Hi! I am so sorry that it took me so long to update! I have had some writers block, and I have been pretty busy. Anyway, this chapter does have a lot of Aragorn, and it has more action than the last chapter.

Enjoy!

Aragorn kicked his sword up from the ground, grabbing it out of the air with his right hand. He jabbed forwards and moved on before he heard his opponent crumple to the ground.

Aragorn swung his sword over his head and make the mistake of landing on his left leg. The limb crumbled under his weight and he faltered for a moment.

He balanced himself against the trunk of a tree, wishing that he could bound into the treetops effortlessly as an elf could.

Aragorn knew he shouldn't have come here alone. He had tried to be careful, resting during the night, not daring to challenge the creatures of the darkness. But trouble always seemed to find the lone ranger. Aragorn had set out during the day, suspecting that he would be fine, but Mirkwood was growing darker by the minute, both literally and figuratively.

Aragorn and the other rangers had been close to Mirkwood, so thought that he may as well go and see Legolas, as their visits had been growing more and more infrequent. Aragorn had decided he would then return to Rivendell to see Elrond and the twins, who he had also been seeing less and less of.

The clang of metal rang throughout the forest, echoing off of the trees and dirt floor.

Aragorn blocked the orcs sword, before ducking another blow. The orcs weapon had missed Aragorn by a hair and was now impaled in the nearest tree. As the orc tried desperately to remove his sword, Aragorn swung his own sword, knocking the creature to the ground.

Aragorn turned to face a much larger orc, who's eyes bore into him with vicious excitement.

The orcs thrust his sword towards the man. Aragorn dropped to the ground, rolling onto the floor, his clothes already coated in dirt and dried blood.

As Aragorn dropped to the ground, his head hit a rock and bright lights exploded in front of his eyes.

As he jumped to his feet the world spun and the lights grew brighter. Aragorn blinked them away, and turned to face the orc in front of him.

The ranger looked around, the last orcs were retreating, so, he could focused his attention on the few left in front of him.

The orc snarled and charged forwards. To the creatures bewilderment Aragorn began running as well. Just as the two were about to collide in a fury of swords and limbs, Aragorn pushed off of the ground.

He landed on the orcs shoulders, and jumped to the ground, landing painfully on his left leg. Even with Aragorn's constantly blurring vision he was still faster than the lumbering orc. The man sprung around, stabbing the large orc in the back.

Aragorn turned to face the last orc, bright spots invading his vision. Before the ranger could react, the orc had stabbed him in the stomach. Only when a wave of pain and nausea washed over the man was he able to move. The orc was still holding onto his sword, his arm outstretched. In one swift motion Aragorn chopped his opponents hand off, and the creature fell backwards, screaming in agony before retreating back into the darkness of the forest.

Aragorn staggered back, leaning against the cool bark of a nearby tree. He paused for a moment, before stumbling forwards.

The bright spots were growing larger and soon Aragorn was blinded by them. He sunk to the floor and closed his eyes against the light.

Legolas paced across the floor, holding a cream color envelope in his hand. The words written inside were ringing in his mind.

Aragorn was supposed to arrive in Mirkwood days ago. The letter from Lord Elrond was sent a week from yesterday.

How could Aragorn not have told him that he was visiting Mirkwood? If this was any normal day, Legolas would have gotten his cloak, and rushed out the door.

But right now, he was still acting king. The whole of Mirkwood was riding in his shoulders, and it would remain that way until his father recovered.

It had been a little under a week since Thranduil's injury, and Legolas was already knee deep in things he was yet to do as acting king. Actually, he way Legolas saw it, he was way past knee deep. He was probably more like neck deep in things he had to do.

Legolas never understood how his father could have been king for so many years without ever faltering. To the prince it seemed like an impossible job.

Legolas picked up a pen and moved to his desk. In rushed script the elf quickly wrote back to Elrond before shoving the letter into an envelope and signing it.

Legolas wrote to Elrond telling him that Aragorn had never shown up in Mirkwood, and that he would recommend sending out troops to look for the man. Legolas had no troops to spare, as they were all busy fighting the ever growing darkness in his home land.

Although Legolas would have the daily patrols make extra rounds to look for his friend, it didn't seem like enough.

Normally Legolas would be already out the door by now, on his horse desperately searching for his lost friend. He longed to go out into the forest and search for Aragorn. To scream out the man's name and (hopefully) find him.

Guilt and nerves ate away at his stomach as he thought of all that could have happened to his friend in the darkness of the Mirkwood forests.

The orcs were growing in numbers, as were the spiders, and as powerful as Aragorn was, he was no match for the all creatures lurking in the forest.

Legolas could only imagine what had befallen his friend. If Legolas lost his father and best friend in a matter of weeks, well he didn't want to think of how it would torment him.

If Aragorn was injured right now, if he was dead, then Legolas would never forgive himself.

Legolas's hands shook, and he put the letter down.

The elf moved towards the window. His blue eyes clouded with worry and guilt. He scanned the tree tops, desperately looking over the forest in search of his best friend.

Legolas's heart skipped a beat as he realized what this meant;

Aragorn was missing somewhere between the miles of Mirkwood and Rivendell, and there was nothing he could do about it.

The tension is building! Next chapter will hopefully be updated sooner than this one was. Sorry that this chapter was so short, the next one will be longer. (I hope.)

Please feel free to review. I would love to hear what you thought of this chapter! Thanks!

OakLeaf6.