THE FELLOWSHIP OF LEAF AND STONE
Author's note: I don't own none of this except for the exceptionally stupid plot, I makes no monies off this or any other profit. I decided to mess with continuity, so purist beware!! Run away!! Run away!!! In this mess Legolas and Gimli trade places with Merry and Pippin after Amen Hen. Fun stuff, eh?
Legolas and Gimli rock my socks!
Feed back appreciated!
"BOROMIR!!" Pippin's anguished scream could be heard echoing through the sparse woods of Amen Hen. The petrified hobbit and his companion Merry could only watch in traumatized horror as their friends body became riddled with the long shafts of arrows from the Urk-hai. The brave Steward of Gondor fell limply to his knees, no longer able to support himself.
The two hobbits unleashed their small swords, charging into the fray, when a volley of arrows began dispatching their enemies from an unseen vantage point.
"Hobbits! Get out of the way!!" Gimli's gruff baritone roared from behind them as he and the elf Legolas sprung to defend the hobbits and the injured Boromir.
"Merry! Pippin! Run! Find Aragorn!" Legolas commanded as he and Gimli held back the wave of enemy attack. The two hobbits gave Boromir and their other companions a last desperate glance then took off through the underbrush.
"Hold them off, I must attend to Boromir!" the elf shouted to his comrade as he dropped back next to Boromir who was lying slumped against a tree trunk.
"Oh sure! Leave me with all the work!" Gimli grunted back to him.
"Legolas…" Boromir choked, looking at him with burly eyes. The elf looked at him sadly and began to search his wounds but the man took the elf's hands in his, shaking his head feebly.
"Leave them…" he whispered.
"I will not abandon you to death." Legolas admonished, holding his bloody hands tightly in his.
"Look out!" Boromir cried suddenly as the elf whirled behind him to find Boromir's assassin leering over him with a crude steel sword. The elf unleashed his daggers, but too late, a swift blunt blow to his skull sent the elf sprawling upon the leaf covered earth, unmoving.
Gimli heard Boromir's cry and watched Legolas go down. Rage filled the dwarf and he charged forward ready to cleave the monstrous Orc in half with his axe, but was suddenly swept up from behind. Gimli kicked out savagely, swinging his axe frantically, lopping off his capture's arm, only to be suddenly set upon by another and then another until he was all but crushed beneath the weight of the Orcs.
"Take them to Saruman!" Lurtz spat viscously, dragging the unconscious elf up by his hair and throwing him to another of his men who tossed him over their shoulder and continued running as they followed behind with Gimli.
"What of the human?" the other Orc snarled looking to the dying Boromir.
"Leave him to me…" the Urk drooled. Boromir's dying eyes widened in fear as Lurtz stepped closer raising his weapon to finish him off…until Aragorn appeared.
The ranger grappled with the giant Orc in a life and death struggle, taking many blows. At last the Ranger emerged victorious, drenched in Orc blood. He ran to Boromir's side, clinging onto him.
"Boromir--!" he began worriedly. But the Steward of Gondor silenced him with his own cry. "The Elf and the dwarf! They've taken them!" he cried painfully.
Aragorn's eyes darkened. "Where are the hobbits?"
"We are here Aragorn!" Merry called as he and Pippin emerged into the clearing then, looking very frightened but unharmed.
"Oh Boromir!" Pippin wept hurling himself down next to the dying man and weeping openly. "It's our fault, I'm sorry!" he sobbed. Boromir buried his hand in the little hobbit's clurly tangles of red hair trying to comfort him.
"We must get these out of you." Aragorn said, beginning to remove the long shafts, but again Boromir stopped him.
"Leave them…" he begged. "It is over. I have failed you all." the steward choked.
"That's not true. You have fought bravely, son of Gondor." Aragorn said, holding his hand, trying to comfort him.
"I tried to take the Ring from Frodo…I was weak…forgive me. The quest has failed! The fellowship is broken…and all will come to darkness" he wept. Aragorn let out a worried breath but still smiled.
"All will not come to darkness." he insisted. "I promise you, so long as I breathe, I will not let the white city fall." the son of the king vowed.
Boromir squeezed his hand tightly. "My King…"
"Be at peace, son of Gondor." Aragorn said gently.
And so passed Boromir, son of the Steward of Gondor.
***
Gimli came to himself some time later, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. Slowly memory drifted back to him. The battle at Amen Hen…Boromir, the halflings, Legolas…
"Legolas!" the dwarf found himself gasping out loud. He craned his neck as much as he could, realizing he was being hauled across the back of an ugly Urk-hai. He found his companion close by, slung across the shoulders of an Orc like a dead animal. The elf's face was shielded by his long blonde hair so Gimli could not clearly see if he was conscious or not, but the alarming red hue in parts of the elf's tresses worried him greatly as did his lack of movement. The elf hung limply across the shoulders of the captor, like a dead stag. Gimli swallowed a lump of fear in his throat and concentrated on making an escape. Somehow they had to get back to Aragorn and the others…somehow.
Hours came and went with the poor dwarf remembering little, slipping in and out of black dreams. Once or twice he thought he heard or saw Aragorn in the distance or following close behind, but those were only shadows of his dreams and nothing tangible. The reality was the cold biting grips of the Orcs, and the fear in the dark.
Abruptly he felt himself tossed to the ground. The Urks were stopping, probably to rest. Around him he could hear bits and pieces of broken common tongue and a lot of snarling and muttering in their own foul languages.
Gimli took this opportunity to get his bearings and check on his friend. Legolas was lying with his face in the dirt close by. Gimli crawled towards him, his wrist and ankles heavily bound and gently rolled the elf over onto his back. "Are ye alright laddie?!" he gasped worriedly.
Legolas' pale blue eyes that were usually open in strange elvish sleep were closed and dried copper colored blood obscured the pale skin above his eyebrows, the same color that coated his long flaxen braids.
Horrified Gimli pulled the limp figure closer to him, leaning his face close to his. He was relived to feel warm faint breath on his cheek. The elf was still among the living. Gimli shifted the elf's head into his lap, trying to bring him around. It took a bit of coaxing on the dwarf's part, for which he was very grateful that the elf heard little of it, but at last his companion's eyes opened.
