~*~Chapter 1~*~
Legolas could not sleep that night. He was very restless though he did not know why. He had given up any chance of sleep and decided to take a walk out by the archery range. Laying his hand on one of the eldest trees there, he closed his eyes and smiled, listening to the trees whispering to each other and him. He frowned, they seemed quite anxious about something. Opening his eyes he glanced around and his gaze fell on a black form on the ground. The elf prince approached cautiously and silently, his eyes never leaving the form in front of him. When he reached the form he knelt down and gasped. He gazed forlornly at the black arrow protruding from the elf's back. He carefully slipped back the hood covering the form's face and gasped yet again, 'twas not an elf but a man!
"A man?" the elf whispered quietly, "how did he get here?"
Legolas shook his head and pulled out the arrow, causing the man to flinch and the elf to jump.
"You're alive!" the elf said in surprise, "you mustn't have been out here very long then. I must get you back to the palace."
He shook his head, he had a weird feeling about him but shook his head and found his thoughts drifting to another man he knew. It had been ten years since Strider had gone out with the Rangers. He carefully lifted the man and swiftly walked back to the palace. Shifting the man to his shoulder he lowered the hood and continued on.
Halbarad shifted uneasily. He was training Aragorn, as was his duty and one of the reasons their leader had come to them. At this moment they were working on his tracking skills. The young ranger was probably the best tracker out of all of them, but the only way to test his skill was for one of the Rangers themselves to go out and hide from the young man. The older ranger had done his best to hide from the young man and he still hadn't been found. It was a good thing for his own skills but it wasn't a good thing for the other man. He shook his head, he should have been found by now. A cold chill ran down the older Ranger's back and he shivered. He knew it was not from the cold as he was wearing his thick gray cloak and it was not a particularly cold night. He knew at that moment something had happened to the man and he leaped out of hiding and began backtracking himself to find where Aragorn had left his trail.
Legolas gazed down at the man on the bed and sighed. Though it had taken quite a while, his father had finally agreed to help the man. The young elf did not know why he'd tried so hard in pleading to his father but he did. He gazed out the window and smiled up at the stars. The elf did not know how long he gazed out the window but was brought back to reality by the sound of the man crying out in his sleep.
"No!" he cried, Legolas immediately began trying to sooth the man, "please no…" he cried softly.
This went on for a while and when Legolas finally gave up trying to calm him, he began trying to wake him. The nightmare's grip was too strong on the man, however, and would not release its hold. Finally, in one last desperate attempt, the elf started talking to him in Elvish, not knowing why since the man probably couldn't understand him, but he tried it anyway. After a while, to his surprise, the man calmed and fell into a peaceful sleep.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Legolas gazed out the window, sitting by the fire he had made to warm the room for the man, lost in thought. The man in the room reminded him so much of Aragorn he could not stop thinking about his friend. He sat, wondering how he was doing, where he was. Little did he know that the man had awoken a while ago and had finally come out of his shock and was watching him, smiling, thinking of ways he could startle the elf out of his stupor. His grin widened as he began a song he had heard while helping the Ranger's protect the Shire. Hobbit songs… different from the elves but can be pleasant at times. This one definitely suited what the man saw.
"I sit beside the fire and think
of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies
in summers that have been;"
The elf spun around, clearly startled, which only made the man's grin widen.
- He probably doesn't recognize me, - Aragorn thought, still with a grin, - I could use that to his disadvantage. - Still grinning he continued.
"Of yellow leaves and gossamer
in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun
and wind upon my hair."
Legolas blinked, mouth agape, - their voices sound pretty darn close too… no, that's impossible, - he thought.
"I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring
that I shall never see."
The man's grin widened ever further, (if that were possible,) as he tried not to laugh out loud at the elf's bewildered expression.
"For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green."
The elf shook his head and closed his mouth, suddenly realizing it was still open, - what kind of song is that? 'Tis not Elven and it's not made by men either. -
"I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago,
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know."
Unable to control himself the human snorted and chuckled a bit before finishing it, or at least trying to.
"But all the while I sit and think
of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet
and voices at the door."
Barely being able to finish it, the man now burst out laughing and the elf's mouth fell open again.
"Naa lle quel?" Aragorn asked when he finally stopped laughing, with an eyebrow raised. // Are you well? //
"Uma," was all that the elf could say, his mouth still agape, but he did not realize it. // Yes //
Aragorn rolled his eyes, which proved to be a bad idea as his head began to swim, and gave the elf a slight smile, "Close your mouth."
The elf's mouth snapped shut and he gave the man a weird look. The man grinned and bit his lip to keep from laughing. The elf just watched as the man lay back and smiled to him-self, being around elves made him feel, and quite often act, much younger than he really was. Aragorn's smile quickly disappeared and he sat up quickly. That proved to be a bad move and he groaned and fell back against the pillows.
Legolas quickly moved next to the bed, "Are you alright?"
