Chapter Two: Into the Woods
Hey,
Don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on
Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away
It just takes some time
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything, everything will be just fine.
Everything, everything will be all right.
-Jimmy Eat World, The Middle
"This is very dark magic!" Gimli shouted, "She is a spy! Kill her," he added. Melanie shot him a slightly angry, very frightened look.
"Hey Gimli, you forgot your free balloon." She blew on her thumb, pretending to inflate her middle finger. In other words, Melanie flicked him off. (She wasn't entirely sure he understood what she meant). Legolas and Aragorn stepped toward her, both their weapons still raised. Legolas, before he could help himself, looked her up and down. She was fair, that was for sure. Not beautiful, but fair. Freckles dotted her nose and under eyes. She looked that of an average maiden, except her hair was cut in a bob. Her hair was golden, like that of himself and of the people of Mirkwood, her eyes were grey. Yet there was something about those eyes. They were haunted, void of emotion, empty . . . Pulling himself out of her eyes, Legolas focused upon what Aragorn was saying.
"Have you any weapons?" asked Aragorn in a hiss.
"No!" Mel said, annoyed, "Do you see any?"
Legolas thought she did have a point. She was dressed in a strange type of tunic and an even stranger pair of breeches. (In reality, she was wearing a deep blue tee-shirt and some jeans).
"Who do you serve? What are you doing here? And why should we not kill you where you stand?" Legolas asked. Mel looked at him sadly. If this was how she was to die, then she might as well die telling the truth. Legolas regretted slightly being so harsh to her, but Gimli was right, she could be a spy for Saruman, or even worse, Sauron.
Melanie sniffed and said, "First of all, I want this clear, I don't serve ANYONE. Not any more anyway."
Gimli made a "yeah right I'll believe that when I see it" type of noise.
"Second, I'm not really sure what I'm doing here. And third, well, I really have no reason why you should not kill me where I stand," she said with no emotions.
"Your life means nothing to you?" Legolas asked in amazement, lowering his bow ever so slightly. That truly was odd. Legolas, being an elf, valued life in the highest, and he never thought others could have a different view.
"No. It means nothing to anyone else, why should it mean anything to me?" she said in slight amusement.
Aragorn and Legolas drew in a sharp intake of breath as they exchanged looks. Gimli seemed unaffected by this piece of information. "If her life means nothing to her, let's leave her here. If she wants to try and find the Riders," he said this with a laugh, "Then she is welcome to try."
"Fine," Melanie said (with more boredom than anger), turning her back to them.
"Wait!" Aragorn said. "We do not know if she is a spy." Melanie sighed.
Legolas came closer to Melanie. His arrow brushed her side. Melanie looked up into his eyes. He seemed to be trying to read her mind. Melanie swallowed.
What was going on behind those eyes? Legolas could not tell, but the expression on her face was one mainly of nervousness, and of fear. If she were on the side of good, why would she be afraid? Or, it could just be she was weary of being killed or harmed because she wasn't evil. Legolas decided. "We cannot leave her," he said finally, "Be her spy or not, we cannot leave her to die."
Aragorn nodded his head, "By the look of her, I believe she could not last more than a day in the wilderness."
"Hello?" she said, waving her hands, "I am right here you know!"
Gimli said, "Her speech and attire are so foreign. Where are you from?" he shot at Melanie.
Mel thought for a moment, debating with herself if she should tell them the truth or not. The only places she knew of in Middle Earth were the Shire, where, obviously, she could not be from, Lothlorien...elves, Rohan,possibly..., Mordor, out of the question, Mirkwood, elves, Gondor, but then how did she get from Gondor to Rohan while traveling with the riders?, and Rivendell, again, elves. "I'm uh-uh from, uh Rohan," she said.
"No you aren't," said Aragorn. Melanie realized too late that she had said Ro-han instead of Rohon. Damn pronunciation. "Huntington, Indiana, USA," she said, looking from blank face to blank face. Then she added "Earth." That got her some funny looks.