"Gimli…" were the first strangled words past the elf's lips and Gimli smiled deeply.
"Aye lad, it is I. Are you well?" he asked gruffly, looking around him suspiciously to make sure the Orcs were still preoccupied.
"My head is filled with a thousand pains." the elf murmured quietly, beginning to raise a hand to his brow only to find them bound. "What ill has befallen us, master dwarf, that we are so bound?" he asked.
"We have been taken for a rather long side-trip I'm afraid." Gimli grunted. It was then that Legolas seemed to become aware of their surroundings, and looked around with fear evident in his eyes which startled the dwarf.
"An ill-fate indeed…" he whispered. "I wonder why we have not yet been killed." he whispered to him.
"I was wondering that myself." Gimli grumbled, leaning close to him so that their words would not fall on other unwanted ears. "I believe we are headed to Isengaurd."
Again the expression on Legolas' face grew grim and he allowed his weary head to rest once more on the earth, feeling weakened and dismayed. "They will want to know the location of the ring." he whispered.
"They'll not get it from us." Gimli said determinedly.
Legolas gave him a weak smile. "You do not understand, master dwarf. It is not a simple matter of torture. We are going to the White Wizard, the puppet of the dark lord. And he has powers that are far greater than any torture these Orcs can inflict, though I do not doubt that we shall not be spared from their cruel hands."
"At least the hobbits are safe now with Aragorn. I pray that Boromir will be there to protect them as well." Gimli said softly. The dwarf looked down suddenly and found Legolas' long delicate fingers curling around his short broad hands.
"There is little hope for us, master dwarf. But I shall not despair, as long as you are with me." he said softly, gently. Gimli blinked in astonishment. Though their relationship with one another had become stronger and friendlier in the later days of their journey, Legolas had never spoken with such kindness or sincerity to the dwarf before and it touched him deeply.
"Nor will I." he vowed.
It was then that they were discovered by a particularly ugly Orc came limping over to then, yellow eyes leering out at them from their deep sockets.
"What's this here?" he snarled coming up to them. Instinctively they reached for their weapons, but found that they had been stripped of them.
"No good there, my little maggots. We've traded in your pretty axe and bow for a nice pair of metal bracelets." the Orc laughed.
Gimli struggled to his feet, ready to tear out the Orc's throat with his bare hands. Perhaps he would have but Legolas' firm grip was on his shoulder.
"Do not anger them, Gimli!" the elf warned.
"I'll not sit idly by and be insulted! Bonds or no bonds, I can still teach this filthy creature from the abyss a thing or two!" the proud son of Gloin announced.
"Better listen to your friend, Mountain dweller, if you know what's good for you." the Orc snarled, brandishing a nasty whip. Gimli looked apprehensively back at the elf, who returned his gaze sternly but then turned it upon the Orc.
"You are fortunate I am without my bow, you filthy Orc son of Mordor, or I would pluck out your eyes one by one and shoot them down your gullet!" the elf prince spat.
Much to Gimli's amazement the Orc began a long hissing screeching rant in black speech which Gimli could not understand. Legolas' grip on him was abruptly ended however as the elf tumbled backwards onto the ground once more, his face clenched as though he had been struck. Gimli looked in confusion and fear at the Orc and realized it was the black speech that was afflicting his friend so. Gimli wasn't about to stand idly by and watch his friend be tormented. He immediately heaved himself at the Orc, throwing him to the ground and ending the torment for his friend, however he was quickly clubbed into unconsciousness again.
***
Aragorn felt thoroughly at a loss for direction. Boromir was dead, Legolas and Gimli were taken captive, Frodo and Sam had decided to go off to Mordor…alone. That left him with a grieving and confused Merry and Pippin. They were tracking the group of Urk-hai across the plains, hoping to catch up with Legolas and Gimli, and the going was slow.
Aragorn feared they would never catch up with their captured companions with Merry and Pippin's slow pace, not that they could help it.
"How much further do we have to run like this Strider? We've been going a whole day now with no rest!" Pippin whimpered.
"As long as need be, master Pippin! Legolas and Gimli need our haste. You must be strong for them!" he commanded, his voice leaning towards annoyance.
"We're sorry, Strider. It's just…we've got short legs. It's hard to keep up." Merry amended, looking frustrated.
Strider's face softened. "I know. Still you must do your best."
"Do you think Sam and Frodo are alright?" Pippin chimed in then, looking into the far off horizon.
"I can only pray so, master Took." was Aragorn's reply, and then he stretched himself upon the earth, listening hard as the other two hobbits stood in silence behind him, both intrigued and very confused.
"They are a day ahead of us. We must press on!" And once more the small party ran for all they were worth.
***
When Gimli woke again this time it was early night, and his head ached sorely. "What a head!" he bemoaned loudly. From somewhere behind him he heard a light musical chuckle that he could only recognize as his friend's.
Gimli craned his neck once more to see Legolas running behind him, flanked by three or four Urk-hai. "Awake at last, master Gimli? Such laziness I have not seen in the likes of dwarfs." Legolas called before he was abruptly belted by one of his guards.
"No talking!" it snarled at him. Legolas snarled right back.
Gimli chuckled a bit before taking in his surroundings once more, trying to assess their location. They were entering a deep depression of plains, it appeared, where tall grasses grew but very few trees and jagged rocks and boulders dotted the landscape.
This was strange country to the dwarf, but he doubted if it was any more familiar to the elf. Abruptly he felt himself being tossed to the ground.
"My men are tired of carrying you! We've got plenty of ways to run yet, so you'd better get those short legs of yours going at top speed!" the Orc overseer snarled at him.
The pace started again as though it never stopped and Gimli at once realized how difficult this might be for him. It seemed the elf understood too because he was constantly throwing worried glances in his direction. But Gimli would be damned if he lost face in front of him, so on they ran, long into the night where their was no moon and no stars to guide them by.
Soon they came upon a part of the land that was shrouded in mist, where the ground was soft and muddy. Gimli was beginning to think that his legs would no longer hold him when suddenly he saw Legolas break free from his guards and run out into the open.
