Disclaimer: All hail the great Tolkien. All the recognisable characters
belong to him. *looks at self nervously* What, is my hair out of place?
Stop staring at me, I promise to put them back after I'm done. Right?
*grins sheepishly* Then again, maybe I'll keep Legolas and Elrond... *spots
Tolkien police* okay, okay, I surrender.
Chapter 2: Fine, Not So Good
After many hours of scouting, the two companions had finally settled upon a cave in the northern section of the forest much to Legolas' chagrin.
'The cave will settle us from the weather,' Gimli argued. 'Besides, it provides us with cover from the sides and back. That leaves only the front to protect.' As much as Legolas disliked the idea, he had to concede that his friend's words made sense. (Pretty impressive for a dwarf, he had said, subsequently resulting in him being on the receiving end of a kick in the shin.)
No, he was not afraid of the dark, nor did he mind the low ceiling; rather he was unhappy that he would be unable to see the stars. However, while other elves would have understood and concurred, the dwarf would be incapable of seeing the logic behind this. Unfortunately, this left the elven prince with no other alternative except to give in without a fight.
After instructing Rusfel with a few words, he let the horse free to roam as it pleased and headed back to the cave. Somehow, he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he could not shrug off. There was something amiss in the woods.
When he returned to the cave, he found Gimli already busying away, making the cave more comfortable.
'I see the master dwarf has taken up a new occupation. My, my, times have changed. Tell me; does it pay more to be a housewife than a warrior?' Legolas flashed a brilliant grin at his friend.
Not one to pass up a challenge, Gimli replied, 'At least I have discovered a decent way to occupy my time, unlike a certain fellow who has whiled his time away.'
Legolas smiled, but his smile turned quickly into a frown.
'What is it?'
'The woods warn of approaching danger.' Legolas said. He closed his eyes as he extended his senses to the surroundings. His head jerked up.
'There are orcs coming at the cave quickly. We must leave, now.'
Grabbing up the baggage, he moved towards the entrance of the cave quickly. Gimli followed his friend closely, snatching up the halberd. Too late. As he turned, a shower of arrows blocked his path. Orcs were already swarming in at an alarming rate. The duo retrieved their weapons and began hacking away at the Orc barrier.
'Gurth gothrim lye!' Legolas put a few arrows to the bow and started firing at the orcs with razor-sharp precision. He reloaded the bow in a series of quick movements and began emptying out his quiver of arrows with superhuman speed. Yet the stream of orcs never ceased and it seemed that for every one of the fell creatures Legolas shot down, twenty more rose to take its place.
'For Khazad-dum!' Gimli leaped into battle with a series of blood- curdling cries. The dwarven warrior wielded his battle axe with a gleam in his eyes. He was faring pretty well himself.
'Twenty-one, master elf,' Gimli let out before leaping aside and hewing another Orc head. He manoeuvred his axe skilfully, fighting off several opponents at one go. He espied Legolas from the corner of his eye. Legolas had switched to the use of his twin blades for his arrows were spent and besides, the arrows were of little use in such close proximity battle.
'It seems I have bested you, for I have twenty-four.' Legolas said, his elven knifes turning and slashing, bringing down another couple of orcs. 'Make that twenty-six.'
Gimli was about to reply when he heard Legolas cry out, 'Watch out behind!' He twisted round and with two strokes of his axe, another Orc joined the mess on the ground.
Legolas could see his dwarven companion slowing already. He could have held out a lot longer if he was on his own, but defending two was quite a different matter. Already he was having slight difficulty holding off the onslaught of the Orcs, not to mention discreetly helping Gimli with a few that escaped his notice.
But even with the assistance of Legolas, it seemed plain that Gimli would not last. Obtuse as the orcs were, they could also see the weak link in the elf and dwarf army and intensified the assault on the poor dwarf who was rather overwhelmed. The Orcs pressed forward, swiftly gaining the upper hand.
Now Gimli and Legolas had their backs against the wall. Legolas' blades were mere reels of silver light as he whirled his knifes, decapitating any Orcs that came too near. Gimli was putting up a valiant battle against the Orcs muttering many a dwarven curse word as he ducked to escape a fresh rain of arrows and then fended off blows from the Orc directly in front. The dwarf was not built for the high speed battle and was tiring fast (well technically neither were the Orcs, but they had the strength in numbers). Gimli slipped up and the forefront Orc left a nasty gash on his arm.
