Disclaimer: I do not own LOTR, but Tolkien does!
I STAND ALONE
"I need to go."
Onikunshu stood and slid right through Jade and Firestorm to exit the den and enter the outer forest. It was winter outside and the trees of Mirkwood had shed their orange leaves from the fall. As soon as he had shortly flown about one mile in diameter away from the dragon cave, he changed back into a man and began searching for what he needed.
His plan was to restore Naurglahad's life back to her body. He sensed that her soul was still there, but it was ready to depart for the afterlife at sunset. Looking up at the horizon, it seemed that he only had five hours. After about one half-hour he came upon a dying nightingale in a large settlement that had about twenty different types of beasts other than horses. He passed by dragon eggs in an incubary, large elephantine beasts and a particularly nasty looking creature that looked like a pterodactyl It automatically screechedat him as if it wanted food. He didn't take pity on it, but it wouldn't shut up, so he tossed a slice of meat that he found in a crate. But he took the bird he found with him. He would need it for his plan.
Escaping just as a few elf guards came marching round the corner, he changed back into a dragon and headed south to the glimmering dot that only his dragon eyes could see. It was the Golden Wood that he was heading for. Upon his guess, Naurglahad's body would be heading north to this forest today. It was lucky for him that he could fly swiftly.
By the next half-hour, he had thudded silently near the settlement of the elves. Not wanting to take any risks, he sent a minute spider as his spy to locate where Naurglahad was. He watched it crawl up and into a tree and waited for it to return. As he waited, he checked the time; four hours until sunset. Soon, the spider came back with the information he needed. It told him that she was lying in a locked casket at the exit to the royal headquarters, somewhat eighty paces from the west side of the River Nimrodel.
He departed the spider and took his given directions. He found an assembly of elves gathered at the exit. A lady was making a little speech to the crowd, capturing everyone's attention completely. From high in the trees, he spotted the chestnut casket resting in the center of the crowd; a dark haired elf and a blonde one standing beside it.
"Damn," he thought, "I'm too late for an easy operation.... This is going to be trickier than I assumed it would be."
He watched the two elves depart the lady and mount two horses. The casket was carried after them by more elves. Time was getting short, and so were the chances of him being able to carry out his mission before sunset. As they entered the wild of the forest, he came up with a perfect distraction. He would have to aim for one of the higher praised elves of the team. Transforming back into a dragon, he flew at one of the elves who was alone next to a tree. He inhaled.
Then, he fired.
~*~
Legolas dove at the snow covered ground just in time to avoid a huge blast of flames coming from behind him. Swiftly rolling on his back, he took out his bow and two arrows, aiming them up at a black dragon that had just smashed down into the frost, nearly crushing him. The dragon looked like it was about to trample him to death when it paused and stared at him. It gazed at him curiously, examining his features and his expression. It snorted a few sparks at him, then it prepared to launch another flame at him.
The dragon missed.
Legolas leaped upon the dragon's shoulder and ran down its spine, jumping off its tail just before it raised and nearly cleaved his head off. Then, he slid on his back and fired the two arrows under the tail and directly into its belly. A few drips of blood seeped from both wounds. The dragon turned on him angrily and smashed him into unconsciousness under a nearby tree.
He hadn't recovered for at least twenty-four hours, but he did remember a few things.
He remembered some kind of strange sounds coming from the dragon. He had heard it from somewhere, but he couldn't recall. But in his elvish heart, he could sense that it translated to: "She is yours."
After that, he remembered a dark man smiling at him.
"Legolas.... Legolas.... Wake up, Legolas."
Legolas felt a sense of warmth touch his cheek. It was a bit rough and scratched, but it seemed so smooth to his skin and soft to his heart. He liked the feel. His eyes eased open.
Emeralds lined with jade was the first thing he saw.
"No," he thought harshly, "It is only my mind playing games on me again.... Curse these illusions..."
The green jewels narrowed. The voice that had called him to his wakening spoke again, but this time it wasn't as soothing.
"In case you're wondering," it said, "this isn't the Night of the Living Dead...or whatever you elves call it.... It's not stupid trick thing! Wake up!"
Legolas reluctantly opened his eyes. Everything blurry came into vision again. Elenwe was standing above him, surrounded by a small group of Lorien elves. The star crested sky was night and winter was still upon them. But how cold the weather would be he didn't care for at the moment, for it would be wonderfully warm if what he saw directly above him was true.
Naurglahad held him in her arms with an impatient, though very relieved expression on her face. She smiled at him as she helped him up into a sitting position.
