The remaining elves of the patrol and Legolas stalked back into the city.
They were drenched in blood, but not their own. Their appearance was rather
shocking, and all the other inhabitants of the city parted a path as they
walked by. Many people became curious to the small, black creature that two
of them hauled.
Tancal lead the way and his face was set as stoic. He refused to show that he was hurt, but on the inside he was about to fall apart.
They headed to the house of Elrond, and once they arrived Tancal and Legolas immediately headed in. One of the elves stood in front of the door so no one else could enter. This was a sign that there was importance in someone's meeting with Elrond. The others took the unconscious orc to a room where he could not escape.
A servant saw Tancal and Legolas coming, and they exchanged a few words. The servant told them to wait, and that Elrond would be down in a few moments. He disappeared up the stairs, and Tancal started to pace around the room. They were completely oblivious to the lonely figure sitting in one of the dark corners.
After a few moments of complete silence, Legolas tried to calm him.
"I know that this is not something pleasant to hear, but you should not worry about what happened to Nuinwath. It would be best it you did not dwell."
Tancal stopped and stared at him. There was a strange look on his face, and Legolas wondered if he should continue in trying to help.
"There was nothing you could do, Tancal."
With that statement, Tancal became furious and lunged at him. His hand came to Legolas's neck and he shoved him roughly onto the table. Candles, flowers, and plates clashed and shattered onto the floor.
"How dare you say that I could do nothing! Of course I could have! I was this far away from him," he said as he made a motion with his free hand. Then he slammed it down onto Legolas's chest and grabbed a handful of his dirty and bloody tunic. "I saved you, did I not?"
He paused with a harsh look on his face. "And now that it crosses my mind, I wish that I would have saved him instead of you."
There was an uncomfortable silence after that. Legolas searched the fuming elf's face wondering what he was going to do. His eyebrows were furrowed and his face was contorted with anger.
Legolas was trying to think of something to say when Tancal's grip tightened on his neck.
"What are you doing?" he choked out.
"It should have been you, not him," he said through his gritted teeth.
Legolas tried to peel Tancal's hand from his neck, and fought to try and push him away, but Tancal's other hand held him down.
"Whatever you are planning on doing, you will not get away with it," he said.
"And how do you figure that, Legolas?" Tancal snapped.
"There is a witness," he said as he nodded towards the corner of the room behind Tancal. Linteanna stood with her arms crossed with a look of concern on her face. Her eyes pierced Tancal's, but she didn't advance towards him.
"Please do not hurt him," she said as she looked at her brother and then to Tancal's fingers that were wrapped around his neck.
When he heard her voice, he almost melted and he obeyed her.
He let go of Legolas's throat, and stormed off. Legolas was relieved by the air that he was able to take in, and he coughed as he caught his breath. His throat was immediately sore. He rubbed the area that Tancal had latched on to as he stared at Linteanna. He didn't want to fight back, because he knew that Tancal was acting out of emotions. He paused and thought about what he said that made him so angry. He didn't do it intentionally. He was about to go after him, but his sister stopped him.
"You should not provoke him. I do not think you are his most favorite person right now…" She looked at his torn and tattered attire and sighed.
"You cannot meet Lord Elrond looking the way you do," she whispered.
She tried to wipe away the blood and dirt that was randomly streaked across his face.
"It is alright. Go…Tancal needs you. I am afraid his mentor has passed," he whispered back.
She frightfully paused and stared at him. Her face grew sorrowful, and she brought her hand to her mouth. "Oh no…" she sighed, "That is a good idea. You will tell Elrond everything, right?"
"Yes, of course," he smiled and he embraced his sister, thankful that she was safe. Then she slid away from him and headed out of the door.
** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** ***** *** ** ***
Tancal was walking extremely fast. He stopped at the tilila tree, fighting the stinging tears. He angrily kicked the stump. He thought about what he had to do and the horrible truth hit him. He slumped up against the tree and silently cried.
He soon stopped because he heard someone coming. He stood and wiped his face as Linteanna stopped right in front of him. He avoided eye contact with her because he knew that his eyes were red.
Linteanna noticed that he was trying to conceal his feelings, and she was scraping her mind for something to say.
