A Strange Twist of Fate: Chapter Ten

-Erin-

"Come. We cannot linger."

I stayed close behind my elven companion as we wove our horses through the scraggly, scattered bushes and trees that dotted the hill. My eyes were fixed on one particular tower that shot up into the sky, stationed at the very front of Gundabad, right next to the entrance. Its metal was badly rusted over, making it appear red. The tower sat right next to the front gate, looking completely abandoned. "Is there even anything here that's a danger to us? Everything looks empty."

"As it is meant to," Legolas replied. "In truth, I do not know what may remain within those walls, but it is better to be cautious than reckless." At that moment, he came to a stop, quickly dismounting his horse. I followed suit as he took the reins of both our steeds and tied them to a tree. "From here we travel on foot," he said. I checked to make sure a dagger was still at my side. "Stay with me." I nodded, and he took off, crouching low and speeding through the remaining trees that concealed us.

When we reached the edge of the dying forest, we paused, and I squatted down beside Legolas as his eyes scanned the Gundabad towers, searching for even the slightest sign of life. "Where are we going?" I asked.

A few seconds later, he pointed off to the foot of the mountain on the right. "There. Those boulders. They will hide us from view of any hostile. From there, we will move along the wall of the Red Tower that leads to the entrance. There are overhangs along the tops of the walls that will keep us hidden."

"Gotcha," I nodded. As soon as he moved, I moved with him, keeping close to the ground and quickly skirting along the edge of the surrounding mountains until we reached the group of boulders Legolas had been talking about. I peeked out from behind them, wrinkling my nose in disgust. "It smells terrible."

I heard Legolas scoff from behind me. "I doubt anyone has kept up with maintaining this place in the last sixty years."

I turned around, narrowing my eyes at him. "I don't need your sass, thank you very much."

He rolled his eyes, moving past me. "Follow my lead." I watched as he pressed his back flat against the boulder and slipped around the side, inching along the wall of the watchtower. I did the same, taking a deep breath to calm my pounding heart before sneaking out. The cold, rough metal grated against my back as I slid along the wall, eyes darting everywhere as I kept a eye out for any enemies that might've spotted us. Glancing up, though, I noticed that Legolas was right – the top of the tower's walls were like walkways for the Orcs to patrol along. They were just wide enough to create a slight overhang off the edges of the insanely tall walls, which hid us when our bodies were pressed flat against the metal.

It wasn't too long before we'd made it around the Red Tower, now in full view of the main gate. Legolas and I stopped, and I shot him a worried look. "Legolas...why is it open?"

"I do not know." The elf looked just as confused as I did, seeing that the gate was just ever so slightly ajar; barely enough for us to fit through. This isn't smart, I thought, though I followed Legolas forward anyway. We are so dead. Tell my horse I love him.

Then another unnerving thought popped into my head. "Legolas!" I whispered. "Have you ever actually been inside Gundabad before?"

A knot twisted in my stomach as he shook his head. "No." Without another word, he slipped through the gate and was gone.

Oh, fuck me. I may or may not have let out a small whimper as I also stepped through the gate, sticking close to Legolas' side as we once again stopped to take in our surroundings. There were three other watchtowers that I could see, stationed at different points along the mountain range, though the Red Tower behind us was by far the largest. I glanced at it over my shoulder, and couldn't help but notice the oddly shaped slit at the top of the metal structure. It looked like a perfect fit for an eye. I shuddered, quickly turning around. "It feels so...evil here."

Legolas also looked uncomfortable. Uncomfortable, but determined. "...I believe we are alone," he finally said, taking a few cautious steps forward. "It is unlikely that any remaining enemies would have allowed us to get this far without ambush. Still, be on your guard."

I followed him across the flat, stony ground as he made his way over to one of the smaller watchtowers. "Do you even know where you're going?"

He paused. "No, I just..." Legolas fell into silence, then quickly turned away again, continuing on up to the tower. I exhaled and continued to pursue.

As we reached the doorway to the tower, the elf hesitated again. "Legolas." He turned, eyes locking onto mine. A small pang of guilt hit me as I caught the distant pain reflected in them. "I know I told you to pursue your past, but...I mean, if this is too much for you...you don't have to do this."

But he firmly shook his head. "We have come too far to turn away," he said quietly, facing forward once more and entering the tower.

As I followed him inside, I was almost completely enveloped in darkness. My eyes slowly began to adjust, and I began following Legolas up a winding set of crudely fashioned stairs that spiraled upwards towards the top of the tower. Occasionally, there would be smaller rooms branching off to the sides that we would go in to snoop around, but all of them were trashed, scorched, and for the most part, empty. So up, up, up we continued to climb, the smell of a thousand year old basement saturating my clothes, until we finally emerged onto the highest balcony at the peak of the tower.

I eagerly stepped out, sucking in the fresh air (or at least, semi-fresh), glad to be rid of the dark, dank atmosphere of the tower's interior. The scraps of what was likely once an Orc skeleton were scattered across the balcony, but I tried not to focus on it too much. Instead, I looked over at Legolas, who was leaning up against the balcony's edge, staring down at the deserted land below.

