Legolas
Tauriel was gone. That was the simple fact of the matter. She had been at the feast the prior night, but she hadn't gone back in when the gates were sealed. If that was true, she wouldn't be able to get back into the Hall. Tauriel was a capable warrior, but even she might perish if she faced a pack of spiders or orcs on her own. They had found a dress today. It had been the same one that Tauriel had worn during the feast. Legolas knew it was hers, he remembered dancing with her. The dress was found near the tree that he had seen her leave a bag. He didn't know what was in it, he had assumed it was something she needed for the party, but now it was gone and she with it.
Thranduil would not organize a search party for her. Legolas's shoulders slumped in defeat as he walked away from his father's throne. He had to find Tauriel. She was Captain of the Guards and his best friend. He was worried about her. Tauriel had seemed sad, worried, and distant over the past few months. She had drawn away from him, kept her business to herself. She usually confided everything in him. They had been grown up together. They were each other's best friends, practically siblings. He had been a lonely princling, and she a lonely orphan. They found each other, made friends, and then weren't lonely any more. They had told each other everything but after the Battle, Tauriel had grown distant. Legolas didn't know why. True, she had lost a lot of soldiers that she had known for hundreds of years and was very close too, but she was acting strange.
It couldn't have been the Battle, that was not the first time she had seen Death on such a large scale. No, there had to be some other reason for it. Legolas paused to think about Tauriel's odd behaviors over the past five months. First, she had talked to that prisoner during Mereth Nuin Giliath and had been reluctant to leave the prisoner, though he was under guard. Second, she had grieved for months after the Battle. That length of time was reserved for loved ones, not soldiers under ones' command. As far as Legolas knew, Tauriel did not lose any loved ones in the Battle, it would be impossible too, her family was dead and relations amongst members of the Guard were forbidden, much to his dismay. Third, Tauriel had sometimes been throwing up in the mornings about two months after the Battle, but she refused to see a healer, and said that it was nothing. Legolas didn't know why she was acting so weird, it was very unlike her. If Tauriel was not in her right mind, alone in the forest, she might die. Legolas was very worried indeed.
New chapter! This is the last we'll see of Legolas for a while, he shows up again towards the end of the fic. Updates will be coming more or less (probably less) daily as school gets more intense. Remember to read, review and follow! Starship T.A.R.D.I.S. out!