying to distract the orcs long enough to buy the hobbits some time to escape into the forest.

Dodging a swing from a mace, he lunged forward and shot another arrow at an orc that was carrying a hobbit maiden, hopefully causing the brute to drop the poor girl. He whirled once more and smacked an attacker in the face with the bow before stabbing him with his knife, a snarl on his lips.

All the while, however, the elf didn't make a single sound.

The orc holding Holli screeched, then broke the arrow off. Holli had been dropped, and though she was dazed for a moment, she did manage to scramble to her feet and dart away from the orc. She caught a glimpse of the huge humanoid who had attacked her captor, the elf. He was...the tallest thing she had ever seen! She had never even been around Big Folk before, but the elf was beyond anything she imagined. He looked fierce-some with the snarl on his face and the huge bow in his hands. If he hadn't had the form of an elf, without the natural elegance, Holli might have been just as afraid of him as she was of the orcs.

Holli ran off towards the forest once more, this time paying more attention to where she was going. She felt her legs begin to give way though, despite the adrenaline coursing through her, and she knew she had to get somewhere to hide instead of continuing to run.

(Bah, the reception here is awful xP I may be a little slower than usual, sorry)

Crysor had slipped off to the cages to try to free the few hobbits that were left. Knife in hand, he cut the ropes holding the thick wooden beams together, making a hobbit-sized escape hole for them to get out. Bundling the smaller beings in the direction of the woods, he wheeled around to cover them as they made their escape-

The elf almost got an axe blade to his face. Luckily for him, he had pretty sharp reflexes and managed to dodge the majority of the blow, although he did receive a long gash on his cheek when he turned away. He staggered back, about to unleash an arrow of his own when one sank into his shoulder.

Twisted black shaft, ruffled black feathers. The orcs were getting their own archers together; it was time to leave.

Making sure the last of the hobbits had dispersed (they'd be near impossible to find now, hobbits were good at disappearing like that) Crysor turned and made his own escape into the woods, panting heavily as he slipped into the trees. He stopped once he figured he was deep enough in, his thin chest heaving as he caught his breath, slowly beginning to check out his wounds.

So much for avoiding fights.

{No problem! I'll be fairly slow... I'm usually on 24/7 on normal days though x3}

Holli was hidden in a tree (she was grateful she had been around trees her while life and thus was able to climb the plants) when she noticed movement coming through the woods. She froze, climbing to her branch, hoping she was hidden enough among the foliage in order to stay out of sight of--

It was the elf.

The hobbit perked up a bit when she saw her savior, that giant of an elf. She only moved slightly in order to watch him slow to a stop by a tree nearby. She covered her mouth with her hands, gasping softly when she saw the cut on his face and the arrow sticking out of his shoulder. She had to help him!

After a few moments of mentally debating whether or not she should get out of her spot of safety, she decided that the elf needed to be repaid for saving her life. So Holli took a small breath and climbed down a branch or two before dropping to the ground with a thud...at least she landed on her feet. She looked up at the elf, ready to move in case he tried to attack before he realized she was a hobbit.

"H-...Hello," she would say, should he not attack. Her eyes flickered from his face to his shoulder, and back to his face. "I... I want to thank you, for saving me. For saving all of us." She smiled weakly, hoping he spoke the Common tongue.

Crysor spun around once more when he heard something fall to the ground behind him, eyes narrowed as he looked for an attacker of some sort...

It was a hobbit. He recognized this hobbit, actually, it was the little hobbit girl who had been carried along until he shot her aggressor. He merely gave her a nod of acknowledgement before slowly sitting with his back against the tree. He was roughly eye level with a standing hobbit now, so maybe that'd make her feel a little better; maybe he wouldn't be quite as intimidating. Even humans tended to be nervous around a man of such height.

He set to work patching himself up, wincing as he pulled the ragged arrowhead out of his shoulder. A large hand was placed on the darkening spot to stop the bleeding, and the elf let out a long yet strangely quiet sigh.

His gaze turned back to Holli and he gave her a questioning look. Hopefully she'd pick up on the fact that he didn't talk, that was always hard to explain. He communicated through body language and facial expressions, written word if absolutely necessary.

Right now he was asking if she was okay, and what her name was.

He seemed to understand, so that was a relief. Holli visibly winced when he pulled out the arrow, but she didn't comment on it.

"Ah... My name is Hollihock," Holli stated, taking a small breath. Now that she was down on the ground, she did seem more at ease, for she took a few steps towards him. She looked uninjured; the elf had successfully protected her. "Do you need help?" She quickly glanced over him. "I know of some healing plants around this area... If you'd like."

