Note: None of these are my characters! This fic will not have slash between L/A in it, but the sequel will. There will only be 2 new chapters for this particular story before I start writing the A/L slash sequel. Elvish speech is in ` '! The sequel will have the rewritten versions of the three new chapters for the beginning.
Freedom
Part 6
Legolas Greenleaf was severely angry and frustrated, as he sat on the ground with his bound legs before him. His hands were still bound behind his back, and Strider, along with his two friends, had staked a tall log in the ground deeply between his bound hands. Even if Legolas stood as tall as he could, the elf would not be able slip his hands over the top of it and get free.
Dirt covered his face and hands, and was in his hair, as well, from when he and Strider had been rolling on the ground, trying to capture the other. His mouth was still bound shut, and the agitated elf was muttering to himself, but most of it was muffled. The log was also too thick for Legolas to break; even when he had applied all of his weight as he tried to yank free, it hadn't broke. So the Elven Prince of Mirkwood was forced to sit here, watching his captors eating quietly. They were inside a cave, which was a small blessing, as the rain still streamed down outside. But Legolas would rather have been out there, doing his patrols, than be trapped in here. He prayed that Haldir and the others would come for him soon.
A spy against Mirkwood indeed, Legolas thought angrily. Just who did this human think he was, to accuse the son of the king of Mirkwood of spying against his own kingdom? So he remained silent out of pride when Strider tried to get some answers from him. At least the human had learned not to try to cover Legolas's mouth with his hand. Legolas shot an angry look at his primary captor. It would be a cold day in hell, indeed, before Legolas would tell this human his name.
Aragorn caught the icy glare in the dark-green eyes of the elf that faced him, as the elf sat bound and gagged. He didn't understand why the elf was being so stubborn, as if he had something to hide. Plus the fact that he refused to say his name.
Elladan looked at Aragorn. `Some elves are just stubborn, Strider.' He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he knew this elf.
Elrohir was having the same reaction. He glanced at his brothers. `Are you certain we do not know this elf? He seems familiar to me for some unknown reason.'
`Tis probably your imagination,' Aragorn said quietly. `If truth be told, perhaps it is because he looks a little similar to Legolas the last time we saw him.'
Legolas strained to hear what they were saying, jerking his hands against the log. He felt that if they knew he was the Prince of Mirkwood, they would surely try to get a ransom from his father. That was why he did not speak to them.
Legolas let out a muffled sigh. The blond elf's arms were aching, for they had been behind his back for hours. His legs were numb, as well. He had not eaten for nearly ten hours, because he was supposed to have been home long before that.
Aragorn heard the faint sigh, and was surprised to see weariness, anger, slight fear, and frustration pass through the elf's eyes. But he could not tell what the elf was thinking, though he still watched the three of them carefully.
Legolas's green eyes silently reproached the stormy eyes of the human who sat near the fire. Water still dripped from his hair and clothes, for he was far from the fire, lest he try to use it to burn his way free. Legolas squirmed a little, shivering slightly. The night air, combined with how drenched the elf was, made him cold. That fact might have had more meaning to Legolas had he not stayed busy glaring at the ones who held him prisoners.
Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn had dried off as best as they could, wringing out their hair and Aragorn had removed his cloak. He had cautioned his brothers not to remove theirs, for then their prisoner would most likely know who they were.
But the brothers turned when they heard something. The other elf was shivering a little, as he attempted to get more comfortable.
Elrohir felt a pang of guilt. `Could we not give him a cloak or something, Strider? He must be thoroughly soaked to be shivering like that, for elves rarely feel cold.'
`All right,' Aragorn said. He did not wish harm upon the elf, unless he turned out to be a spy. Elladan said nothing, as he watched his twin pull out a blanket and a small cloth, before Elrohir walked over to where Legolas tried to control the shivers.
Legolas tensed as Elrohir drew near. Fear leapt into his eyes, before anger replaced it. But he relaxed a little when the figure placed the blanket on him, and began to dry his blond hair. Legolas took the opportunity to study the person up close, in the limited light from the campfire. His hood had fallen to one side, and Legolas caught a glimpse of a pointed ear and Elrohir's hair.
`It can't be,' he whispered in Elvish. `Elrohir?' He forgot that the gag blocked the words from being understood.
Elrohir heard the blond elf say something in disbelief, and knelt down to see if he could understand it. He gazed into the green eyes, which were lit up with recognition.
`Elrohir!' Legolas said louder, trying to catch the other elf's attention. He wished that he had seen him before now, but there was little chance that Elrohir would recognize him. And he wasn't a hundred percent certain that it was Elrohir.
Elrohir realized that the blond elf was trying to tell him something, and slowly began to remove the gag. A hand stopped him, however.
