Disclaimer: I don't own anyone no matter how much I would like to.
JRR Tolkiens' heirs own all, and maybe some belongs to the film dudes.
This is slightly AU but not so obvious. Only relatives are AU.
¤~¤
He stumbled through the darkening forest, his right hand was pressed to his bleeding side, and the flaxen hair was striped with red. Tindel was next to him urging him on, he miraculously still had both bow and blade; Legolas had lost his bow and one dagger to the evil creatures.
Legolas vision seemed brimmed with darkness, his dagger slipped from his fingers, and his knees nearly gave away.
"No, Le'olas! The others are near!" Tindel shouted in his ear as he forced his friend on. "We'll reach Rúmil soon! Please!" he said as he half carried, half dragged the nearly unconscious prince, he could hear the orcs and wargs hunting them. "Le'olas!?" he shouted as his friend was pulled from his grip. "No! Rúmil! Help!"
The nearest orc, smiled, a smile full of spite and hatred as he held Legolas by his hair, the ashen elf was barely aware of his own danger. Tindel pulled his bow and let his arrow fly, it hit the orc between it's eyes, but he and Legolas had been hold up long enough for the rest of the wargriders and orc to caught up with them and one of them had his blade to Legolas throat, small beads of blood escaped from where it punctured the skin.
"Let go of your weapon and he lives," Tindel recognized that voice, and as he turned he saw Pilindë stand there, her eyes glowed with hate.
"Pilindë? Why?" Tindel asked not releasing his weapons.
"Because I can," she said as she walked up next to the in shock shaking Legolas. "Because you said no, prince," she whispered in his ear. "Because of your family who destroyed mine," she said as she drew her knife and pressed it against Legolas forehead. "Say no no more. Kill him," she said and nodded against Tindel.
Tindel knew that he had branches above his head that he might be able to jump to, but he would have to leave Legolas behind, alas, he no other choice; if he was killed Rúmil and Eyla wouldn't know were to search.
He jumped in the last minute the arrows hit the thin air where he just had been and then they flew around him as he hasted from the place, he knew that orc were good at climbing and he knew that his haste was of most importance.
"Kill him!"
He was one of the fastest climbers in Mirkwood and he dared to jump between the trees, he no longer had any weapons that hindered him. Rúmil was hopefully already looking in this direction, and if he found him quickly enough Legolas might escape further danger.
§~§
Legolas dimly heard the conversation, but he couldn't really estimate his situation, all his thoughts seemed to gather around the pain, he suddenly felt a cold blade to his forehead and the words:
"Kill him!"
He suddenly fell forward as the tight grip on his hair and arms and he felt how the earth chilled his already cold skin even more. And the burning pain in his side, he forced his eyes to focus, and the darkness became an uneven blur, and he saw the pale face of an elf, he recognized her, Pilindë, her beautiful face had such cruel lines and unforgiving eyes as she looked at him. She snorted as she turned him around with the tip of her foot and kneeled next to him.
"You little runt, your fathers power cannot protect you here, and by his words you will die," she said as she let the tip of the dagger trace down his left arm. She bent down and kissed him, softly. "That was for old friendship," she said as she rose. "This on the other hand, is a totally other thing," she continued, and her boot connected hard with Legolas jaw and the darkness came as a dragons flamed breath and swallowed him.
*~*
Tindel was tired, he was shaking of fatigue as he ran on the nearly overgrown passages; he had abandoned the trees when he had stopped hearing the orcs following him. His escape hadn't been a total success; an arrow had hit him, and it had pierced through his arm. He was unsure where he was and waves of nausea and panic gripped him as he suddenly realized that he had been going in the wrong direction. "No, no!" he whispered as he also realized that he was lost. "Adar!? What am I to do!?" he said as tears started to fall from his eyes.
Back in the city of Eryn Lasgalen, which had remained as a name for the city, Eledhin woke up with a start. "Tindel? Legolas?" he had felt his sons' pain and despair, unknowingly to himself he gripped his upper left arm. He hurriedly got up and called on a guard. "Cándil! Go to the kings' chamber and make sure that he is awakened! Then gather a search party!" he dressed and got his weapons, before he ran down the long corridors.
"Eledhin? What has happened?" Thranduíl said as he as well dressed for combat.
"Something has happed with the children, I don't know what. I felt Tindels pain as if it was I that was wounded."
"Legolas?" Thranduíl asked as he sheathed his sword, worry made his voice strangled.
"Tindel was scared. that something had happened."
"The evil that have crept into my lands will it claim more of my family?" Thranduíl said as he gripped a healers' satchel, he had learned much about healing since his sons last clash with death.
Tindel climbed up in to trees again, trying to reach the tops to get some kind of bearing. He climbed one handed and when he looked up he saw the night heavens and the star sign of Eärendil and then against the dark forest he saw the dim lights of Eryn Lasgalen, it was so very far away, but he knew that he had to go there or both he as well as Legolas would be lost. So he got moving even though he was so tired and his wounds hurt, he kept moving, not allowing himself to stop, 'cause he knew that he wouldn't get any further if he rested. His head wound pained and he suspected that it was the reason why his vision blurred sometimes.
^~^
Rúmil was near tears of powerlessness, and when Eyla and another hunter came back and said that they had lost the track again, Rúmil balled his hand and drove it into a nearby rock. Eyla sighed as she took his now bleeding hand and held it tightly to her chest.
"We lost the tracks now, but our Elven eyes will find them again, as we have done already."
