Savior and Destroyer
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Chapter 10: The Journey Home
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"You had no right!" Legolas replied, glaring at Aragorn as the three Elves and two humans made their way down the mountain.
The Ranger shook his head as the horse he rode slowed down upon nearing a rocky bend. "No, I did have a right, mellon nin. You were in pain, exhausted, and in need of rest. Would you have slept otherwise?"
"No." both Elladan and Elrohir whispered for the prince.
Legolas turned his head to glare at the eldest Rivendell twin, whom he was sharing a horse with. "So, you two are on his side, are you?"
Elladan nodded, "Sorry, Legolas... but Estel has a point. He knows you, we all know you, and we all know that you would have avoided sleep."
"You probably would have opted for going outside and sitting in the nearest tree." Elrohir put in.
Legolas looked away with a slight humph, knowing that both twins were right and that they had easily predicted the actions he would have taken had he not been drugged.
"I for one am glad that Estel did it." Vani put in, her eyes fixed on the prince from Elrohir's horse. "You needed the rest."
The prince did not reply, but he did close his eyes as they rode on.
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The previous evening, the group had stayed within the walls of Vani and Mirial's great house. Elladan and Elrohir had taken turns at watch, even though they knew that outside were well over a handful of the best warriors that Rivendell had to offer. They had allowed Aragorn, Legolas, and Vani to sleep all night. The former of the three, had been the only one to have stirred all through the eve.
Now, as they looked for another place to camp on their way home, the twins could nearly read one another's minds. They both understood that Aragorn, Legolas, and Vani would, yet again, need another full night of rest.
Even after a day's ride, it appeared that Legolas was still sore at the young Ranger for the cup of tea he had asked the Elf to drink. Aragorn had a way of getting what he wanted, no matter if it was from his friend, his brothers, or even from Elrond himself. Somehow, someway, Estel always won. Seeing him get the better of the Mirkwood prince had been quite humorous at the time, but both of the twins knew that something was amiss. Legolas' guard had been dropped far too low that night, and it was plain to the Rivendell Elves. What was worse, was that Aragorn had hardly even tried to force the prince to drink the tea. That, in and of itself, was highly unusual.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Elladan asked, whispering the question in the blond archer's ear.
Legolas nodded, "Aye. I am quite fine."
"You gave up last night without much of a fight." the twin replied.
There was a long moment of silence as the prince thought through his answer. When he finally spoke, it was not what the elder twin had expected to hear.
"I was tired." Legolas' voice whispered, though tinged lightly with sadness. "I was tired and I was glad to just be alive. I was happy Estel was well and... I... I just did not have the strength nor the will to argue with him."
Elladan smiled slightly, "You have been through much."
The prince leaned back, closing his eyes and letting his mind drift on the verge of sleep. "More than you can imagine..." he whispered before unconsciousness claimed him.
"Is he alright?" Aragorn asked, his own horse now up next to the elder twin's own mount.
"Aye." Elladan replied, "He is just resting. I think you gave him too many of those sleeping herbs."
The human shrugged, "Well, if I had not then he would have felt sleep creeping upon him before he even finished the tea. As it is, I am glad he did not jump up and try to skin me alive for tricking him."
Elladan laughed, "I do not know if he would have, Estel. He was very glad that you were alive and virtually unharmed. He might have cuffed you over the head," and the twin did just that, "like so... but certainly would not have skinned you."
"At least not alive." Elrohir added as his own horse hastened to catch up.
Vani laughed slightly at the banter of the brothers from her place atop Elrohir's horse.
"And you..." Elladan said, turning his attention to the woman.
Her eyes widened as she thought he was going to scold he, "Me?" she asked, her timid voice barely heard.
"Yes you... You should be resting, not listening to the three of us go on and on about such mundane things."
"I do not think skinning me is mundane." Aragorn replied with a humph.
Elrohir nodded, "Aye, and neither would ada. But come now! We have ridden nearly a full day and, if we press on, perhaps we can reach the boarders of Rivendell by sundown. I would sleep better in our own woods."
