Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters (sadly) they belong to J.R.R Tolkien as you might know

This is more of an AU, I might have changed some things but I try to keep it true!

Sindarin to English translations (I tried to get this as accurate as possible, please let me know if you find any mistakes!)

Aran, Aran-nîn... King, my King

Hir, Hir-nîn... Lord, my Lord

ion-nîn... my son

penneth... young one

nîn muin dian Las... my dear little Leaf

mellon-nîn... my friend

Imladris... Rivendell

Adan, Edain... (the race of) Men

Ada, Adar... father

Nana, Naneth... mother

Ellon... male elf

Elleth... female elf

Hennad, hannon le... thanks, thank you

Saes...please

Chapter 1

Aran Thranduil pushed the gates open and rushed through towards the stables. He had sent out a group of trusted elves led by his son Legolas on a scouting mission in the nearby city of Tedrin to make sure all was well there. The party had just returned.

All was not well.

oOo

Legolas stumbled off his mount, clutching a hastily bandaged arm and slightly limping. He just hoped the arrow that had pierced his arm hadn't been poisoned. The world began to spin around him and he brushed his hand against his aching forehead. It was wet. He looked at his fingers. They were red with blood.

All around him healers rushed around to help the elves off their mounts and rushing them to the healing ward.

He was startled when someone had seemed to appear beside him and helped steady his shaking figure. He blinked to clear the double vision and looked into the elf's face to find Aldaner, an elleth healer, looking at him with worried sterness. Legolas pushed her away and took a couple shaky steps forward, all his focus on not falling on his face. His twisted ankle wasn't helping him one bit.

"None of that Legolas! You can't talk yourself out of this one; you are definitely not alright. Now let me help you to the healing ward before you collapse!" Aldaner saw that his fair face was twisted with pain, and she tried to take hold of his elbow but he pushed her away. Amazingly, he was able to take a few more steps before collapsing on his hands and knees into the tall shadow of an elf. The shadow had his hands on his hips. Legolas dared not to look up; it seemed his head might explode if he were to move it.

"What did I tell you about listening to the healers, Legolas?" the voice was meant to sound aggravated but Legolas could hear the very worried undertone. He could only let out a muffled groan. Of all people he had to collapse right in front of his Adar! And in such a condition as well. Thranduil bent down and helped his son to his feet.

"Ada I—"

"Talk later, ion-nîn. We must get you cleaned up first," Thranduil chided gently. He had barely finished the sentence when Legolas went limp in his arms.

Jaseric, one of the ellon who had accompanied Legolas, rushed up to Thranduil who was now carrying Legolas. Healer Aldaner pressed a blood-soaked kerchief to the wound on unconscious Legolas' forehead. "Aran-nîn!" The ellon was limping and had a bandaged leg. It seemed that all the elves that had gone with Legolas were wounded in some way. Jaseric gave a hasty but polite bow.

"Jaseric! What has happened here?" Thranduil motioned for Aldaner to aid the warrior; he seemed to be struggling to stand with his leg that was bleeding profusely.

"In the city!..." he was panting. "Ambushed!... Outnumbered!... City destroyed... tried to protect... but filthy Edain... gone now." Another hoarse breath. "Many wounded."

"I understand, hannon-le Jaseric, Aldaner with help you." Thranduil gave Jaseric and Aldaner a small nod.

"But Caun Legolas, Hir-nîn?" Aldaner could see that all was not well with their beloved Caun.

"I will see that he gets to Master Healer Filendis. Hennad Aldaner." Thranduil let a gentle smile break through his hard shell of well guarded emotions. He needed to be strong for them, he knew.

Thranduil hoped the all elves would be alright. He knew all too well the severity of the raids the Men would inflict on Mirkwood's cities and villages, taking from their already scarce provisions and harassing the inhabitants. These attacks had stopped for a while and it was assumed the Men had left Mirkwood, but this news from Tedrin showed otherwise.

Thranduil looked down at his son's pale face with clenched teeth as he hurried to the healing ward to get Master Healer Filendis to look at him. It had taken a great amount of willpower to appear calm in front of his people, when in reality he was extremely worried for the elves of Tedrin and Mirkwood guards that had tried to protect them.

Anger burned inside him for the Men that were still infesting his territory. They were angry at him for not coming to aid their brothers who had suffered the destruction Smaug had inflicted on the people of Dale and the dwarves of Erebor. But Thranduil knew dragons weren't just some minor force to be reckoned with. He had first hand experience with them and knew the risk was far too great. Thranduil was tired of death. He pushed the memories of his beloved desceased wife and dragon fire to the back of his mind, and concentrated on getting Legolas professional help.

Thranduil planned to send a regiment of scouts out to help those who dwelt in Tedrin rebuild and keep out any other dangers. As soon as he called an emergency council meeting. This he would not tolerate.