I stepped up beside him. "It's weird," I said. "This place is so empty, but somehow I still feel such a strong evil presence."

"It is unsettling, yes," Legolas agreed. "...But still empty."

I frowned. He sounded...disappointed, almost. "Did you expect it to be different?"

Silence. "...Perhaps I did."

More silence. I pitied Legolas, who clearly had expected to gain something out of this escapade...some sort of epiphany about his mother or something. I couldn't even begin to imagine how painful it must've been for him. ...Although...If I can't imagine it on my own...maybe I could at least try to understand. "How did she die?"

Instantly, I felt his eyes on me, and I expected to see an angry, frustrated, offended expression on Legolas' face. But when I looked up at the elf, I was surprised. I didn't see any of that. I didn't see anything close to the hardened, stone-faced, cold-hearted Legolas I'd grown used to. I saw...almost a different Legolas entirely. I saw pain. I saw grief, and vulnerability, like I'd seen when he'd spoken about Tauriel. And the most shocking thing about it was how fragile he seemed. "...I know only what my father has told me," he said. "There was a war...long ago; too long ago for me to remember. Orcs, goblins...a great host of creatures from the depths of Morgoth's deepest dungeons attacked our kingdom. They broke through our defenses, raided the palace..." He dropped his gaze, looking back to the clearing again. "...And they took her."

He said nothing more for a moment, so I spoke up. "And then what?"

Legolas shook his head. "He never told me. In all my years of life, I have only been able to guess. But she did not come back."

Another pause. "...What do you think happened?"

"I always assumed that my father went after her," he answered quietly. "That he emptied his halls, taking the greatest host he could muster to attack this fortress. That a great battle was fought, and by mere stroke of unlucky fate my mother was kept just out of reach for just long enough before he could reach her." He looked up at me again, and I felt like crying for him when I saw how broken he looked. "But if that were the truth, what reason would he have to hide it from me?"

No. No, no, no. I took a step closer to him, gently laying a hand on his arm. "Your father loved your mother more than anything in the world, Legolas."

"Then why didn't he save her?"

I opened my mouth, but had no way to answer him. My mind spun as I stepped back, moving away from Legolas again and staring off into space as he continued to speak. "He has never been a father. He was a captain...a king." I flinched at how Legolas nearly spat the word. "And all he ever wanted was for me to be a warrior and a leader like himself." But then his tone softened again, and I barely caught the words before they floated away on the chilly breeze floating through the fortress. "...He has always been selfish. One day it will bring his downfall."

Hearing that, I should've been heartbroken. I should've been sad and miserable, convinced that the relationship between Legolas and Thranduil was ruined forever and could never be repaired. But those last two sentences...they hadn't been said with as much contempt as before. There had been a sadness in Legolas' tone; a hint of remorse. He cared. I'd noticed what Legolas had said before, talking about when his mother had disappeared. "A great host of creatures from the depths of Morgoth's deepest dungeons attacked our kingdom. They broke through our defenses." Not their defenses. Our defenses. Our kingdom. Legolas was still loyal to his home and to his people. He was still attached to Mirkwood, regardless of how hard he tried to make it seem like he wasn't.

It was the biggest breakthrough yet. Legolas still cares. It took everything in me not to smile, only because I knew Legolas would've taken it the wrong way. There was still hope. There was still a way to heal the wounded relationship between Thranduil and his son. There was still a way to get Legolas to return home.

And I knew exactly how I was going to do it.

–

We left Gundabad shortly after that, heading back through the lightly forested area until we found a good spot to make camp for the night. Legolas felt utterly defeated since he hadn't found anything incredible in the abandoned Orc stronghold, and had decided that his only option was to go back to the borders of the Shire to find Aragorn and the other Dunedaín again. I, in turn, had told him that I wanted to do some more traveling on my own for a little while, intending to visit Lothlórien and see what life was like down there. This, of course, was a complete lie. After all, if I told Legolas that I planned on going to Mirkwood and meeting up with his father to tell him his son was alive and well, my blonde companion probably would've had some issues with that. It's for his own good, anyway. What he doesn't know won't hurt him.

I was practically bubbling with excitement over my new plan to save Legolas from being a permanently grumpy hermit with no home and no family, but I did my best to keep my feelings hidden. Either I was doing a really good job, or Legolas was just too bummed out to notice. "I'm sorry you didn't find anything back there in Gundabad, Legolas," I said quietly.

The elf was blankly staring down into the dying coals. "You have nothing to be sorry for. It was not by your doing."

"Well yeah, but I still feel bad. You came all this way for nothing." He nodded once, but I honestly couldn't tell if he was even paying attention to what I was saying or not at this point. Regardless, I refused to let our adventure together end on such a sad, depressing note. "And I meant to tell you earlier, I'm really humbled that you trusted me with...well, everything you said about your mother back there. I just...I mean, I know it's hard for you to talk about that kind of stuff, and...seeing as how you don't really trust people all that well – oh, wait, that's not what I meant..." I stopped, noting the confused look on the elf's face as he finally looked up at me. "Basically, what I'm saying is...thank you for talking to me. I want you to know that I'll never repeat a word of what you said to anyone else. Ever."

