Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anyone in the trilogy. Or Unfinished Tales etc.
A/N: The glossary is still on the bottom.
"I thought you said your father would be glad to see me."
"He was. He was just even more glad to get rid of you."
"That makes me feel appreciated."
Aragorn had entered Mirkwood only two days ago. Now he and Legolas were leaving much faster than he'd expected they would. "Is he planning some sort of surprise party for your birthing-day or something?" the man asked.
"I do not think my father would concern himself with birthing-day parties for me," Legolas replied a bit stiffly. "But come, now that we are free of the forest, tell me what has passed since you last came to Mirkwood."
Aragorn launched into an only slightly exaggerated version of all that had happened since he'd last seen Legolas. The elf was a good audience. He laughed when he was supposed to, exclaimed over the amazing parts, and gasped at the tense parts.
Aragorn's stories lasted them the better part of the day. That evening, after they had set wire snares near their camp and lit a small fire, he even managed to think of one more before slumber took him.
Legolas watched his friend sleep, a faint smile on his lips. Humans. Aragorn hadn't changed much, which was comforting. Legolas doubted the ranger would ever truly be the strong and silent type. He also doubted that there was any real need for a watch in this area, so he lay down and stared up at the stars. Gil-Estel, Ëarendil, the Star of Hope, was high in the sky. He fell asleep watching it.
Morning came quickly. Legolas woke first, and in turn woke Aragorn. After a hasty meal, they split up to check the snares.
The first two Legolas came upon were empty. Before he could inspect the third, however, he heard Aragorn calling him.
"Legolas! Legolas, come quickly!"
Legolas spun around and ran toward the sound of his friend's voice. He reached him not long after, breathing evenly and with an arrow notched and ready.
He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting to find, but it wasn't this. Aragorn stood, sword drawn, before a large white wolf. The wolf's right forefoot was caught in one of their snares, and she was snarling ferociously.
"I didn't think our snares were strong enough to hold a wolf," Aragorn said disbelievingly.
"Neither did I." Legolas shook his head. "She'll kill us if we cut her loose."
"And she can't chew her way free, so we can't leave her here."
Legolas shook his head again and drew his bow. The wolf's snarls deepened.
"Avo garo!" a voice shouted.
A figure dove in front of the wolf. Legolas barely turned his bow aside in tome to save the newcomer's life. The arrow flew past him.
An elf, short for one of his kind and even more slender than most, stood before them. He held a spear in his right hand, his thick, short, tousled black hair fell into his gray eyes, and his clothes were old, dirty, patched with raw leather, and ripped at the knees and elbows.
They were also, Legolas noted, of human make.
"Leave her alone," the strange elf gritted.
"Are you out of your mind?" Aragorn asked him.
The elf fixed him with a steely gaze and repeated his words. "Leave her alone. She is one of the White Wolves of Aldyrion. She does not serve the Great Enemy, and she would sooner rip the throat out of an orc than let it ride her. Leave her alone."
"Who are you?" Legolas asked. "I have never heard of Aldyrion, nor the White Wolves."
"Aldyrion lies far to the north," the strange elf explained, "beyond the Grey Mountains. Few know of it, and few who live there know of the White Wolves, but that is better for the wolves. The humans would hunt them down and kill them. Aldyrion has become a foul place over the last century."
"And how do you know this?" Aragorn wanted to know.
"I spent the last sixty years in Aldyrion," he snapped. "The last twenty of those were with the wolves."
"Who are you?" Legolas asked again.
"I am called Sadron. This is Snowfire." He gestured to the trapped wolf behind him.
"You know her name?" Aragorn said skeptically.
Sadron gave a fierce, feral grin. "One learns much in twenty years."
Snowfire barked sharply. Legolas reached for another arrow, and Aragorn hefted his sword. Sadron knelt next to the wolf and set down his spear. He drew a knife from his boot and cut her free.
She didn't run away, didn't attack her rescuer. She turned her head, licked his cheek, and sat docilely next to him as he rose, spear in hand once more.
"Who are you?" Sadron asked. "You've trapped my friend, and you know my name. I believe I have a right to know yours."
"I am Strider, and my companion is Legolas," Aragorn introduced. "Is your wolf, uh, tame?"
"Tame?" Sadron laughed. "About as tame as a hurricane. She's not my pet, she's my packmate."
"Packmate?"
"I told you, little human: I lived with the wolves for twenty years. I was part of the pack."
Before either Legolas or Aragorn could question this, three wolf-howls split the air. The ranger's hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
"Wargs," Legolas hissed.
Sadron laughed. "Not wargs." Almost in unison, he and Snowfire threw back their heads and howled.
"I don't think I like this person," Aragorn muttered.
Sadron and Snowfire finished howling and turned back to Legolas and Aragorn. "They wanted to know where we are," the elf explained.
"Who did?" Legolas managed, too shocked to say more.
"Nightwind, Stardance, and Sunrunner," Sadron replied calmly. "They came with me when I left the pack."
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you leave your—pack?" Aragorn asked. "What were you doing in Aldyrion in the first place for sixty years? You have the look of the Rivendell elves about you."
Sadron's face darkened. He almost visibly closed in on himself. "None of your business," he snarled. Before wither of them could say anything else, he dashed away, Snowfire in close pursuit.
"Well," Aragorn said briskly once they'd gaped after Sadron for a moment. "I'm glad to be rid of him."
Legolas shook his head. "Why? There has to be a reason for his being so—strange."
"You're just on his side because he's an elf!" Aragorn accused.
"Perhaps. But I am sure whatever happened to him in Aldyrion has something to do with it. Perhaps he lost his family. He said he spent forty years there before he went to the wolves."
"That's another thing. An elf, consorting with wolves?"
"He said they aren't evil."
"And about as tame as a hurricane." Aragorn sighed. "Come on. Let's finish checking the snares."
Ha, see, it got better!
Elvish Glossary:
avo garo: don't do it
avon: I won't
a gellam: oh joy
mae govannen: well met
Meril: "Rose"
nin mellon: my friend
meleth: love
mûl: slave
Sadron: "Faithful one"
suilad: greetings
Talagan: "Harper"
raug: demon
Rhovan: "Wild"