Torn Apart

Disclaimer: All characters, places and anything else associated with Lord of the Rings, are not mine. They're being used without permission, and I am in no way making a profit from using them within this story.

Author's Note: Okay, this story just came to me in the middle of class, when I should have been doing my biology assignment and I had to get it down. This is my first Fan Fiction, so any advice is welcomed, but please, don't be too mean to me. This takes place before the fellowship of the ring, and Aragorn is about the age of twenty five within it's beginning. Like many authors on here I think that he and Legolas must have been friends before the elf quickly came to his defence at the council of Elrond. So yes, this is going by Movie verse. Enough ramblings for now. Sorry.

Chapter One

"What have I done?" I think to myself as the tears continue to stream down my matted cheeks, and land upon the pale and contoured face of my precious burden that I cling tightly to my chest, still unable to accept what has happened. "No, please, mellon nin. You cannot leave me here, do not leave this world I beg you" I plead sobbingly as I cradle his face which is laying on my folded lap with my blood stained hands.

He is so cold, and I can feel the life leaving him as I sit there, the rain pouring down hard upon my hunched over shoulders, as I lean over his body to protect it from the unkindly elements. His breaths are coming in gasps now, and his heart beat is too fast for my liking. It is his blood that stains my hands, and as he lets out another whimper in his unconsciousness, I copy the noise.

"This is my fault."

The phrase repeats itself over and over again, as I stroke the sides of his soiled face, and place a kiss upon his brow. His shivering body has gone into shock, and the wound on his lower stomach is continuing to bleed freely, right through the cloth of my silver cloak that I press tightly against his skin and stain the ground we occupy. I frown, again as I gently lower his head to the mossy floor and take another look at the wound. Having no choice, I use one of my elven daggers to slice through the tunic my friend wears on his shaky form, and just as I feared the injury is still unwilling to clot.

A slight cry escapes the man's lips as his body flinches under my touch. There is so much pain running through him, that even the usual mercy of unconsciousness is not applying and I mentally kick myself as I look down beside me to see the reason for the pain. A single arrow with perfect green feathers, that marks the shooter as a Mirkwood archer. It is my arrow, and from my bow was it shot. I had shot my best friend, and now, there is nothing I can do but sit here and watch him die.

"Please forgive me Aragorn" I say as I secure the strips I have ripped from my own tunic, around his shattered midsection hoping to stop the bleeding. "I never meant for this to happen. I should have listened to you. I should have listened."

His whimpering stops, and his body again goes limp in my arms as I embrace him close to my heart, willing whatever light the Valar has given me, into him. I pray that his life is spared. He, who did not deserve what was done to him. He, who did not deserve to be shot down by someone he thought he could trust. Another icy tear leaves my mithril eyes as the expression on his face again shows itself in my mind. The expression of both fear and betrayal that that looked upon me as I had notched and directed an arrow towards his gut.

Footsteps near me from all sides of the clearing in the woods, but I do not hear them. All I can concentrate on is the uneven raising and falling of Aragorn's chest, as he struggles to hang onto the life he has made. I can feel him tensing as the pain surging through his body increases, and though I sense that my embracing him is part of the cause, I can not let him go. I feel as if the moment I release him, his soul will leave. That the man I know and love as my own brother will die, and that it will be entirely all my fault.

"I did this" I say quietly into the wind with anger in my voice as I allow his head to fall to the crook of my shoulder. "You trusted me to watch your back my brother, and instead it was I who dealt the fatal blow."

"I knew it" came the harsh and accusing voice of the man that immediately catches my attention as I look up at most dominant of the twelve rangers who now surround me. Their eyes show deep worry for the man who lays dying in my arms, and also do they show hatred. Hatred for me, the one whom had threatened the life of one of their own. "I'll kill you for this, elf" continues the man who is known to me as Fadrin as he and several others charge at me. I know what they mean to do, and I tense.

These men had not been unquestioning of me weeks ago, when Aragorn and I had encountered them on the off skirts of Lord Elrond's realm during a raid on an orc camp. They had never had dealings with those from the woodland realm of my father, and the uncomplimentary stories that had been spread about my people had not given them much of a base for trust. However, Aragorn had convinced them to allow the two of us to join them northwards, to investigate some odd goings ons near Eastern Angmar. It had been a steady and fairly uneventful two weeks of traveling, and despite my attempts to befriend them, they for some reason still held their previous notions and prejudgements. Those only increased after the incident in the plains near Bree.

I could tell when it had happened, that I would never be able to convince them that I meant Aragorn no harm, and though Estel had also attempted to relieve their concerns, it was pointless. Now, they were proven right it seems and as I begin to protest, hands quickly come at me, trying to part me from the friend I was loosing more and more with each passing second.

"Unhand him you filthy beast" Fadrin demanded, as I shake my head, and cling to Aragorn more defensively. I know they only want to help him, which was why I do not fight against them, but I also know they hold me responsible for the state he is now in, and would do everything in their power now to keep me away from his side. That is what keeps me from letting him go. I can't be parted from him, not when at any moment his life could be cut short.

