Title: Bonds of Family

Author: Andolin

Rating: T

Summary: Legolas and his younger brother are captured by orcs in an attempt to takeover Mirkwood, and it is up to Aragorn to rescue them. Meanwhile, Thranduil must salvage his relationship with Legolas.

Disclaimer: I do not own any recognizable features of from the Lord of the Rings, they all belong to Tolkien.

Pertinent Information: Tolkien never really says anything about Legolas's family, so in this story, Legolas has a younger brother, Telmir. I explain how I present their family in this chapter, but if you feel that I have left anything important out or any questions unanswered, please let me know. Also, I assume (like many other authors) that Elrond raised Aragorn as a son and that Aragorn would view Elladan and Elrohir as his brothers.

Author's Note: Hello again! Sorry that I took longer than usual to update this time. Things have been crazy, and with finals approaching, there's no end in sight! However, this will not affect the posting of the story too much, as I will still update at the very least one time per week. Thank you to everyone who reviewed!! There are some new names, which is very exciting! I hope that you'll review, even just a short one; I really do appreciate it! Well, that's enough of me chatting: enjoy the story!

Chapter 4: Plans

Dawn found a very weary Aragorn racing through the forest of Mirkwood. The gates were already unlocked for the day and he slowed his horse as they approached.

"State your name and your business in Mirkwood," a bored looking guard called from the wall.

"I am Strider, one of the Rangers of the North and friend of Legolas. I have an urgent message for the king!" Aragorn called back.

"Open the gates," the guard said, recognizing the young ranger.

"Thank you," Aragorn said as he rode through. He handed his steed to a stable hand and ran into the palace, heading for Legolas's room. Looking in, he found it empty, neither Legolas nor his weapons were in sight. It looked exactly as it had yesterday morning. The bed was impeccably made, and although Aragorn knew Legolas to be an early riser, Aragorn strongly suspected that the bed was not slept in last night. With mounting concern, he made his way towards Thranduil's private study, intent upon finding out the truth. He slowed as he reached the heavy oak door and knocked lightly.

"Come in," Thranduil said softly.

Aragorn pushed the doors open and took in the sorry sight of the king before him.

Thranduil looked hard at him for a moment, "What are you doing here, ranger? I thought that you left."

"I did, my lord, but I found it necessary to return. I must know something; did Legolas and Telmir return yet?"

The look of pain that flashed in Thranduil's steady eyes answered Aragorn's question, "No, Strider, they did not. Their horses returned, but not with their riders."

Aragorn took a step back. Oh no, he thought. "My lord, I had made it to the foothills last night when I happened upon a troop of orcs. Legolas told me that there was concern over an alliance between the orcs of Southern Mirkwood and the Misty Mountains. I think that your suspicions were correct; the orcs in the south are in league with the orcs of the Misty Mountains. They planned this together. They attacked your sons and are holding them captive, they expect you to lead a large contingent south and then the orcs of the mountains will attack the city from the north."

Thranduil rose from his desk and paced slowly around the room.

"My lord, what are we going to do?" Aragorn asked.

Thranduil half smiled. "We? Perhaps my son has found a true and worthy friend. But what shall we do?" he sighed, "We shall stay here. I shall send a small contingent south of the walls, enough to make it look as though we have taken the bait. The orcs shall attack, the troops that left shall double back and attack them from behind. Mirkwood has a very large army inside of these walls, and a very lethal one at that. We shall be safe; in fact, this may be our best opportunity to cripple their troops."

Aragorn's eyes widened, "But…your sons, what of them? You cannot leave them at the mercy of the orcs!"

Thranduil looked sharply at the ranger, "What then should I do? If I attempt to rescue them, my kingdom falls. I cannot give up the lives of hundreds of elves for the sake of two, even if they are the two I care about more than anything. Legolas would not want me to do that either, it is his duty to put the people before him, and Telmir, Legolas will do everything he can to protect the boy. They may yet have hope."

"They need help!"

"Help that I cannot give them."