The march halted at once and Gimli instinctively fell to his knees, but his eyes never left the elf as he battled with the on-coming Orcs. Like a bolt of silver lightning in the darkness the elf leaped out, lashing out at his attackers with bound hands and swift feet, staying always just inches from their grasp. More Orcs moved in, screaming angrily "Catch the elf! He mustn't escape! Catch him!"
They unleashed long whips and lengths of rope, running after the elf as he sprinted soundlessly across the wet ground. Gimli thought for sure he would escape, until he did the strangest thing. The elf stopped abruptly, wrestling with something around his neck before flinging it to the wind. Gimli saw only a faint glimmer in the dim light and then the object, whatever it was, vanished and the Orcs were upon his friend.
Ropes fell all over him, pulling tight at his throat and arms and legs. Legolas reeled and thrashed about, screaming in his own tongue, hair flying wildly about. He was like a wild horse being brought down for the first time. The elf kicked and lashed, falling upon the muddy ground before allowing himself to be dragged back towards the horde, still struggling fiercely.
His friend's punishment was severe for attempting to escape. They lashed out at him with long leather whips, leaving angry red and bleeding marks across pale skin, punching and kicking and clawing until another Orc came lumbering angrily up to them, tearing away his assailants.
"They're not to be spoiled!" he spat angrily at the others as Legolas laid in a pain-riddled heap on the ground beneath him. "Saruman's orders!"
"We don't take our orders from the wizard!" snarled another, shorter, gangly Orc with large eyes and a few strains of greasy black hair on his mangy head. "We come from the North to avenge our brothers, our agenda is our own!"
Gimli took this moment of distraction to slip away from his own guards and make his way closer to the elf. The situation looked grim. The elf had many bad wounds upon him now, and it appeared that the wound upon his head had reopened in the struggle for now thin rivers of blood poured freely down his face.
"We are the fighting Urk-hai! Servants of the White Hand, Saruman! If you do not follow our lead, then take your filthy rabble and head back North to your mines." the taller, more broadly built Urk hissed.
"And have you take all the credit for the capture with the Great Eye? I think not…" the smaller Orc chattered. "Why doesn't he want them spoiled anyway, eh? What good are they alive? Are they good sport?" he chattered then, looking down at Legolas' stretched form on the earth.
"They are to be brought to him unspoiled and as captured. They have information…" the Urk-hai drooled. "We wait to take them further North, through the horse country, to where the Nazgul waits to bring them to our lord Saruman."
This sent a shiver of fear not only through Gimli but through the other Orcs as well. "Nazgul…Nazgul…wicked beasts, apple of the Great Eye…" they chattered in a frightened matter.
As the Orcs continued their squabble among their many tribes, Gimli managed to pull Legolas from them and take him aside, their own presence forgotten. Briefly he contemplated escape once more, but he could not with the elf in such a condition, and his own strength waning from the endless running.
He moved them aside, out of ear shot, where he laid the elf's injured head upon his knees and began looking him over for injuries. The elf's unfocused pale eyes staring unseeingly up at him, alarmed him for only a moment, and Gimli inwardly cursed the unnatural sleep of the elves.
The dwarf was gently probing a deep wound up the elf's ribs when he gave a pained whimper and squirmed beneath him. Gimli held him still. "No noise master elf! We have only a little time to rest!" he said in a urgent whisper. Legolas at once complied, lying quietly on the dwarf's lap.
"What on earth possessed you to make such a reckless run!? Getting yourself killed will help neither of us." the dwarf huffed angrily. To his surprise Legolas just smiled at him.
"I suppose you think it's funny?" he asked gruffly.
"My intention was not to escape, master dwarf. It was to leave a mark. Our tracks are all but destroyed by the thousands of tracks left by the Orcs, but by breaking away I have left my own unique tracks and our mark, so to speak." he whispered, motioning to loss of the Lorien broach around his neck.
"That's what you threw!" Gimli gasped at the cleverness of the trick. "It'll probably lay there for all eternity, I fear. Surely Aragorn and the others would have continued on the quest." he added then, sadly.
Legolas nodded feebly. "I thought as well, but there is no point in wasting opportunities." he added. He looked up at Gimli then. "I think we may have made a mistake, coming along on this quest, master dwarf."
Gimli shook with laughter.
***
They had run all day and long into the night, stopping only for an hour's rest before starting back up again. The Orcs were still hundreds of miles it seemed ahead of them, and Merry and Pippin's strength was all but sapped. Still Strider urged them on, carrying them if need be. They ran once more until morning, where they came at last upon the grass lands of the horse lords, the land of Rohan.
As Strider surveyed the area, Merry took a quick rest, nibbling on Lembas and sitting on the soft ground while Pippin wondered tiredly about, attempting to make himself useful.
"What good have I been on this journey? Just a nuisance, a piece of luggage. Now I am slowing us down from finding our friends…I should have staid in the Shire." he thought miserably to himself. He had just sat himself down upon the ground for a good long mope when something sharp struck him in the rear.
"YEOW!" Pippin gasped, leaping up at once and turning to see what had assaulted him so. He stared at the small object on the ground below him and recognized it almost at once. A grin splitting his face from ear to ear, he grabbed it up and began shouting eagerly for Aragorn and Merry. Both of them trotted over to him.
"Look what I've found!!" he cried happily, producing a small, though slightly bent leaf-shaped broach from his hand.
"It's from one their cloaks!" Merry cried excitedly, grinning madly at his cousin, who couldn't have looked more proud.
"Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall. They are not far, there is still hope!" Aragorn cried happily. "Come little hobbits! Our friends need us!"
And so the chase began in earnest with hopes renewed. Perhaps there was still some good left in the world after all.
***
Gimli was seriously beginning to wonder if he wasn't really going to run all the way to Isengaurd. Dwarfs were very dangerous over short distances, oh yes there was no contesting that, but cross country? Absolutely worthless. They had run all night and far into the morning, so now the sun beat down on their backs and Gimli was beginning to wish he wasn't wearing quite so much armor and mail. But then he remembered his company and was glad to have more than a bit of fabric between him and a stab in the dark.
