Yey! Chapter two! I give my thanks to my reviewers.

Victoria: I'm glad you liked it! I really tried to portray each character thoroughly.

Betsy: I hope this chapter is interesting enough for you.

Athanasia: I know this is a strange idea, but I had to post it.

Messenger of the Elvenking: I'm glad that you liked it, too.

TheAmazingTecnocolorRingWraith: I like your name! Lol! The story is explained a bit more this chapter, but you will know pretty much everything by the end of the next chapter.

Avalonkitten: Why thank you! Your fic is doing great as well! I hope to see you on the boards more often!

Jay Greenleaf Elf: blushes Are you trying to inflate my ego or something? Lol! Anyway, I really tried to portray the relationship between Legolas and Thranduil as best I could. I'm glad you approve!

Ithil-valon: I'm glad you liked my fic. I only put the review limit on there just so I would know that I wasn't wasting my time by writing this fic.

Legolas's Girl 9: I'm so glad that you like my fic.

Well, I got more reviews than I expected, so I'm happy. I will try to update at least once a week, but don't rely on that. Well, on with the fic!

Legolas woke early the next morning to the silence of his room. He blinked a few times to bring his eyes back into focus before remembering what today was. Today he was to set out with a small party of Elves to scout the borders of Mirkwood for the next two weeks. Unsure of how late it was, he quickly pulled on his tunic although it took him a few minuets to realize that he was putting it on backwards. Once he finished dressing properly, he grabbed his bow and quiver, then his knives. He pause for a moment and looked around his room once more before opening the door. He closed the door behind him as he left and made for the stables at a walk. He glanced down each hallway and into each open door for his father but couldn't find him. 'Maybe he's still sleeping,' Legolas thought as he glanced down another abandoned hallway. 'Well, he needs it.' After a quick breakfast and one last check of his weapons he headed out to the stables to get his horse. Weaving through the other warriors preparing for the trip, he finally made it to Thaliel's stall. The cream colored mare nickered happily as she was led out of her stall, knowing that some long venture was at hand. Legolas smiled at the antics of the horse, knowing that it would be much easier to cope from being away from home with her along. Once out in the stable yard, the Elf put his supplies on Thaliel's back and checked that the other warriors were prepared for the trip. Now all that was left to do was wait. They were to leave at high noon, right after the King gave the party his blessing. 'I hope that he is well enough to come out. I wanted to say goodbye before we leave.' Noon approached rapidly and there was still no sign of the king, making Legolas worried. 'What if something happened to him?' The prince began to panic, his heart fluttering wildly. Noon came and went, but there was still no sign of Thranduil. One of the warriors shifted impatiently and grumbled, "If the King does not come out soon, then we will leave anyway." The comment made Legolas laugh inwardly, knowing that the warriors wasn't in charge of the party; he was. Finally after what seemed like hours to the young prince, someone came out to the courtyard, but to his disappointment it wasn't his father; it was Galion.

"The King is unable to see you off at the time. He is feeling unwell and has asked me to see you off." A knot formed in Legolas's stomach. His father, ill? Was something wrong? Was he hurt? He was going to ask Galion what was wrong, but Thaliel nickered worriedly and he looked up, and seeing the rest of the party looking at him, he assumed that it was time to move out. He nudged Thaliel into a gallop, hoping that nothing was terribly wrong with his father.

Thranduil stared at the ceiling in the darkened room, his eyes open but out of focus. Galion came in and shut the door, waking the King in the process.

"You really should tell Legolas," the butler said. "He looked terrified when I announced that you were unwell to see them off. I thought he would have jumped right off his horse and demand to see you."

Thranduil remained silent, blinking his eyes to bring them back into focus. Finally, he said, "You're right. He deserves to know. I'll tell him as soon as he returns, granted that he isn't injured." That brought forth a laugh from both Elves, as Legolas almost always returned with some sort of injury.

"So, how did it go?" Galion asked, changing the subject.

"Thranduil sighed, touching the bandages across his chest. "Scorpio will be quiet for now. I'm just lucky that he didn't have a chance to sting me."

Galion nodded thoughtfully then stood up from the chair he was sitting in. "There are other things I need to attend to. I will come back later." The Elf left silently, leaving the Elvenking to rest in peace.

