Hey! Glad you're all enjoying this so far! : )
Sorry to disappoint you, Jane, but I have *no* intension of putting any SLASH whatsoever in this. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings, but I really don't like that stuff.
Har har Siri. 'I'm not gonna read it' my eye! No really, nice to have you! Just don't touch my preciousssssss laptop! : )
Nope! This is long before the book (but I won't say when, because I couldn't figure out the dates) :D
Thanks, Aerin for mentioning it. Yes, it's true, elves don't technically 'sleep' but even Tolkien referred to their 'wanderings' as sleep, thought it's quite different. I have a Tolkien expert on my story! :D
Sorry to leave you all hanging! Hope this is better! : )
Chapter 2
Lennathon
It took nearly three hours for Aragorn to fall asleep, and even when he did, it was dark and troubled. Legolas somehow managed to be just around the corner every time his dreams took a turn for the better. The elf was always standing there, staring wide-eyed at Aragorn, and then closing his eyes tight, and running. Aragorn told him to come back, but Legolas did not listen. No, he *could* not listen...
The dreams - rather nightmares - were suddenly shattered by a shout.
"No! No! Let…let me…"
Aragorn leapt to his feet, and ran once again to Legolas' side. "Legolas. Legolas! Awake!"
Legolas' eyes stared wildly at the sky, as sleep slowly left him. He blinked. "No.' He whispered.
"Legolas." Aragorn whispered softly, brushing the elf's cheek with his knuckles. He was very disturbed to see that Legolas flinched at the touch, and attempted to sit. Gasping, he sank to the single-cloak bed again.
"No!" he panted, terrified.
"Legolas! Please!"
Legolas closed his eyes, and breathed so slowly, it took a moment for Aragorn to see he was breathing at all. He opened his eyes, but did not look at the ranger over him.
"I must."
"You must what?" Aragorn asked urgently, trying to keep the impatience out of his voice. Legolas was speaking nonsense again, and Aragorn didn't think he could go through another insane conversation with him.
"You must what Legolas?" Aragorn repeated.
"I-" Legolas didn't look at Aragorn, but slowly reached his hand up, and touched the man's face. "I am sorry, my friend." He whispered. His voice still held a hint of fear, but his tone was also kind, and even slightly cheerful. "I must know."
Know. Legolas had been saying know, not no. It didn't make that much difference to Aragorn. This whole thing made little sense either way.
"Know," Aragorn echoed. "Know what?"
"Anything." Legolas sighed, staring at the stars. "The stars. The- hope..." Legolas struggled in his own mind, battling against himself, looking for the answers.
Aragorn put his hand on the prince's, but when the elf stiffened, he took the gesture back.
"You know that I am your fr-"
"Every time." Legolas sighed. "Every time I have it, it slips before I can know it's there. Before I even know what it is."
"You are my friend-"
"You do not understand, but I am afraid that really neither do I. I wish I could explain it to you, Strider, and I will in time. Just be patient with me, will you?"
Aragorn was trying very hard to be patient, but the elf kept cutting him off! He knew he could hear him, but every once and awhile it was as if Legolas had momentarily gone completely deaf.
He tried again. "You are my friend, Legolas."
Silence. Had he gotten through this time?
Legolas sighed a long, sad sigh. "I wish the stars were out. That would help, I think."
Aragorn pushed aside the fact that he had once again ignored him, and turned to a new concern as he looked up. The dark sky was dappled with tiny jewels of stars shining down on them. He looked down at the young elf, and touched his forehead with the back of his hand. Legolas sucked his breath in sharply as if he'd been hit in the ribs.
"Don't." He pleaded softly. "Please don't try."
"Try what?"
"To comfort me."
Aragorn drew his hand back, and leaned over the elf, looking at his eyes. They looked normal, and dilated properly as they stared up at the sky, but they were sad, and full of pain.
"Legolas," Aragorn murmured kindly. "The stars are out tonight."
Legolas swallowed a lump in his throat. "Of course." He nearly choked.
"Legolas-"
"Go to sleep, Strider. I think it is worse with you here."
