~~This little piece was thought of after watching the Two Towers for the fourth time and wondering what would be Legolas's reaction to Haldir's death.~~
Aragorn looked over the battlefield and sighed. It had been a long night and he was looking forward to some rest. First, however, they had to see to the wounded men still lying on the battlement and walls. All around them the Men of Rohan were tending to their comrades and carting away the dead.
"The battle is won," came a voice from behind him and he turned to see Legolas come up to him, with Gimli. "But the cost in lives is high," the elf finished.
"Even one life is too high a price," Aragorn replied, placing his hands on their shoulders and the three friends stood in silence for a moment.
At last Legolas spoke again. "I must go and tend to the elves that survived." Aragorn nodded and lightly squeezed the elf's shoulder, then Legolas ran lightly down to where the elves were tending each other's wounds.
He moved among them easily, greeting them by name, helping where he could. There were not too many Elves left, and he mourned for each and every one. Looking around, Legolas suddenly realised Haldir was not there. He called to one of Haldir's kinsman, standing near the door. "Orophin! Have you seen Haldir?"
"No," Orophin replied, looking grave. "I have not seen him since we arrived."
An icy fear gripped the elf prince's heart. "Has anyone seen Haldir?" he called, but no one had. I should have asked Aragorn if he knows where he is he thought as he continued searching. After a sweep of the keep yielded nothing, Legolas went up to the battlements. Near the breach in the walls, he saw many Elves and Uruk-Hai lying together in the truce of death. He closed his eyes and murmured a prayer for them. He opened his eyes again and swept the area, searching for his friend. About halfway down the stairs leading to the water he saw a flash of blonde hair from under an uruk carcass. No…please no he thought as he sped to the stairs.
When he reached the place where he had seen the hair, Legolas heaved the carcass aside and stared down into Haldir's unseeing eyes. For a moment he thought his friend would move… then he saw the pool of blood under Haldir's head. Silvery tears began to fall from the prince's eyes as he took Haldir's body into his arms. Legolas closed his eyes and wept. For his friend and every elf that had fallen that night.
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Aragorn wandered over to Gimli after a brief conversation with Gandalf and asked, "Have you seen Legolas?" The Dwarf shook his head.
"Not since he went to look after those Elves." Aragorn frowned and headed off in the direction Legolas had taken earlier that morning, Gimli stumping after him. The ranger moved swiftly the group, questioning various elves, but none could say where the prince was. Finally Aragorn spotted Orophin, as Legolas had done.
"Orophin," he asked, walking up to the elf, "have you seen Legolas?"
"Yes, about half an hour ago," he replied. "He was looking for Haldir." Aragorn stopped cold.
"Oh no," he breathed, and took off. Gimli recovered his wits and followed.
Aragorn ran to where he knew Haldir had fallen: the stairs. As he rounded the corner he saw Legolas already there, holding his dead friend. The elf looked up as the ranger approached. Legolas's eyes were red from weeping. Aragorn knelt beside his friend and put one hand on his shoulder as the elf bowed his head over his dead friend again.
Gimli ran around the corner and saw the sad tableau. He bowed his head as Aragorn spoke softly. "He died well, Legolas. They all did." Legolas looked up at his friends.
"How many more will we need to mourn before all this is over?" he asked. A question neither Man, Elf or Dwarf could answer.
~~By the way: tableau = small scene. Hope you liked. I don't usually write angst, so please review and tell me how I did.~~