Alas, For Captains No Hope.
Summary: Mirkwood, T.A. 2891. Fifty years before history would reach another black point. The attack on Dol Guldur and the War of the Ring. Before it all began, an elfling was found. In the chaos, elfs neglect him. Something that shouldn't have happened. And one to blame, the King. Thranduil, watch your back. Revenge can be sweet for one torn apart elf whom you ignored all along.
Introduction: This story will be a deep, hurtful story. The chapters one to three are filled with light fluff and lovely happenings. From there on, it will take a twist. I haven't worked out how much yet, but it certainly will not stay as in the first three chapters. See them as an introduction, before you will enter the mind and life of one heartbroken, grieving elf who refuses to sail or give into his grief. One who has something to finish, before finally leaving Middle-Earth. Someone who has been neglected, ignored, bullied and had too much on both physical and mentally level.
An elf who will take revenge – whether he truly meant it or not.
Skip the first three chapters, if you like. I would advise it, if you aren't very fond of sweetness and fluff. Hopefully my more serious and harsh chapters will you convince you to read it.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything, besides possible OC's. The genius J.R.R. Tolkien owns Middle-Earth, Lord of the Rings, Hobbit and any further works and creations of his. I will not gain anything from this story, besides something to do in my free time and the enjoyment of writing it.
T.A. 2891
It was a normal day in Mirkwood. The usual patrols scheduled were patrolling, small spider webs were being cleared, elflings had their archery classes, novices were pushed to their limits and Ellyth were anxious waiting for news. Nothing that stood out in particular.
In a small cramped room sat a tall, powerful ellon filling in paperwork. As for him, the same tasks were needed to be done. Tasks who required his fullest attention and observation. Before him, the realm's most important letters and information were laid open. Because he was no normal ellon, he was King Thranduil of Mirkwood. Ruler of the wood-elves, son of Oropher. The usual life was not his faith and has never been, for he would rule the lands till his death. He would keep the Shadow and the elves of old Greenwood the Great divided. He would stay until the last of the elves had departed for the Havens.
Today's tasks were among others to read the recently send requests of the settlements to the south of Mirkwood and prepare the information for the court taken place the next day. It was his penultimate task of the official day of work. The king's job was never finished, for he had to be prepared for sudden change of events. Spiders nor orcs would take a break unless they were dead or making plans. The last one made the whole realm anxious, for their beloved ones were out there. This sadly included the king's own sons, who were fighting in Mirkwood's patrols.
King Thranduil signed the letter to the settlements with a sigh of relief. That was at least done! Any news of the settlements was never good. The citizen were always having mischief in any way, causing the court many troubled nights. Even good news for the settlement was bad for them. With good news, they would mostly complain about their lack of assistance in it. With bad news, all the blame would go to them. Not only that, also the demands of help and more wealth. If elves could grow grey hairs, they would all be as grey as Mithrandir himself! Perhaps that was one of the reasons for immortality; Perhaps the Valar had foreseen their trouble with the settlements and showed mercy.
With one hard blow Thranduil Oropherion threw the map closed on his wooden desk. Now he only had the task left to overlook the palace gardeners' request. Unlike the other tasks, that was closer to home. Or more importantly, that was closer to his beloved ones.
The gardeners' request kept the king up until dawn. The request involved placing new kinds of flowers in the back of the queen's personal garden, which had been abandon after the beloved queen's sudden death. The king himself had been too troubled in his mind to take actions. His children had closed themselves away from the world, preferring to grieve on their own. This left the
staff assisting the queen to manage the garden. They had left their king alone as long as they could, but finally it had been too much for them to handle. They tried to send their request to his advisor, but to no avail. Thranduil discovered the problems himself after a short walk through his beloved's gardens. Enough was enough, he decided. His people had given him more than enough time to grieve, it was time that he started picking up life again.