She shifted her weight on her feet, which were of course bare. The young hobbit lass was innocent looking, with her big blue eyes and short brown hair. She had a very natural, hardy look to her. She was obviously a woman of the land.

Crysor studied Holli, giving another slight nod of aknowledgement. He'd introduce himself once they were truly safe- he didn't want to waste the time right now. She looked young, even by hobbit standards; she did look old enough to take care of herself though, at least under normal circumstances. These weren't exactly normal circumstances.

He paused a moment, thinking about the offer. He wouldn't feel right if the hobbit ran off and ended up getting hurt, considering she seemed fairly healthy at this point in time. But he'd need some plants to keep the wound from getting infected, since orcs weren't exactly known for their hygiene. He finally nodded reluctantly, standing up and dusting himself off with his free hand. He gestured at her to lead the way; if she was going to run off somewhere, he was going to go with her.

Holli took a step back as he stood, out of instinct. However she took a breath and told herself that the elf, despite being easily twice her height, had saved her, and thus was safe. It struck her as odd that he didn't speak to her, though. Was he shy? Or did elves just not speak much, especially to non-elves? It didn't matter; she sort of preferred his quiet, at least for now.

She wasn't comfortable with him coming with her. The blood from the wound of his shoulder was becoming visible in the cloth of his clothes, and she didn't know whether to go quickly or slowly in finding the herbs. After a brief pause, she nodded and began off, going at a steady pace through the woods, feet making little noise on the soft earth. She glanced back repeatedly to see if the elf was keeping up (surely his long legs allowed him to do so with ease).

"Kingsfoil is what we're looking for," she told him. "It's a leafy plant, sort of gangly-looking with tiny blue blossoms, usually growing at the foot of oak trees." She looked over her shoulder at him. "It should clean your wounds and help them to heal faster... Ma would use it whenever Pa would hurt himself in a bad fall, and it works pretty quickly." She offered a faint smile before returning to her search of the herb.

He held out a hand to show it was okay; it wasn't like he was going to hurt her after all this, although he didn't blame her for being skittish. He'd probably be nervous around someone as tall as he was if he was in her position.

Crysor had no issues keeping up with the little hobbit. If anything, he had to shorten his stride in order to not pass her up. He nodded at the description of the plant- he had seen it before, just never known what it was called. He kept his sharp eyes peeled for the plant, silently padding along behind her, hardly making a sound. Elves were naturally quiet beings when walking in the woods.

He was just unnatural in that he didn't speak.

Thankfully she hadn't asked, and he wouldn't tell her anytime soon. It was quite honestly none of her business yet, and he never said anything about it to anybody anyways.

His brow furrowed slightly as he caught sight of a small plant, one that matched Holli's description. After a light snap of his fingers to get her attention, he pointed at it, essentially asking if that was it.

Holli continued her steady gait, she paused when she pointed out the plant. She smiled.

"That's exactly it."

And with that she darted after it, as quick as a bug, and in a moment was crouching by the foot of the tree, inspecting the plant. It only took her a moment to pluck it from the ground and pluck a leaf off. "Come, sit down here." She motioned for him to lower himself near the tree so that she could reach his shoulder. "Can you move your tunic* so I can get to your wound?" She squeezed the stem of the plant, and it produced a thick clear sap, supposedly what she was going to use to heal his shoulder... It seemed that she was set on doing it herself, sort of as repaying a favor (if she could even count saving her life as a mere favor).

{*I wasn't sure what he is wearing, so just insert whatever article of clothing is proper in place of tunic x3}

(I don't honestly know either xD tunic works, like what they were wearing in LOTR. He probably has a cloak or something when it gets colder.)

An eyebrow was raised slightly at the small hobbit, although he quickly decided she wasn't going to stop pestering him until he did was he was told. He sat back down, a little heavier this time as if exasperated, and leaned his back against the tree as he had done before. His sleeve was rolled up so she could mess with his shoulder, watching her with a slightly cautious blue and green gaze.

While she was doing that, he craned his neck a little so he could peer around the forest in front of them. Just because they hadn't seen any orcs in a while didn't mean they had just magically disappeared; they were probably running around somewhere and they had just had the good fortune to not stumble across them yet.

And the hobbits, too- where had all the hobbits gone? The little beings were good at making themselves disappear, he'd give them that much.

Holli nodded as he sat, and she used her fingers to collect the sap from the plant. She gulped a little at the sight of his bloody shoulder (she had never seen so much blood!) but she forced herself to continue. She wasn't going to let anything deter her from helping him.

"It will be a bit cold," she told him, "but it shouldn't hurt too much." She spread the sap evenly on her fingers, then began dabbing at his wound, not wanting to cause anymore blood loss than there already was. As she went on she became more comfortable with it and gently massaged the sap into his wound, as she had seen her mother do to her father. Unlike the elf, she wasn't worried about orcs at the moment.