Legolas, however, was not fairing so well. The elf, despite his quick healing and immunity to the elements and to tiredness, was seriously beginning to contradict all those things to which he was predisposed. He was badly injured, Gimli knew, as the Orcs appeared to be far more cruel to the elf prince than to himself, and running none stop must have indeed aggravated his injuries to the point where they were beginning to afflict him greatly. The son of Gloin watched his friend out of the corner of his eye, wondering if he weren't about to make another reckless attempt to free themselves or if he would simply collapse.
It was the latter. With a tiny moan the elf tumbled face first to the ground, bringing another halt to the rabble of Orcs. Gimli rushed to his side. "Elf! Are you alright?"
"I tripped…" Legolas choked, lifting his head feebly to look at him, but Gimli could tell it was something much more than that. The elf was exhausted, and feverish, and though he strived to keep up appearances, the body does not lie.
"That is a feeble lie at best." Gimli grunted at him. He touched the elf's bound hands and was shocked to find them freezing cold. Legolas looked up at him, his eyes speaking volumes that his mouth would never utter. Something was desperately wrong.
"What's going on here?!" the Orc overseer bellowed, coming closer. Gimli and Legolas had learned that his name was Greshinak, one of the Orcs from the north. The other one, the overseer for the Urk-hai was Ugbluk. Both came lumbering towards the back of the line looking down angrily at the elf and the dwarf, who hadn't exactly been model prisoners.
"My friend is sick! He needs medicine!" Gimli growled back. He realized he was taking a very big chance, but there was nothing else for it. He knew that the Urk-hai didn't want them dead, at least not until they had seen Saruman. And at this rate Legolas would surely die before ever reaching Isengaurd.
A foul smile crossed Greshinak's face. "Legs are getting tired are they? Maybe I could lop them off and he'd be rid of them, the pretty little thing."
Ugbluk threw him backwards. "There'll be none of that! If they die before we reach Isengaurd, you can bet someone else will die too." he snarled, his wicked drooling face just inches from the other Orc's. He turned then back towards Legolas and Gimli and took out a flask from his belt, roughly grabbing the elf's chin and forcing his mouth open, pouring some foul smelling liquor from the flask down the elf's throat.
Legolas spat it back out instantaneously, gagging and choking on the foul substance. "Doesn't want to take his medicine eh? Doesn't know what's good for him?" the Orc's laughed as Gimli did his best to help the elf retain some dignity as he vomited all over the ground.
"We're due for a rest at any rate. Send out the scouts across the river!" Ugbluk snarled to the others. He looked back towards his captives. "Rest while you can, maggots."
With that the Orcs dispersed into their own little tribes, scurrying about to look for food, leaving the companions in peace.
For a long time they sat in silence, Legolas lying quietly next to Gimli who looked hopelessly out on the barren horizon. He thought in the far distance he could see the vague outlines of a forest, but they were still far from there.
"Gimli…" his companion said at last, looking up at him. "I'm sorry."
Gimli looked at the elf in surprise, thinking perhaps he was sicker than he realized. "For what?" he asked.
"I fear that I have been no help to you on our ordeal. I have failed in my duties to protect not only Frodo and the Ring but the other members of our fellowship. And now that fellowship is broken…we go to death and torment at the hands of the white wizard."
Gimli took in the elf's speech for a moment and then said crossly, "You are a liar as well."
Legolas blinked up at him with wide blue eyes, pushing himself up on his hands and knees. "I do not understand, nor do I care for your tone master dwarf." he snapped.
"You told me that you would not despair so long as I remained with you. Well I am still here, master elf, and you have all but given yourself up for death. Perhaps elves really are as cowardly as my father has told me!"
Legolas grabbed the dwarf roughly with chained hands, "You dare to impugn my honor! A plague on dwarves and their stiff necks, I say!"
Gimli only smiled. "Now there's the elf I know." For a moment the elf only stared with a confused expression and then he too smiled warmly and friendly.
"I take back what I said, and would say instead praise dwarves and their cunning and wits. You have brought me back from darkness, Gimli. I thank thee."
"Never send an elf to do a dwarf's job!" Gimli chuckled. Legolas laughed once more and then cast his eyes on Gimli swollen and bleeding feet.
"It has been a hard journey for us, master dwarf. But it is not over yet."
"Alas no, Isengaurd is still a few days journey." Gimli grumbled.
"I do not mean to go to Isengaurd." Legolas said then, pushing himself to his feet and casting his sight out into the distance. "There is a forest before us. We should reach it by nightfall."
"A forest is a forest. We are surrounded by a score of Urk-hai, prince elf, unless you have been too bereft of your senses to notice! They will be ready for another one of your escape attempts." Gimli grumbled.
"Aye," the elf replied, "but I feel that the tide is about to turn in our favor. You must trust my judgment, Gimli, when the time comes."
Gimli shook his head. "I have trusted all else, haven't I?" he asked winking at him.
The run began again shortly after and they continued on until nightfall once more, until the Orcs had gone as far as they wished for the night, hungry and agitated. As Legolas had seen, they were now camped along the outskirts of a very dense forest, one both elf and dwarf recognized. Fangorn Forest.
Now the two of them sat together in the dark, Gimli uneasily glancing at the forest, which was moaning and groaning, and Legolas whose eyes were cast aloft upon the moon and stars.
"Hnh." Gimli made an odd noise in his throat. "What is it about the sky that so fascinates the elves? What's so interesting as to give you permanent stiff necks to just look at it?"
Legolas smiled gently at him, "Look at the sky, Gimli." he said quietly. Gimli glanced at him and then glanced up at the stars and low hanging moon above. "Tell me," the elf continued softly. "What do you see?"
Gimli looked up at the glittering velvety blackness for a long moment and then sighed in agitation. "Nothing just a bunch of dots."
Legolas chuckled and leaned closer. "Look harder." he whispered.
Gimli looked again, and looked, until his eyes blurred out of focus and all he could see were the small twinkling lights in the far distance. They reminded him of the glittering gems in the caves of his home. "Home." he said at last, much to his surprise.