"I would sleep better anywhere aside from Mirial's... no offense, Vani." the Ranger commented, waiting for a nod of acceptance from the woman before continuing, "But we should stop and camp here tonight. Then, we can make home by mid-morning and, hopefully, both Vani and Legolas will be well rested."
Both of the twins eventually agreed with their younger brother, for each could see the weariness of their passenger.
Thus, they made camp.
Aragorn once again concocted the tea he had presented to Vani and Legolas the previous evening. The woman drank it gratefully, however the prince was still asleep and neither Aragorn nor the twins had the heart to wake him. Once more, Elladan and Elrohir allowed the Ranger to sleep through the whole night, taking turns at watch as the moon rose.
When morning came, neither Vani nor Legolas could be roused. Aragorn helped his brothers to lift their friends onto the horses and, after a few close calls of nearly dropping the resting occupants, they were off once more.
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Hours passed and, as the group continued on through the passes of the mountains, Elladan began to grow suspicious.
He glanced toward his twin, who was returning the same worried gaze. Both of their eyes locked on Aragorn next, but the young man seemed oblivious to their worry. Slowing his horse down, Elrohir's mount fell into step next to the Ranger's.
"What is wrong?" Aragorn immediately asked, now sensing his brother's apprehension.
The twin lowered his voice, for Vani had fallen asleep not long ago. "Something comes."
"Not again..." the Ranger groaned before putting his hand on the hilt of his sword, "Do you know what it is?"
Elrohir shook his head, "No, but there is something ill upon the wind. El has felt it as well. Perhaps it would be best if we..."
Too late.
The twin's sentence was cut short as suddenly an arrow pierced the silence. It's dark tip flew with great speed, directly toward Elladan and Legolas. The eldest twin's horse reared up, but not even that was enough.
Legolas was harshly woken from his sleep by the arrow's tip and shaft embedding itself deeply into his shoulder. The Elf cried out, one hand immediately going to the wound.
By now, Elrohir had drawn his own bow and fired in the direction the first arrow had come from. Aragorn was on the ground, quickly running toward the thicket which seemed to be the source of the attack. Vani's eyes flew open in panic as she realized that they were being attacked.
"Legolas!" the woman cried, seeing the prince's eyes closed in pain.
Elladan was dismounting, quickly but gently pulling Legolas down to the ground so he could inspect the wound.
"They are gone." Aragorn replied, coming to his eldest brother's side and kneeling down.
Both Elrohir and Vani had dismounted, the younger twin, carrying the woman so she could see what was happening.
"Cut the shaft." the Ranger ordered, quickly trying to peel Legolas' tunic away from the wound.
With a cough, the prince opened his eyes, "I told you that I... that I should not have redressed." Legolas whispered, indicating the borrowed tunic he was now wearing.
"Shh." Aragorn replied, finally removing the cloth from the archer's shoulder, front and back, and slipping it halfway off Legolas' arm.
"Gwador."
The man looked up to see Elladan's eyes watching his work.
"There is something on the shaft." the Elf replied, pointing to the arrow which was protruding from the prince's shoulder.
Aragorn took the projectile in hand, carefully looking at it. Quickly, he untied the small piece of parchment that had been tied near the fletchings.
"Estel?" Legolas' voice broke the man's concentration and Aragorn started at the soft whisper. "Estel?"
The Ranger shook his head, "We have to get this out." he replied, stuffing the parchment into his jacket pocket. "Come, Legolas. We must get you up so it can be removed."
"Come, Vani." Elrohir said, still carrying the woman gently in his arms, "I do not think you will want to see..."
"I have seen worse." she interrupted stubbornly, but she did not move to stop the twin as he took her away from the scene.
Elrohir set Vani down near one of the horses, against a tree. He knelt next to her, taking it upon himself to check her own wounds.
