The clearing fell silent as the bloodthirsty snarls of the orcs faded into the afternoon air. Pulling his sword free from the orc's rapidly cooling corpse Thorin turned around to survey the massacre. Bodies lay sprawled throughout the once beautiful clearing, blood staining the bright green grass. Orcs covered the ground with their dark bodies and snarling faces. Scattered in among the dark bodies were slim figures with pale faces and pointed ears. Elves. Thorin scowled, the orcs had taken the elves by surprise and it appeared that none had survived. Not that it bothered Thorin overmuch, he had never cared much for elves.
Looking around the clearing he checked to make certain the Company was whole and hale. They had been on their way back to Erebor after convincing Bilbo to journey with them for a visit. Their traveling had gone smoothly up until that afternoon. They had been traveling for a few weeks and were not anticipating to pass Mirkwood for at least another week. The Company had heard shouts ahead of them and had stumbled upon the orcs brutal assault on the elves. There were few elves left standing upon their abrupt arrival and they had fallen by the time the last orc had been cut down.
Green arrows stuck out of many of the orcs bodies, a silent testament to the fallen elves excellent bow work. Despite their superior skills the orcs had greatly outnumbered the elves and were able to overpower them.
After making certain all danger had passed Thorin sheathed his sword and turned toward the Company. "Kili, Fili, go retrieve the ponies." Glancing quickly at the mass of bodies he turned away. "We need to return quickly, there could be more orc packs roaming about."
"Wait! We can't just leave them like this! It's not right." Bilbo objected his eyes wide in surprise.
Thorin glanced at him briefly before looking away. "We can't risk wasting more time. More orcs could be following these, more than we can handle alone."
Bilbo spluttered in indignation. Stepping forward Balin spoke, "He's right Thorin. It may be a risk but it would be shameful to leave them here like this."
"I don't owe the elves anything." Thorin said spitefully.
Balin shook his head sadly. "It's not about what you owe them Thorin. It's because it's the right thing to do, the honorable thing."
Thorin glared for a moment before lowering his gaze. "Fine. We'll separate the bodies and burn the orcs." Balin raised an eyebrow. Thorin huffed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "And I suppose we could bury the elves."
"There's no reason we can't make a quick stop in Mirkwood to inform them of where their people are laid to rest. They deserve to be told." Balin said gently but firmly.
Thorin huffed, "I'm not stepping foot into that -"
Balin quickly cut Thorin off, "There is no need to go inside, we can inform the outer guards and be on our way."
Thorin brooded silently. "Fine." He finally said between clenched teeth.
Smiling gently, Balin patted his arm before walking toward the pile of bodies.
The Company quickly got to work and spread out in the clearing. They made two piles, one for the orcs and one for the elves. The orcs were dragged and thrown harshly across the clearing into their piles, some of the dwarfs had attempted to do the same with the elves but Balin and Bilbo quickly put a stop to it. After that the elves' bodies were treated with more respect, Balin and Bilbo making certain they were put in neat rows side by side.
A gasp suddenly sounded through the silent clearing causing heads to raise and turn toward the sound. Kili stood starring wide eyed at a fallen elf.
Thorin stepped forward, his brow furrowed in concern. "What is it Kili?"
Kili's startled gaze rose, his face pale in his shock. "It's, It's-" He stuttered his arms flailing in the air wildly. "It's the Elvenking."
Reeling back in shock Thorin froze before jerking into motion, striding quickly to Kili's side. The Company made a circle around the fallen elf, all straining to get a look.
Thranduil lay upon his back, his sword glinting in the fading sunlight next to his limp hand. His silvery tresses looked bare in the absence of his crown. His face, normally cold and smirking, was slack. He would have looked peaceful, his closed eyes giving the appearance of sleep, if it hadn't been marred by the blood coating his torso from the gash in his side. It did not appear that the Elvenking had expected trouble during his travels as he wore no armor, only a traveling tunic and leggings.
The group of dwarfs and a hobbit stood in a stunned silence around him, no one certain what to do.
"What do we do?" Bilbo asked uncertainly.
"Bury him with the rest." Thorin grunted.
Balin shook his head. "You know we can't do that Thorin, he's a King. We must bring his body to Mirkwood for a proper burial or whatever the elves do with their dead."
Thorin scowled but didn't argue.
"We can set him with the others for now, Dwalin, you lift his legs, Bilbo and I can lift his head." Balin said with a deep sigh, sadness clear on his face.
Reaching down they all grabbed where instructed and lifted simultaneously. A low moan nearly startled them into dropping the elf. Quickly, they lowered Thranduil back to the ground and gazed in shock as his eyelids fluttered. A deep cough splattered blood across the elf's pale lips as he struggled to open his eyes. The Company held their breath as glazed gray eyes briefly fluttered open before closing as coughs racked his body.
Crouching down, Bilbo gently lifted his tunic to reveal the gash underneath. The gash ran from the middle of his stomach to his right hip, it was shallow but continued to ooze blood. His chest rose and fell faintly with each ragged breath.
"Kili, get the athelas and bandages." Balin ordered while bending down to examine the wound. "Fili, get a bowl of water and some cloth."
Both young dwarfs hastened to fulfill their orders and disappeared into the forest.
Thorin, up until then a silent observer, spoke up. "Oin, Gloin, fetch the ponies and the rest of our supplies." The two dwarfs nodded and trotted off into the forest. "The rest of you continue sorting the bodies." The rest of the Company complied silently and started on their task.
Fili and Kili burst into the clearing with their arms laden with all that Balin had asked for. Hurrying over to Balin they laid the supplies out onto the ground where he instructed. Balin picked up a bit of cloth and dipped it into the bowl of water. After wringing it out he reached forward and started to wash the excess blood off of the Elvenking. The elf moaned loudly in pain when the cloth brushed his wound.
