I just looked over my chapters for this story and saw that the ones about Fluffy I am getting mixed up with numbers! My apologies! I didn't realize.
The two elf lords hurried back to the palace where Celebrian and many servants were waiting for them. The moment his horse halted, Thranduil quickly dismounted with Alasse, her arms still tightly latched around his neck. Celebrian's heart dropped as she saw Alasse trembling and crying, with blood dribbling down her face. Forcing down a deep breath, she ran to her husband and her own daughter. "Elrond! What happened?" She panted.
"Orcs." Elrond snarled, carrying a whimpering, pale Arwen in his arms. Celebrian gasped at the awful sight of her little girl's hurts.
"Ohh, Arwen." She murmured sadly, stroking Arwen's face.
"Nana!" Arwen cried. "It hurts." Elrond brusquely brought her inside. He took her to the large drawing room where Thranduil was handing Alasse a handkerchief for her bloody nose while she sat on his desk chair. Celebrian ran to the sofa in the corner.
"Here, Elrond. Bring her to me!" She begged. Elrond tenderly set Arwen down on the couch with her head in her mother's lap. He grabbed a pillow from the sofa and gingerly put it under her injured arm.
"Keep her still." Elrond told his wife. Arwen shed tears and moaned, but was so relieved to feel her mother's arms around her. One of the servants entered the room.
"You requested for some cool compresses, my lord?" She asked Thranduil.
"Yes." Thranduil nodded, taking one of them. "Give the other two to Lord Elrond." The maid bowed and obeyed.
"Anything else, my lord?"
"No, but if the need arises I will send for you." Thranduil answered. The maid nodded sympathetically and left the room. Thranduil knelt next to his chair and tried to dry Alasse's bloody nose. Fluffy came to her side and placed his big head in her lap. She clutched his head and was still trembling. "Shh. It's alright, Alasse. You're safe." Thranduil assured her.
"Do not move her until I return." Elrond instructed Celebrian as he rose to his feet.
"Elrond! Where are you going?" Celebrian sputtered.
"I fear I shall be needed in the healing halls. Our daughter's rescuer paid a high price for his deed of valor, and Tatsu is at great risk." Elrond explained.
"Ohh, no." Celebrian breathed, grimacing. "Then go!"
"Thranduil? Can you handle our pennyth until I return?" Elrond turned to his friend.
"Yes, Elrond. Go help Malfortion and Maerwen. Please do what you can for Tatsu and Bard." Thranduil told him.
"Lord Elrond, you have to save Tatsu! Please don't let her die! I don't want her to die!" Alasse blubbered, distraught. Thranduil gently hushed her, gripping her small shoulder.
"I promise, I will do all that is possible to help her, child." Elrond said calmly. He threw one last, sorrowful look at Arwen then strode through the doorway.
"Nana…" Arwen mewed pitifully, looking up with pained blue eyes.
"I am here, love." Celebrian whispered, caressing Arwen's pale face.
"I hurt. It hurts a lot!"
I know it does. Ada will be back and fix you up. I'm just so glad you're safe!" Celebrian shuddered, hugging her baby girl. She carefully kissed her brow then laid the other poultice softly on Arwen's hurt eye.
"Ada?" Alasse sniffled.
"Yes, my daughter?" Thranduil replied.
"I'm scared! Is Tatsu going to die?"
"I don't want you to think like that now." Thranduil said gruffly. "Tatsu is in the best hands possible, and I have seen Lord Elrond heal more grievous downfalls than this."
"Will she be alright?" Alasse asked again.
"I am sure she will, dear one." Thranduil said with a pasted smile. "Lord Elrond can perform miracles." Orc poison. Was it a Morgal dart? I pray not! "You are still shaking. Here, squeeze my hand."
"I don't want to hurt your hand, Ada."
Thranduil chuckled. "Ahh, little one, I have received many a bash from Orc and beast alike. A little squeeze will not be painful!"
The healers in the Mirkwood healing wing were faced with an imperative situation. Both Bard and Tatsu were in dire need of emergency medical aid if they were to survive, and they both needed full attention of the people tending them. Tatsu's body was riddled with poison, and she needed an antidote immediately before her symptoms worsened, not to mention that the elves needed to decipher if she'd been shot with a Morgal dart! Bard had broken bones, and was bleeding excessively from his wounds, which could lead to shock if he didn't bleed to death first. Any delay in either of their treatments could be the death of them!
"Malfortion, what is your plan of operation?" Elrond asked the chief healer after he explained that Thranduil had sent him to assist and what injuries they would be dealing with.
