A/N Thanks again to my beta BlackShaftedArrow for all the help.

And to you guys that have helped me along the way, *unsheathes sword* You still know how I feel about you.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or places from Lord of the Rings. But I do own Astald!


Chapter 2-

Legolas returned back to camp to find the rangers huddled around a slowly burning campfire. Each man was wringing out his clothes and talking jovially. He could feel the subdued excitement within the group. Normally, he would have let it go, but when the rangers were acting suspiciously, not to mention, STRIDER'S rangers, Legolas couldn't help but feel a bit uneasy. They were his brother's in arms, his friends-

'Iluve eithel mellon nin?" This was followed by a sly smile. Legolas didn't like this, he didn't like this one bit; and he swore upon the light of Earendil that he was going to find out what they were upto. For now though, he would play their game. "Uma hannon le, Strider" he replied, trying to mask the hostility in his voice.

Strider turned from where he was seated next to the campfire to the tall lithe figure glaring back at him "A successful hunt I see" he said waiving his hand casually to the five rabbits that were hanging from his friend's tight grasp. Legolas looked down, he had completely forgotten about the ranger's supper he was now holding.

With nothing better to do, he threw the animals at an unsuspecting Astald who turned only for the rabbits to connect with his startled face making a soft 'thud' and sending him sprawling to the floor. Legolas burst out in uncontrollable fits of laughter. Between heaves of breath he managed to choke out the words, "A.. mighty ranger... felled by... a few rabbits!" The rangers that were watching the scene couldn't hold their composure any longer at these words and soon howls of laughter could be heard all around the clearing.

As Strider consoled a sulking Astald, Legolas wondered what it was that Strider told the young man, as Astald was visibly calmer and looked almost happy at his friends words. With all signs of his former anger and distress draining away from his features. Legolas did not have time to dwell on this, however, as a steaming hot bowl of rabbit stew was thrust in front of him: which he graciously accepted with a wide grin. Although the Rangers were not as skilled as the cooks back in Mirkwood, they could make a pretty decent stew. And for that, Legolas was grateful.

Once the rangers had finished the rest of the stew, talk soon turned to who would take the first watch that night. Although the patrol had not encountered any servants of the enemy yet they knew that any lack of vigilance could cost them their lives. Besides, it was the perfect opportunity to ambush their pointy eared friend.

When no volunteers were forthcoming Legolas sighed, "I suppose the first born will have to protect the adan's".Strider snorted. "Got something to say Estel?" Legolas smiled innocently as he watched his friends face fall at the use of his childhood name.

Halbarad, fearing that Strider would jeapordise the plan just to spite the elf, located a weather worn leather pack next to the fire and rummaged through it until he found what he was looking for. He laid the mat next to his and called over to Strider, "Chi... Strider" he quickly amended, "It's getting dark, you should get some sleep". Strider looked around. It was getting late and they didn't have long if they wanted this to work, so begrudgingly, he left Legolas and made the short walk to join Halbarad, where he laid down on his mat.

Legolas watched as the rest of the rangers soon followed their leader and got their heads down for the night. He didn't have to wake Strider for the next watch for a few hours, so he decided to have a wander through the forest and search for some sticks he could fashion into arrows. He was low on arrows since he joined Elrohir and Elladan on a patrol to dispatch orcs from the borders of Imladris and he did not have time to visit the armoury in Mirkwood, so, for now, he would make do with what he could find.

Back at camp, the rangers could hardly believe their luck. Usually the wood elf would climb up a tree to keep his vigil, but for some reason he decided to venture into the forest surrounding the clearing.

After carefully watching the treeline for any movement, Strider signaled for the rangers to pull the hoods of their cloaks over their heads and each obscured the lower part of their face with a bandana. They were no longer rangers. They were bandits, and their victim was all alone.