"It will be ok, Tancal," she said as she reached an arm out to him. He pulled away from her touch and firmly said, "No."
His lips were quivering because he was trying to hold everything back. Tears were building again in his eyes and he looked down to the ground. I cannot show weakness, I have to be strong just like Nuinwath, he thought. The voice in his head stopped dead, allowing the name to do its work. Just the pure mention of that name made him feel sick. He just backed away from her, and sat up against the trunk of the tilila tree.
Linteanna stood confused, "Why are you hiding how you feel? What is there to be afraid of?"
He opened his mouth as if to defend his reasoning for not mourning, but lost his courage and covered his face. *His shoulders shook, and he gasped behind his hands. He started to cry, and not quietly this time. Tears and sobs fell from his eyes and lips. He slumped back once again against the tree.
Linteanna was moved, but she suddenly became emotional. When Tancal began to sob, she couldn't hold back. She sat down next to Tancal, and pulled him to her, comforting him gently, while whispering words of encouragement into his ears.
"Ssshh, it's alright," she soothed, as she cradled the distraught elf in her arms. She let his head rest on her shoulder and she rubbed his back to try and calm him down. After numerous moments of silence, his shaking had stopped and he felt relieved. He was so thankful that Linteanna was there, and he didn't know how to even start to describe how much it meant to him. He hugged her and dug his face into her neck. Remembering how she smelled was therapeutic, and for the moment it cleared his head of what had happened. He focused on the rich and spicy smell of cinnamon that engulfed his nose. He never realized it before, but now it was distinct. He sighed and savored the lively scent of his Linteanna.
Tancal moved his head back to her shoulder, but the dampness of her shirt made him divert his eyes down. His sorrow had made a large blotch on the material. He started to apologize, but she cut him off politely in mid- sentence.
"It is fine, Tancal. It is just your tears. They will hurt me not." She gave him a slight smile, but one was not returned.
Tancal turned away, and Linteanna thought that he was about to leave. But he didn't. He leaned his body against hers, so that now all of his weight was shifted on her. She didn't mind though. She welcomed it, because he was finding comfort. She wanted him to.
They didn't say anything for a while. Nothing needed to be said. Their hands were clasped together, and Linteanna squeezed them as she began to hum a particular melody. As Tancal recognized what it was, he closed his eyes tightly before any tears could fall, but it was too late.
Linteanna remembered every word from the song that Tancal had sang to her, the one Nuinwath had taught Tancal.
He sat up and turned to her, squeezed her hand back and finally smiled. She wiped the tears from his face and stood.
"Come, let us go elsewhere," she said. He stood in agreement, but he had forgotten about his injury. He was reminded when he moved too fast. He winced and held his right shoulder with his left hand. Linteanna then noticed how weary and tired he really was. She looked to his shoulder and saw that there was a dark pool of blood present on the fabric.
"And elsewhere shall be Lord Elrond's," she said as she helped him walk. Tancal was becoming considerably weaker because of both wound and grief. They were affecting him greatly.
They made their way to the soldier's barracks in the main building of the city, This was where Tancal had stayed for as long as he could remember. His bed was all the way down the wide corridor, the very last one on the right side. He enjoyed it, because he thought that he had the best view, and it was closest to the doors.
As Tancal and Linteanna slowly walked to his bed, they noticed that no one else was there. It was strange for such a large place to be so barren.
When they were almost there, Tancal stopped. They stood at the foot of the second to the last bed. Nuinwath had always stayed beside him.
"Let me sit here," Tancal said. Linteanna nodded and guided him down onto the bed. She softly leaned him back to where he was fully lying down. She looked down to the floor to see a small water basin with a rag. She dipped a finger in the water to find that it was quite cool. Linteanna then looked to Tancal and took notice of his flushed face. She frowned and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. He was burning up.
"I need warm water to clean the wound, and while I go and retrieve that, you stay here and relax as much as you can," she said as she placed the damp, cool rag across his head.
Linteanna picked up the water basin and stepped outside. It was another one of those days where the temperature was just right. There was barely a cloud in the vast blue sky. The sun was shining through the trees, spreading its warmth to all in its reach. It seemed peaceful, but in all actuality – it wasn't.