Finally the close to heart request was filled in, he called it a day. He pushed his chair back and stretched himself, readying himself to go to his bedchamber. He set his chair back to the desk and cleared the last bit of papers. The office looked good enough to him.
When the king was close to reaching the wooden door, a knock was sound. "Come in." He said. The door opened and one of the guards on duty appeared in the entrance. "My lord." He greeted with a smooth bow to his sire. The king nodded to him and gave order to stand up. What would be the problem on this sleepless night? He wondered. It could be a hundred things, from spider attacks to greedy men hunting in his woods. What would this night bring to his door?
The guard still stood in warrior position, waiting for his king to let him tell his story. Time had passed since he had entered the office. The king was still pondering about possible events that had taken place and made plans in his mind to take action. He had prepared for the worst, but was caught off guard when the guard told what happened. Most of what was told was lost for the king, for he heard only one sentence.
"..No one was hurt this night..."
The king released his breath which he hadn't realized he had been holding all this time. No one had been hurt, nothing serious had taken place. The first time in months, the news brought to him in the middle of the night had not gotten serious effects for all he knew. No messages of despair and death had to be brought by captains to family members, no funerals had to be prepared. It had been nothing to be concerned over. Everyone was safe.
"My lord?" Thranduil snapped back to the reality. The guard stood uncomfortable in front of him, searching for a reaction to the situation. His king had made no suggestion whatsoever or made any attempts to help the situation. What had happened to his sire? This had been a very unusual reaction. The king always had a solution, or a way to calm the situation. But this night, the kind merely had closed his eyes and breathed heavily. Why? No news of cruel deaths had been brought to him. No news of hurt of his beloved had been brought up. All he had told, was the event that had happened in the stronghold. It wasn't something that usually happened, but it hadn't been too bad either. Maybe the king wasn't very fond of the idea?
Thranduil seemed to realize the impression he had made on the guard. Unlike other nights, the guard looked scared. Guards always learned how to shelter their emotions or reactions, but this guard made them clear in this night. He had to fix this. "Please repeat the story, Berion. I will see if I can help you." He said, in the old reassuring voice. The guard named Berion blinked, before grabbing himself together. In a more calm voice, he told the king the happenings of that evening for the second time that night.
It had been several minutes after Berior had left the office, leaving his lord to think about a possible solution. Much to his own dismay, Thranduil had been relieved about the story. It had to be taken seriously, not with this careless mood.
Instead of wrong ended battles, the problem had been harmless. No warriors, enemies or any other danger had been included. At least as far as he knew. You would never guess what had happened; Not in a million years.
Under a tree in a recently build wooden cottage, a baby had been found! An innocent, slightly scared creature made by Ilúvatar, otherwise know as Eru. In simple words: One of the children of Ilúvatar, just like any other elf or men. But this child was not one of the secondborn, he was one of them. Not only an elf, he was one of their! A wood-elf, a recently born one. Had Eru blessed them with an elfling, which were so rare at the time? For all he knew, the realm had been blessed. This night, a new citizen of Mirkwood had been born. One that could turn out to be a perfect warrior, or perhaps one of the court's advisors. Thranduil was truly happy, something that had rarely happened in the past few years since his wife's death. Perhaps Mirkwood would go in a new era full of happiness and luck. Whatever would happen from this night on, this one elfling would be included. But the question is, would this elfling be on their side? One thing was sure: King Thranduil was in for an adventure and a challenge, personal and mentally.
Dictionary
Elflings: Children of elves
Ellyth: Female elves
Ellon: Male elves
Oropher: Father of Thranduil, first king of Mirkwood.
Greenwood the Great: Old name for Mirkwood.
Havens: From here on the elves depart to Valinor.
Mithrandir: Elvish name of Gandalf.
Valar: Some see them as gods in their own right as each one has his/her own area of specialization just like the Greek or Roman gods; others see them more as Archangel types.
Berion: Means Protector.
Ilúvatar: Ilúvatar was the supreme God of Elves and Men.