Gimli glared at the Orc and whacked it hard with the reverse side of the blade.
'Take that!' He exclaimed as he cleaved the Orc's head clean on its shoulders and kicked its corpse aside. Well, the Orcs must have predicted wrongly then, for the Orc numbers were now greatly diminished and only a handful was left. Gimli smirked as he added to the numbers on the ground and quickly looked to his friend at his side. Legolas' warrior braids whipped against is neck as he spun his blades, quickly twisting the blade out of the unlucky Orc's hand, before driving a blade into its chest. Seeing Legolas did not require assistance (what is the possibility of him needing assistance anyway?), Gimli focused his attention back to the battle in front of him and finished off the Orcs in front of him.
When Gimli turned again, Legolas was putting the final touches to the last standing Orc. Gimli looked on with satisfaction as he watched the Orc body crumpled to the ground. Legolas did not miss the grin on Gimli's face.
'Hah. Ha-ha.' Gimli could not resist gloating, even though he knew that it was a juvenile behaviour.
'Why Gimli, you are grinning like a foolish lad.' Legolas said with a laugh. 'What caused the frumpy dwarf to smile?'
'Well, in case you failed to notice, the Orcs thought we were going down.'
'And?'
'We did not.'
'So?'
'That showed them.'
'The point being?'
'Ah, I had enough of your inane rambling. Go talk to the horse.' Legolas laughed cheerily. Gimli grumbled and grabbed the baggage, before heading off. He came back as soon as he left.
'Fine, not so good.' Gimli muttered. Legolas had heard the approaching Orcs by then and readied his weapons. There were even more Orcs this time than the last, but unfortunately for the Orcs, Gimli and Legolas would not go down without a fight.
And the battle ensued.
** 'Gurth gothrim lye!' - Death to our foes!
Mwahahahaha. I left you at a cliff hanger. I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Well, as mentioned before, all constructive criticism is encouraged but flames will not avail you, fires of Udun (flamers). I have developed a Fire-blower (I wish) and the flames will simply be used to power it for battle against *gasp* flamers. So if you enjoy it please review, reviews are my oxygen.
Namaarie, Lissenen ar' maska'lalaith tenna' lye omentuva (Farewell, sweet water and light laughter until we meet again)
Lotrmatrixstarwarsfan
Chapter 2: Fine, Not So Good
After many hours of scouting, the two companions had finally settled upon a cave in the northern section of the forest much to Legolas' chagrin.
'The cave will settle us from the weather,' Gimli argued. 'Besides, it provides us with cover from the sides and back. That leaves only the front to protect.' As much as Legolas disliked the idea, he had to concede that his friend's words made sense. (Pretty impressive for a dwarf, he had said, subsequently resulting in him being on the receiving end of a kick in the shin.)
No, he was not afraid of the dark, nor did he mind the low ceiling; rather he was unhappy that he would be unable to see the stars. However, while other elves would have understood and concurred, the dwarf would be incapable of seeing the logic behind this. Unfortunately, this left the elven prince with no other alternative except to give in without a fight.
After instructing Rusfel with a few words, he let the horse free to roam as it pleased and headed back to the cave. Somehow, he had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he could not shrug off. There was something amiss in the woods.
When he returned to the cave, he found Gimli already busying away, making the cave more comfortable.
'I see the master dwarf has taken up a new occupation. My, my, times have changed. Tell me; does it pay more to be a housewife than a warrior?' Legolas flashed a brilliant grin at his friend.
Not one to pass up a challenge, Gimli replied, 'At least I have discovered a decent way to occupy my time, unlike a certain fellow who has whiled his time away.'
Legolas smiled, but his smile turned quickly into a frown.
'What is it?'
'The woods warn of approaching danger.' Legolas said. He closed his eyes as he extended his senses to the surroundings. His head jerked up.
'There are orcs coming at the cave quickly. We must leave, now.'
Grabbing up the baggage, he moved towards the entrance of the cave quickly. Gimli followed his friend closely, snatching up the halberd. Too late. As he turned, a shower of arrows blocked his path. Orcs were already swarming in at an alarming rate. The duo retrieved their weapons and began hacking away at the Orc barrier.
