Chapter One
In all of Legolas's years - and there had been many - he had never met anyone quite like Merry and Pippin. They were very dear to his heart, yes, but the two could not - no matter how hard they tried - walk through the forest quietly.
He had to remind himself constantly that they were not elves, such as he was, who could walk through the forest without so much as a single sound.
They had been walking through the Black Forest for an impossible amount of time. In fact, that that precise moment, Legolas was not entirely sure where they were at. The Black Forest was on the far border of Mirkwood and thus he had hunted there several times. However, he had never traveled this far into the Forest...and for that matter, all signs of Elvin passage had long disappeared...
At one point, he heard SamWise turn to Frodo and quietly ask, "I hate to ask it Mr. Frodo, but I do wonder when we'll be stopping to rest."
"We can't stop now," Legolas paused and strained his ears to see if They were still a decent distance back. "Because we're being followed."
Merry's usually jolly eyes looked as if they were about to shatter into a pool of tears. "B-by w-what?"
Gandalf nodded knowingly at Legolas and leaned heavily on his staff for a moment. "We must go farther, They're far enough behind us for the moment."
Pippin's face turned a very odd shade of white, as fear drained all the color from his rosy cheeks. "They? Who are They? Not...They? Are They?" He paused for a moment, confusing himself more than he had the rest of the Fellowship and then finally continued, "I mean...They who attacked us in search of the Ring."
Gandalf nodded, but remained silent.
In the distance, the shriek of the horse of a Ring wraith could just barely be heard over the howl of an understandably angry wind.
"I suggest," said Gandalf. "That we proceed with a little more haste."
Legolas's fingers ached to ready his bow...in this dense of a wood, they would clearly have the advantage on foot, should the Black Riders catch up to them. With each passing moment, however, he could tell They were getting closer. The urgency in his heart grew stronger...the winds of evil seemed to carry Them towards the Fellowship with ever growing speed.
The shrieks grew louder.
Gimli and the Hobbits were practically at a run by now and Legolas feared they would have to go faster yet...
Louder.
There would be no real safe hiding place from the Black Riders. It seemed as if They could smell the Ring...either that, or the Ring's still silent voice was calling to Them...drawing them nearer and nearer...
Louder.
Gandalf made a sudden sharp turn, which led the group down a sharp knoll and through a very thick, marshy bog. It smelled horrible - even more horrible than Gimli tended to smell - and it suddenly occurred to Legolas that there was a very good possibility that his cloak and breeches were going to smell like that for a very long time...
The wizard suddenly stopped short in front of an enormous tree, so large that had one of the Hobbits attempted to walk completely around it, it would have taken several minutes. Gandalf firmly grasped his staff in his hand and sharply rapped it against the tree's trunk. He mumbled something very low...to Legolas, it sounded Elvish, but if it was, it was not a dialect he was familiar of...
Louder...so loud that Legolas was sure he would feel the steaming breath of a devil horse on his neck any moment.
He was so consumed in his thoughts that he nearly missed it. The front of the tree swung open just enough to for all to pass through! Gandalf held no hesitation and practically threw Frodo into the blackness beyond the door. Pippin and Gimli were fast on his heels, but Merry paused for several moments. "Are you sure it's safe..."
Aragorn gave him a gentle push. "I'd rather face what's in there than what's behind us."
As Legolas stepped through the door after Aragorn, a strange feeling washed over him. It wasn't necessarily something that he could put his finger on...unexplainable...but its presence was so startling, that he was nearly bowled over by its arrival. It touched his mind, his heart, his soul...
...It nearly consumed him...
No sooner did Gandalf pass through the door, did it slowly mold back to the firmness of solid wood. "We are almost there, my friends...continue on!"
The blackness of the passage was such that Legolas was nearly certain that Aragorn could have sliced it with his sword. No sooner did the thought cross his mind, however, did the passage suddenly end and the group was thrust into piercing sunlight.
