Summary: Takes place before the War of the Ring. When entering Mirkwood, Legolas and Aragorn are separated. While Aragorn searches for his friend, he begins to realize that he is not alone…..
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Tolkien's work obviously does not belong to me, or I would go around bragging about it a lot more (who wouldn't?)
Aragorn strained his senses to their limits. So far he had detected nothing overtly dangerous but a pair of spiders, who were stragglers like himself. Thankfully, they had not noticed him, either.
He wondered again how he had gotten into such a mess. One moment Legolas was walking right beside him-the next he was standing alone in the dim twilight of Mirkwood, and it was getting dimmer every second.
"Legolas!" he shouted, trying to get his friend's attention but not attract anything unwanted at the same time. "LEGOLAS!"
The only answer was the faint echo of his words. Aragorn peered up through the thick foliage, and judged it to be nearly dusk. That left him with very little time to find Legolas, or, if that was impossible, a safe place to sleep.
He looked ahead again, shuddering involuntarily. He did NOT want to be trapped in Mirkwood at such a late hour, especially without Legolas as a guide. "Legolas!" he tried again. "Legolas, it's me!"
Leaves fluttered down from the trees above-Aragorn listened intently for a moment, but there was utter silence in Mirkwood. "Legolas?" he hissed. "Please tell me that's you. If it's you, I'll kill you, I swear."
For a moment, he could have sworn he heard a voice calling him. "Aragorn?" it said. "Blasted human, where are you?!" Excitement rose in his chest, drowning out the fear.
"Legolas?" he shouted, no longer caring about the beasts around him. "Legolas!" The voice did not speak again. "LEGOLAS!!" Aragorn yelled, but again he heard nothing, not even the voice.
He heard the whoosh of the oppressive Mirkwood air as it was disturbed, somewhere above his head. Aragorn was careful not to draw his blade-the sound might disturb some of the more aggressive wildlife of Mirkwood.
"'Come with me,' he says," Aragorn grumbled. "'You worry too much. My home is perfectly safe, as long as you're with me.' Well, Legolas, that's very nice for whoever happens to be travelling with you right this minute, but that person is most certainly not me!" He didn't dare look up into the trees, sure something monstrous would fall on his face and that would be the end of him. Instead, he peered into the trees. Mirkwood got murkier by the moment, and he knew that was NOT a good thing.
"I'm giving up on you," he hissed into the darkness. "I'll find you in the morning." He listened, but heard no reply. For some reason, that disturbed him more than he cared to admit.
As he walked, scouting for a hollow tree or cave to rest for the night, a strange tightness in his chest blossomed and slowly grew. With each passing second the darkness grew more oppressive, covering everything like a thick blanket. It became unbearably hot-he struggled to keep his breathing silent, though his blood roared in his ears. "What's the matter with you?" he whispered, and realized how loud his voice sounded in the dead silence. He heard the pitter patter of feet above him-too many feet for anyone, mortal or immortal, to possess.
Aragorn walked faster, looking about more quickly, desperate to find a place out of the open. "I'd settle for a skunk's den at this point," he muttered. No such residence was forthcoming, and his search continued.
WHOOSH! Something moved, directly over his head. Aragorn picked up speed, and heard the feet accelerate their motion as well. He groaned quietly. "Dammit, Legolas," he growled. "I hate you!" Whatever was above him made a very quiet sound, almost like a laugh, but it was too quiet, too frightening and evil and-
All the careful arguments he had made to himself, about how the creature would leave him alone, or Legolas would find him, and there was no way anything would stalk him for so long without eating his face off, evaporated like smoke. Everything evaporated in the face of blind panic.
Aragorn sprang into action, flying through the trees. His stalker made a surprised sort of sound, somewhere behind him. He stopped paying attention to it and tried to pay more attention to his path. He paused. No sounds from above him, no falling leaves-nothing. He was alone. He had to be, because a spider wouldn't know to stay quiet for so long, would it?
He squinted and strained his eyes and found a hollow tree to climb into. "I really, really hate you," he muttered. "But I definitely have to find you in the morning." Then he closed his eyes.
Aragorn knew something was wrong, and he opened his eyes. Two glowing white eyes were inches away from his own, lighting up a strange, gray face, stretched into a lipless smile. "Rhaich!" he yelped, and it lunged for him with a shriek. He ducked under it, barely-its feet whacked him in the face-and scrambled out of the tree.
"LEEEGGGOOOLLLASSSS!!" he screamed, running recklessly through the woods. "HHEEEEELLLPPPP!"
"Hateses elveses!" a voice howled behind him. "Hateses them, hateses!" A bright light flashed in front of him-Aragorn fell to his knees, shielding his eyes.
"Now now," a voice chuckled.
"Aragorn, you fool! Where did you go?" a very familiar voice demanded. "You should be thankful I found Mithrandir wandering these woods."
"Legolas," Aragorn said. "Labo vi Orodruin."
"WHAT!?" Legolas shouted, enraged. Aragorn's eyes were adjusting to the light-he could see Legolas's face, and his expression made the terror of the last few hours almost worthwhile. His elven friend grabbed him and hauled him to his feet; then embraced him. "Aragorn, when I couldn't find you…goheno nin, mellon-nin."
"Ú-moe edhored, Legolas," Aragorn assured him, smiling in spite of himself. "Now let me go."
Legolas complied, and Aragorn turned to Gandalf. "What was that?" he demanded.
"That, son of Isildur, was Gollum," Gandalf replied. "I followed him to Mirkwood, but lost him when I came upon Legolas. I had no idea searching for you would lead me to him."
"But Gandalf, why would he-"
"He probably wanted to try his luck and eat you," Gandalf told him. "He probably break your head open with a rock, aimed from the safety of the trees. I doubt he would have managed, though."
"On that we both agree," Legolas said. "Estel has a skull like granite."
"He's also tired," Aragorn interrupted. "Would it be too much to ask for someone to find me a place to sleep?"
"Oh, right. Humans-"
"Shut up, Legolas. I mean it." The fear was gone, and it had taken the adrenaline with it, leaving him exhausted. Gandalf lit the way, and they travelled unmolested through Mirkwood.
Rhaich
Labo vi Orodruin- jump in Mount Doom
Goheno nin, mellon nin- forgive me, my friend.
U-moe edhored, Legolas- there is nothing to forgive, Legolas.