"But—"

"Do you think that this is easy for me?!" Thranduil snapped, "I cannot send troops after them. We know not how many orcs are holding them or how many plan to attack the city. If we send too few, my sons are killed and their would be rescuers die trying to save them, if we send too many, the city is endangered. They are my children and Valar knows I love them, but I cannot risk the life of every elf under my protection for them! I do not have a choice!" Thranduil fell silent, sitting down again, his grief seeming to radiate from him.

Aragorn thought for a moment, "There is another choice. Let me go, let me try to help them."

"You are not under my jurisdiction, but I would that you stayed. I would not want to send word of your death to Lord Elrond."

"I will be careful. Sometimes stealth can prevail where numbers cannot. I shall return, with your sons," Aragorn stated firmly, as he turned to leave.

"Aragorn," Thranduil called to the retreating ranger, "Thank you, and may the Valar guard your path."

Aragorn bowed slightly and continued.

o-o-o-o

Legolas and Telmir had been marched towards the Misty Mountains for the last week, ever watchful of an opportunity to escape, but there were none. They were always bound or too close to the orcs to be able to sneak away, but Legolas had noticed that the orcs continually put them closer to the outside of the camp each time that they stopped. Soon, he hoped, they would be far enough towards the outside of the camp to be able to free themselves.

Zearg appeared to be the leader of the group, he gave the commands set out and halt and he also was the one who determined exactly how much "attention" the elves received. Legolas got the impression that Zearg wanted them kept alive and well enough to travel, and the more out of sight the elves were, the more the orcs ignored them. Zearg knew that the elder of his two captives was poisoned and would likely die sooner or later, so he didn't care too much what the other orcs did to him so long as they didn't outright kill him.

They had set-up camp over an hour ago, and Legolas was starting to hope that they would be ignored for the night, but it was too much to hope for.

Kalg along with several others approached the two elves and Legolas began to mentally prepare himself for yet another beating. The orcs, however, had something else in mind tonight. Instead of grabbing Legolas, they yanked Telmir to his feet.

"Legolas!" Telmir yelled, looking at him with sheer panic in his eyes.

No, Legolas thought. Telmir had remained unharmed thus far, and Legolas would die to keep it that way. "Leave him alone!" Legolas yelled to the orcs.

Kalg sneered and slowly drew one of his claws up Telmir's arm, "Want to protect 'im, do you? How sweet. You still haven't screamed for me, elf. So instead, I'm going to make him scream and you're going to watch."

Telmir was so scared that he could barely breathe; his eyes were still locked on his brother, desperately begging Legolas to get him out of this. Legolas knew that he had to think quickly or it would be too late. "You're pathetic, Kalg," Legolas ventured, "You could not make me scream so you resort to picking on children. Look at him," Legolas nodded towards his brother, "He's practically screaming already. You tire of me because you know that you can't beat me, I'm stronger than you and I will not break. You're weak."

Kalg snarled in rage and threw Telmir to the ground, storming up to Legolas. He grabbed the elf by the throat and pinned him to the tree, "I'm going to introduce you to whole new levels of pain, boy. You'll be sorry you didn't keep your mouth shut."

Legolas only half believed him. He believed that Kalg would cause him an almost unimaginable amount of pain, but he knew also that he wouldn't regret his decision. They could do what they wanted to him, but he would do everything within his power to keep Telmir safe. As Kalg dragged him to the center of the camp, Legolas met Telmir's still frightened gaze and smiled at him reassuringly.

Then agony ensued. He was whipped and beaten until he passed out, but Kalg would not be deterred. He simply shook him to wakefulness and started again. Three times they woke him up, and three times they beat him into oblivion. That night, when they dragged him back to Telmir, they didn't even bind him. He wouldn't be going anywhere on his own for quite some time.

Hmm...Aragorn had better hurry...That chapter was shorter than I wanted it to be, but I wrote the entire story and then divided it, and it worked best to split it here. Perhaps I'll update sooner because it was shorter, that is, if people review…hint, hint!

Thanks for reading, Andolin