"Earth? But surely you mean Middle Earth?" said Aragorn.
Melanie took a deep breath to prepare herself for a lot of explaining. "No," she said, "I am from a place called Earth. It is another world. I think that I'm dreaming," Mel said. "Because in my world you are all characters in books and movies."
They stared. "Yeah," she said. "Think how I feel, knowing what will happen. But even as I'm saying this, my memory of the books and movies is like, floating away. So weird . . . I remember everything before this, but . . ."
"But how did you get here?" Legolas asked.
"Well, it was my birthday . . . and I sort of made a wish to come here. If I really am here. Which I'm not. I'll wake up in my room in a couple of minutes, miserable, as usual. Yup, I'm dreaming." She reached over to her arm and pinched herself. She felt a little pain, which went away as quicker than it had come. Mel's arm whitened and then turned back to its normal tan shade. Or not. She thought.
"Hmm . . ." said Aragorn thinking it over. He and Legolas exchanged looks. Then, before she knew it, Legolas was behind her binding her hands, and Aragorn was in front of her, holding her shoulders.
"GET OFF!!!!!" Melanie yelled, making birds rise out of the trees. Too late. They had bound her hands behind her back.
She screamed and tried to kick them, but instead fell over. Aragorn drew his sword. She looked at it with wide eyes. She made a small squeak as his cold sword was pressed against her back, taking her breath away. Aragorn looked at her strangely, as did Legolas.
"Please don't do that," she said, closing her eyes. Aragorn replied by pushing her slightly in the back. She let out a strangled cry. Aragorn seemed quite taken aback by what happened. Legolas took a step in between the two. "You lead Aragorn, Gimli, you follow, I will take care of the girl," he said. Aragorn nodded and stepped into the forest, Gimli followed.
Legolas wrapped his slender fingers around her left arm and gently lifted her to her feet. "Go," Legolas said, motioning with his bow after them. She followed Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas followed her. She was relieved to find that he was not jabbing her in the back with the arrow point. Hasufel followed behind. Why was Hasufel allowed to come now? Melanie shook her head in disbelief, and she wondered why they wouldn't let her ride him, but then she supposed she could have easily escaped.
Melanie kept tripping as they walked through the forest, Legolas kept having to pull her up. Finally, she had enough. Melanie sat on the ground and looked up at them. Her back was hurting, her legs were scraped from where she kept falling, her body ached from where she had been beaten by her father two days ago, AND she was hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since the Mac N' Cheese she had before the birthday cake.
"I can't go any farther," Mel said, panting.
"Get up," said Gimli. "You're fine."
"I do not know," said Legolas, "perhaps we should let her rest."
Aragorn sighed, "I cannot track in the dark anyway. Let us set up camp."
Melanie watched as the men got a fire going. Legolas warned them to only pick wood off the ground. As Gimli was cooking some sort of meat, Melanie tried to lie back on the ground. Her back exploded in pain. Against her will, Melanie let out a groan of pain, which did not go unnoticed.
"What is wrong?" Legolas asked, walking toward her.
"I'm fine," she said, lying through gritted teeth.
He sat next to Mel and said, "You are a poor liar."
She replied, "Yeah. I guess you could say it's not my best talent."
"What is your name?" He asked.
"Oh," She began. She gave her horse name. "It's Arod."
"Arod. That is a name for a horse, not a person." Legolas said, "I must pick a name for you. For now I will call you mellonamin. It means my friend."
She smiled. He apparently did not think her a spy. "Thanks Legolas," Mel said, "But my real name is Melanie. That okay?"
"If that is what you prefer," he said."Turn around." Melanie raised one eyebrow but obeyed. He undid the ropes on her hands. Aragorn saw this. He caught Legolas's eye and nodded, then turned away. "Thank you," Mel said to Legolas. She turned to look at him, to see that he was frowning. "What?" She asked.