Linteanna wished that she could wrap some of the sun's power up and give it to Tancal. For strength, light, and hope. She never realized how much she cared for him until now. All that mattered was him.
Instead of traveling all the way to the river, she stopped by a small spring. She knew that the river water would be considerably cooler than the spring. She was correct in her judgement. She filled the basin and hurried back to the barracks.
As Linteanna walked back through the doors, what she saw made her heart stop. Tancal was sitting up, and he had a sword in his hands. He was studying it, tracing the blade up and down with his fingers.
What is he doing, she thought to herself. She quickly stepped in front of him and placed the water on the floor. He was focusing only on the blade itself, and that was beginning to scare Linteanna.
"Tancal, what are you planning to do with that?" Her voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He found her tone to be slightly insulting. His brows furrowed, and he replied, "What do you think I am going to do?"
She reached for the sword. "I do not think this is the best time for you to be handling weapons." His grip tightened, and he was not about to let it go.
"Whatever you have in your mind, you are wrong. This sword…it is," he paused, "- was…it was Nuinwath's most prized possession. He never fought with it for he loved it so. He did not want it to ever be tainted by the blood of his enemies. He always claimed that no enemy would ever be worthy enough to be slain by such a perfect blade. He kept it under his bed, and now I intend to keep it for him."
She let go of the blade in relief and sighed. "Raise your arms so I can remove your shirt."
Tancal placed the sword on his own bed and proceeded to raise his arms as she commanded. The wound was barely bleeding now, but the blood was beginning to dry. That meant the fabric of his tunic would be sticking to his skin. Linteanna took note of that, and as carefully as she could, she pulled the shirt over his head.
Even though the arrow was small, it had made a mess. Its removal seemed to do the most damage. She pressed around the top of his shoulder and collarbone to see if the force of the arrow had broken anything. Then she inspected his back. There was bruising all around his shoulder blade, but thankfully the arrow didn't puncture all the way through.
Linteanna brought her eyes back to the wound itself. Tancal painfully gasped and winced, as the clean, warm water seemed to sear the open flesh.
"It is good that the arrow was not left in. I do not think there will be any infection," she said.
Tancal nodded, "It was removed quickly. And the odd thing is, it hurt more coming out than it did actually going in."
"How could you have done that by yourself? You must have been brave," Linteanna said as she shook her head. She glanced at his face for a moment and noticed a horrid bruise at his temple. She hadn't seen it before. Maybe his hair was covering it, she thought to herself. "Tancal, do you recall being hit in the head? Or falling?"
"What do you mean by that?" he said, as his voice became slightly defensive.
"Nothing, silly. You have a bruise." She pressed the area, and she expected it to be tender, but he gave no reaction. She went back to his shoulder.
"Ah, well it does not hurt. Pay no attention to it. About the arrow though – I was not the one who pulled it. Legolas did."
Linteanna stopped cleaning the wound and looked at him. She silently thought, If Legolas had helped him, then why did he react that way to him earlier?
"That was certainly nice of him."
Tancal grunted, "And I bet he enjoyed it too."
Linteanna's jaw dropped and she laughed. She playfully pushed him, forgetting about his injury momentarily. She apologized through small giggles as the push sent him into stings of pain.
'Tancal, it is not Legolas's nature to hurt someone intentionally," she argued.
"Is that right?" he said. "Then what was that by the river? He practically attacked me, and I thought he was about to make me go bald!"
Linteanna laughed once again and shook her head, "He is over-protective of me. He saw you as an attacker, and he stepped in. That is all. You should let it go." Her face turned serious and she asked, "About earlier, in the main hall…where your intentions really to kill my brother?"
Tancal looked at her, and ultimately felt sorry for what he had done. He knew he had snapped. "I don't think so. I was trying to make myself feel better somehow. And Legolas was the only person that I could vent on at the moment. Plus…he is not my most favorite person anyway," he explained.
Linteanna smiled, "Yes, I know. Maybe you should try and talk to him. I mean, have a decent conversation without attacking each other."
Tancal grinned at her and asked, "Is that possible?"
They were finally laughing together once again. Tancal was about to take advantage of the moment and lean in for a kiss, but two small figures standing behind Linteanna prevented that.