But Legolas still continued to give me a curious look. "Why do you always thank me for these instances?"

I blinked. "Because I know it's not exactly an easy subject for you to talk about," I said. "Especially to some weird kid like me, who you just met a couple months ago and know hardly anything about."

"I do not believe that is entirely true," he said, shaking his head.

"What do you mean?"

A ghost of a smile threatened to appear on his face. "I should think that after all this time, I have learned everything about you that I need to know. I know that you are trustworthy...foolish, at times...adventurous...an outsider in this world...and above all, a friend. And an incredibly loyal one at that."

I smiled. "Oh. Well, thanks. I do my best." Legolas smiled back, the tiniest bit, but it was enough to make my heart sing. He was changing. I could tell. We fell into comfortable silence for a few more minutes until I spoke up again, just to keep the conversation rolling. "...So...do you have any memories of your mother at all?"

He sighed. "Very few. Those that remain are distant and unclear."

"Are they happy memories, at least?"

Another long pause. "Yes."

I twisted around so that I was laying on my stomach, propping my chin up on my hands as I dug my elbows into the dirt. "Tell me about the happy memories, then."

For awhile, Legolas didn't say anything, and I was beginning to think that maybe I'd overstepped my boundaries again. But finally, after what seemed like ages, he did something completely unexpected. He started singing.

My jaw dropped as I listened, his voice a smooth tenor that carried softly on the wind. He sang in elvish, and it was too advanced for me to make out any of the words, but it was beautiful. A simple, delicate medley that reminded me somewhat of old nursery rhymes. And whatever it was about, the song was clearly very personal to Legolas, as he looked like he was practically in another world as he sang.

He finished, and it took me a second to snap out of my trance-like state. "...Wow..." I breathed. "That was lovely."

"It is a song that my mother used to sing to me when I was an infant," Legolas said, speaking so quietly that I could barely hear him. "I assume you were not able to translate the elvish." I shook my head, and he went on to explain. "According to my father, it is what she would sing to me each night when she laid me to rest. The words are simple. 'And he shall be an elvenking, a lord of tree and glen, when golden are the boughs of spring in Eryn Lasgalen. From helm to sea they shall see him leap, as arrow from the string, and all the kingdom shall rejoice, and all the trees shall sing.'"

"It's a song about you," I gathered.

Legolas nodded. "So my father told me. I have no memory of her voice, but I shall never forget her song nonetheless."

"Is this like, a thing over in Mirkwood?" I asked. "Do lots of people know about the song?"

"No," he replied. "Only my father and I."

Hmm. Okay. So it's like...a private little thing for their family. I feel special now that I've been let in on this little secret. "Well, like I said, it's a beautiful song. I can only imagine how beautiful your mother must've been when she sang it to you." Once again, silence blanketed our small campsite, though this time I was content to leave it that way. "I think I'm going to try and get some sleep. Good night, Legolas."

"Sleep well." I smiled one last time in the elf's direction before turning away, fumbling with my sleeping roll as the words to Legolas' song scrolled through my mind like they were on a Broadway marquee. I fell asleep that night humming the simple melody to myself, over and over, never wanting to forget the small treasure Legolas had allowed me to be a part of.

–

-Legolas-

Throughout the night and into the dawn of the following day, my mind and emotions seemed determined to constantly be in a state of disarray. I was despondent over the bismal results of the journey to Gundabad, though similarly I felt as if I had gained more than I could've ever expected due to Erin's company. I still was slightly unsure as to why I had felt the need to divulge such personal information to her in the first place – she was right, after all, I had not even known her for a year. And yet, here I was, revealing more about myself to her in a fortnight than I had to Aragorn in over half a century.

And now we were both seated atop our horses at the peak of a hill. This was the point where our paths were to split once again, as I intended to return to the remaining Dunedaín near the Shire, while Erin wished to visit Lothlórien and spend time on her own for awhile. She had not spoken of how long she meant to be away, or if she ever planned to return to our group of Rangers at all, and I had not asked. Truthfully, however, there was a part of me that hoped this would not be my last encounter with the girl. She was an enigma that I had yet to fully understand.

I turned to her as the sun crept over the tops of the trees, spilling its warm light onto the ground below. "Thank you for risking your life to travel with me," I said. "It was an honor to have you as my companion."

She smiled. "You are absolutely welcome, Legolas. It was just as fun for me as it was for you, I swear. I certainly don't regret chasing you down."

I returned hers with a small smile of my own. "Let us hope that our paths cross again in the future."

At that, she laughed. "Oh, trust me. I have no doubt that they will." As always, she speaks in riddles. "See you around, Legolas." Erin nodded to me as she coaxed her horse into a trot, slowly turning away and beginning her journey south.

"Namarië," I called after her. [Farewell]. I also pushed my horse to begin moving once more, though I cast one last glance over my shoulder at the peculiar girl who I was now leaving behind for the second time. Valar knows what madness she will get herself into in Lothlórien. I can only hope she survives without me this time.

A/N: woo chapter update

I need to go to bed it is past 1 AM