Chapter 43

When Aragorn awoke, Legolas was still sleeping in his arms. The man smiled lightly and gave his sleeping friend a gentle kiss on the head and in response, the elf snuggled even closer to him. The Ranger's smile softened. He couldn't express how happy he was to still have the beautiful warrior with him. But since the ranger was getting hungry, he got up carefully and covered the quietly sleeping prince again. The rest of the fellowship was laughing by the fire and the man settled between Sam and Gimli. All eyes were immediately curious about him and without saying anything Sam handed him a bowl of a delicious stew. Aragorn smiled at the hobbit, who nodded happily in response.

"Is he okay?", Boromir finally asked, nodding his head towards Legolas. The ranger wasn't really sure what to answer. He guessed that the archer was a little better after Eero's death, but that didn't mean that he would now be able to deal with his past.

"He'll be back physically. The injuries on his back are healing well and his arm is likely to recover quickly." Frodo's eyes shone with concern. "And the soul?" The ranger eyed the little hobbit. These beings were really smart. "I don't know for sure."

At the next moment two arms wrapped around the man's neck from behind and his heart stopped for a moment until he recognized the slim arms and felt the warmth that enveloped him.

"I'm fine," said a soft voice calmly and Aragorn turned and looked into the deep blue eyes.

"Slept well, mellon-nin?" The elf smiled, nodded, and let go of him to sit next to him.

"Now that everyone is here, we urgently need to plan," Gandalf said, and all attention turned to him. Sam also gave the prince a bowl of food and the ranger noticed that he couldn't remember the last time Legolas had eaten. It must have been a long time ago.

"I'll take you to the ring," the prince said calmly and the wizard nodded. "We'll have to go soon. Do you feel anything, Legolas?" The handsome warrior closed his eyes for a moment and the man watched with concern as the elf's brow furrowed. He definitely felt something and the ranger feared that it was not a good thing. When the archer opened his eyes, they were concerned.

"Yes, the darkness is increasing. Mordor's armies are getting closer. We won't have much time left." While the hobbits looked anxious, Boromir looked worried and Gimli excited. Gandalf frowned thoughtfully and Aragorn himself felt his heart grow heavy with worry. No, that was really not good news.

"Then we'll get going and get ahead of these orcs before they surprise us," Gimli growled and reached for his ax, but the ranger reached out and held the dwarf back. They couldn't just go into battle blindly. Especially not if they were outnumbered and carried the ring with them. Gandalf seemed to see it that way too.

"No, Gimli. We cannot face the armies alone. We need allies." The dwarf gave an annoyed growl.

"And where do you want to get it from?" The wizard seemed to think for a moment, then looked at Legolas, who was sitting next to the man. "What about the elves?" That was not an option and both Aragorn and the Prince and Gandalf knew that. The archer shook his head with an apologetic expression in his blue eyes.

"I'm afraid Mirkwood is too far away and I don't know if Lórien will be there soon enough. And you also know how difficult the relationship between humans and elves is." Gandalf sighed annoyed and once again the ranger cursed his way for their arrogance and striving for power. Finally, the white wizard looked up.

"Then Rohan is our only hope. Hopefully, we can find help fighting Sauron there."