Well, here again, is another random oneshot! I've seen soooo many stories like this out there that I just had to put my blot bunny on paper. The Summary says it all I guess, so, enjoy!

Blue

Elvish words and phrases to know:

Ada- Dad

Mithrandir- Gandalf's elvish name. (It means "gray pilgrim" or "gray wanderer")

Thranduilion – son of Thranduil

Nae, gerich naegron nin – alas, you have my expression of deepest regret

Adan – human

Estel – Aragorn's elvish name, given to him by his foster father Elrond (It means "hope")

Tithen pen – little one

Dúnadain – what the elves call the Rangers, and any with the blood of the Westernesses

Suilad - hello

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It was raining heavily by the time Gandalf found a place for them to rest for the night. It had been drizzling all day and by sunset it was pouring, so, needless to say everyone had low spirits, and very wet clothes. Subsequently, everyone in the company was ecstatic to learn that they would be spending the night in a nice, dry, sheltered, cave. Every member of the Fellowship, but one.

"A cave Mithrandir?" Legolas intoned doubtfully.

"Yes Thranduilion, a cave." Gandalf testily, daring the elf to protest. Gandalf waited, and when no protest was forth coming, he proceeded into said cave.

"A cave, of all things, it had to be a cave!" Legolas muttered to himself, as he went off into the rain in search of dry firewood.

OoOoO

Pippin sat on the floor of the cave, watching the activity around him. Gimli was tapping the cave walls and muttering about "Fault lines" and "bedrock", Sam was lighting a small fire with the log and kindling that Legolas had somehow managed to procure, whilst Frodo and Merry set out bedrolls. Boromir was sharpening his sword, Aragorn and Gandalf were discussing something (in elvish, unfortunately for Pipin) and Legolas was …… well, not there.

"Strider?"

Aragorn turned. "Yes, Pippin?"

"Where's Legolas?"

"He's out there, in a tree, most likely"

"In the rain?" Pippin asked incredulously. "Won't he catch cold?"

Aragorn smiled. "Elves are not like you and I, Pippin. They can't get sick, and the cold does not affect them as much."

Aragorn turned around again, to continue discussing their route with the wizard.

"Strider?"

"Yes Pippin?" Aragorn, resigning himself to a long interrogation about elves, threw Gandalf an apologetic glance, and sat down by Pippin.

"Do elves feel the rain?"

"Yes Pippin, elves feel the rain. Even though Legolas isn't cold, he is very wet."

"Then why isn't he in here by the fire?" Pippin was confused. "It seems the sensible thing to do."

"Legolas doesn't like caves, or any dark, enclosed spaces."

"Oh."

Aragorn prepared to get up.

"Strider?"

"Yes, Pippin?'

"Do you think he'll come in for dinner?"

"He may. I really cannot guess. Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's his turn to tell a story tonight."

Over the course of the trip, the members of the fellowship had taken to telling tales when they set up camp, before they went to sleep, to help allay the boredom and anxiety that the journey entailed (this practice was started mostly for the benefit of the hobbits more than anyone). Over the duration of he journey, Aragorn, Merry, Pippin, Gandalf, Frodo, Boromir, and even Sam each had shared a story.

"Do you think he knows that it's his turn?"

"Probably not."

"Would you mind telling him?"

Aragorn was loath to say yes, as the Prince of Mirkwood probably didn't want to come in the cave in the first place, and certainly didn't want to be the center of attention while he was in said cave, and so would probably retaliate by telling an embarrassing story about Aragorn. Unfortunately (for Aragorn) there were many to choose from. Pippin, somehow sensing the answer that he was going to get, pulled off the most spectacular pair of puppy dog eyes that Aragorn had ever seen, and now he was loath to say no.

Just when Pippin's eyes started to get larger (if such a thing were even possible at that point) Aragorn decided he couldn't take it anymore.

"Very well Pippin" Aragorn sighed. "I shall ask him to tell a story for you."

"Thanks!" Pippin replied with enthusiasm, skittering off to tell Merry the good news.

OoOoO

Legolas did not, in fact, join the fellowship for dinner, so Gandalf gave Aragorn the task of going out into the rain and dragging the Prince of Mirkwood in to eat.

Aragorn squinted through the rain, trying to see exactly which tree his friend was in. Finally, he was able to make out a flash of golden hair, and quickly made his way over to it, intent on getting out of the downpour as soon as possible. He stood at the base of the tree, not daring to look up lest his eye sockets fill with any more water.

"Legolas!" Aragorn shouted up at the tree. "Mithrandir sent me to get you. Dinner is ready!"

