Author's Note: I have recently become intrigued by the transformation Legolas made between The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings series. In The Hobbit, he is portrayed as stern and unfeeling, while in Lord of the Rings, he is portrayed as fiercely loyal and wise. The contrasting hardness/softness and the story behind the change inspired this work.
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He gripped the cold, hard handles of his twin blades in his fists, poised and ready to strike at the slightest hint of danger that dared to cross his path. He traveled alone, which he found to be a blessing. He could travel at his own speed and did not have to stop to rest unless he deemed it absolutely necessary. Legolas did not choose to stop, and he would not stop until he had completed his mission. He must find the man his father, the King of the Elven realm of Mirkwood, had assigned him to discover before he departed after the Battle of the Five Armies.
Legolas had traveled for weeks, searching for the elusive Dunedain that Thranduil had said the man would be amongst. So far, his luck had run dry, but he would not allow his frustration about his lack of success to penetrate his heart. He would find this son of Arathorn, this "Strider", if it was the last thing he ever did.
A shadow of a threat grew in the back of his mind. It was quite a distance from him, but it only drew closer with each step he took. Legolas stopped, letting his eyes scan the overgrowth of limbs and leaves, searching for a place to hide himself until he was certain he had the capabilities to take on the advancing foe's numbers. Even though Legolas was a great warrior and he was aware of such, he would not foolishly attack a company of Uruks or Orcs if he were vastly outnumbered. Stupid as the creatures were, Legolas would not underestimate their brutality.
The danger drew closer and closer. Finally, Legolas settled on a hiding place. He quickly scaled the trunk of a nearby oak and hid behind the shield of branches, watching, waiting. He sheathed his knives slowly before reaching back and grasping his bow in anticipation.
It was only now that he was crouched on the limb of the tree that he realized how tired he felt. Normally he did not notice his physical needs until it was absolutely necessary to address them. He let out a sigh of anger at his own lack of carefulness and ignorance of his own hurts. Surely this would not aide his odds of defeating a numerous amount of the ghastly creatures of Mordor.
His sharp Elven hearing soon picked up the grunts and snarls of the monsters as stomped across the thick roots and damp leaves of the forest. Legolas put his hand against the tree he was in. The tree sang to life, sending its warning of the oncoming attack.
Ten Orcs are coming. I will keep you hidden, Little Elfling.
Legolas sighed, knowing in his heart that despite his hatred for Mordor and any creatures the foul place produced, his strength was waning. The fact that he had gone this long without a true rest was quite a feat, even for an Elf as stubborn as Legolas was. A scrum with a band of Orcs was possibly the worst thing that Legolas could thrust himself into given his state.
Thank you, my friend.
Legolas stayed where he was, watching warily as the Orcs came into view, toddling with each step and slashing at the branches of the trees with whatever weapons they could yield. He felt a flare of anger go through his chest at the mistreatment of the tree the Orcs were passing beneath, but he nevertheless stayed quiet. He apologized in his head at his failure to avenge the tree's suffering.
Suddenly, a very large Orc, who must have been the leader of the pack, stopped directly underneath of his tree. Legolas could see him through the branches, which crowded together so that the Elf could not be seen. Legolas gave the tree a small pat of thanks, a rare show of affection from the stern Elf.
"What is it?" sneered another, smaller Orc, so much smaller that Legolas thought he was more a goblin than Orc. The leader lifted his gray head, yellow eyes searching the trees and bushes before him. Legolas was concealed fairly well. The Orc was, luckily, too stupid to look up anyway.
The bigger Orc sniffed the air, and Legolas backed up against the trunk of the tree for support. "Elf blood," the Orc spat, saying the words as though they were poison. A sinister smile spread onto his ugly, scarred face. "I smell it."
The rest of the company sniffed the air too, and grunts of agreement came from beneath the leaves. Legolas' hand again went to his bow. Perhaps he would have to take on these Orcs after all, as they slowly surrounded the tree, following their noses to his hiding place. These Orcs would not leave until they had cleared their path of any creature of light, such as Legolas. It was their duty. Luckily, Legolas took sheer joy in his duty of doing the exact opposite: ridding the world of the disgusting vermin.