* I used those two sentences from someone else, from Celebrethil. She's awesome, and I just wanted to use those. They were perfect for the explanation… ehh, just saying that wasn't me.
Tancal lead the way and his face was set as stoic. He refused to show that he was hurt, but on the inside he was about to fall apart.
They headed to the house of Elrond, and once they arrived Tancal and Legolas immediately headed in. One of the elves stood in front of the door so no one else could enter. This was a sign that there was importance in someone's meeting with Elrond. The others took the unconscious orc to a room where he could not escape.
A servant saw Tancal and Legolas coming, and they exchanged a few words. The servant told them to wait, and that Elrond would be down in a few moments. He disappeared up the stairs, and Tancal started to pace around the room. They were completely oblivious to the lonely figure sitting in one of the dark corners.
After a few moments of complete silence, Legolas tried to calm him.
"I know that this is not something pleasant to hear, but you should not worry about what happened to Nuinwath. It would be best it you did not dwell."
Tancal stopped and stared at him. There was a strange look on his face, and Legolas wondered if he should continue in trying to help.
"There was nothing you could do, Tancal."
With that statement, Tancal became furious and lunged at him. His hand came to Legolas's neck and he shoved him roughly onto the table. Candles, flowers, and plates clashed and shattered onto the floor.
"How dare you say that I could do nothing! Of course I could have! I was this far away from him," he said as he made a motion with his free hand. Then he slammed it down onto Legolas's chest and grabbed a handful of his dirty and bloody tunic. "I saved you, did I not?"
He paused with a harsh look on his face. "And now that it crosses my mind, I wish that I would have saved him instead of you."
There was an uncomfortable silence after that. Legolas searched the fuming elf's face wondering what he was going to do. His eyebrows were furrowed and his face was contorted with anger.
Legolas was trying to think of something to say when Tancal's grip tightened on his neck.
"What are you doing?" he choked out.
"It should have been you, not him," he said through his gritted teeth.
Legolas tried to peel Tancal's hand from his neck, and fought to try and push him away, but Tancal's other hand held him down.
"Whatever you are planning on doing, you will not get away with it," he said.
"And how do you figure that, Legolas?" Tancal snapped.
"There is a witness," he said as he nodded towards the corner of the room behind Tancal. Linteanna stood with her arms crossed with a look of concern on her face. Her eyes pierced Tancal's, but she didn't advance towards him.
"Please do not hurt him," she said as she looked at her brother and then to Tancal's fingers that were wrapped around his neck.
When he heard her voice, he almost melted and he obeyed her.
He let go of Legolas's throat, and stormed off. Legolas was relieved by the air that he was able to take in, and he coughed as he caught his breath. His throat was immediately sore. He rubbed the area that Tancal had latched on to as he stared at Linteanna. He didn't want to fight back, because he knew that Tancal was acting out of emotions. He paused and thought about what he said that made him so angry. He didn't do it intentionally. He was about to go after him, but his sister stopped him.
"You should not provoke him. I do not think you are his most favorite person right now…" She looked at his torn and tattered attire and sighed.
"You cannot meet Lord Elrond looking the way you do," she whispered.
She tried to wipe away the blood and dirt that was randomly streaked across his face.
"It is alright. Go…Tancal needs you. I am afraid his mentor has passed," he whispered back.
She frightfully paused and stared at him. Her face grew sorrowful, and she brought her hand to her mouth. "Oh no…" she sighed, "That is a good idea. You will tell Elrond everything, right?"
"Yes, of course," he smiled and he embraced his sister, thankful that she was safe. Then she slid away from him and headed out of the door.
** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** *** ** ***** *** ** ***
Tancal was walking extremely fast. He stopped at the tilila tree, fighting the stinging tears. He angrily kicked the stump. He thought about what he had to do and the horrible truth hit him. He slumped up against the tree and silently cried.
He soon stopped because he heard someone coming. He stood and wiped his face as Linteanna stopped right in front of him. He avoided eye contact with her because he knew that his eyes were red.
Linteanna noticed that he was trying to conceal his feelings, and she was scraping her mind for something to say.
"It will be ok, Tancal," she said as she reached an arm out to him. He pulled away from her touch and firmly said, "No."
