Here we are again! Not much to say this time, only a huge thank you for your reviews! :)
Arwenia: haha, I'm glad I made you happy then! Thank you for your review! You made me blush! :)
dancinqueen: *Jack Sparrow tone* Missed me! *hides under the table* Don't throw anything! Here's your update! Don't kill me! ;)
Dunedian: Wel, eigenlijk is het lissuin, een ander kruid ;) Het lijkt erg op athelas, maar er zijn verschillen :P Veel vragen, maar geen antwoorden... of misschien een paar, in dit hoofdstuk ;) Ik hou van je reviews! :P
Jessie: Thank you! ;)
LikeIdTellU: Thanks :) As soon as I find the time, I'll correct it! Thank you for mentioning! :)
TheButterflyCurse996: Oh, it's one of the personages who live in my head :P She had come in some of my stories, but they aren't good, so I wouldn't recommend you to read them ;) But i might write a story about them, later on, some day... :P
"If everything will go well, we'll meet each other again tonight, here."
"If everything goes well." Katniss casted an irritated gaze at the Ranger.
"It will go well."
"I am comforted than that you can see in the future." Aragorn had been sceptical all morning, even though it wasn't his usual behaviour. Katniss repeated for herself that he hadn't slept this night out of concern for Legolas, and tried to bit back an angry retort.
"Fine. If you're gonna be grumpy, I do not think we have anything left to say anymore." She turned around, picked up her bow and began to walk towards Rue, who was waiting near Legolas. The elf had woken this morning, and though he was still very weak, he had managed to eat some of the remaining rabbit from yesterday. Now he was sitting against one of the boulders, his eyes closed. It seemed Rue was telling him a funny story, for he had a smile around his lips. Katniss hadn't walked two meters, when a strained voice behind her sighed.
"I'm sorry. I should not have spoken like that." Katniss nodded and bowed her head.
"I know you do not approve this. But we are still in the middle of the Games, and I do not want to make it the Carreers easy. They will have to fight for their food, just as we do. And if we are lucky, they didn't train on that."
"I understand your purpose, Katniss. I just hope that you will not get in any danger." Katniss snorted.
"This whole Game means danger, Strider. But if it can reassure you, I will not die without a fight. I will not give up."
"Then I wish you the best, Girl on Fire. May the odds be ever in your favour." His voice and face were solemn, but his grey eyes stood warm, yet worried. Katniss smiled.
"And in yours, Strider." She threw the bow over her shoulder and looked at Rue.
"Rue! Are you ready?" The little girl nodded.
"Is it time already?"
"I fear it is. We'll have to collect some firewood too to make piles. And the sooner we begin, the sooner we can come back. Strider, I trust you made diner by then?"
"Your wish is my command, my lady," the man grinned with a mock-bow. Katniss felt a smile tugging on her lips.
"Good. Las, keep well! Come, Rue, let's go." The girl said some last words to the elf, and ran over to Katniss. In a few minutes, they had faded away in the forest. Aragorn watched them go away with an uneasy feeling in his heart. He should stop them. Something terrible was going to happen.
But he knew fully well that Katniss would never ever listen to him. The only thing he could do now, was praying that Elbereth and Manwë would protect them, and staying alert for any possible danger. And cleaning up camp for this day. If the Carreers were driven out of their hiding place, they could come this way. Legolas and he better spent the day hidden until Anor left them. In a matter of minutes, they had packed all their stuff and erased any trace of their presence.
"So, which way will we go?" Legolas asked. The elf stood tall and proud again and his eyes were clear, though his skin was a little too pale for Aragorns liking. Nevertheless, he had recovered rather quickly, even considered his elven healing abilities. Not for the first time, Aragorn thanked the Valar that they had created Lissuin.
"I would suggest we follow the boulders. You can hear the Carreers coming then, but with a bit of luck, they won't see us if we're behind the stones. And perhaps we find a hiding place, so that we won't have to be on the move the whole day long."