`His teeth and voice are dangerous,' Aragorn said. `We cannot risk removing the gag until we know who he is.'
Elrohir frowned. `He seems to know me,' he said, looking at the blond elf, who nodded vigorously.
Aragorn frowned as well, as he knelt beside the blond elf. `Do you know him?' he asked in a low voice.
Legolas tried to speak. `Elrohir? Is that you?'
Aragorn reached for the gag himself, when an arrow whizzed by and barely missed his hand. In an instant, he had stood and drawn Anduril.
Elladan and Elrohir drew their bows and arrows when they saw the numerous elves at the entrance.
`Release him at once!' Haldir shouted. `Otherwise, we will open fire and kill all of you!'
Aragorn said, `Who is he that you would care so much for him?'
Haldir realized that Legolas had kept his identity a secret. It was a smart choice, the elf thought. The Prince of Mirkwood was a valuable hostage. `Tis none of your concern! Release him and we will spare your lives! If you harm him, you will not leave Mirkwood alive.'
Numerous archers backed up Haldir's words, as they stood with their arrows notched. They were ready to rescue their prince, and waited for Haldir's signal.
Aragorn looked at Elladan and Elrohir. "This is bad," he said in a low voice, which only his brothers could make out. "There are too many to fight them. We should retreat and make our way to the Elven village. Perhaps King Thranduil does not know that unknown elves roam these lands." Elladan and Elrohir nodded in agreement.
Legolas let out a small `Mm-mmm!' from inside the cave.
"Take him," Aragorn said finally. He looked at his brothers and nodded. The three suddenly vanished into the forest again silently.
`Leave them be!' Haldir ordered, as he quickly entered the cave and saw his prince bound and gagged to a stake. The elf drew his knife, and knelt beside Legolas. He slit the ropes binding the younger elf's wrists and ankles, and removed the gag.
Legolas was relieved to see that it was Haldir, and embraced his friend, forgetting the last ten hours. `Tis so good to see you again. I feared that they had taken me too far for you to find me.'
`How did they catch you?' Haldir questioned, as he led the weak prince out of the cave, and into the rain.
`That human is not as weak as he seems,' Legolas said, frowning. `There something almost Elven about him, and I know that at least one of his companions is an elf.'
Haldir nodded. `Let's get you back to the castle, my prince, before your father finds out how long you've been gone.'
Legolas nodded. He mounted up behind Haldir, and the group of elves returned to the castle.
****************
An Hour Later
****************
Legolas was in the bathing room, clad only in clean, green leggings, as he ran a comb through his soft golden hair. His green eyes were closed in pleasure, for he enjoyed the feel of the comb untangling every knot or tangle he had in his fine hair.
The Elven prince had taken a bath first thing when he returned to the castle, and Haldir and the others had returned to their patrol. Legolas had thanked them properly for saving his life. He sat on a white bench on a balcony with a roof, when he heard voices from behind him.
`Visitors from Rivendell!' a herald announced.
Legolas knew his father would take care of the visitors, as he continued brushing his hair. Once he had finished, he was going to see the Healers about the rope burns on his feet and hands.
`We've come to see Legolas, the Prince of Mirkwood,' a familiar voice said.
`The prince is on the balcony over there,' an elf informed him.
Legolas didn't pay attention to what was being said, as he continued working on his hair. He hadn't even bothered to open his eyes, when he heard three figures approach him from behind. The elf opened his eyes, turned in mid-brush, and froze in fear.
`You!' he exclaimed, recognizing Strider, the person he believed was Elrohir, and the third figure. `Did you come here to kidnap me again?' He removed the comb from his hair and held it.
`What?' Aragorn asked, not recognizing Legolas as the elf he'd kidnapped. Part of that was due to the fact that the Elven Prince was now clean and had changed into brighter leggings, and that he did not look like the fierce Elven warrior that Aragorn had fought with. Indeed, Legolas looked as young and vulnerable as he always had to Aragorn, who found it difficult to believe what Legolas was saying. `Legolas, tis I, Aragorn.'
`You can't be Aragorn! You kidnapped me, along with them!' The elf gestured to Elladan and Elrohir. Legolas frowned, as he gracefully stood and crossed over to them, still holding his comb in his hands. Wisps of blond hair hung around his face as he looked at them neutrally. `I still have the rope marks from where you bound my hands behind my back, as well as the ones on my ankles.' He showed them his wrists, which did have rope burns.
Elrohir, Aragorn, and Elladan went pale when they saw the proof of Legolas's claim in the painful red and raw welts on the blond elf's small wrists. They were from where the tight ropes had chafed his skin when he had tried to jerk free from the log that kept him from escaping. Legolas then lifted up the bottoms of his leggings, which showed identical marks on his bare ankles.