His lips were quivering because he was trying to hold everything back. Tears were building again in his eyes and he looked down to the ground. I cannot show weakness, I have to be strong just like Nuinwath, he thought. The voice in his head stopped dead, allowing the name to do its work. Just the pure mention of that name made him feel sick. He just backed away from her, and sat up against the trunk of the tilila tree.
Linteanna stood confused, "Why are you hiding how you feel? What is there to be afraid of?"
He opened his mouth as if to defend his reasoning for not mourning, but lost his courage and covered his face. *His shoulders shook, and he gasped behind his hands. He started to cry, and not quietly this time. Tears and sobs fell from his eyes and lips. He slumped back once again against the tree.
Linteanna was moved, but she suddenly became emotional. When Tancal began to sob, she couldn't hold back. She sat down next to Tancal, and pulled him to her, comforting him gently, while whispering words of encouragement into his ears.
"Ssshh, it's alright," she soothed, as she cradled the distraught elf in her arms. She let his head rest on her shoulder and she rubbed his back to try and calm him down. After numerous moments of silence, his shaking had stopped and he felt relieved. He was so thankful that Linteanna was there, and he didn't know how to even start to describe how much it meant to him. He hugged her and dug his face into her neck. Remembering how she smelled was therapeutic, and for the moment it cleared his head of what had happened. He focused on the rich and spicy smell of cinnamon that engulfed his nose. He never realized it before, but now it was distinct. He sighed and savored the lively scent of his Linteanna.
Tancal moved his head back to her shoulder, but the dampness of her shirt made him divert his eyes down. His sorrow had made a large blotch on the material. He started to apologize, but she cut him off politely in mid- sentence.
"It is fine, Tancal. It is just your tears. They will hurt me not." She gave him a slight smile, but one was not returned.
Tancal turned away, and Linteanna thought that he was about to leave. But he didn't. He leaned his body against hers, so that now all of his weight was shifted on her. She didn't mind though. She welcomed it, because he was finding comfort. She wanted him to.
They didn't say anything for a while. Nothing needed to be said. Their hands were clasped together, and Linteanna squeezed them as she began to hum a particular melody. As Tancal recognized what it was, he closed his eyes tightly before any tears could fall, but it was too late.
Linteanna remembered every word from the song that Tancal had sang to her, the one Nuinwath had taught Tancal.
He sat up and turned to her, squeezed her hand back and finally smiled. She wiped the tears from his face and stood.
"Come, let us go elsewhere," she said. He stood in agreement, but he had forgotten about his injury. He was reminded when he moved too fast. He winced and held his right shoulder with his left hand. Linteanna then noticed how weary and tired he really was. She looked to his shoulder and saw that there was a dark pool of blood present on the fabric.
"And elsewhere shall be Lord Elrond's," she said as she helped him walk. Tancal was becoming considerably weaker because of both wound and grief. They were affecting him greatly.
They made their way to the soldier's barracks in the main building of the city, This was where Tancal had stayed for as long as he could remember. His bed was all the way down the wide corridor, the very last one on the right side. He enjoyed it, because he thought that he had the best view, and it was closest to the doors.
As Tancal and Linteanna slowly walked to his bed, they noticed that no one else was there. It was strange for such a large place to be so barren.
When they were almost there, Tancal stopped. They stood at the foot of the second to the last bed. Nuinwath had always stayed beside him.
"Let me sit here," Tancal said. Linteanna nodded and guided him down onto the bed. She softly leaned him back to where he was fully lying down. She looked down to the floor to see a small water basin with a rag. She dipped a finger in the water to find that it was quite cool. Linteanna then looked to Tancal and took notice of his flushed face. She frowned and placed the back of her hand on his forehead. He was burning up.
"I need warm water to clean the wound, and while I go and retrieve that, you stay here and relax as much as you can," she said as she placed the damp, cool rag across his head.
Linteanna picked up the water basin and stepped outside. It was another one of those days where the temperature was just right. There was barely a cloud in the vast blue sky. The sun was shining through the trees, spreading its warmth to all in its reach. It seemed peaceful, but in all actuality – it wasn't.
Linteanna wished that she could wrap some of the sun's power up and give it to Tancal. For strength, light, and hope. She never realized how much she cared for him until now. All that mattered was him.