"I know that. Master Samwise shouted loud enough so that even the Haradrim know that 'Soup's on Mister Legolas Sir!'" Replied the tree petulantly. "I am not going in that cave, Estel."

"Do I have to come up there and drag you down like the elfling you are?"

The tree snorted. "You vastly overestimate your abilities, Adan."

"Very well then!" Aragorn retorted and moved closer to the tree reaching out for a branch to hoist himself up with. There wasn't one. The wood-elf, anticipating Aragorn's, and on a higher level Gandalf's, actions, had chosen a tree that had no branches what-so ever until about six feet up the trunk.

There was nothing for it, Aragorn decided, but to jump. And jump he did. Three times. On the third, he managed to grasp a limb, and retain his grip. Now he had to get his feet where his hands were. Aragorn lifted his legs and placed the soles of is feet on the trunk, with the intention of shimming up the trunk. The trunk that was now slick with rain. His feet slipped and he lost all footing. The jerk that was caused by this also caused him to let go of the branch, and with an 'oomph' he fell into the waiting mud below.

The tree laughed.

"Yes, go ahead and laugh" Aragorn muttered darkly, intent on bodily harm. He prepared to jump again, his boots squelching in the mud. The mud! Seized by a sudden inspiration, Aragorn bent down, scooped up a clod of mud, and promptly threw it into the tree, where it hit home with a satisfying, 'smack'.

"You threw mud at me!" The tree cried indignantly, almost disbelievingly.

"Nae, gerich naegron nin" Aragorn said in monotone, not sounding the least bit contrite. "Now will you come down?! I am hungry, and the hobbits will eat all the food 'ere we get back lest we hurry!"

"The Adan is hungry, what a surprise." The tree muttered under its breath, but nonetheless, seconds later, Legolas dropped down, landing gracefully to Aragorn's left.

"You look like a bedraggled cat, Mellon nin" Aragorn said wryly. "A very muddy, bedraggled, cat."

" I would not talk, were I you, Estel." Legolas replied.

They walked in a comfortable silence for a while.

"You know, it is your turn to tell a tale to the fellowship tonight"

There was a splash, and a certain ranger got quite a bit muddier.

OoOoO

Back in the cave, the hobbits were getting quite worried, and were trying to persuade Gandalf to send someone out after the pair.

"Fear not young hobbits." Gandalf placated. "That silvan fool is likely just being stubborn, and the pair have faced worse things together that a bit of rain."

"What do you mean worst things together? " Merry asked.

"They've known each other for quite awhile." Gandalf said around his pipe stem. "And have, unfortunately, much to the dismay of the lords Elrond and Thranduil, been getting each other into perilous situations longer that you've been alive."

Sam was about to ask what Lord Elrond had to do with Mr. Strider and Mr. Legolas' shenanigans, when he was interrupted by the entrance of the two.

"I do not get the Dúnadan into trouble Mithrandir." Legolas said whilst wringing the water out of his long, blond hair. "It is in quite the reverse. I have faced more, wargs, orcs, spiders, uruk-kai, wolves, earthquakes, kidnappings, assassination attempts, trolls, mudslides, enslavements, cliff edges, waterfalls, snow storms, rainstorms, any other natural disasters not previously mentioned, poisonings, stab wounds, fast moving rivers with dangerously strong currents, broken bones, and horse thefts in the last 85 years than in all my life before then. And caves. I have been in enough caves," he spat out the last word "to last a life-time."

"I should have taken our first meeting as a sign of things to come." He added under his breath.

"What happened?" Pippin asked eagerly.

"Very well" said Legolas, smiling slightly. "Seeing as how it is my turn to tell a tale tonight, I shall tell you of the very first time I met Estel."

"It was in early spring that my father sent me to Imladris with a message. I was almost to the Bruinen when I managed to run into some orcs and..:"

At his point the story was interrupted by a snort from Aragorn. "You say managed as though it is hard for you to do. Legolas always 'manages' to have a 'small encounter' with some orcs, or wargs, or any other potentially harmful creature in which he gets 'just a scratch' that's 'not all that bad really'." Aragorn clarified for the others. "And he claims I am the reason for his constant state of injury."

Legolas cleared his throat pointedly, glared at Aragorn, and continued.

"And I had managed to lose my horse. Thinking to hide from the orcs, I entered what I thought was merely a small cave…….."

This Story has been brought to you by readers like you. Thank you. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the 1st chapter.

Chaoter 2: Legsie's story! Yay!

Sorry, have to ask: Review, anyone?