"I thought you had died there for a moment," she chuckled, "What a shame you lived."
Legolas stared at her in disbelief for a while before he looked at her crossly and said, "I thought you had died." Naurglahad rolled her eyes up at a random tree branch some three yards away from them. Suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close, "But I'm glad you lived." They smiled at each other through happiness arched eyes. "Where have you been all this time?"
She sighed as she watched a single snowflake fall from the stars and rest on the now selected, un-random branch. "In the afterlife, resting in the Riches, but I told Them that I would rather be down here rather than up there in Paradise," She leaned her forehead against his, "For I have my own Paradise with you."
Their lips met in another gentle caress as a single shooting star stroke across the night sky which lightened in a dawning pink in the announcement of sunrise.
~*~
After the day had passed and the Lorien elves had returned home, Naurglahad winked a goodnight at Legolas as she drew into her own time alone. She couldn't stop smiling. But as she lay her head upon her blankets to fall asleep, a silver shadow darted over the moon and dropped an envelope at her side. Picking it up, she found that her name in dragon symbols were written. She tore the letter open. It was all written in the dragon script. In translation, it read:
Dear Naurglahad,
I want to you to forget everthing that has ever happened to you in your past life. You are a curse to the Ryunarasu clan, and as Lord, I forbid that you make contact with any Ryunarasu ever again. I have told your siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins that you have tragically died in an avalanche and that they do not seek for your body. Fade from us.
To re-enforce this, you cannot become a full fledged dragon again. Your chain's genetic system has been reversed. Now, you become your mother with it off, and yourself with it on. The chain has been deleted. It cannot come back, and no one knows how the chain was made. You shall be stuck the way you are forever. I have also blocked up each dimension traveler so that it cannot teleport to Center-earth.
"Middle-earth," thought Naurglahad, "My father is aging. Oh god."
Do not worry about me. I will be off to find people that I have to get in touch with... one last time.
Naurglahad raised an eyebrow. It was seldom that her father put spaces like that in his text.
If the elves give you trouble, don't call and don't hesitate on whipping a knife on them.
-Onikunshu
PS- That other elf has passed my approval. Do what you please with him. And remember: fade. I don't care if it scares you or not. Fade from Ryunarasu.
"It's alright father," she said to herself, watching the silver shadow dive into a clump of trees, "I'm not afraid of fading."
I STAND ALONE
"I need to go."
Onikunshu stood and slid right through Jade and Firestorm to exit the den and enter the outer forest. It was winter outside and the trees of Mirkwood had shed their orange leaves from the fall. As soon as he had shortly flown about one mile in diameter away from the dragon cave, he changed back into a man and began searching for what he needed.
His plan was to restore Naurglahad's life back to her body. He sensed that her soul was still there, but it was ready to depart for the afterlife at sunset. Looking up at the horizon, it seemed that he only had five hours. After about one half-hour he came upon a dying nightingale in a large settlement that had about twenty different types of beasts other than horses. He passed by dragon eggs in an incubary, large elephantine beasts and a particularly nasty looking creature that looked like a pterodactyl It automatically screechedat him as if it wanted food. He didn't take pity on it, but it wouldn't shut up, so he tossed a slice of meat that he found in a crate. But he took the bird he found with him. He would need it for his plan.
Escaping just as a few elf guards came marching round the corner, he changed back into a dragon and headed south to the glimmering dot that only his dragon eyes could see. It was the Golden Wood that he was heading for. Upon his guess, Naurglahad's body would be heading north to this forest today. It was lucky for him that he could fly swiftly.
By the next half-hour, he had thudded silently near the settlement of the elves. Not wanting to take any risks, he sent a minute spider as his spy to locate where Naurglahad was. He watched it crawl up and into a tree and waited for it to return. As he waited, he checked the time; four hours until sunset. Soon, the spider came back with the information he needed. It told him that she was lying in a locked casket at the exit to the royal headquarters, somewhat eighty paces from the west side of the River Nimrodel.
He departed the spider and took his given directions. He found an assembly of elves gathered at the exit. A lady was making a little speech to the crowd, capturing everyone's attention completely. From high in the trees, he spotted the chestnut casket resting in the center of the crowd; a dark haired elf and a blonde one standing beside it.
"Damn," he thought, "I'm too late for an easy operation.... This is going to be trickier than I assumed it would be."
He watched the two elves depart the lady and mount two horses. The casket was carried after them by more elves. Time was getting short, and so were the chances of him being able to carry out his mission before sunset. As they entered the wild of the forest, he came up with a perfect distraction. He would have to aim for one of the higher praised elves of the team. Transforming back into a dragon, he flew at one of the elves who was alone next to a tree. He inhaled.
