They had not but left Lothlorien's shores and paddled downstream towards the Falls of Rauros. Ever since then, Legolas had been stealing glaring glances towards the western shore that paralleled them along their journey. His Elvish eyes had been catching movements and distinct shadowed figures moving amongst the light speckled floor of the woods, causing him to be on edge. He had seen these shapes slowly prowling and stalking the Fellowship since they had left the safe haven of Lothlorien hours ago. If they were any sort of hungry animal, surely they would have given up by now, however, they seemed to persist and follow the travelers downstream.
As far as Legolas' eyes could tell, there was more than one of these large figures. They seemed to be quadruped and move in a silent unit. The only thing his ears could pick up was the soft padding of feet and the crunch of the underbrush.
The group knew of the Uruk-hai party travelling along the shore. It weighed heavily in the back of their minds, even more so when Legolas' ears picked up on grunts and heavy footfalls not associated with the stealthy shadows. Aragorn, Boromir and Legolas were on already on edge, and it didn't help when a bird broke through the canopy and cried out, causing the group to snap their heads towards it and reach for their weapons. However, they stalled rowing only for a couple seconds to watch the bird before continuing down the Anduin.
It seemed that no one else in the group had noticed the other group of creatures flanking them; Legolas intended to keep it that way. It wasn't that he didn't want the others to know but he didn't want the Hobbits to get scared; needlessly causing more panic to the fray and possibly capsizing the boats they were in, Boromir and the annoying Dwarf to get over exuberant, having them either capsize the boats or rush head long into the woods without thinking, and have Aragorn's attention more divided than it already was. Aragorn already had four Hobbits to keep an eye on, plus himself and Boromir to keep in line. Legolas kept one eye on the river and the other on the western shore. If it would come to a point where Legolas deemed them a threat, he would let Aragorn know.
As night approached, the group began to scout out suitable locations along the western bank for camp. As the group became interested in the shore, Legolas noted that the shadow figures seemed to fade away. Legolas stopped paddling and scanned the waterside, absent-mindedly making a weak paddle and continued to stare into the looming shadows.
"Oi! Will ye quit yer day dreamin' an' get this bloody thing back on land!" Gimli's gruff voice snapped Legolas out of his trance. Gimli had turned to look at the Elf over his shoulder, causing the boat to rock slightly. Legolas said nothing but turned his eyes back to the western shore, dipped the paddle into the water and steered the boat to the rocky coastline. No sooner did the boat run aground on shore did the Dwarf hop out of the boat, not too gracefully. "Land, oh sweet land!" He muttered as he walked up the rock-covered riverbank.
Legolas had jumped out and pulled the boat further up the bank to anchor it. However, his eyes kept going back to the woods and scanning for the shadow figures. He did not hear anything unusual or any of the underbrush being stepped on. Yet, the hair on the back of his neck still stood on end, causing him to scan the surroundings and be on high alert.
He failed to realize that a shadow had staked its claim along a sturdy branch proximal to the trunk, near enough to the Fellowship to listen in on normal conversations across the campfire, yet far enough not to draw wandering eyes. The shadow neither grew nor shrank with the waning sun and rising moon.
During the night, the Man sent to keep watch was more interested in the river than the black shadow. However, the Elf wasn't that easily fooled and kept scanning the trees every now and then. The two Men were keeping an eye on some driftwood, which the shadow had noted, swam slightly off course. Even from its far and high perch, the shadow could smell something foul, something rotten. The shadow took a guess that it was that sickly creature that had been tracking them since Moria. A Great Horned Owl made a smooth and stealthy landing on a branch near the shadow. The shadow gazed up nonchalantly at the bird, hoping it didn't cause the Elf to take notice of the darker shadow slightly below the bird of prey. One could hear the bickering whispers of the two Men near the shore and of the concerned Hobbits near the campfire from where the shadow sat. There was so much tension in the air that one small misstep or careless sound would cause the group to become hostile and arm themselves.
The next morning, Legolas was the first one packed and the last one to leave the shore, his head still turning to scan the woods.
"Pointy-ears, let's get goin' or we'll be left behind!" Gimli grunted, using his axe to point to the other boats already in the center of the river and heading further away. Legolas looked towards the Dwarf and gave the boat a good push to get it into the river before he hopped in. He paddled and began to maneuver the boat to the center of the river and turned down stream. Before he set off paddling, he took one last look at the shore. He saw nothing. He turned his attention forward and plunged the oar into the water to follow the others.
The shadow stepped out from behind the trunk of the tree it had taken claim on and watched as the Fellowship embarked down river. The shadow began its journey southward to track the river and the boats. It was soon joined by much bigger shadows that stood on all fours rather than bipedal. It hopped onto one of the bigger shadow's backs and the pack took off silently, weaving between the trees.
Legolas had not even made the third stroke of his oar when a movement caught his eye on the western bank.
It was the cluster of shadows. They were back.