"Now, what was wrong to make you cry in pain?" he asked, but it seemed as if already knew.
"It's nothing," Mel said, quickly. She bit her lip.
"It's something," he insisted. "Let myself or Aragorn take a look. It may be what is causing you discomfort." Hell, she knew that was what was causing her discomfort, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let those two look at it.
"Let me see it!" Legolas whispered, angry at her lack of obeying what he considered to be an order.
"NO!" She whispered back. She turned away from him. That was her big mistake. He brushed her shirt up to see a bruise on her lower back, and he quickly dropped the shirt down again. Yes, she was embarrassed. It was because of her father. That particular bruise was from the day he had come home, announced he had been fired, and somehow figured out that it was Melanie's fault.
Flashback:
"You filthy girl. You kept forgetting to pack my lunch. I had to go out to eat and I can never make it back on time, God damned traffic. And do you know what they did?" he asked.
"No Dad."
"They fired me. Because of you! Get over here!" he yelled at her and she came. And she was beaten. Horribly. End flashback. That was the day before her birthday. As she was thinking this, Legolas touched the bruise very lightly. It did hurt Melanie, but she did not want him to know it.
"Does it hurt?" he asked in a breathless voice.
"No," Mel lied. He turned her face so she had to look into his deep green eyes. He asked again, "Does it hurt?"
"What do you think?" She answered. That was enough for him. "Aragorn!" he called over to the fire. Aragorn walked over.
"Legolas please!" She hissed.
"What is wrong?" Aragorn asked, looking from Melanie to Legolas and back again.
"She is injured," Legolas said, motioning to Melanie. Aragorn walked in back of Melanie, pulled up her shirt, and took a look. (Aragorn pulled the shirt up all the way, and he saw the scratches and bruises on Melanie's shoulders and neck too.)
Aragron took a sharp intake of breath, as did Legolas. Melanie closed her eyes. "Legolas, go boil some water and get me my medical bag," he finally said. Legolas nodded and walked over to the fire. Mel looked at Aragorn.
"Aragorn please, it isn't that bad, you don't have to, . . ." she began to say, but he held up his hand for her to shut up.
"Do you know what color those bruises are?" He asked.
"Ah, I'm taking a wild guess here, but I'm going to say blue," Mel said.
"They are green," she pulled a face, "And the scratches have opened up and are oozing. They have become infected. This should have been treated sooner," he said angrily. "Tomorrow morning you and I will have a long talk, Little - one." Melanie gulped. She didn't like that idea.
"I think not," Mel muttered. He didn't hear her (luckily).
Legolas walked over with a pot and a large bag. Aragorn took the bag and rummaged a bit in it, before pulling out a plant of some sort. He ripped it in half and let the juice drain into the steaming pot. He looked at Legolas, then to Melanie.
"She will need to lie down on her front, then perhaps on her back. Are your ribs bruised?" Aragon asked, turning to Melanie.
She started to shake her head no, but then Legolas caught her eye and she nodded. Aragorn took a quick step toward her and slightly lifted the shirt again. She wanted to smack him, or at least take a step back, but she found that Legolas was pinning her arms to her sides. Aragorn gently prodded her ribs. She gave a gasp of shock and pain.
"Are you finished perving?" she asked bitterly to Aragorn. It looked for a moment as if he were angry, but then he sighed.
"You are lucky to not have a rib broken. Anyway, first to business, lie down on your front-" Aragorn started to say, but stopped when he realized he did not know her name.
"Melanie," Legolas supplied.
Aragorn nodded at his friend and said, "Legolas will you let her rest her head in your lap?" Aragorn asked. Melanie blushed furiously and looked quickly at the forest floor. She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that at this time, but she couldn't help it! To make matters worse, Legolas nodded his head yes. Before Mel knew it, Legolas pulled her onto the ground. He sat Indian-style. With a last look at Aragorn, Melanie stretched out, her head resting on Legolas's leg.
