Hey Everyone! Thank you for reading. So i figure this is probably going to be a 2-3 shot. not really sure yet, but it will be short. and dont worry to those of you who are reading survival, im still working on it too.
The Fellowship had been walking for miles and miles and miles and Pippin was exhausted! They had been walking all day. All the young hobbit wanted to do was sleep. Well, first we wanted to eat, and then he could sleep.
Finally, Gandalf called a halt to the small company at sunset and all of the Fellowship went about doing their assigned jobs for making camp. Sam and Frodo started to prepare the food for cooking their evening meal, while Merry and Pippin went to collect firewood. Legolas had gone to scout the surrounding wooded area and Boromir and Gimli were standing guard. Gandalf and Aragorn were quietly discussing the route that the Fellowship should take.
Pippin breathed a sigh of relief when he and Merry stepped out of view from the Fellowship. All day, there had been a tense atmosphere travelling with the group. The tension was so thick it was nearly palpable. Everyone was stressed.
The day had started off well enough. Sam had made a delicious breakfast and Merry had sneaked his younger cousin some extra beacon. But then…. something had happened to Legolas's water skin. Now, Pippin did not know who had played the prank, but he knew for certain it was not Merry or himself. Actually, Frodo and Sam should be added to that group because Pippin was almost certain that both Hobbits had also slept through the night.
Not to mention that when Legolas had abruptly spit out the water in his mouth, which was very strange to see from an elf, Gandalf had closed his eyes, shook his head and looked heavenward. Aragorn too had a strange expression come over his face. The most surprising reaction was Legolas. After he had finished gagging and spitting, his eyes narrowed dangerously and his head slowly turned towards Gimli. The tall elf had taken a deep breath and just… stared. A dark and threatening aura seemed to radiate from the ethereal creature, as though he were stalking his prey. Aragorn looked like a tightly wound coil, ready to jump and restrain Legolas at a moment's notice. Pippin had turned his head towards the dwarf and he noticed that the bearded creature's face had gone white and his eyes were very large. Pippin realized that Gimli just realized what a dangerous position he had put himself into.
Now to be fair to both parties involved, both the elf and the dwarf had been playing pranks on each other since this whole walking-quest thing began. One would prank one day and the other would prank the next. It was just the way it was, but yesterday had been a bad day. Frodo had been talking to Gimli for most of the trek yesterday and, of course, Bilbo's adventures came up. They talked about Gloin and Thorin and all of them, but when they got to the part about Mirkwood, things had gotten…rather ugly. Gimli had loudly talked about how poorly "the sick, twisted elves" and their "gold-hoarding, selfish, evil elf King" had treated the dwarves.
And he had gone on and on, and on all afternoon. Now, Legolas had managed to keep his temper under control for the whole day, until the Fellowship had sat down for dinner. Gimli said something under his breath, which Pippin had heard because he has good ears, about Legolas's mother and the next thing Pippin knew, Legolas had actually leaped over the fire to attack Gimli. Thankfully, Aragorn, Boromir and Gandalf had seen it coming; Pippin had been too absorbed in eating at the time to do more than listen. The wizard and the two men had managed to pull them apart before Gimli lost his life at the hands of an enraged elf. Aragorn had to forcibly drag Legolas into the woods and Gandalf had whacked Gimli's helm with his staff. Those two had a very long talk at the edge of camp.
It was sometime later when Aragorn and Legolas returned to their small clearing and it was very strange. And scary.
Legolas came and sat down next to Aragorn and he stared at Gimli for the rest of the night. That's all he did. He just stared at him.
And then this morning, Gimli did something to Legolas's water. Thankfully the elf did not try to attack Gimli again, but he did have a heated debate with Aragorn in whispered elvish. Frodo's face and ears turned red and his eyes had gotten very large. Pippin had asked for a translation, but Frodo had dazedly shaken his head no.
So, Pippin was glad to get away. The tension was thick and everyone was waiting for the retribution they all knew Gimli was going to get.
It is strange though, that Legolas had not mentioned anything about seeing the group of dwarves in his home when Gimli and Frodo spoke yesterday. The elf did live in Mirkwood, after all. He must have seen them, unless he was not there. All this life, Pippin had heard Bilbo's recounting of the tale and yesterday, he had heard Gimli's, which was actually Gloin's, recounting. Pippin decided that he wanted a different perspective, and he knew just who to ask.
"Pip! What are you smiling at?" Merry's confused and somewhat annoyed voice cut through his thoughts. How could the hobbit be smiling right now? The whole day had been terrible!