In all of Legolas's years - and there had been many - he had never met anyone quite like Merry and Pippin. They were very dear to his heart, yes, but the two could not - no matter how hard they tried - walk through the forest quietly.
He had to remind himself constantly that they were not elves, such as he was, who could walk through the forest without so much as a single sound.
They had been walking through the Black Forest for an impossible amount of time. In fact, that that precise moment, Legolas was not entirely sure where they were at. The Black Forest was on the far border of Mirkwood and thus he had hunted there several times. However, he had never traveled this far into the Forest...and for that matter, all signs of Elvin passage had long disappeared...
At one point, he heard SamWise turn to Frodo and quietly ask, "I hate to ask it Mr. Frodo, but I do wonder when we'll be stopping to rest."
"We can't stop now," Legolas paused and strained his ears to see if They were still a decent distance back. "Because we're being followed."
Merry's usually jolly eyes looked as if they were about to shatter into a pool of tears. "B-by w-what?"
Gandalf nodded knowingly at Legolas and leaned heavily on his staff for a moment. "We must go farther, They're far enough behind us for the moment."
Pippin's face turned a very odd shade of white, as fear drained all the color from his rosy cheeks. "They? Who are They? Not...They? Are They?" He paused for a moment, confusing himself more than he had the rest of the Fellowship and then finally continued, "I mean...They who attacked us in search of the Ring."
Gandalf nodded, but remained silent.
In the distance, the shriek of the horse of a Ring wraith could just barely be heard over the howl of an understandably angry wind.
"I suggest," said Gandalf. "That we proceed with a little more haste."
Legolas's fingers ached to ready his bow...in this dense of a wood, they would clearly have the advantage on foot, should the Black Riders catch up to them. With each passing moment, however, he could tell They were getting closer. The urgency in his heart grew stronger...the winds of evil seemed to carry Them towards the Fellowship with ever growing speed.
The shrieks grew louder.
Gimli and the Hobbits were practically at a run by now and Legolas feared they would have to go faster yet...
Louder.
There would be no real safe hiding place from the Black Riders. It seemed as if They could smell the Ring...either that, or the Ring's still silent voice was calling to Them...drawing them nearer and nearer...
Louder.
Gandalf made a sudden sharp turn, which led the group down a sharp knoll and through a very thick, marshy bog. It smelled horrible - even more horrible than Gimli tended to smell - and it suddenly occurred to Legolas that there was a very good possibility that his cloak and breeches were going to smell like that for a very long time...
The wizard suddenly stopped short in front of an enormous tree, so large that had one of the Hobbits attempted to walk completely around it, it would have taken several minutes. Gandalf firmly grasped his staff in his hand and sharply rapped it against the tree's trunk. He mumbled something very low...to Legolas, it sounded Elvish, but if it was, it was not a dialect he was familiar of...
Louder...so loud that Legolas was sure he would feel the steaming breath of a devil horse on his neck any moment.
He was so consumed in his thoughts that he nearly missed it. The front of the tree swung open just enough to for all to pass through! Gandalf held no hesitation and practically threw Frodo into the blackness beyond the door. Pippin and Gimli were fast on his heels, but Merry paused for several moments. "Are you sure it's safe..."
Aragorn gave him a gentle push. "I'd rather face what's in there than what's behind us."
As Legolas stepped through the door after Aragorn, a strange feeling washed over him. It wasn't necessarily something that he could put his finger on...unexplainable...but its presence was so startling, that he was nearly bowled over by its arrival. It touched his mind, his heart, his soul...
...It nearly consumed him...
No sooner did Gandalf pass through the door, did it slowly mold back to the firmness of solid wood. "We are almost there, my friends...continue on!"
The blackness of the passage was such that Legolas was nearly certain that Aragorn could have sliced it with his sword. No sooner did the thought cross his mind, however, did the passage suddenly end and the group was thrust into piercing sunlight.