Hullo everyone! Nice to see you all again. :) And still enjoying the story too! Gosh, what a bonus. ;)
Well, Lina, I'm glad to see you're taking good care of your 'babies'…uh, I think you're strangling Aragorn though. *loosens Lina's grip on Aragorn* There we go. Boy do you guys look comfy! ;)
*grins at Siri* I thought you were going to deny being in contact, or ever meeting, seeing, hearing of me, or even knowing of my existence, let alone related! :D Goshly, Shmallow, how touching! *sniff* Even though you don't care too much for me, and even though you drive me crazy with your Aurora CD ;), you STILL admit to being related to me! What a darling sister you…wait…this isn't just so you can dig up uncanny's for my story 'cos of Namarie and Death or Despair?…betcha' that's it. ;)
No really I'm *slam* very glad to *slam* have you *slam* here…*slam* uhhh you can stop banging your head *slam* on the floor-oh never mind. ;) Oh and thanks for not killing my plot devices. I NEED those. :D
Thanks KarateElf! Nice to see you're still enjoying it. *blushes* poetic? Really? Aw, you're too kind. :D
I know, Cheysuli, it seems rather mean to so avidly dislike Legolas' dad, but have you read Cassia and Siobhan's Mellon Chronicles? Well that's why. Sure, I'd be glad to read your fic sometime. Maybe my thoughts on him would improve! :)
Well, sorry it took so long to post, but I just got braces, and was in town ALL day yesterday. *rubs gums* youchy. I wonder if Legolas had to have braces. Well, THAT would actually make sense, really. See, everyone's so incredibly fond of Lego-torture, and that would certainly apply, and how else can you explain his PERFECT teeth? It can't possibly be as easy as luck and a lot of Colgate. *grumbles, and rubs gums again* Oye.
OKAY! Time for the post, because Legolas and Aragorn are more than a little more interesting than me. SO, here you go!
Chapter 7
Wither Then? I Cannot Say
Aragorn was awoken by a brutal jab in his back. Another axe pole. "Get up, lazy human. We have another six miles yet to walk."
Aragorn's ankles were untied, and he rose painfully to his feet. The feeling had gone out of his knees down, and his hands.
"Right, lets get going!" Benwin shouted gruffly, and the party of fifteen continued their journey down the long tunnel.
They'd been running steadily for almost an hour when another loud thud sounded from behind Aragorn.
"Halt!" Benwin shouted, and he and Dreago let Legolas slip from their hands.
Aragorn winced at the sound of his friend hitting the dirt ground.
"Maybe if we kick him enough, we'll startle him out of his sleep. I'm not carrying him another step!" Shouted the annoyed Dreago. He'd obviously had quite enough, for no one in their right mind would think that they could kick someone into consciousness.
Benwin gave the other a dubious look. "You think I like this?" He eyed the unconscious elf. "I suppose…" He lifted his axe, aiming the end of it at Legolas' back. "You never know, with *elves*."
A dull thud sounded, and Aragorn closed his eyes again. Another. Then a third. Before Benwin could land his fourth blow, Aragorn had torn around in a circle, and was running back towards cruel dwarf.
Benwin looked up in time to see the tall human land in the middle of him, but Aragorn's victory was short lived. With his hands tied behind his back, he wasn't totally mobile, and Benwin didn't have a hard time kicking him off.
As soon as the human was off of their comrade, two dwarves rushed in, one grabbing the rope attached to Aragorn's hands, the other grabbing his shoulders to restrain him on his knees.
Benwin stood up slowly, wiping the blood that ran freely from the newly achieved cut on his head. "You should not interfere with me, human." he said darkly "But that is fine. You can *watch* your friend's agony."
Benwin turned, and aimed another blow at Legolas, but Aragorn spoke up quickly. "You will not wake him up that way. Hitting him, and causing him more pain will only make it worse."
The dwarf turned, and scowled at the ranger. "So what do you suggest?"
"Let me carry him."
Benwin looked more than a little skeptical.
"See here, you do not want to drag him," He reasoned, "And I do not want you to hurt him. Untie my hands, and I will carry him."
