Author's Note: See first chapter for all other story information.

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Aragorn quickly sped up his pace the moment that he heard a sharp cry of pain coming from the direction that he was heading. That sound had not came from any orc, he was sure of it. It had been from an elf, and since Legolas was the only elf nearby...

Fear clutched at his heart as the sound of orcs suddenly became cleared and more pronounced. The Ranger knew that Legolas would not have cried out in pain unless he had been hurt fairly badly--it was not in the elven prince's nature.

Aragorn started as his eyes suddenly caught sight of movement nearby, and he quickly grabbed the sword that was hanging at his side. He came to a stop a few feet from where the orcs were standing, making sure not to come out of the shadows of the trees. The young human hurriedly let his gaze sweep across the scene in front of him. There were only four orcs, meaning he could take them out easily. Where was Legolas though?

A pain shot through Strider's heart as he suddenly saw the elven prince. He was laying unconscious on the ground, his blond hair matted with thick red blood. The Ranger quickly let his eyes drift over his friend, trying to see what had happened. Almost immediately, he noticed the large cut on the side of Legolas' head. From the angle of the cut, it appeared as if the elf had noticed something behind him and had been turning around when something heavy, and sharp, had struck his head.

After a moment, the human tore his gaze from his friend and turned his attention back towards the orcs. Aragorn felt his blood turn to ice when he finally was able to see exactly what they were doing. It was quite apparent that they were getting ready to kill something, and considering the fact that Legolas was the only prisoner that they had...

Without pausing, the Ranger quickly put his sword back to his side and grabbed the bow that was strung over his shoulder. At a speed that would have been impossible for most humans, he shot two arrows just moments after each other. Both of them found their targets, and two of the four orcs dropped to the ground.

Dropping his bow, Aragorn grabbed his sword and jumped out into the open. Within seconds, another one of the orcs was dead. The sound running echoed in the human's ears as he turned and prepared to dash after the fourth orc, which had turned and run the moment it had seen the human jump from the shadows. A quiet moan coming from where Legolas lay, however, pushed the thought of pursuit of the Ranger's mind. Shooting one more look in the direction, he quickly hurried over to where his friend lay.

Quickly, yet carefully, he ran his hands over the elf's body, trying to make sure that there wasn't any unseen damage. Though he didn't feel any broken bones, it was obvious that there was some bruising from the way Legolas flinched slightly. Letting out a quiet sigh of relief for that, Aragorn slowly moved his attention to the cut on the prince's head. It didn't seem to be too serious, but with head injuries you could never be certain.

With a swift glance around, he considered leaving the elf prince there until he could bandage the wound on his head, since he knew that it might be dangerous to move him. After just a moment, though, Strider pushed that thought from his mind. Orcs never traveled in such small groups, and it was more than like that the one that had gotten away had went to get reinforcements. No, they needed to at least get back to their camp.

Aragorn gently placed his arms under his friend and carefully picked him up. Trying his best not to jar the unconscious elf too much, the human moved as quickly as he dared back towards their campsite.

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The Ranger gave a relieved sigh as he finished wrapping the bandage around his friend's head. The wound didn't seem to be too bad, though it was a little deeper than he would have liked. Smiling gently, he reached over and squeezed Legolas' shoulder just a bit before standing up and moving over to finish packing some of their supplies.

A few minutes later, the smile on his face faded quite a bit. Cries from orcs were sounding in the distance, and they appeared to be moving in their direction. He shot a quick look into the sky, and couldn't help but grimace a little when he realized that there was still at least an hour before the sun rose enough to keep the orcs at bay.

Aragorn shot a worried look over at Legolas, wondering if he should risk moving his friend while he was still unconscious. His decision was quickly made up for him as the cry of an orc suddenly sounded quite nearby. Shooting one more worried look around him, Aragorn quickly wrapped up the rest of their supplies and placed them on the elf's horse. Then he carefully picked up his friend once more and placed the elven prince on his on own horse.

He carefully swung up onto the horse, placing one of his arms protectively around Legolas as the horse started moving in the direction of Rivendell. Before they had gone far, Strider gave a swift glance over his shoulder, making sure that the prince's horse was following its master. As soon as he saw that it was, the young Ranger turned his attention back to what lay before him.

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Legolas' head felt like it was on fire, and he couldn't help but let out a quiet moan of pain. Why was his head hurting so much? He knew that there was something that he needed to remember, something that was just on the edge of his memory. What was it though? Why couldn't he remember?

He shook his head in slight annoyance but regretted it almost immediately. Waves of pain seemed to roll through his brain, and he thought for a moment that he was going to collapse. Was he standing though? No. No, he didn't think that he was.

Another wave of pain shot through his head, and he suddenly realized that everything around him was dark. Why was it dark? A sudden memory flashed through his mind, and with a start he remembered something crashing into his head. Was he still unconscious? Yes, but not fully.

Carefully, he tried to force his eyes to open. They felt heavy, so heavy that he wasn't sure that he could open them. Maybe it would better to just stay here, in the dark. Yes, that would be better than trying to open his eyes. So heavy.

"Legolas?"

The voice sounded faint, as if it were coming from miles and miles away. It seemed so familiar though. Why did it seem so familiar?

"Legolas? Are you awake?"

Why wouldn't it leave him alone? Did whoever the voice belonged to not understand that he wanted to stay here, in the quiet dark?

"Come on Legolas, you need to open your eyes."

The voice was starting to sound worried, so worried. And familiar. Why was the voice so familiar? The elven prince tried to make his tired mind focus in on the voice, tried to remember who it belonged to. Without warning, the face of a man suddenly appeared in front of him. Aragorn. Strider. Estel.

With a start, Legolas remembered what had happened. They had been at the camp, and then there had been... What had there been? Orcs. Yes orcs. He had slipped up on them, had heard them talking. Talking about what though? One of them had crept up behind him and had hit him in the head. What happened next though? Everything was blurry. He couldn't seem to get his mind to focus...

"Legolas!"

The voice, Aragorn's voice, was starting to sound almost panicked now. Maybe he should try and open his eyes again. But it was so comforting here, in the dark...

"Legolas, can you here me? Legolas!"

No, he needed to wake up. Strider was worried about him, and he didn't want to unintentionally cause his friend pain. Once again, Legolas focused him mind on trying to force his eyes to open. This time, they didn't seem to be nearly as heavy. He could feel them opening, and then he heard Aragorn's voice again.

"Legolas... Can you hear me? Do you remember what happened?"

The elven prince was startled to find that he was laying on the ground, and it took him a moment to get his bearings. Then he slowly blinked a few times before answering the question. Even to his own ears, the voice that came from him seemed to be frail and weak.

"Yes, yes I can hear you. And yes, I think that I remember what happened. There were orcs..."

His voice trailed off as he blinked a few times and carefully pulled himself up into a sitting position. Legolas could feel Aragorn's arms on his shoulders, supporting him. He slowly spun his head around, a slight feeling of panic slowly building inside of him.

Aragorn's voice was quiet and worried as he watched his friend's distress.

"Legolas, what is it? Is there something wrong?"

The elven prince turned towards him, but his silvery blue eyes didn't focus on his friend's face. There was a look on his face unlike anything that Aragorn had ever seen. The elven prince took a few shallow breaths before answering the young Ranger's question.

"Yes, I believe that there is something wrong."

Legolas let his gaze drift around him for a few seconds, hoping against hope that he was wrong. That it was just in his mind. After a few moments, though, it seemed that he was only fooling himself.

"I cannot see you."