"Aye." Legolas replied. "Home is a good answer."
"What do you see then, master elf?" the dwarf asked in turn. Legolas took a moment to answer and then replied in a soft tone he had not heard him use before, "I see many things, master dwarf. But mostly, I see hope."
It was then Gimli noticed something about Legolas that alarmed him greatly. In full moonlight, Legolas usually had an annoyingly ethereal glow around him, that made him stand out amongst the others in the fellowship. Even on the blackest nights, the elf still carried that faint glow of the stars in his skin, in his hair. Gimli had wondered once or twice if elves were not made up of a bit of the stars they so loved, but now…now in full moonlight the elf was a opaque as he, as dark as any who had never known immortality.
"Legolas!" Gimli found himself gasping out of pure shock. He grasped the elf's hands once more and found they were still icy. But more alarming than this, were his eyes. Gimli looked into elf's large pale eyes. Sometimes, during heated arguments it seemed, Gimli had looked into those same haunting orbs and had seen strange things. They never reflected the way he, or Aragorn and Boromir's had. Nor the hobbits. Sometimes he thought he could see the stars and moon and the whole universe in them. Other times he could see the forest and the trees. Sometimes the ocean. But now, sitting here in the dark, Legolas' eyes were empty. Empty as any eyes who had never seen Elves.
"What is happening to you?" the dwarf whispered.
"My light is fading, Gimli. It is the Orcs." Legolas replied faintly. "Darkness is closing in, covering the light. The nearer we are to Mordor, to Saruman and the Great Eye, the weaker the light becomes."
"Stop talking in damn riddles! What does it mean?!" Gimli demanded, annoyed at the elf's cryptic words.
"It means, Gimli, that if we do not escape, my light will go out. And I will become as mortal as you are." the elf replied grimly. "That is why I am, for the first time in my three thousand years of existence, tired and cold and sick. That is why my wounds have not yet healed. And that is why we must escape."
Gimli took in the grim words in silence for a long moment. "Why did you not tell me before?" he demanded gruffly.
"I assumed the fear of being run to death was enough for the mind of one dwarf to deal with." Legolas replied.
"Then what are we waiting for?! They are not watching! We must go!" Gimli growled, making to get to his feet, but Legolas pushed him back to the ground.
"We wait, master dwarf, for the opportune moment. I asked you to trust me. Do you ?" the elf asked, staring into the eyes of the dwarf. Gimli nodded and clasped his hand.
"Indeed I do."
Legolas nodded and moved closer to him. "Good. Then let us rest and pool our strength while we may. We will need it in the end."
"Aye." Gimli nodded, resting his chin on his palm as he gazed into the distance at their captors. Beside him the elf began to sing softly to the wind…
"Lay down, your sweet and weary head…
Night is falling
You have come to journey's end.
Sleep now, and dream of the ones who came before
They are calling from across a distant shore
Why do you weep?
What are these tears upon your face?
Soon you will see
All of your fears will pass away
Safe in my arms
You're only sleeping
What can you see on the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come
To carry you home
And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
All souls pass…"
But Legolas's song was abruptly ended as one of the guards backhanded him hard across the face, knocking him once more to the ground. "Enough with your twittering little bird! Silence or I'll make you squeal!"
Legolas retaliated by spitting out something in an angry fuming voice in elvish which the Orc did not quite comprehend but raised his hand to strike him again, until Ugbluk called him back over.
"What did you say?" Gimli asked when he was out of ear shot.
"In elvish, I told him he's ugly and his mother dresses him funny."
Both companions hid their laughter behind their cuffed hands.
Away from them, closer to the fires, the Orcs had begun to talk among themselves. Apparently a scout had returned, saying that he had spotted a lone horsemen a few miles back, but he had let him go. This did not make the other Orcs happy and they looked about uneasily. They were in fear of both the forest, and of the riders that roamed the plains. It would be an uneasy night.
Some hours later, Gimli had fallen into a fitful sleep of fatigue when he was awakened by Legolas' firm grip upon his shoulder. He snorted and looked around him in confusion. The horde was not moving, nothing had changed.
"Wha--what is it?" he grunted. Legolas gave him an excited grin.
"Our opportunity is about to arise. Follow my lead and stay out of sight." he whispered. Gimli nodded, though his head was still foggy with confusion.
It was then that he heard what sounded like distant thunder, and then suddenly the ground beneath them began to rumble and their came the sound of angry battle cries. The horse lords of Rohan had come, come to attack the Orcs that were invading their lands!
Mass chaos ensued about the camp, the Rohirrim charging into the company of Orcs, cutting off heads where they found them.
"Now Gimli!" Legolas shouted as he bolted out into the fray, Gimli following in confusion behind him.
"Now what?!" the dwarf gasped. Legolas threw himself head long into a group of Urk-hai. Gimli watched in horror as one raised his sword to send it cleaving through the elf's skull, but Legolas threw up his chained wrists, and the blade sliced through the crude metal bindings, freeing the Elf's nimble hands.
Gimli laughed with the ingenious of it all as Legolas quickly freed his bindings as well and the two dashed out, picking up discarded weapons to defend themselves with.
The only problem was that in the chaos and dark, the Rohirrim hardly recognized friend from foe, and both companions were in emanate danger of being speared by one of the horse lords.
The heaving body of an Orc crashed into the dwarf then, throwing him the ground. He squirmed to get out from under the weight of the dead body, digging into it with his sword before finally being able to free himself.
"Legolas!" he shouted into the battle, but found himself once more on the defense, hacking into another attacking Orc. The enemy dispatched, Gimli found himself in an even more compromising position. A horse without a rider was running towards him at top speed. He would be trampled! He cringed, waiting to feel the crushing blow of the horse's hoof on his skull, but instead felt a strong hand grasp him from behind and pull him upwards until he was seated behind none other than the elf himself.
"LEGOLAS!!" Gimli shouted fearfully, clinging onto the elf as though his life depended on it, and indeed it did. "Get me off this blasted beast!"
"Not if you want to live, friend dwarf!" Legolas laughed, spurring the animal beneath them on with fantastic speed. The elf plucked a fallen spear from it's fallen rider and charged forward with it held out in front of him like a lance.