Instead of traveling all the way to the river, she stopped by a small spring. She knew that the river water would be considerably cooler than the spring. She was correct in her judgement. She filled the basin and hurried back to the barracks.
As Linteanna walked back through the doors, what she saw made her heart stop. Tancal was sitting up, and he had a sword in his hands. He was studying it, tracing the blade up and down with his fingers.
What is he doing, she thought to herself. She quickly stepped in front of him and placed the water on the floor. He was focusing only on the blade itself, and that was beginning to scare Linteanna.
"Tancal, what are you planning to do with that?" Her voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He found her tone to be slightly insulting. His brows furrowed, and he replied, "What do you think I am going to do?"
She reached for the sword. "I do not think this is the best time for you to be handling weapons." His grip tightened, and he was not about to let it go.
"Whatever you have in your mind, you are wrong. This sword…it is," he paused, "- was…it was Nuinwath's most prized possession. He never fought with it for he loved it so. He did not want it to ever be tainted by the blood of his enemies. He always claimed that no enemy would ever be worthy enough to be slain by such a perfect blade. He kept it under his bed, and now I intend to keep it for him."
She let go of the blade in relief and sighed. "Raise your arms so I can remove your shirt."
Tancal placed the sword on his own bed and proceeded to raise his arms as she commanded. The wound was barely bleeding now, but the blood was beginning to dry. That meant the fabric of his tunic would be sticking to his skin. Linteanna took note of that, and as carefully as she could, she pulled the shirt over his head.
Even though the arrow was small, it had made a mess. Its removal seemed to do the most damage. She pressed around the top of his shoulder and collarbone to see if the force of the arrow had broken anything. Then she inspected his back. There was bruising all around his shoulder blade, but thankfully the arrow didn't puncture all the way through.
Linteanna brought her eyes back to the wound itself. Tancal painfully gasped and winced, as the clean, warm water seemed to sear the open flesh.
"It is good that the arrow was not left in. I do not think there will be any infection," she said.
Tancal nodded, "It was removed quickly. And the odd thing is, it hurt more coming out than it did actually going in."
"How could you have done that by yourself? You must have been brave," Linteanna said as she shook her head. She glanced at his face for a moment and noticed a horrid bruise at his temple. She hadn't seen it before. Maybe his hair was covering it, she thought to herself. "Tancal, do you recall being hit in the head? Or falling?"
"What do you mean by that?" he said, as his voice became slightly defensive.
"Nothing, silly. You have a bruise." She pressed the area, and she expected it to be tender, but he gave no reaction. She went back to his shoulder.
"Ah, well it does not hurt. Pay no attention to it. About the arrow though – I was not the one who pulled it. Legolas did."
Linteanna stopped cleaning the wound and looked at him. She silently thought, If Legolas had helped him, then why did he react that way to him earlier?
"That was certainly nice of him."
Tancal grunted, "And I bet he enjoyed it too."
Linteanna's jaw dropped and she laughed. She playfully pushed him, forgetting about his injury momentarily. She apologized through small giggles as the push sent him into stings of pain.
'Tancal, it is not Legolas's nature to hurt someone intentionally," she argued.
"Is that right?" he said. "Then what was that by the river? He practically attacked me, and I thought he was about to make me go bald!"
Linteanna laughed once again and shook her head, "He is over-protective of me. He saw you as an attacker, and he stepped in. That is all. You should let it go." Her face turned serious and she asked, "About earlier, in the main hall…where your intentions really to kill my brother?"
Tancal looked at her, and ultimately felt sorry for what he had done. He knew he had snapped. "I don't think so. I was trying to make myself feel better somehow. And Legolas was the only person that I could vent on at the moment. Plus…he is not my most favorite person anyway," he explained.
Linteanna smiled, "Yes, I know. Maybe you should try and talk to him. I mean, have a decent conversation without attacking each other."
Tancal grinned at her and asked, "Is that possible?"
They were finally laughing together once again. Tancal was about to take advantage of the moment and lean in for a kiss, but two small figures standing behind Linteanna prevented that.
* I used those two sentences from someone else, from Celebrethil. She's awesome, and I just wanted to use those. They were perfect for the explanation… ehh, just saying that wasn't me.