Wandering

by Alilacia

Aragorn's skills are put to the test when he steps out of Rivendell for the first time. Shortly after he finds himself in Mirkwood. Will a man who grew up in Imladris be able to strike up a friendship with their woodland kin? No slash. Please R and R.

3. Rescue

Wandering

By: Alilacia

Rating: PG-13

Feedback:

Spoilers: None that I can think of.

Disclaimer:

I do not own the Lord of the Rings, or anything to do with the film or books. That honour goes to Peter Jackson (et all) and J.R.R Tolkien. I have no permission what so ever to use these characters, will not receive any money for this, and am doing this for my own enjoyment. And to get away from doing my college assignments

All the characters belong to J.R.R Tolkien, and only Olantien and Nebridë actually belong to me. But if anyone wishes to use them, all you need to do is ask.

Series:

Mortality

Lessons

Wandering

Summary:

Aragorn is now reaching his 21st year. Many skills he has learnt, and some of the patience of the elves has finally sunk into the young human.

His skills are put to the test when Aragorn steps out of Rivendell on his own for the first time. Much has he learnt about the rangers that saved his life, and Aragorn finds himself wishing to experience their life.

Aragorn's travels take him over Caradhras and heads south towards Lothlórien. On the way he meets the dwarves and is caught in a battle between the orcs and the dwarves.

Shortly after he finds himself in Mirkwood, home of the woodland elves. Will a man who grew up in Imladris be able to strike up a friendship with their woodland kin?

Mae govannen::grins:

This is the third instalment in the Lennath Series. According to the site I found on the internet 'Lennath' is apparently journey's in Sindarin. I apologise if it isn't, my elvish skills are not the best in the world.

So in English it is basically 'The Journey's Series'. I decided to call it The Journey's Series, because that is basically what all the stories are about: Legolas' and Aragorn's journey's though life, and the paths it takes them on.

This is the third chapter of Wandering. I hope you enjoy it, and if there is any mistakes in it I'd be very grateful if you'd let me know. :smiles:

Thanks again for the reviews that 'Lessons' received, they really did brighten my day

First I am going to make it clear that this is a NON-SLASH, so you won't be finding any relationship between Legolas and Aragorn that is any closer than brothers. I'm sorry if you don't like that, but I'm not going to make it any different.

I am aware that in the book Asfaloth was Glorfindel's horse and in the movie he was Arwen's, but at the moment Asfaloth belongs to Legolas, and eventually he will find his way to Glorfindel (or Arwen) but not yet…..

I have not read the Silmarillion, or any of the other history/information books published regarding the Lord of the Rings. So I apologise if there are any mistakes in these stories. Feel free to let me know if there are. I am learning new things each day, and I owe quite a few people major thanks for some of that information.

I'm going to answer the reviews I received at the bottom of the story.

This story isn't actually beta'd (in fact none of them have been so far) so there are probably quite a few mistakes in them.

Here is the next part, I hope you enjoy it.

Namárië nin mellyn

Alilacia

Wandering

Chapter 3 - Rescue

Legolas crept into the bushes surrounding what looked like a heated battle. The orcs were in a tight circle, and Legolas couldn't see what they were fighting. But with the amount of orcs and wargs there, it wouldn't take long until they were overrun. He sensed the rest of his group blending into the other bushes around the fight and drew a deep breath.

Things seemed to be drawing to a close as the orcs cried as one and pressed in further around their unseen opponents.

Olantien jumped by his side as an arrow shot out from amidst the pressing of orcs and Legolas bent to retrieve it, frowning as he raised it to his face.

The fletchings were not entirely familiar to him, so whoever was fighting was not from Mirkwood. They struck a chord in him however and he wracked his mind to see where he had seen these fletchings before. Growling lightly as he could not remember he notched an arrow and aimed for the orc nearest to the perimeter of the circle.

The arrow carved a sharp path through the air and landed with deadly accuracy in the orcs back, while the speed forced the tip in further and straight into the evil beings heart. The orc uttered a chocked cry and collapsed to the ground, a small trail of blood forming at the corner of his twisted lips.

The slumped body on the ground caught the attention of the other orcs and the evil group turned their attention from whoever was in the middle. The lead orc growled and signalled at the trees. Whoever killed their comrade wouldn't live to see the moon.

Issuing a growled command to the rest of his group half resumed fighting their original opponent while the other half scattered. Legolas raised his bow again and let an arrow fly. It caught an orc in his shoulder and caused an angry ripple to flow through the evil beings as they charged towards the group. Releasing as many arrows as he could before the combat became to close to use his bow, he slipped his hands back and pulled out his elven daggers. The glint of the metal played across his face as he swung in a low arc, slipping under the arms of an approaching orc to cleanly slice the stomach. As the orc constricted and bent over his wound the elven knives arched a path of quicksilver through the air and soon the thud of the orcs head hitting the ground sounded under the cries of battle.

The dark coloured blood spread over the hilt as Legolas worked his way towards the middle of the battle. All around him the clearing was being stained with the foul blood of the orcs, mingled with that of the elves as the battle wore on.