"Estel... I..." Legolas closed his eyes tightly, "Something is wrong... I... Valar, it burns..."
"I know, mellon nin." Aragorn replied, taking out his hunting knife as Elladan helped the prince to sit. "I know."
The Rivendell Elf looked to his brother, "What is it?" he asked in a whisper.
Aragorn's eyes locked with those of the elder twin, "Poison. Strong poison. I need to get the arrow out and quickly."
His brother nodded, bracing Legolas against him, on hand on the archer's chest, the other around his back.
"Estel..." the prince whispered in pain, his eyes closed tightly.
The man nodded to Elladan before grasping the arrow's shaft tightly in one hand and shoving it, as hard as he could, all the way through the prince's shoulder.
Legolas cried out once more, his eyes flying open to stare up at the cloudless sky. He gasped, the world seeming to swim about him as pain flared through his already clouding senses.
Quickly, Aragorn chopped the arrow's tip of with his knife, before pulling the wicked weapon from his friend's body. He threw it to the ground, but took up the head as he inspected it. The arrow tip was covered in the Elf's blood, but Aragorn could clearly see the traces of a strange dark blue substance.
"Hold on, Legolas." Elladan whispered, his grip on the Elf in his arms tightening as the prince's body began to shake. "Estel, what type of poison?"
Aragorn shook his head, "I... Valar, I do not know. But it... it reminds me of something ada once showed me. It is a... a paralyzing poison, at least... I think it is. It... it should be slow acting, but it may reach it's potency within a day or so." the human looked to his brother, "We have to get him to ada, El."
The twin nodded, taking one hand to press the archer's tunic tightly against the wound, front and back, trying to stem the blood flow.
"Ro! Where is your pack?!" Estel shouted, looking to the younger twin.
Elrohir immediately retrieved it from his horse, tossing it to the Ranger. Without a moment's hesitation, Aragorn produced some soft cloth bandages and quickly began to bind up Legolas' still bleeding wounds. He placed what little Athelas they had left over the wound, but he feared it would not be enough.
"Come, we must hurry." the human stated, standing and helping Elladan get the prince to his feet. Aragorn grabbed a flask from Elladan's saddle, quickly handing it to the Mirkwood Elf. "Drink, mellon nin. Please."
Legolas took it, drank, and not long later, slipped into unconsciousness. Elladan barely had time to catch the prince as the archer's knees gave out and he collapsed.
"Did you drug him again?" Vani asked as Elrohir situated her atop his horse.
The human nodded, "This poison... it will be painful and I would rather he sleep through it's effects."
Without another thought, Aragorn mounted his horse. Elladan had Legolas in place before him, clutching the Elf tightly against him least the prince fall. Elrohir rode with Vani, the woman leaning on the younger twin in exhaustion. She had a terrible wound, Aragorn forced himself to remember, both the woman and Legolas needed the skills of Elrond.
Quickly, they sped off through the woods.
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By mid-morning of the same day, just as Aragorn had predicted, the Ford of Bruinen came into clear view. Quickly, they crossed it, their horses galloping swiftly through the waters and then down the path. However, the Elven breed mares were quite gentle in their run, and neither Legolas, nor a once again sleeping Vani, stirred.
This worried Elladan, who was still holding tight to the Mirkwood Prince. If Legolas continued to sleep like this, he feared the archer might not wake again.
"He hardly slept at all since we were captured." Aragorn had told the twins at their campsite the previous night. "One can not blame him for being exhausted."
'One also can not blame him for becoming the target of a poisoned arrow.' Elladan thought, his worry mounting over his friend's condition.
"Elladan! Elrohir! Estel!"
The sudden shout directed all of their attention toward the path before them. Quickly reigning in their mounts, the brothers smiled in relief as Glorfindel urged his horse toward them.
"You have been gone for over two weeks." the fair Elven Lord spoke, "Elrond was beginning to worry."
"About the two of us, or about Legolas and Estel?" Elrohir asked with a smirk.