A rustling in the forest around them caused the dwarfs to jerk up and draw their weapons. Suddenly a small body burst out of the forest and into the clearing, starring at the dwarfs in a panic the child dashed across the clearing to the Elvenking's side. The child was a young boy, an elfling, dressed in a light green tunic and dark leggings. The elfling babbled in Elvish, his face wet with tears and his hands gripping the Elvenking's tunic tightly.
The Company quickly put away their weapons and stared at the child in shock. Bilbo, the first to shake off his shock, took a small step forward and crouched down.
"Hello, it's alright. We're not going to hurt you. Do you speak Westron?" He asked gently, his face calm and friendly.
The elfling looked up at Bilbo. "Y-y-yess." He answered, sniffling slightly.
Bilbo smiled kindly. "You don't need to be scared, we won't hurt you, I promise."
The elfling scowled through his tears, surprising Bilbo with it's ferocity. "You hurt Ada." He said turning to glare at Balin.
Balin took a step toward him. "I was trying to help him, little one. His wounds need to be cleaned and bandaged for him to heal."
The elfling, no longer crying, eyed him suspiciously.
"You said Ada before, is he your Ada?" Bilbo asked, suddenly remembering what that meant.
The elfling nodded.
Bilbo nodded in understanding. "I promise we won't hurt your Ada, we are just trying to help him."
When the elf continued to look suspicious Bilbo picked up a handful of athelas leaves. "Do you know what this is?" He asked the elfling.
The elfling nodded solemnly. "It helps you get better when you're hurt."
Bilbo nodded in agreement, a smile alight on his face. "Exactly, and that's why we have it. To make your Ada feel better. Will you let us help your Ada?"
The elfling looked at Bilbo a moment before slowly nodding his head.
Smiling gently, Bilbo turned to Balin and gestured for him to continue cleaning Thranduil's wound.
While Balin slowly started to clean the gash, Biblo attempted to distract the elfling from the gruesome sight. "My name is Biblo and that's Balin. What's your name?"
"Legolas." He answered quietly, his eyes glued to his Thranduil's face.
"Why were you in the woods Legolas?" Bilbo asked curiously.
Legolas finally tore his eyes off of Thranduil and looked at Bilbo. "Ada told me to hide and to not come out until he came for me. I climbed high up a tree so the orcs could not find me but Ada never came." Legolas' eyes welled up with tears. "When I could no longer hear fighting I returned and Ada was….was…." The young elfling's control broke and tears poured down his face as his bright blue eyes turned to Thranduil. "Why won't he wake?" He asked his small voice trembling.
Balin looked up from wrapping Thranduil's wound and gave the elfling a kind smile."It appears that your Ada was hit quite hard on the head." Balin explained while pointing at a dark bruise forming on Thranduil's temple. "That is why he is not yet awake. The cut on his abdomen is shallow and only needed a good cleaning before I bandaged it. He will be fine little one, you need not worry."
"When will he wake?" Legolas asked quietly as he wiped his tears.
Balin sighed deeply. "It is impossible to say. I'm not familiar enough with Elves to know for certain but I believe he should wake sometime soon."
Legolas nodded silently.
While Balin and Bilbo had been dealing with Legolas and Thranduil, Oin and Gloin had returned with the ponies and the Company's supplies. Thorin had directed them to set up camp in another clearing just a few yards away. The rest of The Company were to continue sorting the bodies. Anxious at first that the elfling would object to their handling of his kin their worries proved for naught as Legolas' eyes never strayed far from Thranduil. While the dwarfs had all heard the young elfling call Thranduil 'Ada" none but Balin and Bilbo knew what it meant. The rest of the dwarfs all assumed the reason for the young elfling's tears was that his father was among one of the dead elven warriors.
…
Once done sorting the bodies Thorin ordered the dwarfs to finish making camp at the other clearing and to start cooking dinner. As the last dwarf disappeared into the forest Thorin joined Balin, Bilbo and the elfling. The elfling looked exhausted, his clothing torn by thorns and thickets during his dash through the forest and his eyes still red from his tears. Despite Thorin's dislike of elfs he could not bring himself to feel anything but pity toward the child. He looked so lost, his gaze blank and his shoulders drooping in exhaustion. At Thorin's approach he looked up and tensed, fear growing on his face at Thorin's intimidating form.
Sensing the child's unease Bilbo smiled at him gently and gave Thorin a warning glance that promised pain should he frighten the elfling.
Thorin spoke directly to Balin, ignoring both the warning and the elfling. "I've had the others set up camp in a clearing not far from here. Have you finished tending his injuries?"
Balin nodded. "Yes, I've cleaned the wound with water and treated it with athelas. Besides keeping the wound bandaged and clean there is not much else I can do for him at the moment."
Thorin nodded. "We all need to move to camp. We can return at dawn to deal with the bodies."
Bilbo stood up from his seat next to the weary elfling. "I'll go get a blanket or a cloak to lay Thranduil on, it should make carrying him easier." Shooting Legolas a quick smile Bilbo hurried off toward the camp.
Bilbo returned with the cloak quickly and in no time had a makeshift litter that Thranduil was carefully placed on. Between the combined strength of Thorin, Balin, and Bilbo they were able to carry Thranduil to the new campsite with relative ease. Legolas trailed closely behind them, keeping a close eye on the Elvenking.
Well that's it for now! I hope you enjoyed it! This idea came to me awhile back and kept nagging at me until I wrote it. It was originally intended to be a one-shot but I plan to add a few more chapters to wrap things up a bit more if I have time. Please review and feel free to point out any mistakes or errors I may have made. This is the first time I've written for the LOTR series and I'm a little unsure on some of the phrasing. Hopefully I did alright!