The Beautiful Assassin

Disclaimer: Tolkien owns everything mentioned here except Porin.

If anyone from fanfiction.net remembers, this was the fanfic I wrote an year and a half ago (That's a long time!) that I never EVER updated, despite pleas. Hopefully, this will be different, but only if I get reviews (Review, people!) Anyway, this story takes place after ROTK, when Aragorn and Éomer are riding together to fight their enemies, and Legolas and Gimli just happened to be with them. Let the story begin!

~Vivi, the existentially anguished black mage

Porin looked at the camped soldiers from behind a tree and strained her searching eyes to see the faces of the tired soldiers. She quickly and lightly ran over the muddy soil to a nearby bush to get a better look. It was nighttime, and the rain was pouring heavily, making the ground very hard to travel on, especially for soldiers with horses. From what Porin could see, most of the soldiers were sleeping, with the exception of those awake to guard or to tend the wounded. They were all fair-faced with blond or dark hair, and they all looked as if they were exhausted. It did not take time for Porin to figure out which one was her target, since he was the only one that seemed tireless, with a face fairer than all the others, and he was the only one who did not wear his hood, even though it was raining, showing his long blond hair that was partly tied and braided behind his head to show his pointy elf ears, and his bright blue eyes seemed to shine, even in the foggy night air. She wanted to attack him right away, but the rain and fog were too heavy for a successful shot from the bow, and there were too many people awake for her to attack with the short knife. Finally, after much ruminating, she decided to wait in the bush until the night fully opened…and then she will kill him.

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Legolas sighed and looked at Aragorn, who was sleeping peacefully beside him. The last battle filled the men with fatigue, and even the guards seemed to be sleeping. The downpour made mud of the ground and slowed the men and horses so greatly that they had to camp out here. Otherwise, Legolas was sure that the men would have gladly traveled all night so that they would finally be home at sunup. Legolas slowly and carefully propped up Aragorn, whose head was leaning on Legolas’ shoulder, against the tree behind him. The elf stood up and looked over the camp, with the sleeping bodies of many men strewn all over the wet ground. The rain had finally stopped, and Legolas darted his bright eyes to and fro to search for a friend, and, when he finally found him at the other side of the camp, he smiled mischievously and light-footedly walked around, or, if he had to, jumped over the bodies blocking his path, humming softly with a smile an elven tune that was very pleasing to the soldiers’ ears, and they dreamily smiled at Legolas with closed eyes as he passed by them. He finally stood next to his friend, who was in a deep sleep, snoring quite loudly. Legolas knelt and leaned toward him until he was so close that his lips were slightly touching his friend’s bushy hair. Legolas softly inhaled and then began to sing a very lovely elven song, barely audible at a whisper, into his friend’s ear. At first, his friend fell into an even deeper slumber, smiling peacefully, and then, as if suddenly realizing where the song was coming from, he snorted and instantly opened his eyes and turned to see who was singing into his ear, and saw the elf’s fair face next to his.

“Legolas…what are you doing? Go to sleep…” the friend whispered sleepily.

Legolas’ initial smile disappeared from his face. “I cannot…there is something bothering me, Gimli,” Legolas replied with a troubled voice.

Gimli saw the distress in the elf’s fair face, and asked, “What is wrong, elf?”

Legolas sighed. “I do not know…but I have this feeling…it troubles me greatly…but I do not know how to describe it…”

Although he knew that Legolas was very upset, Gimli replied nonchalantly because he hated to see Legolas so unhappy. “Perhaps it is a leftover from the rush you felt during the battle. Go to sleep, Legolas.”

However, Gimli knew that the elf never had that kind of feeling after a battle, but he was hoping that his words would ease Legolas’ worry at least until next morning. Legolas still looked troubled, but decided to shrug it off so that he could get some sleep. He lay down next to Gimli on his side such that he faced Gimli, who went back to sleep leaning on a tree, and Legolas sighed loudly and went to sleep with his bright eyes gazing at the dwarf.

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Porin was watching Legolas the whole time he was talking with Gimli, who was sleeping very near to the bush where she was hiding. Although she was too far away to hear them, it was the first time she got a good look at him, without rain or fog blocking her view. The fog cleared, showing his long blond hair glimmering in the clear moonlight. His bright, deep blue eyes stared intently at Gimli, glimmering every now and then as if there was a sparkling fire behind his eyes. Porin wondered where it was reflecting from, since there were no light sources other than the steady light from the moon and stars. She studied her target carefully, looking at his tall, slender body covered with a tattered grey cloak, and his face was the most beautiful she had ever seen in her entire life, but she refused to let it deter her from her mission: to kill him and avenge her parents, who were orcs killed in the last battle. It took her some time to catch up with the band of men and horses, but the weather had slowed them down tremendously, whereas she could brave the weather and run swiftly and lightly, even in mud. She finally had a chance for revenge, and she licked her lips with sudden anxiety. ‘This is my first kill,’ she thought. ‘I must do it fast and accurately, without thought, like father trained me.’ However, she suddenly thought, ‘I wonder…what his name is. He looks like an elf, but he is riding with Men of Gondor and Rohan. I wonder why an elf seems to be such a friend with a dwarf. I thought father said those two races disliked each other. Hmm…mother was right…elves are beautiful…’

Suddenly, the rantings in her mind was pierced with the images of Legolas shooting the fatal arrows that killed her father and mother, and her heart filled with hatred and malice toward the sleeping elf. She touched a hole in her father’s armor, which she took to wear after he was killed by an arrow that went through his heart. She also touched the dry bloodstains at the throat of her mother’s cloak, which she also wore after her mother was killed by an arrow into her jugular. With conviction, she got out her father’s bow and readied an arrow quickly. The string groaned as it was stretched, and Legolas woke up suddenly.