Aragorn kneeled down beside them. He hiked up the shirt. He shook his head at the bra strap and quickly undid it, earning a startled gasp from Melanie which he ignored. Next, he dipped a strip of cloth into the hot water, squeezed it out, and then placed it to her back. Not only did it sting with all the powers of evil, it was hot as hell! So it was understandable what she did next.
Mel gripped Legolas's leg and yelled into the night, "GODAMMITSONOFABITCH!" Feeling very sorry for the poor girl, Legolas patted her head and whispered to her, "Shh, shh, ne sal` [be still] Melanie."
Then Aragorn began to gently rub the cloth in circles. That was pure torture. Melanie did not scream again, but she was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and tears were streaming silently down her face, falling onto Legolas's tunic. Mel's hands were white because she was gripping Legolas's leg so hard. Legolas grimaced at the bear-trap that was Melanie's hand. He pried them off his leg and held them both in one of his hands. Immediately they tightened. Then he ran his fingers through her hair. "Tanka harwar, tanka harwar mellonamin."[Tanka harwar-old healing spell.]
After about five more minutes of torture, Aragorn let up. Melanie was breathing in shaky breaths. Legolas looked at Aragorn, "Lle tela? [Are you finished?]" he asked.
Aragorn said, "Uma, [yes]." Legolas closed his eyes for a moment, swallowed, and quickly re-hooked her bra.
"What does that mean?" She asked, while slowly getting up. Big mistake.
"I am finished, Little One," said Aragorn.
"Thanks," was all she could really say, as she tried to get up. She failed, and was caught by Legolas, who said,
"If you do not want to undo all of Aragorn's hard work, you will let me carry you toward the fire. Then you will eat some of the delicious meat that Gimli so generously is offering you. And then," he said, his commanding tone reaching its pitch, "You will go to sleep so you can wake up rested and ready to face tomorrow." And with that he gently lifted Melanie into the air and walked over to the fire. He set her down on a blanket that was spread out close enough to feel the warmth from the fire, but far enough away so she wouldn't be lit on fire.
Gimli gave her a plate of meat and she slowly began to chew it. It was very . . . natural. And naturally, she almost barfed as she swallowed the last piece. Then she lay down on her front and closed her eyes. Melanie tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult. She was of course tired but the day's events kept playing threw her head along with the gruesome thought of the promised "talk" with Aragorn.
He was going to bombard her with questions. Then she began asking herself: Will she ever go home? She liked it here better. Besides, would it even be possible for her to go home? How did she even get here? How the hell did she change from human, to horse, and back again? She looked at the remainder of the Fellowship. Gimli was snoring, Aragorn was keeping watch, and Legolas, Legolas was standing above her!
Legolas was actually standing by her for quite some time, just looking at her. She was so tired, and helpless looking. For some odd reason, he felt a need to be near her.
"Damn!" she said, "You need to learn to make some noise, you're gonna give me a heart attack!" Melanie said. Legolas kneeled beside her.
"Are you in pain?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said. She had done enough lying for today, plus she was now too tired to care.
"I want to know what happened to you," Legolas said. If Melanie could have, she would have sat straight up, but, lying on her front, that was not possible.
"Please Legolas," Melanie said, "Trust me, ya don't wanna know." Legolas sighed. He reached out and touched her head with his hand. Melanie's heart seemed to stop. Then, Legolas, as though he realized what he was doing, withdrew his hand.
"Go to sleep Melanie," he whispered.
"Will you stay with me?" she said, her eyes drooping.
"Yes Melanie."
"Thank you."
Just as she was drifting off to dream land, Melanie thought she felt someone kiss her forehead, but it was probably just her imagination.
"Quel kaima," Legoals whispered. He sat next to her deep in thought the rest of the night.
Hey,
Don't write yourself off yet
It's only in your head you feel left out or looked down on
Just try your best
Try everything you can
And don't you worry what they tell themselves when you're away
It just takes some time
Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride.