"I'm glad you were here when you were," she stated softly. "We don't usually get any Big Folk this far from the Bounds... Much less elves." As she said that, though, she began to wonder if the man was part-giant, or something. Surely no one would possibly be that large naturally!

He watched her dab the sap onto his shoulder wound, listening instead for anything that might try to sneak up them. Slowly the muscles in his shoulder relaxed as the pain started to go away and he closed his eyes to collect his thoughts, if just for a moment.

He opened them again when Holli brought up the fact that he was so large; he'd admit it, he was a bit tall for an elf. He must look even larger from her perspective. The idea brought a slight smile to his lips and he shrugged, once again looking around to be sure nothing was stalking them.

So far so good.

Holli was reaching for more of the sap when she heard some noises. It seemed the orcs had sent out scouts to search for the lost hobbits. Holli froze, paling. The orcs somehow hadn't seen them yet--praise the gods!--and Holli looked briefly at the elf before dropping the plant and darting up into the tree, going surprisingly quick for a humanoid of her size.

The orcs were carrying their heavy weapons and--were those nets? It seemed that they wished to capture the hobbits like animals with such nets. They looked so out of place in the peaceful forest. But... After a few moments, one of the orcs took out a water skin and began squeezing out a thick black goop onto the nearby trees, and the other orcs began trying to make a fire. Were they trying to burn down the forest go drive out the hobbits?!

Crysor frowned deeply when he saw what the orcs were doing. He barely had time to make a shooing motion to Holli when she had darted up the tree like a squirrel, already out of sight within the thick branches.

... Okay, then, that was good.

The elf himself moved silently behind the tree, nocking an arrow to his bow and peering around once more to track what they were doing. There were a few trying to make a fire- and there was one sort of off by himself pouring the goop out. That was Crysor's first target; he slowly took aim, squinting down his bowline before releasing the string and replacing the fired arrow with another.

The arrow skewered the lone orc through the temple, dropping him like a sack of potatoes. Now would come the question of what to do if he was noticed, and if he wasn't noticed, who his next target was.

He had no doubt it would be like shooting fish in a barrel. From past experiences, orcs weren't very smart.

The orc wasn't noticed... The other orcs were too busy making a fire. They wouldn't notice for a while, it seemed.

Holli, meanwhile, was watching. She was amazed at the elf's aim! She had seen the Bounders--that is, the hobbit version of soldiers--practice archery. They were fairly good, but nowhere near as accurate as the giant man. It made her realize how dangerous he really was.

(I'm on my way to taekwondo so if I disappear that's where I am xD)

Crysor paused a moment; his attack had gone unnoticed. That was good. He silently counted up the remaining orcs... About four left? Something like that.

He gestured at Holli to stay put before silently creeping a little to his right to get a better aim at the remaining orcs. There was a moment's pause, and then another arrow was released, quickly followed by another three. He wasn't wasting any time trying to down them; surely they'd notice he was there if one of their comrades fell right in front of them.

That was why he was trying to shoot them all at once and save himself the hassle of dealing with them separately.

{Gotcha!}

The orcs fell, one-by-one. By the second orc, the two left noticed, and began looking around. The final orc spotted the elf and growled, taking his ax and starting towards him. However, the arrow went through the orc's forehead. He staggered backwards and fell to the ground. However, it was too late, because the fire had been started.

The flames flickered at first, but they very soon caught onto the trail of black goop leading to the trees. The substance was extremely flammable and soon the surrounding trees had caught fire.

Holli saw this, and fear grew inside her. The hobbit felt she couldn't move because she was so afraid. She had always had a fear of fire, but now when she was faced with it she found that she couldn't bring herself to run and escape it, much less climb down a tree.

The elf's eyes widened and he quickly backpedaled, stuffing his bow back in its quiver and running back to the tree Holli was in. With a long arm he managed to snatch her out of the tree like a kitten, deposit her on his thin shoulders, and bolt through the forest like a startled deer.

Crysor didn't like fire. Hated it, really. The idea of getting trapped in a burning forest gave him the start of panic that he needed to run a little faster. Adrenaline was a marvelous thing.

He stopped once to look around and sniff the air, his wide gaze flicking around to try to catch a sight of the flickering blaze that was undoubtedly chasing them, the acrid scent of smoke and whatever the goop was stinging his nose and making his eyes water.

He hated orcs. Loathsome creatures; the fact that they were burning down such a beautiful forest made him furious, but first things first. Get the two of them to safety, and then he could worry about why there were orcs burning things at all.