Benwin glared at the man, but finally nodded. "But any trickery, and the moment I see that elf, I will kill him. No hesitation, I will simply kill him. And then I shall kill you, understood?"
Aragorn nodded, as the dwarf behind him drew a short dagger, and cut his ropes. The other, however, continued to nervously restrain him by his shoulders. Aragorn didn't care. Right now, he only wanted to help Legolas.
Once the dwarf untied him, he pulled another length of rope out, and looped it around Aragorn's neck. "This way we can still keep a leash on you." Benwin told him coldly.
Feeling once again returned to Aragorn's hands with no small amount of pain, but he rose to his feet, and walked over to Benwin.
Benwin cocked his hairy head towards the elf. "Take him." He said indifferently, and then walked behind Aragorn to take the ranger's rope.
Aragorn knelt beside his friend, and cringed at the blood that stained his golden hair. He reached down to his bound hands, and tore at the knots.
"No time for that!" Binwen snapped, but Aragorn wasn't listening, and continued with his endeavor until the ropes fell away. Carefully, gently, he lifted Legolas off the dirt floor, and into his strong arms.
The prince was frighteningly light and frail, and an unexpected lump formed in Aragorn's throat when the blond curtain of hair fell back, and exposed Legolas' pale face.
"Come on, lazy one." Benwin gave Aragorn's rope an impatient tug, and the human stumbled a bit from it's unexpected pull. Holding Legolas tightly to his chest, he turned, and began to walk down the tunnel.
It was steadily getting cooler, and Aragorn finally realized that they were walking on a down-ward slant. It was slight, and almost unnoticeable, but it struck dread into Aragorn's mind, and he began to feel rather claustrophobic. They were going even deeper underground.
**********
Aragorn had lost all track of time. He seemed to be walking in a dream; a long, vivid nightmare. The walls began to swirl on either side of him, and the ground in front of him tipped and swayed. The only thought that ran through his head was Legolas. He would not stumble, or slow: he would keep walking for Legolas, holding the elf even tighter he thought back on their moments in the dirt prison.
It was his fault that the elf now lay unconscious. He had been careless, and had touched Legolas' hand. How could he have forgot? Legolas had told him, "…when you touch my skin, I feel you striking me…" he had touched him anyway, and the elf, in fear of being struck again, threw himself backwards. The impact had knocked him out, and now he'd been dragged almost five miles.
Aragorn once again ran his fingers over the bruises and scratches up and down his friend's fair skin. They were all his fault. And the blood which ran through his hair was indeed from the cut Benwin had lain. If Aragorn had not hesitated to surrender, the dwarf would not have had cause to cut Legolas' skin.
It was he who was to blame, and now all he could do was stumble along carrying his unconscious friend, hoping to make up for it. "I am sorry, Legolas." He whispered softly, so that only he, and perhaps somewhere in the darkness of sleep, Legolas could hear. "I am so sorry, my friend." Aragorn stared down at his friend's pale face. His body was light, his heart was beating slower by the second. "I do not want to lose you." he repeated his words from the campfire only a day or two ago. Choking his tears back, he touched the broken skin on Legolas' neck.
As his fingers brushed the cut, the elf jerked, as if in a spasm, and groaned. Aragorn pulled his hand back quickly, and moved it further under Legolas' neck, reaching out on the other side of the elf to support his shoulders. But the elf didn't stop jerking, and continued to groan and gasp for breath.
*********
Legolas was in the middle of darkness, for sleep had finally left him, abandoning him in this cold limbo. He stared at nothing, for nothing lay all around him and was all his eyes could focus on.
Suddenly, he felt a burning pain in his neck, and as his hands reached up to grasped the painful spot, he felt someone move up behind him. He turned. "No- no Aragorn don't!"
But the sneering creature supposed to be his friend, reached out a hand, cuffing the elf on the side of his head. Legolas sprawled a few feet away, and tried to scramble up again, but there was nothing to stand on, so he could only lay on the nothing Aragorn had thrown him to.