Everything, everything will be just fine.
Everything, everything will be all right.
-Jimmy Eat World, The Middle
"This is very dark magic!" Gimli shouted, "She is a spy! Kill her," he added. Melanie shot him a slightly angry, very frightened look.
"Hey Gimli, you forgot your free balloon." She blew on her thumb, pretending to inflate her middle finger. In other words, Melanie flicked him off. (She wasn't entirely sure he understood what she meant). Legolas and Aragorn stepped toward her, both their weapons still raised. Legolas, before he could help himself, looked her up and down. She was fair, that was for sure. Not beautiful, but fair. Freckles dotted her nose and under eyes. She looked that of an average maiden, except her hair was cut in a bob. Her hair was golden, like that of himself and of the people of Mirkwood, her eyes were grey. Yet there was something about those eyes. They were haunted, void of emotion, empty . . . Pulling himself out of her eyes, Legolas focused upon what Aragorn was saying.
"Have you any weapons?" asked Aragorn in a hiss.
"No!" Mel said, annoyed, "Do you see any?"
Legolas thought she did have a point. She was dressed in a strange type of tunic and an even stranger pair of breeches. (In reality, she was wearing a deep blue tee-shirt and some jeans).
"Who do you serve? What are you doing here? And why should we not kill you where you stand?" Legolas asked. Mel looked at him sadly. If this was how she was to die, then she might as well die telling the truth. Legolas regretted slightly being so harsh to her, but Gimli was right, she could be a spy for Saruman, or even worse, Sauron.
Melanie sniffed and said, "First of all, I want this clear, I don't serve ANYONE. Not any more anyway."
Gimli made a "yeah right I'll believe that when I see it" type of noise.
"Second, I'm not really sure what I'm doing here. And third, well, I really have no reason why you should not kill me where I stand," she said with no emotions.
"Your life means nothing to you?" Legolas asked in amazement, lowering his bow ever so slightly. That truly was odd. Legolas, being an elf, valued life in the highest, and he never thought others could have a different view.
"No. It means nothing to anyone else, why should it mean anything to me?" she said in slight amusement.
Aragorn and Legolas drew in a sharp intake of breath as they exchanged looks. Gimli seemed unaffected by this piece of information. "If her life means nothing to her, let's leave her here. If she wants to try and find the Riders," he said this with a laugh, "Then she is welcome to try."
"Fine," Melanie said (with more boredom than anger), turning her back to them.
"Wait!" Aragorn said. "We do not know if she is a spy." Melanie sighed.
Legolas came closer to Melanie. His arrow brushed her side. Melanie looked up into his eyes. He seemed to be trying to read her mind. Melanie swallowed.
What was going on behind those eyes? Legolas could not tell, but the expression on her face was one mainly of nervousness, and of fear. If she were on the side of good, why would she be afraid? Or, it could just be she was weary of being killed or harmed because she wasn't evil. Legolas decided. "We cannot leave her," he said finally, "Be her spy or not, we cannot leave her to die."
Aragorn nodded his head, "By the look of her, I believe she could not last more than a day in the wilderness."
"Hello?" she said, waving her hands, "I am right here you know!"
Gimli said, "Her speech and attire are so foreign. Where are you from?" he shot at Melanie.
Mel thought for a moment, debating with herself if she should tell them the truth or not. The only places she knew of in Middle Earth were the Shire, where, obviously, she could not be from, Lothlorien...elves, Rohan,possibly..., Mordor, out of the question, Mirkwood, elves, Gondor, but then how did she get from Gondor to Rohan while traveling with the riders?, and Rivendell, again, elves. "I'm uh-uh from, uh Rohan," she said.
"No you aren't," said Aragorn. Melanie realized too late that she had said Ro-han instead of Rohon. Damn pronunciation. "Huntington, Indiana, USA," she said, looking from blank face to blank face. Then she added "Earth." That got her some funny looks.