The ranger nodded, and turned away as if he understood. But he did not return to bed. He instead, grabbed their saddle bags, and put them on their horses. Clasping his cloak back on, he turned to the shivering elf.
"Come."
Legolas, rolled over, and Aragorn's heart nearly shattered at sight of him. There were tears that, though the elf had been brave enough not to shed, were still there, clouding his pale blue vision. When Legolas looked at Aragorn, his eyes closed again, and the gathering tears flowed down his cheeks.
"Where?" He croaked.
"To Rivendell."
"Where?"
Aragorn squinted at his companion, and then shook his head in wonder. "Never mind. Elrond will take care of you."
"Elrond." Legolas let the word slip around in his mind. "Rivendell." Then he shook his head. "I remember them, but I- I do not know them. I suppose it is because Rivendell is a place of peace, and Elrond a joy-giver. A healer. I *cannot* know them."
"What do you mean you cannot *know* them?" Aragorn demanded desperately. It was almost as if his friend did this to be annoying.
"Just what I said."
"Come Legolas." Aragorn saw the need to take him more then ever. Not only did he make no sense, but he thought he did. He knelt beside his friend, and lifted him to his feet. Legolas moaned at the gesture, but Aragorn had given up noticing. There was nothing bodily wrong with Legolas, and if it was only mental pain he felt, then Aragorn could cause no damage to the perfectly healthy body by raising him to his feet.
But not wanting to cause the elf intentional pain, the ranger walked slowly towards the horses. Aragorn noticed that Legolas hadn't flinched at his touch as he usually did. This puzzled him, but he was a little relieved. He hadn't realized till now how much it had hurt to see Legolas refusing his comfort. But the prince still wouldn't look at him.
Ever so carefully, he lifted Legolas onto his horse, and then climbed up behind him, steadying the elf as he went.
Once the two of them were on the horse, Aragorn grabbed the reins of Legolas' horse, and attached them to his saddle horn. He pulled Legolas' cloak tighter around the shivering elf. "It's going to be a bumpy ride." He warned, whispering softly in Legolas' ear.
His friend nodded, and tensed a bit. Aragorn saw no time to waste, and lean a little forward towards the horse. "Noro lim, Horthor!"
The horse tossed it's great head, and took off at a steady gallop through the dark woods, towing the other horse with him.
They rode for almost an hour before Legolas finally relaxed, and leaned against Aragorn's chest. His heart beat was steady, but his breathing rasped and hitched. Every once and awhile, Horthor would take a sharp turn to avoid a tree, and Legolas would jerk and moan.
Aragorn went stoically on. With one hand holding the reins, and the other clasped tightly around his friend's chest, he rode for two more hours. Finally, he felt the horses start to tire, and slowed to a canter, which eventually melted into a trot.
He leaned over so he could see Legolas. The elf prince's eyes were half closed, and unfocused. He seemed to be in a limbo, hovering between sleep and waking. Unconsciousness and consciousness. Death and life. Which one it was, Aragorn didn't know. Somehow, he didn't want to know. He felt Legolas heartbeat against his own: they continued to beat in rhythm.
"Legolas do you hear me?" Aragorn murmured in the elf's ear.
Legolas' eyes didn't move. The only movement from him was his chest as it rose and fell. The wind picked up a lock of blond hair, fiddled with it, and then, as if it had grown bored, let the golden strand go, and it fell across the elf's face. Aragorn moved the strand of hair, his fingers barely brushing Legolas' cheek. But his friend flinched, and tried to move away.
What on Middle Earth was going on?
**********
A wind blew over the dead trees around them. It was neither cool nor warm. It was so hot - it was ice. So freezing cold, it burned like fire. The world spun around Legolas as he and Aragorn rode on through the forest. His heart pounded in his ears. He heard cruel voices, shouting. But they were familiar. And one was Aragorn's.
He looked desperately up at the sky again, but no stars shone; o moon lighted the dark forest of Mirkwood. A great nothingness of twisted, dead plants stretched out in front of him. Nothing. Dead.
"Know." He whispered, and his voice echoed on the cold, burning air. "I must know."