"Ugbluk!" he shouted the foul name into the air as it's owner looked up in confusion. But only for a moment before his life was abruptly ended by a spear tip through his throat. "Send that to Saruman!" the elf laughed.
They rode full gallop through the carnage, dodging both men and Orcs as they made their sprint towards where Gimli feared. "Where are we going?!" Gimli shouted to him, too afraid to even look up.
"To the forest, Gimli! It is our only chance of safety!" he said to his friend as they galloped through the trees into the tangled wood of Fangorn and disappeared from sight.
When the sounds of battle had drifted away into the eerie silence of the wood, Legolas slowed the horse to a stop, finally giving Gimli a chance to breathe.
"Are you MAD?!" Gimli shouted at him when they had stopped and dismounted.
"We are free are we not?" Legolas chuckled. "I told you to trust me."
"Well never again! If I had known your plan was to take us on a ride with that four legged beast I would have gladly stayed with the Orcs!"
"Your gratitude overwhelms me." Legolas scoffed, patting the horse's muzzle gently and speaking to it softly in elvish.
Gimli rolled his small brown eyes. "Not only does he talk to trees, now he talks to horses too." he snorted, looking around him nervously.
He took a few steps forward, peering into the dark and twisted woods of Fangorn. The forest was wild, and dark, the ground littered with dead leaves and moss and countless overgrown roots. The place seemed tight and suffocated to Gimli, like a breath of fresh air had not been through there in sometime, much less sunlight.
"I feel like I'm being watched by a thousand eyes." he whispered.
Legolas stepped close to him, looking around as well. "This forest is old…very old. Full of memory…" he paused for a moment and looked at his friend. "…and anger."
"What reason have woods to be angry?" Gimli demanded haughtily.
"Shh! Do not be disrespectful, Gimli! They can hear you!" Legolas warned hurriedly.
"Who's they!?" the dwarf shouted again.
Legolas was about to reply when he was abruptly thrown to the ground, Greshinak upon him, driving a dagger deep into his back. "AHHHH!" the elf screamed.
Gimli charged forward with a deadly battle cry, belting the Orc across the face with his weapon, sending blood spurting across the ground. "You'll pay for that with your life, Orc!" Gimli snarled.
The two grappled upon the ground , the Orc swiftly gaining the upper ground as Gimli's feet tripped over an upraised root, sending the dwarf flat on his back.
The poor dwarf found himself staring up into the vulture-faced Orc who was grinning down at him through blood and gore on his face. "I'm going to put a maggot hole in your belly, dwarf!" he snarled.
Gimli's eyes grew incredibly wide, but not at the Orc. Above the beast, a great deal of groaning and creaking was going on, as a giant…tree loomed over them, looking down at the two of them with great green eyes, it's branches dangling over them as if it would fall on them. Slowly the Orc turned around and scrambled away, only to be abruptly squashed by what should have been stationary roots. Gimli would have bellowed with shock and fear if he were not frozen to the spot. That is, until the tree swooped him up in his branches as though they were great, long, bony fingers.
"Let me go, so help me, or I'll make you into kindling you…you…tree!" he cried out at last, brandishing his pathetic little weapon at the monstrous plant.
"Tree…?" came a low, booming, thundering, breathy voice from the tree. "I am no tree…" he boomed, making Gimli shake with fear.
"He's an Ent!" a familiar voice called suddenly and both Gimli and the talking "tree" looked down to see Legolas slowly staggering to his feet.
" And what is an Ent?! It--it doesn't eat dwarves does it?!" Gimli shouted down to him.
"They are tree herders," Legolas tried to explain, falling to his knees, weakened from his wound.
The tree turned with much loud creaking and groaning from his trunk and limbs and bent towards the elf upon the ground. "You know me…but I don't seem to remember you…"
Legolas looked painfully up into the tree's "face" as it were and said as plainly and calmly as he could. "I am Legolas Greenleaf of the Woodland Realm of Mirkwood, son of King Thrandruil. What you hold in your hand is my friend and companion Gimli, son of Gloin. We mean you no harm…" The elf winced painfully, doubling over as Gimli watched helplessly from above.
"Don't tell it my name, fool of an elf! Don't encourage it!" Gimli pleaded fearfully.
"Hooom…maybe you are…and maybe you aren't. The white wizard…will know."
"White Wizard?" Gimli gasped.
"Saruman…"
***
Day broke once more on the land, as Aragorn and the hobbits continued their relentless pursuit of their friends. "Strider!" Pippin gasped breathlessly stopping beside him and resting his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. "How long until we catch up with them?" he gasped.
Aragorn looked frustrated out into the open ground ahead of them. "I have lost track of them. They've switched their pattern, they know we are following them." he grunted.
"Now we'll never catch them!" Merry groaned, falling upon the ground next to them. "I can't go another inch."
Aragorn was just about to turn to yell at both of them, his patience worn to it's last, when he heard a thundering sound from behind them. He grabbed up both hobbits throwing them into the shelter of a nearby rock formation as suddenly a score of horsemen came thundering past them.
Merry and Pippin stared in shock and surprise, but Aragorn knew these people and a plan. He stood up then and shouted for all to hear.
"RIDERS OF ROHAN! WHY DO YOU SERVE THE MARK?!"
Merry and Pippin cringed as the horsemen obviously heard him and turned, effectively surrounding them. The two frightened hobbits clung onto each other and Strider as the riders towered above them. One dismounted, stepping into the small circle where the remains of the fellowship now stood.
"The Rohirrim do not permit trespassers upon their lands! Many spies come from the tower of Isengaurd to attack our people, explain yourselves!"
"I am Aragorn, ranger from the North. These are Merry and Pippin, Shirelings. We are friends with Theoden, your King." Aragorn explained.
The riders face fell. "Theoden no longer recognizes friend from foe. Nor from his own kin." he said bitterly. "I am Eomer, nephew of the King, leader of the Ridermark. We are exiled from the kingdom of Rohan. Saruman and his agents do much wickedness there. We do what we can to protect our kingdom."