The attacking orc was felled with Legolas' elven arrow, and he shouted for his friends to follow the orcs as the few orcs that were still alive ran into the trees.

"But my Lord... we cannot leave you."

Legolas held up his hand to cut off any further protests. "I am asking you to leave. Do not make me order you, but I will if I have to. The orcs cannot be allowed to roam these woods, and someone needs to stay here and see to our original task. I shall check on the unfortunate soul who was caught by the orcs, and then I shall decide what to do from there." Legolas turned to look into the trees before turning his gaze back to his friends, "please, do as I ask and pursue the orcs."

All of the elves, and Olantien in particular, looked very uncomfortable with what Legolas was asking them to do, but they slowly started to disband into the woods.

As soon as the last of the elves had disappeared into the trees, Legolas turned back to the battle site. Shaking his head at the vast amount of bodies and blood that littered the floor, Legolas kicked one of them out of the way as he passed.

Orcs were not welcome in this forest, and would meet the cold bite of their elven arrows if they continued to step into these woods.

The elf knelt down next to the unconscious figure and slowly turned him over. His hands stilled in shock as he realised that it was a man who lay on the ground. A ranger from the looks of his garb, yet this one seemed younger than most.

The arrows that lay in the quiver under his back caught Legolas' attention and he picked up a discarded one to the left. The fletchings, although damaged, were clear enough to be identified as the one that was shot out of the fray earlier.

A quick searching of the surrounding foliage showed that this ranger was alone. What would a man be doing in Mirkwoods forest, and alone.

A low moan from the man below him drew Legolas' gaze back down, and he wondered what he should do.

The orcs were still in the forest, although they were being pursued, and the spiders still hadn't been found. Legolas took another good look at the man on the floor. He was still not sure what to do regarding this young ranger, and he couldn't help but wonder...

Surely a man, and a ranger at that, no matter how young he looked, would know that orcs had been seen in these parts lately. Rangers were supposed to be very learned for their race, and for one to go without company seemed very odd indeed.

The sword and the bow marked this one as a warrior, and Legolas frowned. Warrior or no, this one was still nothing more than a foolish child.

Legolas sighed and rose to his feet. But did not leave.

Compassion tugged at him, and he knelt back down next to the ranger.

With another sigh he began to see to the many wounds that the ranger had sustained.

A cut along the top of his forehead was clearly visible against the rangers pale skin, and Legolas pulled the ranger up onto his shoulder.

He had never left anyone behind before, and although he really had no desire to mingle with the race of men, Legolas had to admit that he didn't want to leave this one behind either.

Legolas moved quickly through the trees, the heavy weight of the ranger on his shoulders not slowing him down in the slightest.

The ideal location was not far away, and here the trees were arranged closer than normal. Closer than the northern parts of the wood. The elf sighed and gently placed the young ranger on the floor. The trees in the south were thicker than those in the north, and if one were not careful, you could easily loose your way.

Not a single leaf had been disturbed by the elf's passage into the clearing, but Legolas silently moved back out to check the ground outside.

Silent feet moved back into the clearing, and Legolas knelt back down next to the ranger.

The first thing that Legolas noticed was the long gash extending from the rangers elbow to his wrist. Nimble hands gently tugged the ripped overcoat away from the wounds and Legolas gasped quietly at what he saw. His fingers gently probed the wound for debris, and his fingers found the wound to the human's shoulder.

The blood was bleeding sluggishly, and as Legolas pressed his hand down onto the wound to slow the bleeding, the man moaned and arched up off the ground. Legolas frowned and moved his hand away from the wound. Slight glinting of metal caught his eyes, and Legolas reached into the wound.

His fingers closed around a shard of what appeared to be a dagger.

Apologising mentally for what he was about to do, Legolas tightened his grip on the shard with his left hand, and held the ranger down with his right.

Legolas started to tug on the shard and was forced to apply more pressure to holding the man down. After a while of listening to the man groan in pain, and try to twist away from his touch, Legolas stopped.

The shard had hit hard, and embedded itself in the bone.

Tearing his travelling cloak up into strips, the wound to the humans shoulder was bound first.

In the light Legolas saw that the wound was red, and he remembered it being hot to the touch. Legolas worried that the wound was becoming infected, and he stepped away from the ranger.

Although Legolas had some healing skills, they were not enough to help this man.

He would need to be taken to a healer if he was going to survive.

The elf moved to his quiver and reached for the small bag that was in a side compartment. He laid the small bag down on the ground and began to sort though the contents.

He pulled out some of the more potent healing herbs that he had in his possession, and moved back to the ranger. His heart praying that they will be enough to stop the ranger from slipping closer to deaths door than he already was.

Long did Legolas work, applying the herbs he had to the wounds the human had sustained. The sounds of the trees were working to calm Legolas, and now that he wasn't working so rapidly to stem the infection that was spreading through the humans body, Legolas finally allowed himself to step back.

Although the cool air did not affect Legolas, he could see that they were affecting the ranger.

Humans. At times they seemed to be so fragile.

But Legolas knew that this one must be stronger than he appeared. For many of the orcs lying dead were killed by the deadly kiss of a broadsword, not by the point of an arrow.