He only prayed Legolas wasn't seriously injured. Thranduil had seen his son even more hurt. He shuddered; that was the time his beloved bonded had died. The anxious Adar swallowed nervously as he watched blood trickle from the wound on his son's head. Blood had also soaked through the bandage on his arm. Head wounds usually bled this much. Didn't they? Oh Valar, please.

oOo

"We must act now!" The blond Mirkwood general had stood abruptly, toppling his chair, and now had his voice raised so that it echoed off the walls of the meeting chamber. "Our people are being harassed, and our guards are already have enough on their hands with keeping the rising darkness at bay! I say we increase the number in our Home Guard and attack before those filthy Edain return!" The two guards by the door had moved into a defensive stance, their hands on the hilts of their swords.

Aran Thranduil put his hand up, gesturing for the guards to wait. "That is quite enough, General Gindorelle! If you cannot adress the council in a proper manner, I will ask you to please escort yourself from this chamber!" King Thranduil's icy blue gaze fixed on the ellon's, causing him to waver. Thranduil did not fully trust this elf. Though he was skilled in battle, he had yet to prove himself trustworthy of this position. Thranduil was giving him a sort of "trial run" to see how he would handle his new name.

"Forgive me, Hir-nîn," he muttered quietly as he fumbled with his overturned chair.

Caun Legolas fidgeted uncomfortably in chair and twirled one of his braids around his finger, unsure of what to say. He was embarrassed enough that he hadn't been able to handle this matter and had to turn to his Adar for aid. He cradled his bandaged arm. Thankfully the arrow that had pierced it hadn't gone all the way through his arm. The tip had been smothered with a strange sort of potion that the healers were still trying to analyze. It was new and they had never seen anything like it before but it had been successful in its purpose of weakening its target and eventually driving him into unconsciousness. His head still ached, but with Legolas' quick elven healing, he would be back to normal within a few days; there was no way he was going to miss this meeting, no matter how much his Adar and the healers pleaded with him. He believed it was his fault the situation with the Men had gotten out of hand in the first place, even though Thranduil had tried to persuade him otherwise.

"Nay, we need fully trained warriors if we were to attack, and besides, that would leave the palace unguarded," added Captain Denisale with a look of disdain at Gindorelle.

"Perhaps it would be best not to involve our soldiers... we don't have enough as is." Master Healer Filendis was worried for the elves who might be involved in the attack against the barbaric tribes of Edain that illegally dwelt in the forests of Mirkwood. They would swarm into cities and villages in heavily armed masses, and take as much as their pudgy arms could hold, leaving with a wake of destruction. Not without a fight of course. Mirkwood elves were extremely skilled due to their daily fights with the hordes of spiders and orcs, probably even more skilled than their brethren from Lothloríen and Imladrís.

"Perhaps, but what choice do we have?" General Gindorelle was still rather young and had not seen too many battles. He longed for the rush of adrenaline and fast action.

"I believe the best choice is to burn them out." All heads turned to the ellon who had not spoken since the beginning of the meeting. Murmurs of approval rippled throughout the room. Ausocitin, the ellon who had spoken, had been Aran Oropher's advisor before he died. He was now the Advisor of his son, Aran Thranduil, as well.

Thranduil's eyes darkened. His father had never believed the weak little elfling that was his son could ever bear the weight of the responsibility as the King of the Woodland Realm, and had even tried to place his Advisor Ausocitin as heir to the throne, but had failed. "And risk setting the surrounding forest on fire? I don't think so."

A dangerous glint shone in Ausocitin's eye. "If you recall, our scouts reported that they were settled in a clearing, a safe distance away from the trees."

"And if we could get ahold of some of that exploding power—" Gindorelle was interrupted a loud crash as Thranduil harshly set down his wine goblet on the table.

"I would like to myself clear that we will not be using fire or anything of the sort! It is far too risky that the other trees will catch fire and we will not be able to stop it. Besides, we cannot blindly kill all the humans. They may have settled there with their wives and children, and should we kill them, we shall be called murderers shall we not?" The members of the council exchanged looks of surprise concerning the normally cool-tempered Aran.

Gindorelle began to rise from his seat. "It is the best way to exterminate the vermin without endangering our own men!" He began taking steps towards the Aran. Not yet! Not yet! Ausocitin silently pleaded. "Aran Oropher took serious heed of Advisor Ausocitin's wisdom and the kingdom thrived! Now look what our beloved Greenwood has become."

"Enough, Gindorelle!" growled Captain Denisale, also rising from his seat.

Legolas stood abruptly between Gindorelle and his Adar and came face to face with Gindorelle, his blue eyes flaming and pulling his shoulders back to his full height. "I suggest you take your seat General, or I will send out an order to arrest you."