He removed an arrow from his quiver and did his math. If he could catch the Orcs off guard, they would be too startled and also did not have the mental capacity to react to an attack from above. Legolas figured he could take down three of the bulkier Orcs from above before the company would even realize they were being ambushed. He would have to take advantage of the element of surprise while he could. He aimed his arrow for the head of the leader, and with a gentle release of breath, he fired.
The arrow went straight through the thick head of the Orc, but Legolas did not stop to watch its path before reloading his bow and shooting down another Orc that stood right below him. The Orcs screeched and glanced around in confusion, which, much faster than Legolas had anticipated, turned to realization and rage.
Legolas was able to shoot down one more of the creatures before he exchanged his bow for his twin knives once more. He leaped from the tree onto the back of one of the taller creatures, slashing its throat and leaping from its shoulders. Two more Orcs charged at him as they watched their comrade fall, black blood seeping into the leaves on the ground. Legolas grabbed the limb of his tree and kicked one of the oncoming Orcs, the force of the blow sending the creature back with a cry right into the bulky body of another Orc, causing both to fall and allowing Legolas to land and pierce the heart of the other Orc in one motion.
The rest of the band had now realized they were under attack and immediately rushed into the fray. Even though the movements of the Orcs were clumsy and inelegant, Legolas was also growing less and less graceful with his own movements and found himself tiring fast. He ducked beneath the swipe of a blade at his head, somersaulting beneath the creature's legs and stabbing it in the right leg as he did so. He spun his legs out in front of him to knock an advancing Orc off of its feet, sending it tumbling to the ground while he stood and snapped the neck of the Orc whose leg he had wounded.
He was about to kill the Orc he had just sent toppling to the ground when he heard a sickening 'whoosh'. Pain and stars exploded in his head, and he hit the ground before he even registered he was falling. Excruciating pain traveled through his head, but he willed himself to stand despite the pain. He refused to go down without a fight. He opened his eyes to see the Orc that had hit him raising his club to deliver another blow. Legolas dodged and stabbed the Orc in the stomach. It let out a shriek of pain and collapsed on its knees in front of the Elf, its face forever frozen in pain as Legolas swiped at its neck, decapitating the putrid creature who had dared to cause him pain.
Legolas saw the remaining three Orcs advancing on him, but his world had started to tilt dangerously. He grabbed the trunk of the tree for support as he felt himself swaying on his own two feet. The Orcs smiled as they slowly made their way towards him. "Looks like he's hurt," one of them sneered.
"If he's not now, he will be soon," one of them said, releasing a cackle of laughter that made a shiver trail down Legolas' spine. This was it. He was going to be felled because of his own stupidity. He had never pondered what death would be like before. Legolas had been in plenty of life-threatening situations before, but this was the first time that it had hit him so hard. It scared him, he realized, though it was too late to be scared as he watched the Orcs raise their weapons. He raised his own, offering some protection from their blows, and he willed himself to stand upright again. His head spun, but he could not go down without resistance.
Suddenly, the Orc that stood in the middle froze, and the tip of the blade of a sword plunged through his side. Legolas watched in both relief and shock as a man with a ruddy face and fierce, wise brown eyes yanked his sword from the body. "Wretched creature," he muttered and spat on the Orc before clashing swords with the next Orc that dared to raise its weapon. Legolas felt a small rush of adrenaline course through his veins, and he stabbed the back of the last Orc as it advanced towards the other man's back. The Orc toppled to the ground, dead where it lay.
Just as this Orc fell, so did the other as the man, his rescuer, slashed its neck. Legolas felt his world begin to spin again as the man made his way towards him. A flash of fear went through his chest until this cloaked figure sheathed his sword, aware of Legolas' sudden wariness. The man put his hand on the hilt of his sword comfortably as he stopped in front of Legolas. "Thank you," Legolas said sincerely. He felt his head pound sickeningly, and he grabbed onto the tree again.
The man did not seem to notice. "It was my pleasure. Killing those creatures is my favorite form of practice," the man said, a ghost of a smile hovering over his lips. "My name is Aragorn. What is yours, new friend?"
Spots began to fill his vision, which suddenly began to tunnel. "Legolas," he responded, though he was not sure whether he had said it loud enough for this man, Aragorn, to hear as to him it sounded as though it were said through water.
There was a moment of silence. Then, a hand rested on his shoulder. "Legolas-" Aragorn began, but Legolas heard no more as he felt his legs give out beneath him and his world went black.