A sharp kick to my left side sends me reeling over, and another two to my right, causes my grip on my wounded friend to finally loosen. I feel blood raising into my mouth, as I wrap my slender arms around my chest as the rangers swiftly pull Aragorn out of my reach, and then attempt to pull him out of my sight.

"No" I cry out as I try to get back to my feet, in hopes to catch up, but three of the rangers have stayed behind to make sure I do not follow. To ensure that I am no longer a threat to their fellow ranger of the north. I am grabbed by both shoulders by two of the men, and am roughly forced down to my knees as Fadrin, the other man, stands in front of me, looking down in both anger and disgust.

"I knew you would betray us" he stated flatly, as my jaw clenches, and I loose sight of Aragorn through the foliage of the trees around us. "I told Strider your kind couldn't be trusted, and I was right. You tried to kill him, and quite possibly you succeeded in your task."

I shake my head, which is throbbing from an unknown cause and my golden hair blows in front of my silver eyes that are holding back tears of my own self loathing. "No. No I would never hurt him" I try to say but I am quickly and sharply cut off.

"You bloody shot him" Fadrin spat callously as I received a backhand to the face, and felt his silver ring upon his index finger slice threw my upper lip. Pain shoots through me, and my head sinks for a moment, as his words quiet and he stands there, obviously waiting for some sort of response out of me. I shakily raise my head up again and meet his daring eyes with my own.

"It was an accident" I want to say, but I stop myself.

It wasn't an accident at all.

Realization hits and hits me hard, and suddenly I feel as if a thousand arrows penetrate from every inch of my body. Sorrowful regret fills my heart and soul, as the past events run threw my mind once more. The notching of the arrow, the aiming at Aragorn's chest. The look in his eyes when he realized my intent, and the cry of pain that escaped his lips when my projectile met it's target, sending him down to the ground in a pool of his own blood.

I remember falling to the ground as he did, and coming to, an unknown time span later, and immediately crawling to his side. What had caused me to do such a thing, I still don't know, but there are three things I do know with more certainty than anything in this world. One, that I had struck down the person who had become my dearest friend. Two, that I would never forgive myself, even if he did survive it. And Three, that there was no way that I was going to deny my responsibility in this act.

"What? No defence for yourself, elf?" said the man who stood to my left, when it became clear that I was not going to respond to them as quickly as they wanted me to.

I close my eyes for a moment, refusing to allow the tears to come in front of these men. "I have no defence" I admit, as my shoulders slump in submission. "I did as you said. If Strider should die this day, it is because of me. I will have killed him."

Fadrin let out a deep growl as he returned my answer with several punches and kicks all over my form, and as I remained submissive, the others joined in and continued their attack on me. My hands were quickly and roughly bound behind my back, but I did not fight it. I welcomed the pain, and honestly, I welcomed death. I had broken my vow to protect the adopted human son of Lord Elrond, and could have cost him his life. I deserved to die, if not by the hands of the rangers, than by the breaking of my immortal heart.

"Stop it" Fadrin commanded suddenly, as the attacks ceased, and my body falls limply to the grass. I can feel him fall to one knee and hover over me for a moment before his hands grab a handful of my blond locks, and pull upwards so our eyes meet again. "You nauseate me, Legolas, of the Woodland realm" he continues, as I am then dragged forcefully to my feet that hold me up unevenly. "You will be punished for this deceit, but not by death. No, you don't deserve such an easy sentence. You threatened the life of one of my own. My family, and no one gets away with that. Retribution will be sweet, and you shall soon be wishing that we had just killed you."

"What…..what will you do with me then?" I honestly don't care at this point, but I fell compelled to ask anyway. All I really care about is Aragorn, and that he survives what I have done to him. Even if I never see him again, if I die, or if he never forgives me. As long as he still breathes, that is all that matters. My friend's life, is all that matters now.

Fadrin almost seemed to smile at me as he responds, and when he does so, I fell a wave of fear sweep through my soul. I hide it as best I can, knowing my own welfare is not important, and that this punishment might actually be just. "You my elven prince, will know pain, and know it for the rest of your miserable life. You will be sold, and at the hands of whatever master that decides to burden himself with the likes of you, you will eventually be broken. And if justice is fairly done, then by those hands, you will die."

I cringe again, as my head falls to my chest. The thought of being a slave until my life is ended by the blade or should I fade in time scares me. I have never been one to feel fear, but now it is all that fills my heart. The fear of loosing Aragorn. The fear of my own demise, and the fear of what Aragorn will think of me, should he awake and return to health. However, I brought this on myself, and retribution deserved to be had. For even though these rangers were not the kindest of people, I know they care about Aragorn and will see that all that can be done, is done for him.

"So be it" I think to myself as I close my eyes once more, and accept my much deserved fate.