Returning to Mirkwood
The Elf gently pulled on the reins of the white stallion and looked
around the familiar trees and greeneries. A light smile touched the handsome
features on his face as he took in all that was in front of him.
It's been a long time since he had smelled the sweet aroma of the rich soils and flowers of the forest. His smile widened as he leapt off the horse deftly and led it into the forest. The beast whinnied and took a step back, his clear ebony eyes showing a great distrust of the unknown path in front of it. For all of its years as a foal or a stallion living on the merchant ship, not once had it ever see such a great stretch of forest and trees and darkness.
The Elf stroked its mane gently and whispered to it in his mother tongue. "It's alright… Don't worry."
The horse blinked at its master, and reluctantly took a step into the forest.
"Good boy," its master said. The stallion neighed softly and nuzzled its large nostril into its master's hands. Then it felt his master turn around and speak in the same language he used on it.
"I'm home…"
* * *
Legolas Greenleaf knew that all plants on Middle-Earth have a life of their own. He knew they could hear, they could speak and they have feelings like any other beings. Being an elf who had spent centuries in a woodland, he knew the mysterious properties of plants that other beings never knew existed.
"Hey there…I'm Legolas and I live here," Legolas stopped again and fondled the large trunk of an oak tree. "I hope you like this place."
After such a long time at sea, he noticed many new trees and flowers that he had not seen. Whenever he comes across such new flora, he would stop and talk to them in Sindarin. He had stopped so many times that the stallion behind him had lost all sense of fear, only to have that emotion taken over by an exploding force of impatience, and hunger.
"Patience, Eryn…" Legolas said while back facing the beast. "I know you're hungry and eager for a rest. Just a few more moments. I'll have some rich fare for you at the palace. You can stop eyeing the grass around here."
The stallion neighed softly in reply. One thing its horse brain could never figure out was how its master could sense what it was thinking, when it had not even whinnied or neighed. Perhaps it was a quality of an Elf. Or perhaps it was something between Legolas and him.
But… standing among such rich grass was making its mouth twitch and his teeth itch. It… is a tad too much to ask a horse to not eat grass when it sees them, isn't it?
Legolas seemed to feel his stallion's thoughts, as usual, and stood up. He smiled at the beast and leapt onto its back with a neat somersault.
"Straight ahead," Legolas directed. Eryn neighed loudly and galloped in the directions Legolas said. He had never needed to use a whip on Eryn. The stallion will always understand his instructions and knew how fast or slow he should be maintaining.
At Eryn's swift galloping, Legolas caught sight of the light green palace only moments later. He smiled widely at the sight of his home.
"Home sweet home…"
* * *
"Le…!" The guards at the palace gates were shocked and stunned to see Legolas smiling right in front of them. "Le…Le…"
Legolas raised an eyebrow. "Is my name that hard to pronounce?"
The guards dropped the bows they were holding and jumped onto Legolas. "Legolas! You're back!"
Legolas laughed as he hugged his friends tightly. "Haha… for a moment there I thought you couldn't recognize me!"
Eryn, seeing that the attention was away from it, and that his mouth was really itching for something to eat, neighed loudly to get Legolas' attention. Seeing that he still would not let go of his Elvish friends, Eryn opened its mouth and bit Legolas' cloak.
"Can we get some hay and water for my friend here?" Legolas requested with a laugh while pulling his cloak out of the stallion's mouth before Eryn starts chewing other parts of his garbs. "I'll go and meet my father."
After the guards led Eryn to the stable, Legolas did not enter the palace immediately. He hung around and talked to the flowers planted at the edges of the gate. It had been so long since he could truly sit down beside the plants he grew up with and talk to them. Far too long. Legolas smiled thoughtfully as his fingers touched the sweet pink flowers shaped like stars lightly.
A short while later, Legolas stood up and stretched. As he turned towards the gate, he heard a slight crack from the dark ends of the forest. He stopped and listened closely, wondering if the faint sound was just a fragment of his imagination. However, he knew what he heard and neither twigs nor branches just break and snap for no apparent reason. Quietly, deftly, Legolas walked into the forest towards the direction of the sound.
Being well trained in walking on forest grounds, Legolas covered a half mile shortly after. He knew something was wrong. It wasn't common for a forest to have the stench of blood. And this particular part of the forest air seemed to be drenched with a metallic tang. His steps slowed considerably, and Legolas half-regretted not bringing along his weapons. Then, he felt his boots step into a muddy patch of soil. Legolas was about to step away from the mud when he saw that the mud was a dark red in colour. He knelt down and touched the wet soil. When he lifted his fingers, it was red in colour.
'Something is very wrong…' Legolas thought. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to calm down, and also to allow his Elvish instinct to take over. Then, he started running.
* * *
Legolas knelt down beside the fallen warrior. His dark hair was strewn messily over his face, covering his features. However, the gaping sword wound on his abdomen was glaring fiercely at Legolas. Blood was oozing out in an endless stream from the wound and had already stained a large part of the beaten armoury a shining metallic red.
"Sir? Sir?" Legolas called out gently and pulled back the hair. He was stunned.
The warrior's face, which Legolas had expected to be a man, was that of a woman's. He cast his eyes along the flawless features and for some reason, bit down the urge to caress her face. If not for the wetness on his hands from checking the wound, Legolas would have knelt there and stared at the face before him.
'By Valor, Legolas! What are you doing? You should be getting her to the palace for treatment!' Legolas chided himself. He unbuttoned his cloak and blanketed over the lady before carrying her up. With the new weight resting on his arms and chest, Legolas was glad he did not bring along his weapons. For one, he would have to choose between carrying his prized bow or the injured lady.
With the fastest running speed and strength Legolas could muster, he headed towards the palace. Only this time, his exit from the forest was not as quiet and deft as his entrance. The incessant cracking of fallen twigs and dried leaves alerted another stranger from deeper into the forest, near the site where the lady was found. Only that Legolas was too concerned with the lady to notice that a pair of deep red eyes was watching his every, single movement with a satisfied glint.
* * *
Hi everyone! If you had read this extremely short beginning, A BIG THANKYOU to all!!!. As you have guessed, this story starts when Legolas went back to the Woodland Realm after his sailing trip. ^_^ First of all, I would like to thank Elven_Princess_2005. Why? Because after reading your fanfiction A Silver Lining, I finally found the urge to write/continue/rewrite this An Elven Story. (The history of the original draft was pretty dreary, so I'll spare you guys the details, ya? ^^) Anyway, after reading this, please give your comments/praises/flamers/curses (in short: reviews) about this! I welcome criticisms!!! Just another thing: please don't come after me if my information about Middle-Earth is wrong or that I did not use Sindarin/Quenya for the Elvish speech. (which are the ones in italics. English would be in non-italics) I'll try my best to research while I write, but (=P) my apologies if my research was not detailed. ^o^ Also, my story or plot would be based on the movie version of LOTR (because I'm more familiar with it… =P). To end this very long Author's note, thank you for reading & reviewing!!!
Cheerz!
Androme (if you wish to comment to me privately, please e-mail me at androme87@hotmail.com)
PS: any Orlando fans here? (#^_^#)