Disclaimer: LotR original characters belong to the master J.R.R. Tolkien and the other characters belong to me… this fic is just a work of a female fan… nothing else

Author's Notes: This story is slightly AU… I don't know when to place this story in the actual LotR timeline… how about if I say this fic is centuries (eek!) before the start of The Hobbit??? Nope… it won't work… okay… it's an AU then… hehehe… kinda lousy, I know…

On Green Leaves and Blue Waters

By: nagi_silvermoon

Chapter 3 Disclosures

He was running. He was running as fast as he can. He wanted to get away from them. He knew that if he got caught, his life would end. He had to get away as fast as he could. He kept on running blindly, not paying attention to where his agile feet were taking him. He did not care. Just as long as he could escape, he wouldn't care.

Then, without notice, he tripped. He fell on the soft grass with a quiet thud. Panicking, he tried to get up. Fear had already taken over his senses.

"I'm a goner…" He whispered sharply. He continued to struggle without gaining any success.

Out of thin air, he felt a sharp and cold steel touch his cheek. He turned his head and gasped at what he saw.

Two bright eyes were looking at him with intent. Unable to move, he tried to close his eyes. But even in the darkness, the two eyes kept staring at him threateningly.

"Give it to me…" It hissed.

He shook his head in protest. He fought the magic that was trying to bend his will into submitting to what was being asked of him. He had to be strong.

"Give it to me…" It continued to hiss.

He continued to object, shaking his head vehemently. He won't give in.

"GIVE IT TO ME…"

"NO!"

Sweating hard, he woke from his nightmare just to wince at the pain he felt from his shoulder. But as to why it wasn't as painful, he did not know. He stared at his left shoulder for answers, and all he saw was his arrow wound already treated.

The next thing that his mind told him to do was to survey his surroundings. By the looks of things, he concluded that he was indeed in Rivendell. In whose house he did not care. Just as long as he knew that he was safe, he did not wish to bother himself with anything more.

He was about to go back to sleep when he heard hushed footsteps outside his room. He stared at the door as he anticipated the owner. She appeared a few seconds later with her brothers Elladan and Elrohir in tow. He sighed and braced himself for what, he thinks, could be considered the greatest scolding ever done to an elf.

She seemed like a giant looming over an ant. She towered him in his position. But he did not cower from her tallness. He cringed at what was yet to come.

"Why, oh, why are you here in Rivendell and not in Mirkwood?" Arwen Evenstar raised the question he had been hoping not to hear. Her voice had that irate timbre in it. But as it echoed unbearably over his mind, he noted the worried intonation mixed in it. Somehow, he knew that she wasn't really mad. "Tell me everything that I deserve to know right now, before I lose my temper."

"Arwen, I-"

"You had me worried for two days straight, you elf!" She wailed. She fanned herself with her hands, trying to hide that angry flush that crept on her exquisite face.

Elrohir tried to calm his sister down by leading her to a chair by the wall. Elladan, on the other hand, sat on the bed and faced his race kin.

"What's happening, Legolas?" He asked. "Spill."

Legolas, without any choice at all, lunged into relaying his story to Elrond's children.

"A month ago a servant brought me a letter," he began somberly, the three intent on what he was narrating. "It was addressed to me, Legolas Greenleaf, in elvish.

"I was shocked to receive a letter. I was never addressed one in my life. I thought, though sick this may sound, it was a love letter written by some maiden in the folk, or an invitation to a wedding. It looked elegant and I was so intrigued by what it contained, so I opened it eagerly.

"Instead of getting what I had presumed, however, I received a threat."

Arwen gasped. Elladan and Elrohir stared at him in alarm.

"Threat?" Elladan asked.

"A threat," the prince confirmed. "It said: hand us your priceless treasure if you fear for your life.

"If I fear for my life?" Legolas asked no one. "I do not even know what these folk wanted."

Elladan stood up and paced the room. He turned towards Legolas and eyed him curiously. "Didn't they say that they were looking for 'your treasure'?"