"About all of you." Glorfindel replied, taking in the Mirkwood Elf's distressed appearance, as well as Aragorn's tired eyes and Vani's bandaged side. "Come. I shall ride ahead of you, and let Elrond know that you have arrived."
As Glorfindel hurried away, Aragorn looked to his brothers in shock, "You have been out two weeks looking for us?"
"Yes, Estel. When you and Legolas did not return when you promised, Ro and I went out searching." Elladan replied.
His twin nodded, "And we did not look in the mountains first thing, though now I wish we had."
"No." Aragorn said, stopping the beginning of their self guilt, "You came at the perfect time. If you had arrived sooner, I would not have been well enough to accept Vani's help of escape. If you had arrived later... Valar, I shudder to think what might have occurred."
Both twins were silent for a while as the five travelers and their three horses rushed quickly toward the open and waiting gates of Rivendell. As they expected, Lord Elrond was waiting patiently at the foot of the steps to the house. Patiently, however, would not have been the term the twins would have used to describe their father's appearance. Aragorn, having not lived as long, would have thought it patience, but the twins knew better. They realized, without a doubt, that their father was barely concealing his vast amounts of worry. Patience may be playing a part in his stature and his gaze, but there was a bit of anger, frustration, pity, worry, and the ever present spark of renewed hope in the Eldar's eyes.
"Praise Eru you are all alright." Elrond said, looking over the group as their horses came to a halt.
"Mostly alright, ada." Elladan replied, indicating the unconscious Elf in his arms.
Elrohir cleared his throat, redirecting the Elf Lord's gaze to the occupant on his own mount, "And we have brought company."
"At least these are wounds, it appears, that I can mend." The Noldor Elf replied, hastily bidding servants to help the twins get their unconscious friends down.
Aragorn hurried over to Legolas' side, checking the Elf's pulse. He found it steady, but slow. It was an effect, he knew, of the poison.
'Valar, I hope I did not give him too much of that sleeping draught...' he thought as he watched Elladan carry the prince into the house.
Vani rested in Elrohir's arms, as the younger twin quickly followed his brother inside.
"You will have some explaining to do, ion nin." Elrond said, directing his gaze at Aragorn as they too followed.
The human nodded, "I will gladly explain anything." he said with a tired sigh. "As long as Legolas and Vani are well... and as long as I can get a good night's rest first."
A laughed escaped the Elven Lord, "They will be fine, Estel."
"But Vani's side wound is bad, ada, and Legolas was hit with a poisoned arrow on our return." Aragorn replied in surprise and shock, looking at the Elf like he was mad.
Elrond nodded, "I know. I can see that for myself. You have done well, ion nin. They are both going to live, I assure you. Though... Thranduil is due here in a day or so and I do believe Legolas will have quite the shock when he awakens." The Eldar smiled, "They will be fine, Estel. Trust me. And as for your rest... that should not be too terribly hard to find."
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Disclaimer:
Refer to Chapter 1 for this.
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Reviews:
lolly pop3: You know, I've been doing some serious thinking as to why I like to read stories with Legolas angst and why I write stories with Legolas angst and I can only draw one conclusion... He never gets hurt! Seriously, never in the movies (unless you have the same theory that I do about that Minas Tirith throne room scene) and only once in the books (after the Battle of the Pelennor, which fits in nicely with my Minas Tirith throne room scene theory). Maybe that's why... Who can really tell, right? But Thranduil will just have to chill because... well... I have Paris to protect me. Alright, bad excuse because I think Thranduil could beat Paris to a bloody pulp if he wanted.
Deana: I would have posted this chapter sooner but it took forever for me to beta it. For some reason, I wrote it then forgot about it...
Sielge: Estel is sneaky like that... no?
SirNotAppearingInThisFilm: Hahahahaha! Good review! Nice and random, just how I lik'em. But yes, I didn't kill anyone. Imagine that... hehehehe.