"Nothing, Merry." was all the tween replied. His smile however, suggested otherwise.
After the evening meal, the Fellowship sat about the fire. Some people were talking, some were smoking their pipes and others were just sitting there, thinking. For the last few weeks, someone would tell a story before Gandalf told everyone to go to sleep. Pippin rather liked these times. He enjoyed hearing stories he had not heard a thousand times. Sadly, last night there was no story.
Pippin could not sit still any longer. It was time.
"Legolas," the young hobbit started, drawing everyone's attention, "I've been thinking."
An "Oh, no." came from Merry and a groan from Sam. Pippin shot the two a glare, before returning his attention to Legolas. The Elf was waiting with small smirk on his face. The tall elf really did enjoy Pippin's curiosity. Legolas nodded for Pippin to continue, which he did. His words came out in a rush. He did not even stop for a breath.
"Well, I was thinking that since Bilbo and Gloin and the other dwarves came to your home, you must have seen them, right? I mean, I have never heard you say anything about it. And why not? Where you there for it? You must have been there; it is your home after all. What was it like? Were you afraid of them? Why did the dwarves get put into the dungeon? Why don't you ever speak of it? Did something happen that the dwarves have not told anyone? Of did it happen the way they said it did? Did they –"
"Pippin." Gandalf cut the Hobbit off with a warning in his voice.
Legolas, and everyone else, looked as though their heads were spinning. After a few moments, in which everyone leaned in to hear the elf's answers, Legolas replied.
He seemed to choose his words carefully as he spoke. "I … was not there, when Bilbo, Gloin and the others came to my –"
This time, Legolas was cut off by Gandalf saying his name, before adding, "What have I always told you since you were a child? If you are going to tell the truth, tithen pen, tell the whole truth."
Pippin looked at Legolas and then to Gandalf. There was something in Gandalf's eyes that suggested he knew this story. It was almost as if the old wizard knew a secret. Under the beard was a smirk!
Legolas narrowed his eyes as he stared hard at the Istari. What was the old man driving at? Legolas knew that Gandalf wanted him to tell the whole story, but he could not figure out why. What significance could the little part that he actually knew have now? Well, he was not going to make it easy on the old, manipulative bag of bones who insisted on having a dwarf on this quest!
Looking back to Pippin, who he could see was furiously trying to figure out what was going on, Legolas tried again.
"I was there for part of their stay."
Gimli harrumphed at his answer before climbing to his feet and bellowing, "So, you were among those to capture and imprison my father? You admit it then?"
Gandalf's voice cut through before Legolas could respond. "Gimli! Sit!" With much grumbling under his breath, which Gandalf chose to ignore, the dwarf complied. A moment later, Gandalf spoke again. "Legolas, I think it is time that you tell your story."
Legolas attempted to argue, but only got a "But" out before he was silenced by a glare that reminded the young elf far too much of his father.
With a resigned sigh the elf began his tale. "When the small group came to Greenwood, I was in the South…on patrol…"
"Legolas, wake up!" Nimdoron hissed. Legolas jerked awake, immediately sat up and instinctually reached for his weapons, still managing to keep stay on the branches he was precariously balanced on. Nimdoron backed up when he saw that Legolas was awake and waited for his captain's attention. Looking around, Legolas saw that a few of his Lieutenants were waking up the rest of the patrol. Turning his attention to Nimdoron, his second in command, Legolas gave him a questioning look.
"The trees are warning us of orcs. They are great in number and headed this way. They will be here in a few minutes." the dark haired elf answered grimly.
Legolas stood with a nod and proceeded to give out orders. For whatever reason, the orcs had been trying to make a break past the patrols. They seemed to attack with no thought; they were brutal and more savage than normal. No matter what the cost, the orcs were just trying to get past them.
With a shake of his head, Legolas crouched on his branches and drew his bow. Stringing an arrow, Legolas waited and listened. He could hear them coming. The patrol should have been warned earlier than a few minutes, but the trees here in the south were either perverted or dead. Those still alive did not speak the way the trees farther north did. The evil of Dul Guldor had corrupted everything here. Even elves that stayed in the south for too long began to feel the Dark Lord's evil influence. After more than eight or so months, most elves went mad down here. That's why a patrol in the south never lasted more than six months. In one month, Legolas's six-month patrol would be up. One month to go.
Refocusing his thoughts, Legolas narrowed his eyes, looking for movement. They were almost here.