"Earth? But surely you mean Middle Earth?" said Aragorn.
Melanie took a deep breath to prepare herself for a lot of explaining. "No," she said, "I am from a place called Earth. It is another world. I think that I'm dreaming," Mel said. "Because in my world you are all characters in books and movies."
They stared. "Yeah," she said. "Think how I feel, knowing what will happen. But even as I'm saying this, my memory of the books and movies is like, floating away. So weird . . . I remember everything before this, but . . ."
"But how did you get here?" Legolas asked.
"Well, it was my birthday . . . and I sort of made a wish to come here. If I really am here. Which I'm not. I'll wake up in my room in a couple of minutes, miserable, as usual. Yup, I'm dreaming." She reached over to her arm and pinched herself. She felt a little pain, which went away as quicker than it had come. Mel's arm whitened and then turned back to its normal tan shade. Or not. She thought.
"Hmm . . ." said Aragorn thinking it over. He and Legolas exchanged looks. Then, before she knew it, Legolas was behind her binding her hands, and Aragorn was in front of her, holding her shoulders.
"GET OFF!!!!!" Melanie yelled, making birds rise out of the trees. Too late. They had bound her hands behind her back.
She screamed and tried to kick them, but instead fell over. Aragorn drew his sword. She looked at it with wide eyes. She made a small squeak as his cold sword was pressed against her back, taking her breath away. Aragorn looked at her strangely, as did Legolas.
"Please don't do that," she said, closing her eyes. Aragorn replied by pushing her slightly in the back. She let out a strangled cry. Aragorn seemed quite taken aback by what happened. Legolas took a step in between the two. "You lead Aragorn, Gimli, you follow, I will take care of the girl," he said. Aragorn nodded and stepped into the forest, Gimli followed.
Legolas wrapped his slender fingers around her left arm and gently lifted her to her feet. "Go," Legolas said, motioning with his bow after them. She followed Aragorn and Gimli, Legolas followed her. She was relieved to find that he was not jabbing her in the back with the arrow point. Hasufel followed behind. Why was Hasufel allowed to come now? Melanie shook her head in disbelief, and she wondered why they wouldn't let her ride him, but then she supposed she could have easily escaped.
Melanie kept tripping as they walked through the forest, Legolas kept having to pull her up. Finally, she had enough. Melanie sat on the ground and looked up at them. Her back was hurting, her legs were scraped from where she kept falling, her body ached from where she had been beaten by her father two days ago, AND she was hungry. She hadn't eaten anything since the Mac N' Cheese she had before the birthday cake.
"I can't go any farther," Mel said, panting.
"Get up," said Gimli. "You're fine."
"I do not know," said Legolas, "perhaps we should let her rest."
Aragorn sighed, "I cannot track in the dark anyway. Let us set up camp."
Melanie watched as the men got a fire going. Legolas warned them to only pick wood off the ground. As Gimli was cooking some sort of meat, Melanie tried to lie back on the ground. Her back exploded in pain. Against her will, Melanie let out a groan of pain, which did not go unnoticed.
"What is wrong?" Legolas asked, walking toward her.
"I'm fine," she said, lying through gritted teeth.
He sat next to Mel and said, "You are a poor liar."
She replied, "Yeah. I guess you could say it's not my best talent."
"What is your name?" He asked.
"Oh," She began. She gave her horse name. "It's Arod."
"Arod. That is a name for a horse, not a person." Legolas said, "I must pick a name for you. For now I will call you mellonamin. It means my friend."
She smiled. He apparently did not think her a spy. "Thanks Legolas," Mel said, "But my real name is Melanie. That okay?"
"If that is what you prefer," he said."Turn around." Melanie raised one eyebrow but obeyed. He undid the ropes on her hands. Aragorn saw this. He caught Legolas's eye and nodded, then turned away. "Thank you," Mel said to Legolas. She turned to look at him, to see that he was frowning. "What?" She asked.