Zammy: Well, you read my mind. I adore Thranduil (and I do not play him as the mean abuse father type. I play him as... well... like the Thranduil from Cassia & Sio's Mellon Chronicles, or like Adromir or like Deana. So my Thranduil (and technically their Thranduil as well) rocks!).
Elenillor: Thank you! I liked that scene too. Reminded me of what Estel did to the twins in "Rivendell Riot" (part of my Presta Chronicles).
Sindarin abuse: I don't know why I care or why I'm even bothering to explain myself, but I am and I shall, so here it goes... short and sweet. Feminine names can end in a variety of letters. Some of the examples given by the Encyclopedia of Arda (since I'm on my lunch break and I don't feel like going and getting The Silmarillion to look up names) are as follows... iel, wen, ie, el, is, ian, en, as. Now, I was actually planning on originally using the name ending of IAN, however, say the word LEGOLIAN out loud. Sounds a bit like LEGOLION if you do not pronounce it perfectly and having the ending of one's name sounding like LION just didn't appeal to me. Thus, I dropped the N ending of her name and stuck with the rest of it, the IA. So, in conclusion... and you just chill about it? I mean seriously, are you reading my stories for their content or just to piss me off by nitpicking at details that came from my own mind. Give it a rest already.
Olwyen: Hehehe, well. Here's the update. I only have 1 more chapter planned for this story, but the sequel is already in the works and I'll give you a preview of that after the story is over.
Irukapooka: Hehehe, thanks!
Attiqah Gensui: Yeah, but since the story is slowing down, less action more conclusion. But just wait til the next story... oh yeah... if you think I was bad this time... mwahahahaha!
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Author's Note:
Well guys, the end is nigh!
Yeas....
There should only be one more chapter after this one (I hope...) and then the preview for my sequel story...
"REVENGE"
Also...
Rock on!
I've gotten over 100 reviews for this story!
Thank so much, guys!!!!
As a side note... FF . net is being gay again with it's editing system. I keep getting an error about scripts and it's driving me batty. So, I'm sorry if stuff seems a little confusing as to breaks in the scenes and separations.
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Muse Moments:
Legolas and Aragorn stand in front of Nil's laptop, watching something with music. When Nil walks into the room, they look at her with an odd sort of admiration.
"Beautifully done." Estel says, nodding his acceptance.
Legolas nods as well, "It captured us perfectly... hannon le, Nileregwen."
The woman looks at them a bit confused, "Huh?" she asks, walking around the table and looking at the computer screen.
There in front of her, is the music video she spent five hours making the previous day.
"Oh, so you guys liked it then?"
Both nod, "Very much." Legolas says with a smile, "In fact, we think you should show it to the world."
"Yes."
Nil shrugs, "I would if I could, but I'm still waiting for Boomspeed's confirmation e-mail before I can actually let people view it. I've no place to host it."
Both Legolas and Aragorn look at each other, "What about your readers?" Estel asks, "They will be reading this surely, for we know you type about us being your muses."
"Exactly, how will they see it if you have already updated?" Legolas replies.
Nil laughs, "Easy. They can send me an e-mail and I'll send them an e-mail back when Boomspeed is ready. I've already got a ton of e-mails from the Mellon Chronicles Group that I have to reply to when the hosting is set up. And, if they need m e-mail, well... it's on my bio page here."
"Ah... good planning." Estel says with a laugh.
The woman winks, "Always. Oh... by the way.... have either of you two seen Paris."
Legolas' features go pale.
"Legolas?"
"Ummm... I uh... I did not do it, if that is what you think but..."
Nil glares at him in worry, "Legolas, where is he?!"
"Thranduil got to him." Estel replied.
The woman gasps, "You mean?..."
Legolas nods, "Aye... he is in my father's unforgiving clutches. Well, at least unforgiving to you and to Paris. Estel and I are always in his good graces. Well no... some of the time Estel is..."
"We have to save him!" Nileregwen shouts, before dragging both muses off after her.
Thus... the adventure to rescue Paris... begins...