He felt boot hit him in the ribs, and another in the stomach, causing him to sink further into the artificial floor. But with every kick, it wasn't the blow's target that hurt, but the pain in his neck began to seer. It ripped through him like fire, filling his mind with panic and his body with pain.
Another kick hit him, but this time he rolled away, jerking in a spasm. He felt Aragorn move behind him again, this time jerking him off the floor. "You are not my friend." He hissed, sneering at the vulnerable elf. "You will never be my friend!"
"Y-y-you *are* my friend! You are, you said you are!" Legolas shouted, not trying to get away from the man's clutches, but desperate to embrace him as a friend.
"I don't care if I lose you." He growled evilly, and though Legolas knew it *had* to be someone else. Someone besides his friend. Anyone but his beloved Aragorn!
Without warning, Aragorn reached out and struck Legolas across the neck, hitting the painful wound. Legolas cried out in pain, and rolled away from the human, his body screaming so loud, he could almost hear it.
Suddenly, he realized that Aragorn stood above him, but was gradually getting smaller. Smaller. Smaller. Legolas was sinking into the darkness, and Aragorn was leaving him to die. Though it was worse than death to fall into darkness forever, without his friend.
"Aragorn!" He cried. "Estel, my friend! Don't leave me! I beg you, Aragorn! Come back!
Please come back!"
*********
"Now *your* trying to kill him, eh human? Relationships will never changed. Humans and elves don't mix, and we'd all be better off without the likes of them, right human?" A chorus of laughter followed Gulrin's jibe, and the cruel sound echoed through the titanic tunnel.
Aragorn pulled Legolas close, and shook his head. "I'm sorry." He whispered again, but this time he could not hold back his tears. He didn't want to hurt his friend, he only ever wanted to help. But he'd done nothing but caused pain since he made Legolas tell him what was wrong.
"Good job, human. You will follow your ancestors. You will hate the elves as we do, and with good reason." Binwen's voice came low an menacing from behind Aragorn, and the ranger could hear the dwarf sneer. "Why, it is because of the elf that you are here, for our lord would have no interest in you."
Aragorn turned half-way around. "What interest does your lord have in Legolas?"
Binwen seemed a little irritated at the man for using "the elf's" name, but continued "It is of no concern of yours, human. If you are lucky, you will not find out."
Aragorn was growing tired of the veiled answers, but made no comment. There appeared to be no light at the end of this tunnel. Nothing to walk to, but just to walk. All he could do was hold on to Legolas, as he would his life. Perhaps he could still save him.
**********
It was dark…cold. He had not even noticed before, but now the substance of air was as clear as if it were water. He couldn't see, but he knew he was. Barely, but he was.
Staring around at nothingness, he thought little, and spoke nothing. Only one thought entered his mind. He so desperately wanted Aragorn back. Then, he challenged his mind to awake too the point where he could open his eyes. Slowly, slowly…
**********
Aragorn trudged along, still carrying his elvan burden, but proud to. Relieved that he could touch and hold his friend. Suddenly, he felt the steady heartbeat quicken. He looked down, and was faced with two blue-gray gem-stones staring back at him. Relief and hope seemed to pool in them, like ripples of water.
"Estel…" he whispered, barely finding his voice.
"Shh now." Aragorn put his fingers gently over Legolas' pale lips. "You are very week."
"Where are we?" Legolas stared around a moment, and caught sight of several dwarves walking ahead of him and Aragorn. "What are they?" he asked, an unexpected note of trepidation in his voice.
"Dwarves." Aragorn whispered. Legolas obviously saw some sort of monster rather than the simple miners. He shook the returning feel of apprehension for his friend away. "Try and stay quiet. They believe you are unconscious, and as long as they think that, I am free to carry you."
"Oh, Strider." Legolas whispered, smiling and frowning at the same time. He had apparently only just notice that the ranger was carrying him. "I am so sorry my friend. Indeed, even in unconsciousness, I cause you trouble."
"No, no." Aragorn insisted. "You have been not a burden. I am only glad that you are awake." His voice was quiet, and Legolas knew why.
"You will not lose me." the elf reminded him softly. "You will not."
"No," Aragorn held his friend close "I will not. Not as long as there is breath in me."