His eyes sought out the nearest pile of firewood, and soon a warm fire was heating the air.

Legolas was pleased to note that the rangers shaking was subsiding, and in the light it appeared that some colour was returning to his face.

Legolas moved away from the fire and retreated to the edges of the clearing. The smell of the orcs was no longer on the air, and the wargs' scent had been gone for even longer. Hope blossomed though him as he thought that his friends might have caught the orcs that dared to walk into Mirkwood.

The battle had moved to other shores, and Legolas only prayed it hadn't moved closer to Mirkwoods palace.

With the thought that the elves, and his father, could very well protect themselves, comforting him, Legolas slipped into elvish sleep. Just before his eyes glazed over he glanced at the human.

Still asleep... good.

Legolas' eyes closed momentarily before opening slightly. The slight glaze of his eyes only just apparent in the slips of light that slipped through the foliage.

A million sensations made themselves known to Aragorn, and for a split second panic took hold of him.

What had happened?

Disjointed images of fighting orcs and hearing the song of arrows in the air came back to the muddled human, and he forced his eyes to open.

Flickering firelight made him close them again, before opening them more slowly.

His brain was not working as quickly it normally would, and his head ached fiercely. Each movement he made seemed sluggish, as though he was moving through water.

Dim memories of the last time he woke up in an unknown camp suddenly came back to him, and he grinned ruely around a split lip. At least this time he didn't have someone bending over him. But there was someone sitting a little ways away. In the light Aragorn could not see fully who it was, but the quiver on the person's back gave Aragorn cause for concern. The thought that maybe this person wasn't evil crossed his mind, and Aragorn moved slightly on the ground. He wasn't going to stay and find out. A moan spilled past Aragorn's lips as he tried to push himself up from the ground.

Awareness returned to Legolas' eyes as the low moans of pain reached his ears.

He turned to see the human trying to sit up, and he rushed over to the rangers side.

Aragorn was mildly surprised to see that it was an elf that was leaning over him. Blond hair fell into the elfs face only to be pushed back by slender hands as they then moved to check on his wounds.

Another groan left his lips as they brushed past the wound on his shoulder. The pain blossomed again, and the urge to pass out came back stronger than ever.

Vivid blue eyes locked onto his as the world became blurry, and Aragorn felt himself being lowered slowly to the ground. Aragorn opened his mouth to speak, and saw the elf shake his head.

"Do not speak..."

Legolas sighed and moved back to check the wounds again. It would not bode well if they re-opened again. As it was the wound to his shoulder was starting to bleed through the bandages. Legolas tore off another strip from his cloak and tightly wrapped it around the humans shoulder.

He frowned as a thought occurred to him, and laid his hand gently on the rangers forehead. The skin under his hand was dangerously hot, and it appeared as though his fears of infection were justified.

This man had a fever.

Experienced blue eyes glanced up at the sky and he deduced that it was nearing late afternoon.

Stopping to listen to the wind, a relieved smile worked its way onto Legolas' face. The smell of the orcs had not returned, and the sounds of the wargs had long since vanished from the air.

A sense of urgency for the man in his care rushed through him, and his sharp eyes noted that the other bandages are starting to show tinges of pink.

Relieved eyes saw that the man had once again succumbed to darkness' welcoming embrace, and Legolas moved him onto his shoulder, careful not to aggravate the humans wounds.

Throughout all this, the ranger remained asleep. At least some of the herbs Legolas put in his wounds were working.

TBC…

Kaeera - Hey Kaeera! I wasn't expecting to get two reviews for the same chapter. More angst huh. Well, I think there's enough in this chapter. Was there::grins:

Enjoy

Lina Skye - :eyes widen::ducks away from spork of doom: it wasn't my fault, blame the orcs :ignores glares from said orcs::sighs in relief as Eomer rides up:

:glances at the retreating Rohirrim: See, he's not that bad in this chapter, all he has is a fever and multiple…. injuries. :winces::looks around quickly for hiding place:

Freakizimi - Hmmm, Legolas could do with some of that as well. Every one on Middle Earth could for that matter. I think a mirror would work just as well though. One look and they all would scarper.

Valin - That was an evil cliffie? I don't want to know what you thought of this one then…..

Elwen - Star Maiden - Here's the next bit!

Lady Jaina - Thanks for the review, and you're welcome

Estelle Yavetil - Thanks for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter.

ThE iNsAnE oNe - :grins: thanks for the autograph. :blushes: you want mine as well. :takes notebook:

Mae govannen ThE iNsAnE oNe,

Thanks for reading and reviewing my stories, it means a lot to me.

I absolutely LOVED Silver Jaws! It is one of the best Lord of the Rings stories that I have ever read, and I hope that you never stop writing. If you keep writing, I'll keep reading them.

One of your fans, and one of the many LOTR's authors.

Namárië nin mellon

Alilacia

There :hands back the notebook:

And thanks again for reading.

Jill - Hmmm::looks a little sheepish: now that you mention it. It is kinda still a cliffie. Ah well, I hope this chapter wasn't as bad as the last two.