Gindorelle sneered. "On what charges Princling?"

Without a word Legolas reached behind Gindorelle's cape and pulled out a dagger. Legolas smiled coolly as Gindorelle paled. "Perhaps for carrying a concealed weapon into this chamber when you know very well it is not allowed, disrespect to those above you and abuse of their proper titles, as well as your outbursts during this council meeting."

"A council that you are no longer a part of. I relieve you of your duty Gindorelle." With a wave of his hand, Thranduil had the two guards carrying out a shouting and thrashing Gindorelle.

Ausocitin scowled. Gindorelle's position as General had played an important part in his plan. Perhaps the plan was better off without a fool that carried around weapons to important meetings.

"Now perhaps we can adress our current concern without interruptions," Thranduil said, the irritation obvious in his voice.

Master Healer Filendis spoke timidly, "Maybe Ausocitin is right. We can not afford to risk the lives of our soldiers to these barbarians."

"And be labeled as killers? I don't think it will help our current situation much," said Legolas.

"Well they are taking from what little provisions we already have. We must act very soon." Captain Denisale's eyebrows were furrowed in deep thought.

"I still say we burn them out. Gindorelle was right to some extent. It may not be the best option but what better can you think of?" Ausocitin decided it was time to crank it up a notch.

Thranduil looked up from where he was twirling the wine in his goblet. "Is that a challenge or just a mutiny? You may still think I am the clumsy fool my Adar believed so passionately I was, but you would be wrong." Thranduil and Ausocitin had risen once again and were walking towards each other. "You are up to something, Ausocitin. Don't think I haven't noticed. It puzzles me why I have not yet suspended you."

Ausocitin backed away from Thranduil and grabbed a candle from the chandelier. They eyed each other carefully. Ausocitin then threw it onto the bark shreds in the center of the table, causing the decor to flare up in flames. Thranduil stumbled backwards and braced himself against the wall, blinking against the visions of that horrible night that threatened to take over.

The flare had actually been quite small and it had died out almost as fast as it lit up. None of the other council members had even moved from their seats.

"That's it isn't it?" Ausocitin said with a condemning tone. "Your afraid?" He laughed aloud. "To think we have a coward for a king. If it wouldn't be for your cowardice Thranduil, we wouldn't be in this situation would we? Smaug would be dead, and everyone would be well! No wonder our Queen is dead." He glared at Thranduil who was still bracing against the wall and massaging his temples, his knees threatening to buckle, and the horrible flashbacks of fire and anguish that were taking over his field of vision. Filendis was at the Aran's side in an instant, trying to help him control his labored breathing. Legolas had moved to his Adar's side and Denisale had rushed to block the doorway.

Of all the nerve! thought Legolas. No one spoke to his Adar like that; King or no.

Thranduil shoved the memories to the back of his mind, the mention of his wife getting the better of his tolerance. He pushed the elves away and stood almost nose to nose with Ausocitin. To everyone's horror, the skin on the left side of Thranduil's face began to shrivel back, exposing raw muscles and tendons. It climbed his cheek and his eye became a cloudy white before it reached the side of his forehead. "I am no coward!" The Aran didn't yell, but his voice seemed to fill every corner with an ominous hiss. The room itself seemed to darken. He took a step forward, pushing back the quite horrified Advisor. The muscles pulled and pushed as he talked. "If anyone here is a coward it's you. You know very well what my father left for me. Millenia of problems swept under the carpet for me to find and you stood right by his side. I trusted you once; now I know what you really are. Traitor." Thranduil pulled away from Ausocitin as the scar wound itself back down the side of his face, and it disappeared as if nothing ever happened.

The Advisor backed away and hurried out the door, receiving a smoldering glare from Captain Denisale.

"Aran Thranduil are you—" Filendis almost squeaked. Even being a Master Healer he had never seen anything like that.

"I'm fine!" Thranduil brushed the Healer's hand off his shoulder and turned on his heel, his silver embroidered cape whooshing as he marched out of the meeting chamber. "Meeting is adjourned," he called over his shoulder.

Legolas stood frozen on the spot. He exchanged uneasy glances with the other ellon in the room then followed his Adar out of the chamber.

oOoOoOo

Well, there it is, chapter one. A lot of this is based off of my headcanons and such (this being a movie fic and all), and I hope y'all enjoyed it!! I would love to know what you thought of this, and I hope to have chapter two out soon!! I REALLY appreciate feedback; please let me know if you loved it, what you think might happen, any questions you might have, or even if you hated it, and what I could do to make it better. Any constructive criticism is welcome. Thanks!!!

-DakotaPevensieGreenleaf

P.S. I would also really appreciate some made up elven names and names for cities, I tend to have a bit of a hard time with those xD thanks again