Disclaimer: I own nothing from Tolkien's work or anything else that slipped in (character names, etc.). I own Lenablin, Mariana, Sarban, Zanzibar, and any other character that I decided to name.
Summary: When one of Legolas' closest friends disappears without a trace, he goes off to find her. He meets up with another old friend and together with help from other friends, they go hunting for a ranger. But they end up as the hunted and find more than they bargained for. I can't do a summary to save my life.
Author's note: Tolkien never said that either Aragorn or Legolas had any siblings. I decided to give each of them a sibling. When I refer to Lenablin as "Legolas' brother", that's just what comes out of my mind when it has spare time. The same thing goes for "Aragorn's brother" who I will not name until later.
Second A/N: This takes place about 50 years before LotR does.
I'm on a roll and I better get off it before my muses kill me for blabbing too much. *looks at sleeping readers* Looks like I've bored you all to sleep. *crickets chirp* I better get going before my muses decide to kill me. Read on and enjoy!
Italics denounce thoughts.~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Legolas stormed out of the palace of Mirkwood and stalked down one of the paths outside. He was trailed closely by his brother. He had been in a foul mood for the past week. It had started when a friend of his, Mariana, hadn't arrived back with her companions after their hunting trip.
"Legolas, don't do this again. Father is getting quite annoyed by your behavior. You have got to stop this." Lenablin sighed, exasperated, as he hurried to keep up with his brother.
"I don't care if father is getting annoyed with me. He doesn't understand how I feel!" Legolas snapped, not slowing for his brother.
"Relax. You have no reason to snap at me. Besides, I'm sure she's fine. She is quite capable to take care of herself out there, even if there are spiders and Orcs. She's very cunning when it comes to surviving in the wild."
Legolas stopped. "That's not what I'm worried about. What I'm worried about is that she hasn't been found yet."
"She'll get here when she gets here. Just try to cheer up." Lenablin placed his hand on Legolas' shoulder.
"I don't understand is how you can be so cheerful. You don't even know what it's like to lose a friend as close as Mariana is to me!" Legolas shrugged off his brother's hand and walked away. He stopped and turned back to the younger elf, acutely aware of what he had just implied. "Lenablin, I really didn't mean that. I just couldn't stop…."
"You're right. I don't know what it's like to lose a close friend." he said. Lenablin sprinted off into the surrounding trees. Legolas stared after him. I can't believe I just said that. He sighed and sat down under the shelter of a maple tree and his mind ran over the events of 30 years past.
~ ~ ~ FLASHBACK ~ ~ ~
"He's been gone too long." Lenablin said bleakly as he and Legolas walked through the halls of the Mirkwood palace.
"I'm sure that Chanarin is fine. There are search parties being formed to go looking for him. Help out. It'll make you feel better. There are many doing the same thing that you are. Chanarin was very well liked throughout Mirkwood. You will not be alone." Legolas placed an arm around his brother's shoulders. "I know that you were close friends with him, and I don't like to see you looking like this. I'm also going out tomorrow."
"Why? There's nothing in it for you."
"That's not the point. The point is that you're not the only one who misses him and worries about him. Now go help out before you drive me out of my mind with your ceaseless talk about Chanarin! If you'll excuse me, I should be checking my gear for tomorrow. See you at dawn." Legolas turned down one of the corridors leading towards his chambers, leaving Lenablin staring after him.
* * *
"Lenablin, wake up." Legolas whispered as he shook his younger brother awake gently. "They have already started to gather in the courtyard. At this rate, they'll leave without us." Legolas stood up.
"Alright, I get your point. Now calm down. I'll be ready." Lenablin stated as he slipped out of bed and dressed quickly. When he was finished, he slipped out of his bedroom into the hall and started for the courtyard, Legolas in tow.
They slipped out of the palace into the courtyard just as the sun's first rays of light were penetrating the trees.
"Legolas, Lenablin, over here!" A voice called out from the far wall of the courtyard. Legolas steered his brother towards the voice and greeted the elves standing there.
"Good morning, Malrand, Kasmerc. Good weather today. Lets just hope it holds out. Just out of curiosity, where's The Fox?" Legolas asked. Malrand shrugged and Kasmerc replied, "Haven't seen him since earlier this morning. He could be anywhere." Legolas sighed and caught his brother's curious glance. "Looks like I forgot to tell you who The Fox is. It's just what…" he was cut off by a hand over his mouth.
"People tend to call me." The tall elf with his hand over Legolas' mouth finished, grinning at Legolas as he struggled to free himself from the other's grasp. The Fox encircled Legolas' chest with his free hand, pinning his arms to his sides. "You don't seem to enjoy surprises, Legolas." Legolas rolled his eyes, recovered from his surprise, and went still. The Fox removed his hand from Legolas' mouth and sighed. "Well, there goes my fun for the morning."
"Thank you. Lenablin, meet The Fox. His real name is Talkerm. The reason you haven't seen him is because he's hardly around. He likes the woods better than the palace, but he has made friends with Chanarin. Now, would you mind letting go of me?" Legolas asked Talkerm. Meanwhile, Malrand and Kasmerc were trying unsuccessfully to stop laughing. Legolas turned to them. "I know you two were also behind this. Don't deny it. I could see by the way you two were acting that you did know where he was."
"Don't blame the twins. It was my idea. They just thought it would be funny to see how you would react." Talkerm said as he released Legolas. Then he reached down and picked up his quiver. "We should start out. Just keep your guard up. We've been assigned to an area near the Mountains of Mirkwood, and there have been some recent sightings of Orcs in that area." He started out the gate and the others followed him.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
TBC
Yup, looks like a monster chapter to me. I haven't even finished the flashback yet! It'll probably be finished next chapter. I know it's an unusual place to finish a chapter, but that's the best I could do without going on for another 5 pages or so. As a heads up, if you see an ~ ~ ~ END FLASHBACK ~ ~ ~ in the middle of the next chapter, that's the end of the flashback. (Finally. You bore people with your flashbacks.) Don't you mean YOUR flashbacks?
Well, that was my longest chapter yet. Anyway….. please R&R! I like reviews! They help me write faster. (You mean improvise faster. You had no guidelines for this chapter other than me, your mind. And a little from the original thing. But that's about it. Please try not to do that again. I ache all over.) Fine, it helps me improvise faster. And I'm sorry that you ache. Yes, I talk to my mind a lot. It gets all the credit for my work. So anyway, please R&R. I like feedback. All flames will be used to heat my vacation home in La La Land during the winter.
Namarie!
~* Mariana Nimeneth *~