`We... kidnapped...you?' Aragorn asked, incredulous. Inwardly, he wondered how he could have made such a stupid mistake. That was certainly a fine way to greet an old friend.
To be continued
Freedom
Part 6
Legolas Greenleaf was severely angry and frustrated, as he sat on the ground with his bound legs before him. His hands were still bound behind his back, and Strider, along with his two friends, had staked a tall log in the ground deeply between his bound hands. Even if Legolas stood as tall as he could, the elf would not be able slip his hands over the top of it and get free.
Dirt covered his face and hands, and was in his hair, as well, from when he and Strider had been rolling on the ground, trying to capture the other. His mouth was still bound shut, and the agitated elf was muttering to himself, but most of it was muffled. The log was also too thick for Legolas to break; even when he had applied all of his weight as he tried to yank free, it hadn't broke. So the Elven Prince of Mirkwood was forced to sit here, watching his captors eating quietly. They were inside a cave, which was a small blessing, as the rain still streamed down outside. But Legolas would rather have been out there, doing his patrols, than be trapped in here. He prayed that Haldir and the others would come for him soon.
A spy against Mirkwood indeed, Legolas thought angrily. Just who did this human think he was, to accuse the son of the king of Mirkwood of spying against his own kingdom? So he remained silent out of pride when Strider tried to get some answers from him. At least the human had learned not to try to cover Legolas's mouth with his hand. Legolas shot an angry look at his primary captor. It would be a cold day in hell, indeed, before Legolas would tell this human his name.
Aragorn caught the icy glare in the dark-green eyes of the elf that faced him, as the elf sat bound and gagged. He didn't understand why the elf was being so stubborn, as if he had something to hide. Plus the fact that he refused to say his name.
Elladan looked at Aragorn. `Some elves are just stubborn, Strider.' He couldn't shake the nagging feeling that he knew this elf.
Elrohir was having the same reaction. He glanced at his brothers. `Are you certain we do not know this elf? He seems familiar to me for some unknown reason.'
`Tis probably your imagination,' Aragorn said quietly. `If truth be told, perhaps it is because he looks a little similar to Legolas the last time we saw him.'
Legolas strained to hear what they were saying, jerking his hands against the log. He felt that if they knew he was the Prince of Mirkwood, they would surely try to get a ransom from his father. That was why he did not speak to them.
Legolas let out a muffled sigh. The blond elf's arms were aching, for they had been behind his back for hours. His legs were numb, as well. He had not eaten for nearly ten hours, because he was supposed to have been home long before that.
Aragorn heard the faint sigh, and was surprised to see weariness, anger, slight fear, and frustration pass through the elf's eyes. But he could not tell what the elf was thinking, though he still watched the three of them carefully.
Legolas's green eyes silently reproached the stormy eyes of the human who sat near the fire. Water still dripped from his hair and clothes, for he was far from the fire, lest he try to use it to burn his way free. Legolas squirmed a little, shivering slightly. The night air, combined with how drenched the elf was, made him cold. That fact might have had more meaning to Legolas had he not stayed busy glaring at the ones who held him prisoners.
Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn had dried off as best as they could, wringing out their hair and Aragorn had removed his cloak. He had cautioned his brothers not to remove theirs, for then their prisoner would most likely know who they were.
But the brothers turned when they heard something. The other elf was shivering a little, as he attempted to get more comfortable.
Elrohir felt a pang of guilt. `Could we not give him a cloak or something, Strider? He must be thoroughly soaked to be shivering like that, for elves rarely feel cold.'
`All right,' Aragorn said. He did not wish harm upon the elf, unless he turned out to be a spy. Elladan said nothing, as he watched his twin pull out a blanket and a small cloth, before Elrohir walked over to where Legolas tried to control the shivers.
Legolas tensed as Elrohir drew near. Fear leapt into his eyes, before anger replaced it. But he relaxed a little when the figure placed the blanket on him, and began to dry his blond hair. Legolas took the opportunity to study the person up close, in the limited light from the campfire. His hood had fallen to one side, and Legolas caught a glimpse of a pointed ear and Elrohir's hair.
`It can't be,' he whispered in Elvish. `Elrohir?' He forgot that the gag blocked the words from being understood.
Elrohir heard the blond elf say something in disbelief, and knelt down to see if he could understand it. He gazed into the green eyes, which were lit up with recognition.
`Elrohir!' Legolas said louder, trying to catch the other elf's attention. He wished that he had seen him before now, but there was little chance that Elrohir would recognize him. And he wasn't a hundred percent certain that it was Elrohir.
Elrohir realized that the blond elf was trying to tell him something, and slowly began to remove the gag. A hand stopped him, however.
`His teeth and voice are dangerous,' Aragorn said. `We cannot risk removing the gag until we know who he is.'
Elrohir frowned. `He seems to know me,' he said, looking at the blond elf, who nodded vigorously.