"Now, what was wrong to make you cry in pain?" he asked, but it seemed as if already knew.
"It's nothing," Mel said, quickly. She bit her lip.
"It's something," he insisted. "Let myself or Aragorn take a look. It may be what is causing you discomfort." Hell, she knew that was what was causing her discomfort, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let those two look at it.
"Let me see it!" Legolas whispered, angry at her lack of obeying what he considered to be an order.
"NO!" She whispered back. She turned away from him. That was her big mistake. He brushed her shirt up to see a bruise on her lower back, and he quickly dropped the shirt down again. Yes, she was embarrassed. It was because of her father. That particular bruise was from the day he had come home, announced he had been fired, and somehow figured out that it was Melanie's fault.
Flashback:
"You filthy girl. You kept forgetting to pack my lunch. I had to go out to eat and I can never make it back on time, God damned traffic. And do you know what they did?" he asked.
"No Dad."
"They fired me. Because of you! Get over here!" he yelled at her and she came. And she was beaten. Horribly. End flashback. That was the day before her birthday. As she was thinking this, Legolas touched the bruise very lightly. It did hurt Melanie, but she did not want him to know it.
"Does it hurt?" he asked in a breathless voice.
"No," Mel lied. He turned her face so she had to look into his deep green eyes. He asked again, "Does it hurt?"
"What do you think?" She answered. That was enough for him. "Aragorn!" he called over to the fire. Aragorn walked over.
"Legolas please!" She hissed.
"What is wrong?" Aragorn asked, looking from Melanie to Legolas and back again.
"She is injured," Legolas said, motioning to Melanie. Aragorn walked in back of Melanie, pulled up her shirt, and took a look. (Aragorn pulled the shirt up all the way, and he saw the scratches and bruises on Melanie's shoulders and neck too.)
Aragron took a sharp intake of breath, as did Legolas. Melanie closed her eyes. "Legolas, go boil some water and get me my medical bag," he finally said. Legolas nodded and walked over to the fire. Mel looked at Aragorn.
"Aragorn please, it isn't that bad, you don't have to, . . ." she began to say, but he held up his hand for her to shut up.
"Do you know what color those bruises are?" He asked.
"Ah, I'm taking a wild guess here, but I'm going to say blue," Mel said.
"They are green," she pulled a face, "And the scratches have opened up and are oozing. They have become infected. This should have been treated sooner," he said angrily. "Tomorrow morning you and I will have a long talk, Little - one." Melanie gulped. She didn't like that idea.
"I think not," Mel muttered. He didn't hear her (luckily).
Legolas walked over with a pot and a large bag. Aragorn took the bag and rummaged a bit in it, before pulling out a plant of some sort. He ripped it in half and let the juice drain into the steaming pot. He looked at Legolas, then to Melanie.
"She will need to lie down on her front, then perhaps on her back. Are your ribs bruised?" Aragon asked, turning to Melanie.
She started to shake her head no, but then Legolas caught her eye and she nodded. Aragorn took a quick step toward her and slightly lifted the shirt again. She wanted to smack him, or at least take a step back, but she found that Legolas was pinning her arms to her sides. Aragorn gently prodded her ribs. She gave a gasp of shock and pain.
"Are you finished perving?" she asked bitterly to Aragorn. It looked for a moment as if he were angry, but then he sighed.
"You are lucky to not have a rib broken. Anyway, first to business, lie down on your front-" Aragorn started to say, but stopped when he realized he did not know her name.
"Melanie," Legolas supplied.
Aragorn nodded at his friend and said, "Legolas will you let her rest her head in your lap?" Aragorn asked. Melanie blushed furiously and looked quickly at the forest floor. She knew she shouldn't be thinking like that at this time, but she couldn't help it! To make matters worse, Legolas nodded his head yes. Before Mel knew it, Legolas pulled her onto the ground. He sat Indian-style. With a last look at Aragorn, Melanie stretched out, her head resting on Legolas's leg.