Then, he fired.
~*~
Legolas dove at the snow covered ground just in time to avoid a huge blast of flames coming from behind him. Swiftly rolling on his back, he took out his bow and two arrows, aiming them up at a black dragon that had just smashed down into the frost, nearly crushing him. The dragon looked like it was about to trample him to death when it paused and stared at him. It gazed at him curiously, examining his features and his expression. It snorted a few sparks at him, then it prepared to launch another flame at him.
The dragon missed.
Legolas leaped upon the dragon's shoulder and ran down its spine, jumping off its tail just before it raised and nearly cleaved his head off. Then, he slid on his back and fired the two arrows under the tail and directly into its belly. A few drips of blood seeped from both wounds. The dragon turned on him angrily and smashed him into unconsciousness under a nearby tree.
He hadn't recovered for at least twenty-four hours, but he did remember a few things.
He remembered some kind of strange sounds coming from the dragon. He had heard it from somewhere, but he couldn't recall. But in his elvish heart, he could sense that it translated to: "She is yours."
After that, he remembered a dark man smiling at him.
"Legolas.... Legolas.... Wake up, Legolas."
Legolas felt a sense of warmth touch his cheek. It was a bit rough and scratched, but it seemed so smooth to his skin and soft to his heart. He liked the feel. His eyes eased open.
Emeralds lined with jade was the first thing he saw.
"No," he thought harshly, "It is only my mind playing games on me again.... Curse these illusions..."
The green jewels narrowed. The voice that had called him to his wakening spoke again, but this time it wasn't as soothing.
"In case you're wondering," it said, "this isn't the Night of the Living Dead...or whatever you elves call it.... It's not stupid trick thing! Wake up!"
Legolas reluctantly opened his eyes. Everything blurry came into vision again. Elenwe was standing above him, surrounded by a small group of Lorien elves. The star crested sky was night and winter was still upon them. But how cold the weather would be he didn't care for at the moment, for it would be wonderfully warm if what he saw directly above him was true.
Naurglahad held him in her arms with an impatient, though very relieved expression on her face. She smiled at him as she helped him up into a sitting position.
"I thought you had died there for a moment," she chuckled, "What a shame you lived."
Legolas stared at her in disbelief for a while before he looked at her crossly and said, "I thought you had died." Naurglahad rolled her eyes up at a random tree branch some three yards away from them. Suddenly, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close, "But I'm glad you lived." They smiled at each other through happiness arched eyes. "Where have you been all this time?"
She sighed as she watched a single snowflake fall from the stars and rest on the now selected, un-random branch. "In the afterlife, resting in the Riches, but I told Them that I would rather be down here rather than up there in Paradise," She leaned her forehead against his, "For I have my own Paradise with you."
Their lips met in another gentle caress as a single shooting star stroke across the night sky which lightened in a dawning pink in the announcement of sunrise.
~*~
After the day had passed and the Lorien elves had returned home, Naurglahad winked a goodnight at Legolas as she drew into her own time alone. She couldn't stop smiling. But as she lay her head upon her blankets to fall asleep, a silver shadow darted over the moon and dropped an envelope at her side. Picking it up, she found that her name in dragon symbols were written. She tore the letter open. It was all written in the dragon script. In translation, it read:
Dear Naurglahad,
I want to you to forget everthing that has ever happened to you in your past life. You are a curse to the Ryunarasu clan, and as Lord, I forbid that you make contact with any Ryunarasu ever again. I have told your siblings, uncles, aunts, and cousins that you have tragically died in an avalanche and that they do not seek for your body. Fade from us.
To re-enforce this, you cannot become a full fledged dragon again. Your chain's genetic system has been reversed. Now, you become your mother with it off, and yourself with it on. The chain has been deleted. It cannot come back, and no one knows how the chain was made. You shall be stuck the way you are forever. I have also blocked up each dimension traveler so that it cannot teleport to Center-earth.
"Middle-earth," thought Naurglahad, "My father is aging. Oh god."
Do not worry about me. I will be off to find people that I have to get in touch with... one last time.
Naurglahad raised an eyebrow. It was seldom that her father put spaces like that in his text.
If the elves give you trouble, don't call and don't hesitate on whipping a knife on them.
-Onikunshu
PS- That other elf has passed my approval. Do what you please with him. And remember: fade. I don't care if it scares you or not. Fade from Ryunarasu.
"It's alright father," she said to herself, watching the silver shadow dive into a clump of trees, "I'm not afraid of fading."