Aragorn frowned as well, as he knelt beside the blond elf. `Do you know him?' he asked in a low voice.
Legolas tried to speak. `Elrohir? Is that you?'
Aragorn reached for the gag himself, when an arrow whizzed by and barely missed his hand. In an instant, he had stood and drawn Anduril.
Elladan and Elrohir drew their bows and arrows when they saw the numerous elves at the entrance.
`Release him at once!' Haldir shouted. `Otherwise, we will open fire and kill all of you!'
Aragorn said, `Who is he that you would care so much for him?'
Haldir realized that Legolas had kept his identity a secret. It was a smart choice, the elf thought. The Prince of Mirkwood was a valuable hostage. `Tis none of your concern! Release him and we will spare your lives! If you harm him, you will not leave Mirkwood alive.'
Numerous archers backed up Haldir's words, as they stood with their arrows notched. They were ready to rescue their prince, and waited for Haldir's signal.
Aragorn looked at Elladan and Elrohir. "This is bad," he said in a low voice, which only his brothers could make out. "There are too many to fight them. We should retreat and make our way to the Elven village. Perhaps King Thranduil does not know that unknown elves roam these lands." Elladan and Elrohir nodded in agreement.
Legolas let out a small `Mm-mmm!' from inside the cave.
"Take him," Aragorn said finally. He looked at his brothers and nodded. The three suddenly vanished into the forest again silently.
`Leave them be!' Haldir ordered, as he quickly entered the cave and saw his prince bound and gagged to a stake. The elf drew his knife, and knelt beside Legolas. He slit the ropes binding the younger elf's wrists and ankles, and removed the gag.
Legolas was relieved to see that it was Haldir, and embraced his friend, forgetting the last ten hours. `Tis so good to see you again. I feared that they had taken me too far for you to find me.'
`How did they catch you?' Haldir questioned, as he led the weak prince out of the cave, and into the rain.
`That human is not as weak as he seems,' Legolas said, frowning. `There something almost Elven about him, and I know that at least one of his companions is an elf.'
Haldir nodded. `Let's get you back to the castle, my prince, before your father finds out how long you've been gone.'
Legolas nodded. He mounted up behind Haldir, and the group of elves returned to the castle.
****************
An Hour Later
****************
Legolas was in the bathing room, clad only in clean, green leggings, as he ran a comb through his soft golden hair. His green eyes were closed in pleasure, for he enjoyed the feel of the comb untangling every knot or tangle he had in his fine hair.
The Elven prince had taken a bath first thing when he returned to the castle, and Haldir and the others had returned to their patrol. Legolas had thanked them properly for saving his life. He sat on a white bench on a balcony with a roof, when he heard voices from behind him.
`Visitors from Rivendell!' a herald announced.
Legolas knew his father would take care of the visitors, as he continued brushing his hair. Once he had finished, he was going to see the Healers about the rope burns on his feet and hands.
`We've come to see Legolas, the Prince of Mirkwood,' a familiar voice said.
`The prince is on the balcony over there,' an elf informed him.
Legolas didn't pay attention to what was being said, as he continued working on his hair. He hadn't even bothered to open his eyes, when he heard three figures approach him from behind. The elf opened his eyes, turned in mid-brush, and froze in fear.
`You!' he exclaimed, recognizing Strider, the person he believed was Elrohir, and the third figure. `Did you come here to kidnap me again?' He removed the comb from his hair and held it.
`What?' Aragorn asked, not recognizing Legolas as the elf he'd kidnapped. Part of that was due to the fact that the Elven Prince was now clean and had changed into brighter leggings, and that he did not look like the fierce Elven warrior that Aragorn had fought with. Indeed, Legolas looked as young and vulnerable as he always had to Aragorn, who found it difficult to believe what Legolas was saying. `Legolas, tis I, Aragorn.'
`You can't be Aragorn! You kidnapped me, along with them!' The elf gestured to Elladan and Elrohir. Legolas frowned, as he gracefully stood and crossed over to them, still holding his comb in his hands. Wisps of blond hair hung around his face as he looked at them neutrally. `I still have the rope marks from where you bound my hands behind my back, as well as the ones on my ankles.' He showed them his wrists, which did have rope burns.
Elrohir, Aragorn, and Elladan went pale when they saw the proof of Legolas's claim in the painful red and raw welts on the blond elf's small wrists. They were from where the tight ropes had chafed his skin when he had tried to jerk free from the log that kept him from escaping. Legolas then lifted up the bottoms of his leggings, which showed identical marks on his bare ankles.
`We... kidnapped...you?' Aragorn asked, incredulous. Inwardly, he wondered how he could have made such a stupid mistake. That was certainly a fine way to greet an old friend.
To be continued