"We're looking for our friends!" Merry chimed in then. "They were kidnapped by Orcs some time ago, they came this way! An Elf and Dwarf! Have you seen them?"
Eomer blinked down at the small creature that could have easily been mistaken for a child. "My men and I slew a company of Orcs headed towards Isengaurd but last night."
"Did you see the elf and dwarf with them!?" Pippin cried.
Aragorn looked at Eomer with urgency but the horse lord only replied, "We left none alive."
Merry and Pippin stared up at them with shock and incredulity. "Dead?" Pippin whimpered.
"We burned the bodies and left them to smolder there, just outside the great forest of Fangorn. Search for your friends, but do not trust to hope. There is little of it in these lands" he said. He looked once more to Merry and Pippin, who were huddled at Aragorn's side. "I am sorry."
***
It was mid-day as near as Gimli could tell when he had finished bathing in the near by spring and had wrapped his wounds and found something fit to eat. Nearby Treebeard the Ent, for that was his name, stood quietly, humming and hooming to himself, branches swaying softly in the wind. Beneath him, curled against his trunk, was Legolas who laid in the exhausted sleep of mortals, pale blue eyes closed once more.
But despite his unnatural state of repose, (unnatural for elves that is), the pale luminescent color of his skin had returned, and his breathing was deep and restful and his wounds were closing nicely. It seemed being among his natural element was agreeing with the elf, and helping him to heal faster than he would have out on the treeless plains of Rohan.
After much coaxing from both Legolas and Gimli, Treebeard agreed to let them rest before taking them to see the White wizard. After all, the tree was not unsympathetic to their condition and saw the elf was near death. So Gimli had spent the night watching over him and cleaning his wounds as Treebeard talked to them in his low voice in very long words.
"So, Treebeard, who's side are you on?" Gimli asked at length.
"Side?" the tree boomed. "I am on nobody's side…Because nobody is on my side, little Orc. No one cares for the woods anymore…" he moaned slowly. Gimli shook his head. He'd never thought he would see the day that he would be listening to a tree complain about anything.
"There was a time, when Saruman would walk in my woods…but now he has a mind made of metal. He no longer cares for growing things…" the tree sighed.
"My friend cares very much for growing things. A little too much I think." Gimli replied, adjusting his cloak across Legolas' reclined form without disturbing him. "In fact I think you two would get along just fine." he added with a chuckle.
"Elves are the first born of the earth…there were days when Elves would come and sing in my wood. But that was long ago now. There have been no men or elves in Fangorn…for a tree's age."
"Why is that I wonder?" Gimli grumbled to himself. He looked then to see Legolas stirring slightly. The elf turned his head and opened his eyes to see Gimli looking at him with concern.
"You have decided to join us, master elf!" Gimli chuckled, taking his hand. Legolas smiled at him peacefully.
"Hail, Gimli elf friend!" he chuckled lightly. "I know where I should be my friend, but where is this?"
"This is Ent wash, as I believe good old friend Treebeard has put it. You have been resting for sometime, while I have had to listen to the stories of the forest, and I have only one thing to say of it."
"And what might that be?" Legolas asked curiously.
"The life of the tree is ghastly boring." Legolas's laughter rang through the woods in reply.
***
The company of the Aragorn and the hobbits, Merry and Pippin, came at last to the edge of Fangorn forest, where they came upon a ghastly site. In the middle of the open grass was a mound that stood several feet taller than either hobbit or man of burning Orc flesh. They covered their noses to shield them from the smell and began the slow gruesome business and shifting through the remains for any sign of their friends.
It was not long however before Merry gave a shout. Aragorn and Pippin raced over to him to find the young hobbit standing over the remains of a bow and arrow. Pippin identified the axe as Gimli own unique design, and Aragorn recognized the bow from the Lady of the Wood.
"They're…dead?" Pippin said incredulously. "They can't be dead!" he screamed, grabbing hold of Merry, who held onto him and shook him, trying to get him to calm down.
"There's nothing we can do, Pip!" he called back. He looked hopelessly up at Strider, who turned away in rage and hurled a discarded helmet across the ground, screaming in rage and grief, falling to his knees.
"We failed them." Merry said finally, leaning into Pippin as tears ensued. "It should have been us. We were the ones they wanted."
Aragorn's eyes strayed across the battle ground then idly, his mind reeling from the loss, when his eyes caught something. A print that was distinctly not Orc.
"Gimli sat here…" he said, touching the spot as Merry and Pippin looked at him curiously. "And Legolas lay beside him."
And then the marks took a different turn. Aragorn examined them closely. "They ran…"
He got to his feet now, following the tracks, reliving the events as he discovered them. "They were separated here…Legolas ran this way…" he bent to where the elf's prints were most distinct and a smile broke across his face. "His bonds were broken!"
Merry and Pippin looked at each other excitedly and followed Aragorn's lead eager to learn what had become of their friends. " He doubled back…there is a separate set of tracks here…there was a scuffle here. The dwarf fell…"
The two hobbits bit their lips nervously. "There are hoof prints close here…was he trampled? No…no Legolas' tracks meet with the horse's! They rode! Both of them!"
"Rode where Strider?!" Pippin cried, overcome by the suspense. But Aragorn continued his investigation painstakingly.
"They rode this way and that…they attacked!" He looked up then and found that the tracks lead straight into the forest.
"Fangorn forest?" Pippin asked. He looked up at the great dark wood before them. "It doesn't look like a very pleasant place…"
"It must have been better than what was happening out here. Come on," Aragorn said, leading the two of them into the labyrinth of trees.
The group walked slowly and carefully through the whispering, creaking woods of Fangorn.
"What a strange place…it feels like the trees are…moving, covering our tracks behind us." Pippin mused.
"You may very well be right Pippin. There are older things than Orcs in here. Stay close to me, and don't wander." Aragorn warned, then suddenly bent and began examining the ground below them.
"What is it Strider?" Merry asked.
"There was another skirmish here…there are two blood spatters. This is Orc blood…and this…" Aragorn paused for a moment then looked back at the hobbits who were staring at him with wide eyes.
"Elf blood."
Pippin's hands went to his mouth almost at once and Merry looked away unnerved. "Do the tracks continue?" he asked.
