A Shot in the Dark (Thilbo - Bagginshield)

Chapter 34

Once upon a time there lived a little girl named Minastauriel.

She was a common enough child among her people; sweet and innocent and filled with endless energy. There was nothing particularly striking about her nor was there anything horribly wrong. She was just another child of Mirkwood; beautiful and free as she danced with the leaves and raced the wind.

Minastauriel loved her life and never dreamed of being someone else. She was happy enough chasing her older sister through the trees, or learning the bow from her father. She looked forward to helping her mother cook and sew and clean, and could not imagine anything better than sitting down with her family to listen to her mother's tales of days long passed. She would have spent the rest of her days like this if she could; loved and protected and so very happy. Minastauriel did not need fame or riches or power because none of it would ever make her as happy as she was with her family.

But that life ended the day her parents and sister were killed by Orcs.

Though no one knew it, Minastauriel died that day too. The innocent girl who believed that the world was a wonderful and safe place was butchered with her family one cold day in winter. Now all that remained of that girl was anger and grief and a thirst for justice. Minastauriel died a brutal death, and in her place Tauriel was born.

Tauriel was everything that Minastauriel could never be. She was strong and courageous and could kill without flinching. She was a warrior who no longer fled from the Orcs, but actually hunted them down. She was renowned throughout the kingdom for her skills and tactics and even earned her king's approval. She had power and fame and riches and everything else that Minastauriel never had. Yes, Tauriel was everything that Minastauriel could never have been.

Tauriel was everything Minastauriel had (never) wanted to be.

Minastauriel's story never got a happy ending like other stories. No, hers ended in blood and death and rebirth. Tauriel couldn't change Minastauriel's story, but she could change the ending for others. She could ensure that people like Minastauriel got their happy ending instead of the tragedy that she had endured. And through all of it, Tauriel hoped that somehow she too would find her (Minastauriel's) happy ending one day.

~*~

When Tauriel finally returned, two days had gone by.

"Took you long enough," Bard commented the moment the Elf stepped into the camp.

Tauriel flashed him a vicious glare. She was dirty and unkempt and her hair was a mess, but her shoulders were relaxed and her posture at ease. "Next time we'll send you into the forest to track down the scouts. Does that sound fair?"

"Did you find them?" Bilbo asked before the Man could retort and begin another argument. He was really not in the mood for another round between the two.

Tauriel gave Bard one last poisonous look before looking at the Hobbit. "Yes. I gave them my report and told them to take it to the king. With luck, he'll get it by the end of the week."

"Did you have a lot of trouble finding them?" Beorn wondered as he stared at the Elf's shoulder with narrowed eyes and a frown.

The archer shrugged and gave the bear a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I had a small run-in with some spiders, but I handled them easily enough. I'm fine now."

"Hmp. That doesn't smell 'fine' to me," the shape-shifter muttered, his dark eyes flaring as he continued to stare at her shoulder. "It smells bloody and diseased. You were poisoned by those overgrown insects."