"Elrond, my old friend, I would appreciate it if you had my three new apprentices help you to revive Tatsu and draw the poison from her. Maerwen and the rest of us will tend to the bargeman." Malfortion answered.
"I am at your service, mellon. I will do all I can for the maiden." Elrond promised. Legolas burst into the healing ward.
"Malfortion, Lord Elrond!" He breathed. "They are on their way in right now!"
"What are their conditions, my prince?" Malfortion asked.
"Tatsu is very pale and she doesn't respond to anything. Bard won't stop bleeding and Glorfindel said he found some swelling at the back of his head-" Legolas tried to fill them in swiftly. "Here they are!"
Voronwe ran into the large room, carrying Tatsu bridal-style in his arms. "Malfortion, Sir, where do you want her?" He asked anxiously.
"Set her over there." Malfortion instructed, pointing to a corner bed on the left side of the room. "Lord Elrond will tend her." His new apprentices had heard the discussion and with a nod from their mentor, they gathered around the hospital bed and waited for Elrond to direct them.
"Thank you." Elrond told Voronwe as he came to Tatsu's side and checked her vitals. "She is very weak." He pressed his hand onto her brow and lent some of his strength into her, also testing the poison through his mind to find if it was Morgal. The other healers waited, but one of them did grip Tatsu's other hand, trying to force more strength into her. "Do you not have an antidote for Orc poison?" Elrond asked.
"We do, my lord. In fact, it just reached fruition three days ago." One of the healers answered.
"Get it! It is not Morgal poison, but it is strong. We have to bring her heart-rate back up." Elrond said gravely. "She must be able to handle the antidote. If she cannot stomach it...well, this is going to be an even darker storm."
Legolas watched in agitation from the middle of the room, putting all his faith in Elrond's miraculous skills as a reknowned healer. In all his hundreds of years of life, Tatsu had never been in the healing ward, save for visiting Alasse when she had gotten hurt. Seeing the sweet nursemaid listless, pale as death, and fragile like this brought tears to Legolas's eyes. If Tatsu did not survive, Alasse would be devastated. Since his mother died, Tatsu was the closest thing Alasse had had to a mommy that she was able to recall. Just thinking of the impact it would leave on his little sister if Tatsu didn't make it was sickeningly unsettling!
"Please, please help her to come out of this..." He prayed in Elvish. "We need her. She's like family."
"Legolas, coming through!" Glorfindel bellowed behind him. Legolas whirled around and stepped back as Glorfindel and Feren marched quickly into the room, both carrying Bard in their arms, with his limply around their necks. His eyes were closed, his head had blood running down the side, and his torso was completely bloodstained through the hastily wound bandages that had been placed around his waist. Legolas stared morosely at the brave man, silently thanking him for what he'd done trying to protect the girls, hoping he wouldn't die. It wasn't fair that valiant souls like him should have their lives cut short from illnesses and wounds that the elves could live through and have many good years after.
As they carefully set Bard down on the work table, Legolas noted the many bloodstains on Glorfindel's silvery blue tunic and Feren's dark green one. It was a disturbing amount of crimson they bore on their clothes. Legolas looked at Bard who didn't respond to anything as Malfortion and his assistants gathered around the bargeman, unwrapping the red bandages and pulling off his already torn shirt. Malfortion grabbed a towel and pressed his hands firmly on Bard's navel, trying to staunch the bleeding. The other healers were scattering around the bed, each performing their required task to save this man's life. Maerwen firmly held Bard's head straight after examining the back of his skull. Another healer was pressing around the bone of his right shoulder, and one of them was checking his breathing.
"Hannon le, mellyn nin." Legolas whispered to Glorfindel, Feren, and Voronwe.
"How are the young ladies?" Glorfindel asked.
"I do not know." Legolas sighed. "But I am sure Ada and Lady Celebrian will not leave them for anything."
"Tatsu has never been a patient of Malfortion's!" Voronwe declared.
"It was very difficult to leave her by the water." Glorfindel stated gravely. "But Arwen and Alasse were crying for help. They couldn't outrun the Orcs on those little legs of theirs!"
"I understand." Legolas hung his head.
"Who is this man?" Glorfindel asked.
"He is a bargeman from the fishing settlement of Laketown, on the shores of Esgaroth." Feren explained. "He is very poor, most of the people there are. He runs errands for the Master who trades with our realm. But a brave man, and strong. A widower."
Legolas stiffened, looking extremely nauseous. "My lord?" Voronwe touched his arm.
"He has three children to provide for!" Legolas gasped, the realization hitting him. "He's got to pull through! If he dies..."