Suddenly, a large host of orcs came crashing through the forest. Archers and swords men came running out together with no order in their ranks. They were simply charging.
At his first sighting, Legolas released an arrow and quickly restrung and shot again. The others in his patrol did the same. Orcs were being pushed backwards from the force of the elves' arrows. Their bodies were beginning to pile up and the orcs further back were being forced to climb over their comrade's bodies.
Legolas almost did not see the orc arrow flying through the air towards him. He barely managed to duck in time and received a nick on his shoulder. Quickly restringing his bow, Legolas took aim and fired, instantly killing the archer who had shot at him.
There were too many orcs and Legolas and his patrol could not keep the orcs from gaining ground. Slowly, the orcs pushed forward.
A sharp cry rang out and Legolas saw that Quesse had been hit by an arrow. Legolas allowed a small sigh of relief as he saw that the small elleth's wound was not life threatening.
Next to him, Nimdoron's voice rang out clearly. "We have runners!"
Shocked, Legolas turned to see that a group of eight orcs had made it past their line and were running north. Legolas gave a sharp whistle and pointed at Heledir.
Leaping gracefully to a tree behind him, Legolas gave chase with Heledir hot on his captain's heels. Legolas was able to catch up to the slowest of the group first. He strung his bow and shot the orc dead, without even stopping to check the kill. He already knew.
Reaching back for another arrow as he ran doggedly through the dense and intertwined trees, Legolas's hand met empty air. He was out of arrows. Putting away his bow, he drew his knives.
The orcs were running unnaturally fast. Legolas was having a hard time gaining ground. He needed to go faster. A moment later, Legolas sensed a gap in the trees before him. Sheathing his weapons, Legolas grabbed a branch directly in front of him and swung himself forward, feet first. His body arched through the air and he curled forward as he flew. The elf landed gracefully on the next tree and continued running. A moment later, Heledir landed behind him. The two heavily armed warriors continued to run. When they caught sight of the remaining orcs, Legolas glanced behind him at his friend. The blonde elf pointed upwards and Heledir nodded his head, even though he knew Legolas could not see him. Heledir slowed down and strung his bow. Legolas picked up his frantic pace, trying to cut off the head of the small pack. Legolas and Heledir were going to attack the orcs from two fronts. Legolas dodged tree branches and jumped from tree to tree at a reckless speed until he found himself slightly ahead of the lead orc.
Legolas suddenly drew his twin knives and leaped out of the tree with both weapons parallel with his raised arms. He was headed straight towards the head orc.
"Wait, wait, wait!" Pippin's excited voice cut Legolas off. "What do you mean; you leaped out of the tree?"
Legolas nodded his head and was about to continue, when Boromir interrupted.
"I do not understand, you jumped out of the tree at an orc. What were you planning on doing when you actually landed on the ground?" he asked incredulously. This story seemed fictitious to the Gondorian. Gimli apparently agreed with the man's thoughts because he scoffed openly at the elf.
Legolas turned to look at the dwarf and he drew his weapons. The elf menacingly twirled his long knives and glared at Gimli. Aragorn was surprised when the dwarf glared back. Although, the ranger did see Gimli gulp when Legolas started twirling his blades.
Legolas finally turned his attention back to Boromir and Aragorn sighed in relief. Legolas gave his blades a final twirl, with his arms bent upwards, just as they had been in the story. The twin knives gleamed with reflected fire light as Legolas held them blade down. He truly looked the part of the predator and Pippin felt a sliver of fear run through him. The hobbit was beginning to realize that the elf was actually very dangerous, or at least that is how it seemed to him. One moment, he was warm and kind and in the next, he was cold and merciless. A killer.
With a flick of his right wrist, Legolas's blade danced in what might have been a parrying move.
"I was not aiming for the ground, Son of Denethor, but the orc." The elf said, with a dangerous smile on his face as his gaze once again found the dwarf.
Legolas suddenly drew his twin knives and leaped out of the tree, with both weapons parallel with his raised arms , straight towards the head orc. With tremendous force, the elf and his knives crashed into the orc leader and it died instantly. Both elf and orc went tumbling to the ground. Legolas had used the orc to cushion his fall. Quickly pulling his knives from the carcass beneath him, Legolas stood to see Heledir executing Legolas's command to stay in the tress and fire his arrows down on the orc. There were four more left to go.