Suddenly, the horse slowed, and he felt someone was looking at him. He knew who it was. He couldn't bare to raise his eyes. "Legolas do you hear me?" A deep, angry voice growled. "Hear me! Hear me! Hear me!' it echoed through the elf's keen ears.
His hair blew in the wind, and danced across his face. As the voice continued to echo "Hear me! Hear me!" He felt a hard blow to the side of his face, and he tried to move away. "Hear me! Hear me!"
"Leave me!" Legolas shouted at the echoing words. "Leave me!"
**********
Aragorn looked down at his friend, in bewilderment. "Legolas, please!"
"Leave me." Legolas' voice went from a shout to a desperate whisper. "Please, leave me."
Aragorn looked up despairingly at the stars above him, and let a discouraged sigh escape his tired body. He allowed his tongue to slip into elvish in his desperation.
"Legolas, umin isto man an koal."
//legolas, I do not know what to do.//
Legolas shook all over, not from the icy chill that licked his skin, but the impenetrable cold inside. The one Aragorn couldn't warm with a cloak.
"Umin isto man an koal." Aragorn repeated, his crestfallen words striking the elf deep.
//I do not know what to do.//
Legolas was silent a moment. Then, he pulled one of his arms free of the cloak around him, and placed his hand on Aragorn's knee behind him. His voice was a soft, familiar whisper, as he said
"Lir anem."
//sing for me.//
Yet another simple request. But this time, it did not worry Aragorn. He was glad to do anything for his friend. He pulled Legolas against his chest again, and softly began to sing.
"Tulum an ilman
//Take me to the stars//
Nyarim lindeler
//Tell me of their song//
Enyaarem hanya lir
//That I may learn to sing//
Laitar narquelion
//Their praise to fading sun//
Meralam ilqua harma
//I want not all these treasures//
Maralam uuva haran
//I want not to be king//
Eram mere kana ilman
//I only want to see the stars//
Eram mere lir!
//I only want to sing!//
Legolas sank into the song. The total relief of the words, the sound of Aragorn's soft voice singing the grey tongue, the beautiful familiarity of it. He felt as though he'd never heard anything more beautiful in his life. It could not have been more magnificent if the stars themselves were singing.
As Aragorn felt Legolas relax again, immense joy washed over him. His arm tightened around his friend's chest again, as if to tell him he was safe, that he could truly rest now.
Legolas slowly did so, drifting off into a wonderful dreamless sleep. He felt as if he were sitting high in an old oak tree: it's branches reached up to the sky and tried to touch it. The whole world stretched for millions of miles beneath him, and the only sound in the world, was Aragorn's soft voice singing "Lennathon". I will sing.
Uuvam kena kalad morth
//I would see the light in darkness//
Uuvam baur laanad
//I would need not anything//
Eram uuva kena ilman
//If only I will see the stars//
Eram lennathon
//If only I will sing!//
Aragorn sung the whole song, and when he'd finished the last verse, it seemed as though the words still echoed on the night air.
He leaned over, and saw Legolas, his gaze fixed at nothing, staring into a blank wall of sleep. Aragorn could have laughed, so relieved was he to see Legolas sleeping with his eyes open.
When the ringing of the song stopped, Legolas' gaze started to focus, and he groaned as the familiar nightmares came to take him away.
This was not lost on Aragorn, and he was determined to let his friend sleep. Once again, the trees around them threw the words of the elvish tongue through their branches and out into the air. And as Aragorn sang, he felt Legolas sigh, and fall into sleep again.
A Elbereth Gilthoniel,
//o elbereth star-kindler//
silivren penna míriel
//white glittering slants down sparkling like jewels//
o menel aglar elenath!
//from the firmament the glory of the star-host!//
Na-chaered palan-díriel
//To-remote distance far-having gazed//
o galadhremmin ennorath,
//from the tree-tangled middle-lands,//
Fanuilos, le linnathon
//fanuilos, to thee I will sing//
nef aear, sí nef aearon!
//on this side of ocean, here on this side of the great ocean! //
And on the elvish songs went until Aragorn could no longer sing and keep Hothor at a steady pace. But Legolas was safely into a deep sleep. Far from where the fear could reach him. Aragorn's efforts had been well worth it.