Aragorn kneeled down beside them. He hiked up the shirt. He shook his head at the bra strap and quickly undid it, earning a startled gasp from Melanie which he ignored. Next, he dipped a strip of cloth into the hot water, squeezed it out, and then placed it to her back. Not only did it sting with all the powers of evil, it was hot as hell! So it was understandable what she did next.
Mel gripped Legolas's leg and yelled into the night, "GODAMMITSONOFABITCH!" Feeling very sorry for the poor girl, Legolas patted her head and whispered to her, "Shh, shh, ne sal` [be still] Melanie."
Then Aragorn began to gently rub the cloth in circles. That was pure torture. Melanie did not scream again, but she was biting her lip hard enough to draw blood and tears were streaming silently down her face, falling onto Legolas's tunic. Mel's hands were white because she was gripping Legolas's leg so hard. Legolas grimaced at the bear-trap that was Melanie's hand. He pried them off his leg and held them both in one of his hands. Immediately they tightened. Then he ran his fingers through her hair. "Tanka harwar, tanka harwar mellonamin."[Tanka harwar-old healing spell.]
After about five more minutes of torture, Aragorn let up. Melanie was breathing in shaky breaths. Legolas looked at Aragorn, "Lle tela? [Are you finished?]" he asked.
Aragorn said, "Uma, [yes]." Legolas closed his eyes for a moment, swallowed, and quickly re-hooked her bra.
"What does that mean?" She asked, while slowly getting up. Big mistake.
"I am finished, Little One," said Aragorn.
"Thanks," was all she could really say, as she tried to get up. She failed, and was caught by Legolas, who said,
"If you do not want to undo all of Aragorn's hard work, you will let me carry you toward the fire. Then you will eat some of the delicious meat that Gimli so generously is offering you. And then," he said, his commanding tone reaching its pitch, "You will go to sleep so you can wake up rested and ready to face tomorrow." And with that he gently lifted Melanie into the air and walked over to the fire. He set her down on a blanket that was spread out close enough to feel the warmth from the fire, but far enough away so she wouldn't be lit on fire.
Gimli gave her a plate of meat and she slowly began to chew it. It was very . . . natural. And naturally, she almost barfed as she swallowed the last piece. Then she lay down on her front and closed her eyes. Melanie tried to fall asleep, but it was difficult. She was of course tired but the day's events kept playing threw her head along with the gruesome thought of the promised "talk" with Aragorn.
He was going to bombard her with questions. Then she began asking herself: Will she ever go home? She liked it here better. Besides, would it even be possible for her to go home? How did she even get here? How the hell did she change from human, to horse, and back again? She looked at the remainder of the Fellowship. Gimli was snoring, Aragorn was keeping watch, and Legolas, Legolas was standing above her!
Legolas was actually standing by her for quite some time, just looking at her. She was so tired, and helpless looking. For some odd reason, he felt a need to be near her.
"Damn!" she said, "You need to learn to make some noise, you're gonna give me a heart attack!" Melanie said. Legolas kneeled beside her.
"Are you in pain?" he asked her.
"Yeah," she said. She had done enough lying for today, plus she was now too tired to care.
"I want to know what happened to you," Legolas said. If Melanie could have, she would have sat straight up, but, lying on her front, that was not possible.
"Please Legolas," Melanie said, "Trust me, ya don't wanna know." Legolas sighed. He reached out and touched her head with his hand. Melanie's heart seemed to stop. Then, Legolas, as though he realized what he was doing, withdrew his hand.
"Go to sleep Melanie," he whispered.
"Will you stay with me?" she said, her eyes drooping.
"Yes Melanie."
"Thank you."
Just as she was drifting off to dream land, Melanie thought she felt someone kiss her forehead, but it was probably just her imagination.
"Quel kaima," Legoals whispered. He sat next to her deep in thought the rest of the night.
