A/N: Hey guys! I just finished Hunted (if you haven't read that one already, you should go and give it a try) and came up with this idea. I've been wanting to do an 'Aragorn meets Legolas' fic for a while now, so I've finally decided to go and do it! This is pre FotR obviously, and takes place when Aragorn is still young (around 20). Lord of the Rings belongs to Tolkien, but any name you don't recognize belongs to me! Enjoy, and please comment below!

"Legolas, behind you!" a tall, dark haired elf by the name of Adasser called. Legolas whipped around, daggers in hand, and held one to the throat of his opponent. He grinned. "You have my thanks, mellon-nin." His eyes narrowed. "Surrender."

The elf who currently had a dagger to his throat rolled his eyes and put his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Fine. You win again, Legolas." As Legolas lowered his dagger, the other elf turned and glared at Adasser. "Though someone gave you an unfair advantage."

Adasser grinned too, and walked up to them. "I did no such thing. Were this real combat, the help of an ally would not be an 'unfair advantage'."

The elf scowled. "Why not be an ally unto your own brother then?"

"Oh dear Hasdir…" Adasser bowed in a playful manner at Legolas. "My allegiance will always go to my liege before it goes to you." He straightened up and the light sound of elven laughter filled the gardens. "But do not look so down, brother. You fought well."

Legolas clasped the shoulder of the elf -Hasdir- and chuckled. "Adasser speaks the truth. Though if you ever want a rematch, you know where to find me."

Hasdir sighed. "Very well. I will accept defeat - this time. But I will eventually demand a rematch." A sudden smile came onto his face and the three elves walked through the gardens and into the large palace of King Thranduil. "Now I do believe we have a patrol to get ready for."

Legolas nodded. "We do indeed. And I won't risk my father's displeasure by being late for it again. Remember last time? 'You're Mirkwood's heir Legolas, can't you bother to be on time for once? Think of the example it's setting for our people'." His voice was raised in a terrible imitation of Thranduil's, and he flicked his hair for dramatic effect. "Oh great Eru… I just need to get out of the palace for a while. Patrol sounds very nice right now, even if it does mean fighting giant spiders."

Hasdir smirked. "I don't blame you."

Legolas rolled his eyes playfully and then stopped at the armory. He grabbed his bow and twin daggers, while the other two elves grabbed bows as well. He suspected the other members of Mirkwood's patrol were already waiting for them by the gates. He probably should have been ready earlier, but he had gotten a little caught up in training. Best archer in Mirkwood he may be, he still needed the practice.

Once finished in the armory, they left for the gates, where the other elves of the patrol were indeed waiting. "You haven't been waiting long, have you?" Adasser asked them.

One of the elves there shook his head. "Worry not, we just finished preparing. You are right on time."

Legolas let out a breath he hadn't even known he'd been holding. "Good," he replied. "Now let us depart." He nodded to the guards at the gate, and it opened. And thus the elven patrol entered the dark forest.

At first, there wasn't much to see. It was just all trees and the occasional deer or rabbit. But that was because the majority of the spiders nested deeper into the forest.

Legolas hadn't known a time when the forest had been peaceful. Apparently, that had been centuries before he was born. His father, Thranduil, told him many stories of it though. But even he hadn't known that peace for that long. Dark forces had corrupted it and now it was only a place that outsiders feared. A normal elven king most likely would have given up the fight by now and sailed to Valinor, but not Thranduil. He was stubborn, and used that stubbornness to insist that the elves of his kingdom fight back against the growing darkness. And so they did. And they still were. It was a never ending battle, but one Legolas knew they would never give up.

Legolas led the group of elves deeper into the forest, his sharp ears keeping track of every little sound heard. A single scout had reported finding a new nest, so now they were here to kill all the spiders in it. It was nothing new. Just another day of patrol. And even though danger was involved, Legolas loved it. But sometimes he also wished he could go out of the forests of this realm and explore a little more of the world. Sure, he had visited Laketown many times before, but other than that, nothing.

