Fallen in Battle
A Lord of the Rings story by Deana Lisi
Disclaimer: I don't own Legolas, Aragorn, or the others.

I'm proud to say that this story was one of three that won a contest on the Mellon Chronicles website for 'Best Filler' scene! A huge 'hannon le' to everyone who voted for me!

Did anybody notice in ROTK, the scene where Legolas, Aragorn, Gandalf, Gimli, and Eomer were planning what to do next, (after the Legolas/oliphaunt scene), Legolas was standing there in a very strange position…it looked as if he'd been injured in some way; his right arm was crossed over his chest with his hand splayed around the left side, with his left hand grasping his right arm. It looked pretty weird, and I can only assume that he was somehow injured in that battle but the scene was taken out of the theater version. Either way, whether I'm right or wrong, Legolas' posture still made it appear this way, so here's my take on what might've happened! Enjoy!

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Gimli watched, in awe and shock as Legolas felled the huge oliphaunt and slid down its trunk, landing on his feet directly before the dwarf.

Legolas cocked his head at him, as if to say, 'beat that!'

"That still only counts as one!" Gimli exclaimed.

Legolas' eyebrows shot up in astonishment. "One! The oliphaunt alone should count as at least one hundred, and what of all the men riding it?"

"One! You slew them all at once!" exclaimed the dwarf. "One, I say!"

Legolas was so shocked at Gimli's words, that he failed to notice the orc creeping up behind him.

Gimli had turned away so that his friend wouldn't see him laughing. How he loved to pester the elf!

Legolas said nothing, wondering if the dwarf was truly serious, when he suddenly saw a shadow pass over him.

Gimli finally conquered his expression and turned to face the elf again, just in time to see the orc attack his friend. "Legolas!"

The elf had already whirled to face his foe, but was too late. The orc tried to stab Legolas in the heart with a bloodstained knife, but the point of impact was thankfully deflected by the elf's movement. Instead, after entering his skin, it slid off to the side.

Legolas gasped in pain, grabbing the orc's arm in an effort to get the knife.

The foul creature simply took the knife in his other hand, slashing at Legolas' arms in an attempt to dislodge him.

The pain from the orc's first strike was crippling, and Legolas had no means of defense whatsoever. He was therefore surprised when the orc suddenly dropped to the ground, felled by Gimli's axe.

Everything around the elf abruptly spun, and he suddenly found himself on the ground beside his enemy.

"Legolas!" Gimli cried, seeing his friend's tunic quickly becoming saturated with blood. "No…don't do this to me, elf!" he exclaimed, throwing himself to his knees beside him.

Legolas' eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily, pain lacing through his chest and right arm like fire.

"Can you hear me, elf?" said Gimli, as he quickly tried to assess his friend's condition. What he thought had been a fatal stab wound to the heart turned out to be a very bad gash; from the area over his heart all the way around to under his arm. It was bleeding very badly, and looked quite deep.

Gimli suddenly realized that Legolas hadn't answered his question. "Laddie…say something!"

Legolas was drifting towards unconsciousness, but he heard the pleading in his friend's voice. "That one…counts…as…one hundred..." he complimented the dwarf, not seeing the fear in Gimli's face as everything turned black.

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Aragorn leaned on his sword, tiredly surveying the battleground. They'd won once again; their foes had been defeated! Breathing a sigh of relief, he looked around for his friends.

Bodies littered the ground, but some were moving, being tended to. Others stumbled from the area, shaken, but glad to be alive.

He saw no sign of Legolas or Gimli.

A shiver of dread slid down his spine, and he opened his mouth to call out, before suddenly hearing his own name in the air.

"Aragorn!"

The human turned around to see his dwarf friend running towards him. "Where's Legolas?" he asked, fear growing in his stomach.

Gimli stopped running, gasping for breath. "Over there," he pointed. "He's been hurt—"

Aragorn ran off, not even letting Gimli finish.

Not surprised, Gimli turned around and ran after him.

Aragorn saw the oliphaunt that Legolas had slain, and not very far from it lay his friend, bloody and still.

Dropping to his knees, Aragorn sought a pulse on the elf's neck. "Legolas?" he said, his voice cracking with fear.

The elf made no movement, eyes tightly shut in unconsciousness.

It was an alarming sight, and Aragorn quickly tried to find the source of the blood. Despair consumed him when he saw the wound's proximity to the elf's heart, and tears welled in his eyes at the implications.

Gimli finally caught up with him and threw himself to his knees, watching worriedly.

Examining the wound, Aragorn saw to his utter relief that the knife had not penetrated his friend's heart, but rather had slid along the ribs over it. The wound was deep enough to reveal bone, and he could see slices from the knife in some of the elf's ribs.

"Aragorn…" Gimli suddenly said, sounding alarmed.

Aragorn turned to look at him, to see that the dwarf had picked up Legolas' right arm, which they only now noticed was also covered in blood. "We have to get him to the healing house now," the human said, gently sliding his arms under the elf. "He's losing too much blood."

Gimli nodded and stood, backing up to allow Aragorn some room as he lifted Legolas.

They left the battleground at a run, not even noticing the trail of blood that their elf friend left behind as they rushed him to the house of healing.

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The healers were used to people running in without warning, but nothing prepared them for Aragorn barging in like an attacking orc.

"Healer!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the halls. "We need a healer now!"

A man beckoned to him, leading him to a room where Aragorn quickly laid Legolas down on a bed.

Gimli stood back and watched as Aragorn snapped orders to the healer, who seemed put-out until he realized that Aragorn knew what he was doing.

"He's a healer himself, lad," Gimli said.

The man nodded, busying himself with seeing to the elf's arm, while Aragorn took care of the more serious wound.

They worked on Legolas for a long time, trying to stop the bleeding and stitching the wounds closed. Gimli watched in fascination as Aragorn combined several herbs into a thick paste to spread on the injuries before bandaging them. Finally, they changed the elf out of his bloody clothes.

The healer finally left, knowing that the patient was in good hands, and Gimli approached the bed as Aragorn poured medicine down the elf's throat.

"I've always wondered how that's possible," he said.

Aragorn looked at him. "What?"

Gimli gestured to Legolas, who was in a half-sitting position, his head in the crook of Aragorn's arm. "How someone who's out cold can swallow."

Aragorn looked back down at Legolas as he continued to feed him the liquid. "It is a reflexive action, thankfully."

"Ah," Gimli said, nodding. Finally he couldn't take it anymore, and blurted out, "Will he live?"

Aragorn frowned as he looked at him again. "Yes…forgive me, Gimli, I didn't realize that you—"

Gimli waved his arm. "That's fine, lad. Don't apologize." He sighed in relief at the human's words, smiling happily.

Aragorn shot him a contrite look before placing the cup on the bed and gently laying Legolas back down.

Gimli took the cup as Aragorn arranged the bedcovers over the elf. "When do you think he'll wake?"

Aragorn shook his head. "There's no way to tell. It could be hours, or a day…the blood loss was extensive."

The dwarf nodded his head, pulling a chair closer to the bed. "He beat me, you know."

Aragorn frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Our game…he won, hands down. I don't know anyone who can slay an oliphant, and every man that rode it! And he didn't even get a scratch!" He looked down at the elf's wounds. "Well, I mean, he wasn't injured at the time, at least."

Aragorn smiled at the dwarf and sat on the other side of the bed, the two friends waiting for the wounded elf to wake.

TBC