"Estel-" Legolas began, but suddenly, their talk was noticed by an bored dwarf standing near.
"The elf's up!" he called excitedly.
Aragorn, before he could react, felt a sharp tug on his rope, and fell backwards, only barely coming short of landing on Benwin. It was all the human could do to use his own body to cushion Legolas' fall.
Legolas still landed hard, but not as hard as he might have. His head hit Aragorn's chest, and he rolled off as he realized what the man had done for him. "Aragorn!" He called urgently, looking anxiously down at his friend. Aragorn looked as though he were in pain, like as not he'd been winded, but he was not seriously hurt.
As soon as Legolas took this in, he jumped to his feet, and whirled on a dwarf, kicking him in the chest. Ducking an axe-blow, he rolled into another dwarf's legs, knocking the stocky creature over.
This was indeed a good attempt, but Legolas had no more strength, and had to easily give in. The dwarves, of course rallied themselves, and pounced on the weak elf without mercy.
Aragorn desperately wanted to help his friend, but Benwin had wasted no time in taking his rope again, and Dreago ran up beside the big dwarf, and grabbed Aragorn's arms and hauling him half-way off the floor.
Once the crowd of dwarves had cleared, Aragorn could see Legolas again, but the moment of strength was gone, and he looked pale and helpless again. Gulrin held Legolas' shoulders tightly, pinning him on his knees, and the dwarf who had received Legolas' boot in his chest, was busily tying the elf's slender wrist's behind his back again.
Aragorn was so caught up in his despair at seeing this, that it took him awhile to notice that Dreago had tied his own hands again.
"Well, let us continue on!" Binwen called, pulling Aragorn to his feet. "At least the elf won't be a bother anymore."
Aragorn took one look at Legolas' pale face, and shook his head vehemently. "He cannot walk all that way."
"He will walk, if we tell him to!" Binwen shouted fiercely.
"But he *cannot*!" Aragorn tried desperately to make the dwarf see reason, but Binwen didn't listen.
"Let us go!"
"Please!" Aragorn implored. "He's still too weak! Will your lord be pleased if he dies before reaching the great hall?"
Binwen was momentarily taken aback, and in that moment, Aragorn tried to push his point. "Let me carry him again. I do not mind, and he will only slow you-"
"Strider." Legolas whispered softly "Do not fear for me, my friend."
"Legolas, you cannot stand."
"Indeed, I can." the elf insisted.
"I do not want to lose you." Aragorn didn't know how many times he'd said that, but his heart was too frightened to listen to Legolas' assurance.
Legolas stared a moment at Aragorn, and smiled sadly. "Eail gosta anim, nin mellon."
//do not fear for me, my friend.//
Aragorn tried very hard to let his friend's comfort sink in. He was afraid of losing Legolas, but he couldn't let the fear show. Not now.
Binwen rolled his eyes as the two friends tried to bolster each other's strength. "Yes, yes. On the move!'
Gulrin decided that Legolas would be the one to set the pace, and put him in front. This angered Aragorn deeply, and he had to watch as Legolas tried to make his steady way down the tunnel. Every time the elf stumbled, Aragorn's impulse to leap to his aid earned him another jerk on the rope attached to his hands. This would almost always throw him back a step.
An hour rolled by, and Aragorn couldn't take the deafening silence anymore. For him, for Legolas, he began to sing.
"The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,"
To Aragorn's surprise, Binwen did not shout at him, or demand he stop, and Legolas relaxed ever so slightly. It was enough for Aragorn.
"Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say."
As he sang, memories of his visits to the humble Hobbiton, where he'd first heard the old walking song, ran calmly through his mind. And thoughts of the gray Wizard Gandalf who'd also sung it on occasion during his travels.
Aragorn continued to sing, and slowly Legolas, who'd only heard Gandalf sing pieces of it on occasion, got the gist of the words and tune, and joined in.
The simplicity of the song lifted a heavy load off of Legolas, and he walked with a lighter step, and singing made his spirits rise again.