"Moved to quickly," he admitted, hoping that would be enough for the elf, "I must go, I have a friend out there, I was training and encountered a few orcs, four I believe I managed to kill them before I passed out though. My friend will not know what has happened, I have been gone too long."
He made to get up but was quickly pushed back down by Legolas, "No, you will stay here, we will send out someone to look for your friend."
Aragorn thought for a moment and shrugged, he wasn't sure if Halbarad would ask the elves if they had seen him or if he would hide from them, but it was worth a try. He nodded at the elf and smiled.
"Good, I'll get a group together right away. Someone will be in here soon with something for you to eat."
Aragorn grimaced and nodded, he didn't really feel like eating at the moment, but knew that Legolas would not be content until he ate something.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When Legolas came back to check on the man, he looked a bit better after eating something. Legolas suddenly realized that the man was looking at him and he smiled.
"Are you feeling any better?"
The man grinned, "Yes, thanks to the medicine you slipped into my tea."
Legolas grinned back at him, - There is something familiar about him… maybe I should ask him something, I might be able to find out if he is who I think he is. - He looked at the man again, he was suddenly sure it was he, he sounded like him and his eyes had the same mischievous glint in them.
"So, what have you been doing the last few years?" he asked, the question sounded dumb but he just had to be sure, he didn't want to look like an idiot if it wasn't him, though he was sure it was.
Aragorn grinned, so, the elf did… well… he at least thought he recognized him, "I've been training with the Ranger's."
Legolas nodded, thinking, "How long?"
Aragorn smirked, "Oh, come on Legolas, you should know how long it's been, unless I was wrong about elves and their memories are worse than I figured."
Legolas grinned full out and laughed, "I figured it was you."
"You mean you weren't sure?"
"Watch your tongue," the elf replied playfully, the smile disappeared and he gazed at the man, he sighed and brought up the courage to ask the question that had been bothering him since he met the man, "I have to ask you, when we met, why were you out so far, and I'm sure those orcs you were tracking couldn't escape the Imladris guards."
Aragorn sighed, "If I answer, you must tell me why you hated men so much."
Legolas nodded.
"Well, until that time, I hadn't wanted to leave since my mother was still there, earlier that year, I'd been told my heritage and my father found out about my love for Arwen," the man grimaced, "I decided I needed time to myself when my mother died later that year and left, I found those orcs just before the Misty Mountains and decided to follow them." // dad //
Legolas nodded, he remembered when Estel had said something about Arwen and himself and he understood the need for space, "Well, I suppose I must live up to my part of the bargain," he smirked.
Aragorn raised an eyebrow and smirked back at him.
"Well, when I was younger, three hundred years I believe, I was captured and tortured by humans for about four years. The only reason I was able to escape was because they had a… disagreement… with another group of men. Ever since then I've just hated them. That made my father feel quite the same way, but he didn't really like them in the first place so that didn't help either. He never really saw them as much better than dwarves."
Aragorn nodded slowly and then smiled gently, "Thank you for telling me."
Legolas smiled back, "You are a good friend now, Strider, and I expect that you will not tell anyone else, alright?"
Aragorn smiled, "You can trust me."
"Amin sinta." // I know. //
Aragorn stretched and yawned, "Go get some rest Legolas, wake me if you hear any news of my friend."
Legolas smiled, "Of course, but only if you get some rest as well."
Aragorn grinned, suddenly remembering something, "I will, now go on. Get as much rest as you can."
A/N
Okay! First chapter up!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
marbienl- Thank you soooooooooooo much for reviewin'!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't sure if anyone would it had been so long since I last up-dated! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Aaaaaaaaanywho, lol, yes, Estel's plan for Glor backfired big time, lol!!!! Legolas just didn't want anyone to think him weak… ^.- Why does everyone want me to hurt him?!?!?!?! *sigh* Oh well. *sighs* Obviously I didn't write as to what happened but I WILL tell you that it came VERY close to a tie! LOL! Though I'm sure little bits MIGHT become evident during this book…
mascara freak- YAY!!!!!!!! You wont kill me!!!!! ^_^ I will live to torture fictional characters!!!!!! But thank you! I am nice aren't I ^_^. Sorry, that sounded a bit stuck-up… ugh… and yes U r nice, once u get past trying to take over the list and attempting to kill everyone…lol. ^_^
yaebginn- Thanx 4 reviewin' all my chapters!!!!!!!! Thank you 4 adding me to yur favs!!!!!!!! I made a few mistakes, I know, but, Hey! Who doesn't right?
af- Glad yur happy! ^_^ And here ya' go! I up-dated!
Thank you everyone for reviewin'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pleeeeeeeaaaaaaaase review again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm really sorry I took so long to up-date!!!!!!!!! But, I figured out how to post by myself too so I can post more often possibly. Or at least I can post when I want and not have to bug my friend to post it for me. (LOL Pyro!)
Please review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!