A particularly brutish orc charged Legolas and he was able to sidestep the large creature. The orc, once it realized its back was exposed, swung its sword wildly backwards, attempting to hit the elf. Legolas danced out of range and the orc charged once again. Legolas threw one of his knives into the orc's exposed neck and killed the creature. It dropped lifelessly to the ground a moment later.
"What a mess." Legolas thought as he ran to collect his knife. Looking arund, he saw one archer and one sword bearer left.
Just as he collected his sword and turned to face his next foe, who had hoped to creep up on an unsuspecting elf, Legolas was knocked backwards by a blow to his right shoulder. Hitting the ground hard, pain exploded in the elf's body and Legolas could barely think. He knew he was in danger and needed to get up, but his body would not cooperate. Legolas began to panic as stars dance in his blurred vision. How long had passed? Seconds? Minutes? Where was the orc?
An equally blurred, dark shape suddenly loomed in his field of vision and Legolas tightened his grip on his knife. When the thing grew closer, Legolas heard the painful Dark Speech and without hesitation, he lashed out with his right knife. He stabbed the orc in the gut and twisted to make sure he actually killed it. His grip became slick and he could not hold onto the knife any longer as the orc hissed and cursed as it died. Thankfully, that abomination did not fall on top of him. It fell to the side and Legolas moved to stand. His vision cleared and he was able to regain his breath. Looking around he saw that the orc were dead and Heledir was making his way over, checking the bodies of the orc as he went.
Legolas realized he felt his heart throbbing in his shoulder and when he looked down, he saw an arrow protruding from his flesh. With a wave of dizziness and a sudden bout of pain and nausea, Legolas firmly put his left hand onto the arrow shaft. With a mighty heave, Legolas ripped the arrow out. The pain was intense and he nearly passed out. He did however, fall to his knees.
"You ripped it out? By yourself?" Merry exclaimed with shock and disgust on his face.
"Oh, Merry!" Pippin whined, "Let him finish the story!" Frodo rolled his eyes at his cousins.
Legolas simply said "Yes." and was about to continue when Gimli cut him off this time.
"Let us see it then, elf. The scar." He said, almost haughtily. Gimli did not believe this story one bit. Elves flying through trees and talking trees no less.
The blonde elf narrowed his eyes once again at the dwarf. Gimli was really pushing it tonight. By tomorrow the Fellowship might be down one member! But now he had something to prove, so he did unbutton the collar of his tunic and roughly pulled the right side down to expose his shoulder. And there it was, a scar. The skin was puckered and misshapen around the area and even Gimli had to admit, that though it was an unusual looking scar, it was indeed a scar.
With a satisfied smirk, Legolas re-buttoned his tunic and continued his story.
With a mighty heave, Legolas ripped the arrow out. The pain was intense and he nearly passed out. He did however, fall to his knees. Sucking gulps of air, Legolas tried to force his mind to focus and concentrate on breathing. If he passed out now, Heledir would be exposed, well more exposed, to the enemy. He would be forced to protect them both. A moment later, Legolas heard Heledir call his name and the warrior came to him to examine the wound. While Heledir poked and prodded the sensitive area, Legolas took the opportunity to examine the arrow head. What he saw gave him a chill.
The arrowhead was covered in a sticky, slimy, black substance. It was most likely poison. Legolas shivered again. Who was he kidding? It was poison. Heledir must have seen the same thing he did, because the elf suddenly started talking faster than he had been and he was trying to pull Legolas up. Legolas blinked as he tried to focus on what was being said, but found that he could not. His mind suddenly felt…numb. Abruptly, the world tipped sideways and Legolas could not keep his balance anymore.
The blonde elf, whose wound was now bleeding freely, lay on the ground, unable to move. He knew that he should get up, but frankly he was cold and far too tired. Heledir, who was leaning above him, looked worried though, so maybe he should get up.
Legolas gave it a valiant effort, only to realize that his entire body felt numb. Legolas blinked, trying to remain awake, but everything had suddenly grown dark. All color had faded from the forest and Legolas blinked his eyes lethargically, trying to clear his vision. Shapes began to blur and swirl and a dull roar sounded in his ears.
The last thing he saw were the leaves blowing in the trees above him.
Hey everyone, thanks sooo much for reading! please dont forget to review the chapter. i appreciate any feedback! (and you should check my other stories too! )
For those of you who care:
Nimdoron means white oak. nim is white, doron is oak
Quesse means feather and
Heledir means Kingfisher
I always wondered where Legolas was during the hobbit. im sorry if things go off canon a bit. im calling it creative licence lol
Anyway, thanks for reading!