Aragorn raced through the forests on the outskirts of Rivendell. He'd been sent from Gondor with messages that needed to be delivered to both Mirkwood and Rivendell. He didn't know what the messages contained, but he thought they had something to do with the new orc threat and the upcoming war with Mordor. It seemed like that was all that was on the Steward's mind lately. Everyone in Gondor was talking about the increased orc activity and the fact that dark creatures seemed to have grown very bold in the past few months. Most, the Steward included, felt as if the orcs were planning something. That was why letters had been sent out to the elvin realms. Aragorn figured that the Steward was asking for either aid or counsel.

In truth, Aragorn didn't care that the message he was carrying was terribly important. No, he was just glad that he was finally returning to his home in Rivendell. He had traveled to many distant places while in the wild, but he hadn't had the chance to visit Imladris since becoming a Captain of Gondor. Aragorn smiled as he remembered the many memories he had acquired over the past years. However, none of these memories compared to the ones he had of his childhood.

Sighing, Aragorn pulled on the reigns to slow his horse as they entered a rather narrow path that required a lessened pace. He was now very close to Rivendell and he could vaguely hear the river flowing in the distance. He took a deep breath of the cool air, and was glad of the knowledge that he would be sleeping in his own bed in Rivendell. Aragorn held back a joyous laugh and began to sing a tune he had learned as a child.

The leaves were long, the grass was green,

The hemlock-umbels tall and fair,

And in the glade a light was seen

Of stars in shadow shimmering. Aragorn continued to sing loudly and cheerily all the way through to the last part of the song.

O'er stony mountains cold and grey,

Through halls of iron and darkling door,

And wood of nightshade morrowless.

The SunderingSeas between them lay,

And yet at last they met once more,

And long ago they passed away,

In the forest singing sorrowless.

Aragorn's face was beaming for he couldn't wait to see everyone again. He missed his father terribly, not to mention his brothers and Glorfindel. He even missed Erestor a little, but only a little. He happily began planning out exactly what he was going to do once he reached the Last Homely House. He thought he'd better bathe first, for he probably smelled terrible. After that, though, he was going to go to the kitchens and eat to his heart's content, and then he was going to visit the Hall of Fire and sing and dance until he could no longer stand. When he had reached that point, he figured he would stumble up to his room and sleep in his bed, the bed he hadn't had the pleasure of lying in for a very long time. He was still pondering whether or not he would have the energy to undress before climbing into bed, when the hairs on the back of his neck rose.

Aragorn's senses immediately went on high alert, but he couldn't see or hear anything. In fact, he couldn't hear anything at all. All the noise in the forest had vanished. Aragorn silently cursed his inattention to his surrounding as he unsheathed his sword. The ringing sound it made reverberated through the woods. Something definitely wasn't right, but Aragorn couldn't put a finger on it. He felt danger, but it wasn't the immediate kind of danger he felt when orcs or goblins were about. No, this danger was more elusive, and less obvious. For a brief moment Aragorn wondered if he was just getting an eerie feeling as a result of the forest being so silent. He stood up on his mount and tried to peer around his surroundings as his horse continued to move forward slowly.

Frowning, Aragorn moved his head from left to right, scanning the foliage. Nothing seemed obviously amiss. He was just about to sit back down on his saddle, and ride hard the rest of the way to Rivendell when he felt his horse trip slightly. Knowing how sure footed his horse normally was, Aragorn was about to look down at the path to see what had been on the ground when he felt a huge force plow into his left side.

"Oof," He cried out as he was thrown off his horse. On instinct, he moved his arms up to cushion his fall, but realized his left arm wouldn't listen to his command. Just as he thought he would hit the ground, his right foot twisted unmercifully in the stirrup it was in. Instead of hitting the grass with his whole body, Aragorn swung from his right foot and clipped his temple hard on a rock at the edge of the path. The impact sent him into a deep oblivion.

TBC…

I took the song Aragorn sung from the book. I hope that doesn't bother anyone.

Okay I've tried this before, but now I have a little more time and a better idea of where I want to go with this. I have a very very very rough outline, and the way it's planned right now this story should end up being about 13 chapters long. I'm going to try to update at least once a week, but that's all relative. If I have a lot of time on I could get a few chapters out in one week, but if I'm stuck and I'm busy it could take longer. I'm hoping the average is a week though. That's one thing I've noticed about the LotR category. You guys are all really good about reviewing and updating, and that's awesome! Pat yourselves on the back, no just kidding, that sounds stupid. Oh yah, and if you have the time pleaz review. It'll make my day, even if it's just criticism, and it'll give me more motiviation. Thanks for reading!

Also, I'd like to thank grumpy, Nietta, and tychen for reviewing this story the first time around.