Rope and cloth in hand, Strider approached his victim. As the most agile of the group- after Legolas of course, he had the best chance of getting close enough to disarm the elf, so it was decided that he would complete this task alone. The rest of the rangers approached from the other direction, making sure to keep their distance. Legolas was a battle hardened warrior and had great skill with his blades, should the worst happen, Strider would need all the help he could get in defending himself.

He was trying hard to focus on everything that his adopted father had told him about walking through the forest undetected. Aided by the darkness, he soon found himself behind the huddled form of his friend who was contentedly sharpening what looked to be a stick with one of his knives. Strider placed the edge of his sword to the back of Legolas' neck. Legolas instantly froze. In his deep concentration he had barely noticed that someone was approaching him from behind ."An elf, caught off guard", said a triumphant yet muffled voice. Legolas could not see his attacker but he could feel that the corners of the mans lips were curling in delight. He knew it was a man because the voice had a soft tone to it- a quality that the orcs' gruff voices did not posses. "Drop your weapons", Legolas knew that he was probably more skilled than the man, but in his current position the man could slice him through before he could move to make an attempt with his own knives, so he cast the knife he was holding to the floor and unsheathed his other knife, which promptly joined the other in front of him. He went to reach behind for his bow and quiver but sighed as he realized that they were still propped up next to the tree where he left them before he went to search for some sticks. Taking first watch without his weapon. Strider would never let him forget this.

Legolas was unsurprised as a cloth was bound over his eyes. Well if he was going to be captured, at least it wasn't by an amateur-that, at least, helped his damaged pride at being caught and also made him think that, maybe, it would be a bit harder to escape than he first thought.

Legolas' thoughts were interrupted when he felt multiple pairs of hands tightly securing his hand behind his back. So... he brought friend's. This could be interesting.

Strider was surprised at his friends next action, he was thrashing around and cursing in Dwarvish, Elvish and Entish. He was sure Elladan and Elrohir had taught him most of them and no doubt Thranduil had added a few. He only recognised some of the choice words, but made a mental note to ask Legolas to teach him some as he was sure they would come in handy later.

It took the combined strength of all five of them to subdue the elf. Despite having his hands tied behind his back he could still put up a good fight. Once he realized it was no use however, he stopped struggling and vowed to save his strength until the opportune moment. Surely Strider would wake to take over the next watch soon. Until then, he just had to stay alive.


Legolas was hauled to his feet, but stubbornly, refused to move, so the 'bandits' did all they could in that situation and dragged him through the forest instead.

Legolas couldn't tell how long they had been moving, but as his captor's pace slowed down, he figured it must have been at least a few hours. Surely the rangers would be looking for him now. He was pretty sure his captors had made no attempts to conceal their tracks on their journey, and the usually graceful, elf had dragged his heels, so he didn't think it would take the rangers too long to find him.

After what seemed like two minutes to Legolas , but was probably actually a few more hours, his captors halted in their journey. Legolas could only imagine what brutal torture would be inflicted on him by these men. Before he could demand what his captives wanted from him however, he felt a sharp sudden pain in the back of his head and his vision started swimming as he gave in to the darkness.


Strider checked his friend's elf was out cold. He smiled, now that was easier. Then, after carefully settling Legolas' unconscious form on the ground, he turned to Astald. "It took Halbarad three attempts before you went down and in the end he ended up hitting you so hard we thought we'd killed you"Aragorn said thoughtfully as if recalling a fond memory. Astald visibly paled and rubbed the back of his head. He could still remember the splitting headache he felt when he woke up and sent a sympathetic glance towards the elf sprawled across the floor infront of him. He didn't envy the elf for how he would feel when he woke up.

Feeling that they no longer had a need for their disguises the rangers quickly returned their bandanas and cloaks to their packs. Now for the tricky part, deciding on Legolas' trial. They knew that tying him to a tree would be of no use as he was a wood elf and would soon talk the tree into releasing him. No, they needed something wood elf proof. Strider looked around his surroundings for inspiration. He could see no orc settlements nearby so he settled for the next best thing...a cave.