Aragorn peered closer… "These are strange tracks…" he murmured.
Suddenly Pippin let out a gasp. "I hear someone coming!"
Aragorn swept them aside as they all drew their swords awaiting the worst. "Hold your ground until the last possible second…"
"Hold your fire Ranger! Axe or no Axe I can still give you a fight that you won't soon forget!" Gimli gruff baritone came rumbling through the woods.
A smile broke across Aragorn's unshaven face from ear to ear and Merry and Pippin dashed forward as the dwarf stepped into the clearing.
"GIMLI!" they both cried happily. "You old sod, we thought you were gone forever!" Merry laughed.
"It takes more than a rabble of Orcs to finish off a son of Gloin!" Gimli chuckled, embracing them all.
"It is good to see you my friend." Aragorn said, beaming at him.
"But where is Legolas?" Pippin asked then, looking anxiously at their long lost companion. The others looked anxiously at him for a moment until a second figure appeared in clearing, standing tall and proud among the trees.
"Hail Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and hail to my dearest hobbits, Merry and Pippin!" Legolas sang happily. Aragorn rushed to meet him, throwing their arms around each other.
"Hail to you Legolas! You both have been sorely missed." Aragorn said. He looked the elf over and his face grew concerned. "You have been injured."
"I am healing, thanks to my friend. What is left should be no difficult task for you to mend." he said.
Merry and Pippin launched themselves into his arms then and Legolas greeted them both warmly. "I am glad to see you my friends! But where is Frodo and Sam?" he asked.
The other group exchanged sad glances. "There is much to tell." Aragorn said at last.
"Indeed," Gimli nodded.
"Come, we have yet some other discoveries for you to make." Legolas said, leading them further into the wood.
It was then that Merry spoke up. "Wait a minute…did I hear you call Gimli friend?" he asked looking up at the elf.
"Indeed you did, Master Meriadoc." Legolas gasped.
"We have fallen on strange times." Pippin replied happily as they walked through the wood.
"Aragorn," Legolas whispered then, leaning towards the ranger. "The trees are speaking to each other."
"What do they say?" The ranger asked.
" 'The white wizard approaches…'"
***
"Oh Gandalf I can't believe it's really you!" Pippin continued to rant as they walked together, Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Merry, Pippin, and Gandalf, through the forest of Fangorn.
"I am not the Gandalf you once knew, Master Took. I have been reborn as Gandalf the White. I am Saruman, as he should be."
"But you fell…" Aragorn said in disbelief.
"Through fire…and water. I battled with my enemy upon the highest peak of the mountain, and there we fought for life and death, until I smote his ruin upon the mountain side." the white wizard explained. "Then darkness took me…and I passed out of all time and boundaries…" Merry and Pippin looked wide eyed at each other. "Then life filled me and I breathed again. I had been sent back, until my task was done."
"Truly amazing." Legolas mused.
"But why were you sent back?" Gimli asked still a bit puzzled.
"I have come back to you," Gandalf replied, "at the turn of the tide." The others looked at each other questionably.
"Our fellowship has been broken, Gandalf. Boromir has been slain, Frodo and Sam continue alone towards Mordor, and our two parties have only just been reunited." Aragorn explained.
"I know of all." Gandalf replied. "And I have a plan."
It was then that they entered the clearing where Treebeard stood waiting to greet them. "I see my old friend Treebeard has done a good job of taking care of our esteemed dwarf and elf." he said proudly.
"Gandalf said to keep you safe, and safe is where I'll keep you." Treebeard hummed.
Thus, as the Fellowship rested in the protection of Fangorn, a telling of many stories began, where as Gimli and Legolas explained all about their ordeal with the Orcs, and Aragorn, Merry and Pippin related the death of Boromir and how Sam and Frodo broke away from the Fellowship, and their three day trek to find their friends, and Gandalf listened to all with eagerness and understanding as though fitting the whole picture slowly together in his mind.
"Then our course is set," he said at last. "Saruman does much evil in the Kingdom of Edoras. His Orcs run the land, unchecked. Those who would defend them have been exiled. Their king, Theoden, is enslaved by his witchery. Aragorn, myself, and Legolas and Gimli shall ride hence forth to aid the enslaved king."
"What about us Gandalf?" Merry asked incredulously. "You don't mean to leave us behind!"
Gandalf laughed and shook his head. "No, master Merry, you and Pippin have another mission…one of secret, that you must discover on your own. I will send you with Treebeard. He will look after you."
"A secrete? What sort of secrete?" Pippin mused.
"We can look after ourselves all the same, thank you very much!" Merry said indignantly. Gandalf smiled and leaned close to him.
"You will know what to do when the time is right."
"Then I guess this means our Fellowship is broken once more." Gimli grumbled.
"As long as we are united in our hearts, no distance can break these bonds." Gandalf replied firmly. "The enemy is drawing his armies together, it is urgent that we prepare for war."
***
After many farewells, the Fellowship parted once more. Gandalf leading Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli towards the horse lands of Rohan, while Merry and Pippin were left in the care of Treebeard. As they rode through the dense forest, making their way towards the plains once more, Gimli spoke quietly to his friend who rode in front of him.
"I don't know how you persuaded me onto a horse again, master elf." he grumbled.
Legolas smiled. "I am glad you are with me, Gimli."
"And I with you, lad." Gimli replied.
A moment of silence passed between them and then Gimli spoke once more, "You know, elf, you never finished that song." he said, trying not to sound embarrassed.
A smile crept over Legolas's fair features as he turned to look at his friend.
"I'm not saying I liked it! It's just that it's stuck in my head now and I'd at least like to know the ending!" Gimli added defensively.
So Legolas took up his song once more as they rode out onto the plains, his voice carrying far across the fields into the distance…
Hope fades…
Into the world of night
Through shadows falling
Out memory and time
Don't say
We have come now to the end
White shores are calling
You and I will meet again
And you'll be here in my arms…
Just sleeping…
What can you see
On the horizon?
Why do the white gulls call?
Across the sea
A pale moon rises
The ships have come
To carry you home
And will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass into the West…