They had been walking for a couple of hours now, and Legolas was sure they were nearly there. There had been some small chatter going on, but Legolas had stayed mostly silent. It was in his nature to be quiet. His mother had been much the same, when she was still alive…

Legolas shook his head. He couldn't let his thoughts distract him now. Danger might lurk near. And he was right, because only seconds later, he heard some shuffling coming from the trees. Immediately, his hands reached for his bow. "Halt!" He ordered as he strung an arrow. He waited only a second before shooting an arrow up into a tall tree and the dark and large body of a spider fell down, dead. Behind him, other elves were doing much the same. "There's more…"

Suddenly, spider after spider came down. This was it. Up in the trees, Legolas saw webs. This was their nest. "Attack!"

It became a bloodbath of elf versus spider. The elves were winning, but to their dismay, there were now over twenty spiders. This patrol group consisted of 14 elves, and they were perfectly capable of killing things. These elves were trained archers and could shoot a target from miles away. But the amount of spiders was becoming overwhelming. Once one died, another just came. And though Legolas had brought along many arrows, he was starting to run low.

Legolas ducked out of the way as two spiders came towards him at once. They knocked into each other, but quickly regained their balance. Legolas' eyes widened as one of the spiders tried to hit him but instead hit his bow hard, snapping it in half. The bows of Mirkwood were hard and sturdy. That must have been a very hard hit. But now, he was down one weapon.

Luckily, Legolas also had his twin daggers with him. He unsheathed them and started slashing at every spider he saw. His long, blond hair whipped in front of his face as he attacked. The fight seemed never ending.

"Legolas!" He heard Adasser call out. He swung around to face his friend.

"Adasser!" He cried back, realizing one of the spiders had his dearest friend trapped beneath them. He didn't ease anytime in running over and killing that spider.

The battle elsewhere wasn't going as well as planned. Several of the elves had gotten injured. One of them, it seemed, had been bitten and was lying defenseless on the ground. If they didn't give him the antidote soon, he could die. Knowing what they would be facing, they did carry a few doses of spider venom antidote, but Legolas couldn't reach it now. It would have to wait. He would just have to pray to the Valar that that poor elf would be okay.

"Adasser, are you alright?" Legolas asked hurriedly as he helped his friend up. Adasser nodded, but a distressed look crossed his face.

"Legolas, there are too many of them. We can't keep fighting forever! Some of us are wounded and need medical attention!"

Legolas sighed and ran his hand down his face. "I know, I know...You're right…" He didn't like their chances of winning if they stayed to fight some more. This was a much larger nest than any of them had fought. They would come back of course, but they would need more warriors with them. "Tell everyone we need to go. I'll hold them off while you and everyone else escapes. Help the wounded."

Adasser's mouth fell open. "Legolas, you can't! Not by yourself, they'll overwhelm you!"

Legolas turned and glared at his friend. Under normal circumstances, he would never, but they needed to leave now, and without any of the spiders following them. It was a stupid plan, but the spur-of-The-moment decision currently seemed like the only one to him. "I know they will. But you must go anyway."

"Legolas!"

"That's an order!" His words came out harsher than he meant them to.

The look Adasser gave him was full of fear. Legolas never ordered his friends around, not unless the situation was dire. And now just so happened to be one of those rare moments. He didn't like it, but he knew what he had to do.

Adasser nodded, and with a grim look on his face, told the other elves to flee. And they did, the uninjured ones supporting the wounded. They fled into the forest and Legolas killed every spider that attempted to go after him. He spun around and around, daggers in hand, killing spiders in a motion that to an outsider, might look like a dance of sorts. It was graceful, yet in a frenzy. Legolas ended up killing many spiders, but eventually, they did get the best of him.

All he remembered was being bitten by one, being trapped in a cocoon of webs, and being pulled away deeper into the forest.

Tbc...