“Who is there?” He asked towards Porin’s direction, and she held the bow and arrow in its position, unable to move as Legolas sat up. ‘Now is the time! He is in full view! Kill him now!’ she thought she could hear her father say, but she hesitated and held her breath as she saw Legolas slowly stand up, revealing that he was even taller and more slender than she originally thought. Her heart skipped a beat as his bright blue eyes penetrated hers. She was finally looking eye-to-eye with her target. She adjusted the bow and arrow such that it now pointed to his brow. ‘Now!’ she thought and she released the arrow.

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Legolas ducked as he heard the too-familiar sound of an arrow being released, and, in a split-second, he was able successfully to dodge an arrow aimed at his head. Suddenly, he heard a cry in Orkish come out from the bushes, and a tall figure clad in orc cloak and armor ran towards him with a short knife in hand. The figure was ready to stab him in the head, but he successfully caught its wrist just as the knife’s edge slightly touched his hair. He twisted its arm and turned it around until the arm was behind its back, and he was facing the back of the figure’s cloak. It cried out in pain and let go of the knife, and it fell to the wet ground softly. Legolas grabbed hold of the other wrist and brought them together behind the figure. It was moving wildly and screaming and cursing in Orkish, making Legolas cringe to hear such language. Suddenly it kicked Legolas in the shins with the back of the heels of its boots, and the elf let go of the figure and stumbled backwards in pain, falling on the ground. It whirled around to face him and jumped on him with such speed and ferocity that Legolas could not get his bow or knife in time, and so he resorted to his fists as he boxed its ears. The figure cried out in pain and fell on Legolas, unconscious. The elf quickly pushed the body aside and stood up and looked around and saw that most of the soldiers had woken up from the noise and had just stared as Legolas fought it off.

“Are you all right?” Aragorn asked as he pushed the soldiers and broke the circle that had surrounded Legolas and the figure.

“I am fine, although I ca say say that for the orc that attacked me,” Legolas replied, looking at the "orc", who was face-down on the ground.

Gimli looked at the figure, and his face changed from worry to puzzlement. “Legolas, do some orcs have fair skin?”

“What are you talking about, Gim-…oh!” Although Legolas fought with the “orc,” he had never noticed that it had long, slender hands, with skin so fair like that of elf-maids. Legolas knelt down at the figure and turned it over. He was shocked to find that, under the hood, was a maiden of the race of Men, although she was so fair she could have easily been considered an elf-maid. Her long, beautiful black hair spilled out from her hood onto her shoulders and the ground, and she seemed to be sleeping peacefully, with her eyes closed and her luscious lips slightly parted as she breathed softly and peacefully. There was no sign of the hatred or ferocity on her beautiful face that Legolas felt emanating from the figure just minutes before.

All the soldiers, including Aragorn and Gimli, gawked at the sudden revelation, and Aragorn, recovering from the initial shock, said, “That is not an orc! She is of the race of Men, yet she is dressed in orc-clothing…” He ruminated for a while as everyone remained silent, and he finally decided, “She will come with us to the Houses of Healing. There she can recover.” He had noticed the sudden worry on Legolas’ face when the elf realized he had hurt a fair maiden, and he hoped his words could comfort him. He continued, “Perhaps, when she has healed, she can tell us why she is dressed in orc-clothing and why she attacked Legolas. Meanwhile, tie her to the tree tightly, so that she cannot escape. We will set out at daybreak, and we should make it to Gondor by nightfall.” He walked away and sat down next to a tree and promptly fell asleep, or at least pretended to, for he was quite worried and needed time to ponder. Legolas took some rope and carried her body to a tree, and he knelt down and tightly wrapped the rope around her and knotted it. Suddenly, he touched the soft skin on her cheeks and pushed a few strands of her long hair aside to look at her beautiful face, and he sighed, suddenly wondering what color her eyes were, since her eyes were closed. ‘What am I thinking?’ he thought. ‘She attacked me with the intent to kill! I…will find out everything at sunrise,’ he thought, and he nodded his head with conviction. Thus, he sat down and guarded her till sunrise.

What do you think? Please review! If I get enough good reviews, I will continue with the story. If not, I’ll just go back and do my boring induction proofs for math. Remember, you determine this story’s fate! So, click that little button on the bottom and review! Also, sorry if the chapter was long, but it was only to introduce you to Porin. Plus, it means that you will have more content to review! So, review! (Note: please don’t review my grammar, only review the story…I go to a math school, which is not exactly a good place for English students, if you know what I mean.)