Aragorn was sure he heard a few dwarves join in the cheerful melody, but once they realized what they were doing, they stopped. Though the dwarves didn't seem to mind the prisoners singing, they didn't seem to want their comrades to notice them joining in a song for haflings.
Aragorn was glad to hear the sound of music bouncing off the tunnel walls. It seemed to make the musty air clean. It cleared the darkness, brightened the torch light, and echoed all the way to where they were destined. Wherever it was.
Aragorn noticed particular joy in Legolas' tone as they reached the end of the song.
"Let them a journey new begin,
But I at last with weary feet
Will turn towards the lighted inn,
My evening-rest and sleep to meet."
Though there was no rest, or sleep waiting for him any time soon, singing about it as if there were hope again, lifted Legolas spirits to the ceiling of the tunnel, penetrated the dirt, and somehow reached for the stars. It was the first time he'd felt close to the heavens he missed so much. And in his mind's eye, he could even see them.
Strangely, it had been harder remembering the starlight when he'd been under the blank heavens. Now, standing hundreds of feet under ground, he could imagine them, and for the first time, he knew they waited for him on the other side of the earth. That they were there. Singing the song millions of feet bellow.
When the song came to an end, the tunnel seemed completely empty. A dark void swirled around them, and the echo of the song palled. Legolas sighed, doing his best to hold onto what was left of the wonderful melody.
Then, off to the side of him, he heard Gulrin's voice.
"The Road goes ever on and on…"
Legolas and Aragorn immediately picked it up again, and beauty was once again restored to the dark tunnel.
Binwen was quite put out that Gulrin had been the one to start singing the halfings' song again, but did not object. Indeed, it had been long since any dwarf down here had found something to sing about…
**********
Once again, they reached the end of their song. It had been almost six times 'round, and by the third time, everyone, save Binwen, was singing. The dwarves' gruff, gravely baritone voices were a sharp contrast to Aragorn's steady melody, and Legolas' soft soprano. The lot of them were slightly tone-deaf as well, but it was enough to keep them all moving.
Finally, they halted, and it took Aragorn a moment to realize why. They'd reached…a dead end? The ranger stared at it hard, but even with his human eyes, it was plain to see they had indeed reached naught but a wall of rock.
Binwen handed Aragorn's rope over to another dwarf, and walked up to the rock wall. Pressing his huge hand to the barrier, he called in a loud, thunderous voice "Servants of Bodruith, uzbad of Gabil Gû ndu! It is I, Binwen!"
Silence. Then, the rocks began to shift and change. A load of them fell away, revealing a crack down the middle of the blockade.
Legolas soon realized what had made them fall away. The wall, that apparently wasn't a wall, was opening. It was indeed a huge door, and as it swung open, light poured through into the dimly lit tunnel.
Four large dwarves stood by the massive gate, and were pushing on it's great doors. As Binwen passed through they nodded assent to their entry. When they saw Legolas, an evil look came over them, and a few were obviously trying to hide a sneer.
Aragorn didn't like any of it. Well, there wasn't much to like, but though this room was full to the brim with torch light, it was, in essence, the darkest place under ground.
Suddenly, Legolas planted his feet in the ground. "No! Please! Do not make me! I cannot go!"
Aragorn rushed forward to his friend, yanking his rope from the dwarf behind him. "Legolas!"
Legolas whirled about, eyes wide, as if he'd noticed the dwarves about him for the first time.
"Legolas? What is wrong?!" Aragorn ran beside his friend, trying to calm him by words, as his body was a little to restrained to touch him.
A loud voice boomed from just ahead of them in the great hall. "He is afraid of me, human."
*eerie music plays* scaaary huh? Well, that was kinda' interesting. I wonder who-*looks around at everyone* WHAT?! I'm not the *only* one with cliffies! *sighs* look at Cassia and Sio! Siri and Sarah! What, you don't believe me?
Okay, tell you what:
1. Go read the most recent post on Seventh Stone (Cassia & Sio)
2. Go read the most recent post on Death or Despair (Siri & Sarah)
3. Re-read this post
4. Realize how much better it is, cliffy-wise, in comparison
5. SO DON'T HURT ME!!! *runs off to find an elf body-guard*