"I know," Legolas admitted. "But as to which priceless treasure they were pertaining to I do not know. I own many treasures. There is my bow for one, and my elvish sword. I even have golden brooches and all those kinds of stuff my mother and father gave me for certain occasions.

"I ignored their threat, for it did not disturb me even just a little. A week passed by and another letter came. It was the exact same letter with the exact same message. Like the first one, I ignored it.

"Another week passed and I received the third letter. This time, it had a different message. Hand us the treasure if you don't want anything to happen to your father."

"They threatened King Thranduil?" Elrohir gasped. "Didn't you tell your father about these letters?"

"No," Legolas replied regretfully. "I thought that it was just a nasty prank. My father had been busy with many things lately that I dare not bother him with such petty letters."

"But he'd give you just even just a little assistance," Arwen argued. She was already calm by then. But Legolas's lack of action was slowly leading her to another fit of ranting. "You're his son. Surely he'd care for his son's life even if it was just a paltry joke."

"But he had been suffering from stress lately," Legolas objected in defense. "A son wouldn't dare bother his father if he is only going to tell him about anonymous threats, especially if that son was capable enough of taking care of his own."

"Taking care of your own?" She repeated scornfully. "If Legolas Greenleaf knew how to take care of himself, then why is he bedridden with an injured shoulder? You almost died back there, and you go on berating me that you know how to watch out for yourself? That is so sick of you."

"You don't even know a thing about my father, Arwen," he countered, completely angry with the daughter of the elf-lord who was, at least, a century younger that him. "Don't dare tell me that he cares for me. You don't even know what it is like to be the elf prince of Mirkwood. You don't know what it is like living the life of Legolas Greenleaf."

Arwen was about to attack him with another rejoinder when Elrohir interfered and tried to hush his sister up. Silence reigned in the room but the intensity did not lessen. Elladan, indifferent to the emotional verbal exchange, kept on pacing back and forth across the room. He stopped, his body facing Legolas.

"You thought of leaving Mirkwood for the sake of saving your father's life," he said in a serious tone, giving the impression that nothing of the disturbing manner occurred, "and headed for Rivendell because you thought you might get help here."

"Yes," Legolas replied, bitterness still in his tone. "I asked the leader of the warriors to keep a careful watch on father. Then I left immediately for Rivendell.

"I left Mirkeood into thinking that those folk might loose their interest in this treasure of mine. But I was wrong. They chased me out of the forests and I ran frightfully for my life, wasting no time for rest or meals. By the time that I reached the ford I thought that I was already safe.

"Unfortunately, I was not cunning in counting my pursuers that I failed to count one. The last one was the one who caused me my injury. I did not waste more time. I rode further towards Rivendell, fell of my horse, and the rest I don't have any memory of."

"That was when you were found by our folk living near the ford," Elrohir said. "You were bleeding and your face was so pale that they thought you were for the dead."

"They brought you here in hopes of trying to salvage your life," Elladan continued. "Arwen and the other master healers stopped your wound from bleeding, but they couldn't do anything more. Your condition was far more worse than they have expected."

"Arwen went to call Master Sethron for help," Arwen said. "But only his daughter came. Raellyth was good," she commented. "She got that subtle poison that invaded your blood as soon as the arrow pierced your shoulder out."

"I'm grateful for what you, and your folk, have done for me," Legolas said gratefully. "But I'm afraid I'm only bringing problems here.

"I'll set out as soon as possible. I'll go straight for Lothlórien."

"But you're injured!"

Surprised, all four elves in the room turned and saw another elf by the doorway carrying a small pot. She was clad in a pale blue dress and her dark hair braided loosely on her back. Her face was contorted in utmost protest, her eyes shining with the moon's pale beams.

Elladan stood in shock. "Why are you here, Raellyth?"

To be continued

Author's Notes: How was chapter three? This chapter explains why Legolas came into Rivendell wounded and all. I hope this did not appear too rushed. Hope you liked it, as well.