"Fine for me. Let us –" The last part of his sentence was washed away as a wave of roaring water crushed against the boulders near the river and conquered the terrain. Before one of them could react, the water had reached their feet and knocked the over. Fortunately, it had lost much power and retreated soon enough. For a second, the two friends were lying there, dazed. Then Legolas scrambled up.
"How in the world…?" he sputtered, staring at the water. Exactly that moment, the river rose again, angrily.
"Legolas! Watch out!" The water hit them again, harder and more savage than before. This time, it wouldn't let them go easily. Legolas desperately tried to get his feet upon the ground – the water couldn't be higher then his chest, so if only he could stand…- but the current and the boulders took control over his body and smashed him several times against the stones and the ground. He gasped in pain when his head was pushed against a rock really hard. For a moment, he was too dizzy to do anything. Lucky for him, the wave had lost its power again, and released its grip. The elf was lying prone in the mud now, taking in air greedily. Somewhere, he vaguely heard Aragorn calling his name.
"Legolas! Legolas, are you alright? Answer me, my friend!" Legolas groaned, currently the only thing he was able to. Then, he managed to pry open an eye.
"Aragorn?"
"Yes, Legolas?"
"I don't like the Games." His friend grinned.
"Neither do I, gwador."
"Shouldn't we get upon a boulder?" Aragorn looked up to the river. It seemed calm now, but it had been like that a few seconds before the first wave had stricken too.
"Aye, I think we should. Lay still, Legolas."
"I can walk!" Aragorn pointedly ignored him while he took the elf in his arms, climbed a little and shove him upon a boulder. Then he took up there provisions and pushed them next to the elf. Then he climbed up too.
Just in time. A third wave suddenly arose from the river and roared against the boulders. When it broke upon the stone, it sent foam and watery mist over the two already soaked friends, but it couldn't get a grasp upon them anymore. Furiously, it hissed beneath them, before retreating.
"This is not natural," Legolas voiced his concerns. His eyes were worried when he searched the river for any sign another wave would crash upon them. Everything stayed calm.
"Indeed. Could it be that Saruman…?"
"No. That's the strange thing, Estel. I can't feel any evil presence in the water. The river is dead. Yet someone can command it, as one plays with a puppet." They stared at the water a few inches below them. It was mingled with blood. Aragorns attention snapped to Legolas' wound.
"Let me see to your head." Still distracted, Legolas brought a hand to the bleeding and cringed. Quickly, he composed himself again.
"Leave it, Aragorn. I'm fine. I- aw!" Aragorn had grasped the elven head and was examining the wound carefully. After a few minutes, he let go.
"There is not much I can do about it right now. Just be careful and try not to hit you head again."
"That would be difficult. I just love to smash my head against things," Legolas answered sarcastically, before his eyes went wide again.
"Estel! Watch out!" There was little they could do though. The river once again swelled, even higher than before, and attacked their boulder with a might that could have surpassed that of Saruman's black powder in Helm's Deep. There was no defense possible. Roaring, the water smashed the two friend of the rock and pulled them to the river, where they were carried away. Fast. Legolas couldn't even cry out to Aragorn. He just had to try to keep his head high, and wait until the current slowed down.
But it was difficult. The water was twisting and turning, grabbing his legs and trying to pull them down, while other waves tried to embrace his head. From time to time, they managed to overwhelm him, but the elf could break its grip again, sputtering wildly. The water hissed in frustration and launched a new attack, savagely, cruelly… successfully. Without warning, Legolas was thrown to the bottom of the river, and was being held there by a strong current. He struggled violently to break its grip, but without avail. He only exhausted himself. Soon, his lungs were burning and he was seeing black dots dancing before his eyes. He no longer had the power to fight against the water.