"He's been gone for quite a while," an Elf at Legolas's shoulder commented worriedly.

"There is no need to worry, Thalion." Legolas replied to his friend. "Gaerath is a fine scout. He'll be fine."

Thalion frowned and said, "I hope you are right." The minuets continued to tick by under the dark canopy of leaves. The party had stopped to send out a scout to make sure that the coast was clear. Some time later, soft hoof beats could be heard as the scout Gaerath returned on a brown stallion looking quite shaken.

"There's a nest of spiders up ahead!" He nearly shouted, but Legolas threw his hand over the other Elf's mouth. "Sorry." Gaerath said sheepishly when the prince removed his hand. "There is a large nest of spiders up ahead. They are asleep right now, but I fear that they will wake up soon." He said, though much more quietly. All eyes were upon Legolas now since it would be his decision whether or not to attack.

"I've never heard of a spider nest being so close to our dwelling," the prince murmured to himself. "But if they are indeed asleep we might be able to catch them off guard." He turned to the other Elves, ready to give them an answer. "We will attack the spiders. If the nest is as large as Gaerath says, then we cannot let it go this close to our dwelling." A murmur of agreement went through the scouting party and everyone immediately went to picket the horses and ready for the imminent battle. Every second counted. If the spiders awoke and found their scent, it could mean the annihilation of the entire party. Thaliel nickered nervously at the quiet of the Elves.

"It's alright," Legolas murmured to the mare, quieting her down much sooner than expected. Everyone was deadly silent as Legolas gave out orders to the Elves. Each one moved off to do their job, and once everyone had been given an assignment, Legolas followed, climbing a tree to shoot from. He had left more Elves on the ground as backup, mainly relying on the archers in the trees. He grimaced when the nest actually came into view and could have sworn that he had heard another Elf vomit. These spiders were enormous, sleeping probably because they had just eaten a pack of… something. There were bones all over the place; on the ground, in webs, even hanging out of the mouths of random spiders. It truly was a gruesome sight. Legolas nocked an arrow to the string of his bow and tested is carefully before looking to either side. The archers in the trees were poised and ready to shoot on the prince's command. He took a deep breath and fired, the arrows of the other Elves following only a split second later. Most of the arrows hit their mark; spiders screeched loudly as they were hit. Some didn't have time to as they died when the arrow hit them. The spiders looked this way and that, some being hit by the barrage of arrows. The couldn't figure out where the arrows were coming from, therefore giving the Elves time to pick them off. 'This is too easy," Legolas thought with concern as spider after spider fell. They usually put up a much better fight than this, even if they had just eaten. The inactivity of the spiders worried the prince. Just then an Elf screamed and fell from a nearby tree, a black arrow having pierced his throat. It took Legolas a moment to realize what was happening. "We've been set up by a group of orcs!" He mentally punched himself for being so stupid. It was obviously a trap from the beginning. They fed the spiders with their own kin, then while the Elves were occupied with the sleepy spiders the orcs would come up from behind in an ambush. As he jumped from the tree, Legolas felt an arrow graze his elbow. Ignoring the pain, he whipped out his knives and stabbed the orc that was attacking Thalion. He watched the monster fall to the ground dead, then pivoted around to face another orc behind him. He slashed again, the creature falling to his knives. The battle raged on, orc after orc falling, the occasional scream of a wounded Elf being heard. It wasn't long before Legolas was knocked to the ground, the weight of a spider holding him down. The monster bit him in the shoulder just as the Elf stabbed the creature in the heart, killing it instantly. He couldn't move the body off of himself, so his only other option was to lay there as the spider poison coursed through his veins. His vision was becoming fuzzy when he saw a strange sight. 'Ada?' He thought, wondering if it was just a vision. There was a blinding flash of light and everyone stopped moving as if they were paralyzed. A moment later everyone could see and move again, and right where Thranduil had been standing was a dragon. It was huge, the top of it's head equal in height to the tree it was standing next to. The creature's scales were a deep black, sprinkled in what looked like stars. That was Legolas's last conscious image before he passed out.

I hoped that you liked the little twist. Things will be more fully explained next chapter. Review!