'Gurth gothrim lye!' Legolas put a few arrows to the bow and started firing at the orcs with razor-sharp precision. He reloaded the bow in a series of quick movements and began emptying out his quiver of arrows with superhuman speed. Yet the stream of orcs never ceased and it seemed that for every one of the fell creatures Legolas shot down, twenty more rose to take its place.
'For Khazad-dum!' Gimli leaped into battle with a series of blood- curdling cries. The dwarven warrior wielded his battle axe with a gleam in his eyes. He was faring pretty well himself.
'Twenty-one, master elf,' Gimli let out before leaping aside and hewing another Orc head. He manoeuvred his axe skilfully, fighting off several opponents at one go. He espied Legolas from the corner of his eye. Legolas had switched to the use of his twin blades for his arrows were spent and besides, the arrows were of little use in such close proximity battle.
'It seems I have bested you, for I have twenty-four.' Legolas said, his elven knifes turning and slashing, bringing down another couple of orcs. 'Make that twenty-six.'
Gimli was about to reply when he heard Legolas cry out, 'Watch out behind!' He twisted round and with two strokes of his axe, another Orc joined the mess on the ground.
Legolas could see his dwarven companion slowing already. He could have held out a lot longer if he was on his own, but defending two was quite a different matter. Already he was having slight difficulty holding off the onslaught of the Orcs, not to mention discreetly helping Gimli with a few that escaped his notice.
But even with the assistance of Legolas, it seemed plain that Gimli would not last. Obtuse as the orcs were, they could also see the weak link in the elf and dwarf army and intensified the assault on the poor dwarf who was rather overwhelmed. The Orcs pressed forward, swiftly gaining the upper hand.
Now Gimli and Legolas had their backs against the wall. Legolas' blades were mere reels of silver light as he whirled his knifes, decapitating any Orcs that came too near. Gimli was putting up a valiant battle against the Orcs muttering many a dwarven curse word as he ducked to escape a fresh rain of arrows and then fended off blows from the Orc directly in front. The dwarf was not built for the high speed battle and was tiring fast (well technically neither were the Orcs, but they had the strength in numbers). Gimli slipped up and the forefront Orc left a nasty gash on his arm.
Gimli glared at the Orc and whacked it hard with the reverse side of the blade.
'Take that!' He exclaimed as he cleaved the Orc's head clean on its shoulders and kicked its corpse aside. Well, the Orcs must have predicted wrongly then, for the Orc numbers were now greatly diminished and only a handful was left. Gimli smirked as he added to the numbers on the ground and quickly looked to his friend at his side. Legolas' warrior braids whipped against is neck as he spun his blades, quickly twisting the blade out of the unlucky Orc's hand, before driving a blade into its chest. Seeing Legolas did not require assistance (what is the possibility of him needing assistance anyway?), Gimli focused his attention back to the battle in front of him and finished off the Orcs in front of him.
When Gimli turned again, Legolas was putting the final touches to the last standing Orc. Gimli looked on with satisfaction as he watched the Orc body crumpled to the ground. Legolas did not miss the grin on Gimli's face.
'Hah. Ha-ha.' Gimli could not resist gloating, even though he knew that it was a juvenile behaviour.
'Why Gimli, you are grinning like a foolish lad.' Legolas said with a laugh. 'What caused the frumpy dwarf to smile?'
'Well, in case you failed to notice, the Orcs thought we were going down.'
'And?'
'We did not.'
'So?'
'That showed them.'
'The point being?'
'Ah, I had enough of your inane rambling. Go talk to the horse.' Legolas laughed cheerily. Gimli grumbled and grabbed the baggage, before heading off. He came back as soon as he left.
'Fine, not so good.' Gimli muttered. Legolas had heard the approaching Orcs by then and readied his weapons. There were even more Orcs this time than the last, but unfortunately for the Orcs, Gimli and Legolas would not go down without a fight.
And the battle ensued.
** 'Gurth gothrim lye!' - Death to our foes!
Mwahahahaha. I left you at a cliff hanger. I hope you enjoyed reading the story as much as I enjoyed writing it. Well, as mentioned before, all constructive criticism is encouraged but flames will not avail you, fires of Udun (flamers). I have developed a Fire-blower (I wish) and the flames will simply be used to power it for battle against *gasp* flamers. So if you enjoy it please review, reviews are my oxygen.
Namaarie, Lissenen ar' maska'lalaith tenna' lye omentuva (Farewell, sweet water and light laughter until we meet again)
Lotrmatrixstarwarsfan