By the Valar, no! He could not give up! Aragorn would never forgive him! He would never forgive himself! He mustered all his strength to reach out to the sun, but his body had been taken by spasms and he couldn't control his limbs anymore. Motionless as a doll in the river he floated, his eyes focused upon the golden smear some inches above his head. All of a sudden, a shadow obscured the light. But he saw no more.
The Arena was not quiet that day. Not quiet at all.
Somewhere beneath the dense, green canopy of the forest, a boy was fighting for his life, covering his body with mud and branches as he had done in his mother's bakery, to blend into the environment. In the East, a boy and a girl were foraging on their own, staying hidden and silent. The girl slowly advanced to the Cornucopia to steal some food of the great pile there, not knowing that a little further, the forest concealed another maiden. Her bow was drawn and her eyes alert for any sign that the former habitants of the place might come back. But except for one, they all were running through the wood, in chase of a little, dark-haired girl.
Then, a great explosion ripped the seemingly peace apart, and all of the tributes startled for a moment, before continuing what they were doing – fighting for their lives.
But far away from this chaos, down the river that crossed the Arena, flowing eastwards, two figures were lying very still, their legs still immersed in the water, one of them with his arms wrapped protectively around the waist of the golden-haired one. Then, as the sun had almost disappeared behind the horizon, the man stirred. His eyelids fluttered open, and he trembled in the cool evening breeze. His clothing was still soaking wet. Slowly, he rose, and looked around. As his gaze stroke Legolas' lifeless form, his eyes widened.
"Legolas! My friend, wake up!" The elf did not move an inch. Worried, Aragorn felt for a pulse. He sighed with relief when he found one, albeit slowly. His skin felt far too cold for an elf.
"Fine job, elf. Unconscious for the second time in two days. One would think you search danger," the man said to his unconscious friend. Naturally, there came no answer. Sighing, Aragorn stood up and quickly gathered some firewood. A few minutes later, a little, smokeless fire was burning. Gently, the man laid Legolas next to him and undressed his upper body. His wet cloths would only serve to chill him. Then he took of his own shirt too, but made sure his weapons –one of the two spears, Katniss had the other one, and a bow- were within reach.
And he waited.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long. Soon enough, Legolas moaned and turned his head away from the fire. Then he opened his eyes. For a moment, he was staring at the sky, confused.
"Welcome back, my friend," Aragorn smiled as he put another branch upon their campfire. The elf instantly looked at him, and he frowned.
"Estel? What happened?"
"We decided to go for a swim. Don't you remember?" the man replied sarcastically. Legolas scowled.
"I remember that! But how did we come here?"
"I pulled you out. You were near drowning. But I fear I have fallen asleep as soon as we were on dry ground. You may say that the river is dead, but I swear it was trying to kill us!" Legolas looked thoughtful, but didn't comment, so they just sat there, in amiable silence. Then the man grinned.
"Katniss is going to kill us."
"What so funny about that?"
"You don't know how many times I told her not to go and to be careful. But off course it had to be us who encountered trouble." He grinned again, but Legolas looked preoccupied.
"I wonder whether they'll be all right." Aragorn sobered quickly.
"They will be. Katniss is though."
"It's not Katniss I'm worrying about. Rue talked to me before she left. She had a really bad feeling. She was scared, Estel. I should have never let her go."
"You couldn't have stopped her. Believe me, I tried."
"You tried to stop Katniss. Perhaps we should have tried to convince them to delay their operation, so that I could come with her, and Rue could stay with you." Aragorn snorted.
"Remember last time you went with a girl on a rescue mission? You floated between life and death for three days!" Legolas wanted to comment, but he was interrupted by the appearance of the emblem of the Capitol in the sky. It had been a few days since the two friends had seen it, but they hadn't forgotten what was about to come. Tense, they caught their breath and watched. But they would have never been able to prepare themselves. The face of a boy floated before them, then another one. As the last photo appeared, both Aragorn and Legolas gasped in horror.
It was Rue.
I think I'm going to run... Like... right now!
Please review! ;)
xXx Archiril