"This is my fault," Rúmil said slowly, mentally wishing for his older brothers. Rúmil had fought on the slopes of Mount Doom, there he knew how to act, here he was only panicked.
"No, they are youngsters, they know of the dangers but they are also thrilled over it, just like we were. Just that they got more than they bargained for. We'll find them, that's promise," Eyla said as she embraced her husband. She knew his thoughts for they were also in her mind. They wondered in which shape they would find the two elves in.
"Eyla, try and find the tracks again."
"Rúmil! Eyla!" the young ranger trained half-elf Glinn called as he came running. "It's Legolas'," he said as he panting showed them his find. An elvish buckle, Rúmil cried out as he gripped it, he recognized it well.
"Its' Legolas', I gave it to him last Yén, Glinn! Where did you find it?" Rúmil asked his voice strangled, Eyla saw how Glinn hesitated, he flinched when Rúmil repeated the question.
"I found it, trotted down into the ground, by orc feet. There were signs of battle."
Rúmil looked at the young ranger then he ran in the direction Glinn had arrived from.
"Rúmil! Wait!" he didn't care of Eylas scream. He was angered that he hadn't noticed that Legolas and Tindel had wandered off, that nightfall had come faster than he anticipated. His nephew, his beloved sister Ehfeníns son and he was to blame.
Eyla looked at the retrieving shape of her husband and she ordered the rest of the hunting party to follow. Glinn ran ahead, as fast as he could to catch up with Rúmil.
Rúmil and his small party reached the glen where Glinn had left his friends, they looked saddened and silently they watched Rúmil look at the dead orcs and wargs and when he saw a thing they had not he cried out.
"What?!" Eyla said as she got nearer, worry having her voice tight.
"His bow," Rúmil said as he untangled the broken shards from the ground, Eyla saw Legolas quiver lay a small distance away; the arrows scattered and broken. "Legolas wouldn't surrender these willingly."
"Here is blood, Elven," a hunter said and pointed at some splatters on a nearby tree.
"The tracks leads towards Dol Guldor," Glinn said as he started to interpret the signs. "They were attacked here and Legolas lost his bow because something grabbed it, the pin burst and the buckle flew over there," he said and pointed at the place where he had found it. "Tindel was thrown to the ground here by a warg, but he somehow escaped. Legolas was in more danger, he was caught and wounded," Glinn continued as he looked at the tree were Elven blood had been spilled. "Tindel in some way forced Legolas to move, he was limping, and bleeding, they were followed."
They continued and Glinn said what he saw in the tracks and Eyla silently wrapped Legolas knife in a cloth and when they reached the trees where Legolas and Tindel had parted Glinns eyes became large.
"Legolas, couldn't go any further on, he lost his second blade and Tindel most likely dragged him."
Eyla glanced at her loved one as she draped Legolas white knife along with his other. He too looked at the tracks, he seemed scared and his voice trembled.
"There was another elf here," he said and pointed on nearly invisible tracks of elfish boots. "A she-elf, to judge from the way the prints is laid."
"Yes, but why is this elf here?" Glinn asked himself, as he looked closer at the tracks.
~
Pilindë looked around at the orcs, they obeyed her; she was their commander. Then her eyes fell at the still form of Legolas, he hadn't regained consciousness since she had kicked him, grunted a short order to the closest orc. It lifted Legolas and placed him on a nearby table, there was a burning fire next by and in it lay implements of torture. The orc looked at the yet bleeding wound in Legolas side and it gripped a hot iron.
"Milady?" it asked as it glimpsed at Pilindë who simply nodded and a yelp escaped the still unconscious elfs' lips as the smell of burning flesh came into the air.
"Make sure that the elf don't die. I have many planes for him."
Legolas was hurting both on the inside and outside; the dull throbbing in his side had flared into a burning ache, it made his senses jump and with a gasp he regained consciousness. His vision was still blurry at best, he smelled the wretched creatures around and then Pilindë, a she-elf he had both loved as friend, and respected as a warrior. He was still wondering why she did this, she who had been like a sister to him.
"You're awake. If I had been you, I would stayed unconscious," Pilindë said as she touched his face. "You wont be so beautiful soon enough." Legolas looked at her, he tried to move his hand towards her, in an act of his own disbelieving and fear. She looked coldly as she pinned his arm down. "You will never string a bow."
Legolas opened his mouth to speak:
"Pilindë? Why?"
"You dare to ask, you denied me, your father killed my family, he took my birthright from me!" she shrieked as she rose angered. "You look surprised? Not so strange, your father most probably is too ashamed to speak of it! I'll tell you, princeling, I'll tell you everything."
To Be Continued. -always wanted to say that.
¤~¤
He stumbled through the darkening forest, his right hand was pressed to his bleeding side, and the flaxen hair was striped with red. Tindel was next to him urging him on, he miraculously still had both bow and blade; Legolas had lost his bow and one dagger to the evil creatures.
Legolas vision seemed brimmed with darkness, his dagger slipped from his fingers, and his knees nearly gave away.
"No, Le'olas! The others are near!" Tindel shouted in his ear as he forced his friend on. "We'll reach Rúmil soon! Please!" he said as he half carried, half dragged the nearly unconscious prince, he could hear the orcs and wargs hunting them. "Le'olas!?" he shouted as his friend was pulled from his grip. "No! Rúmil! Help!"
The nearest orc, smiled, a smile full of spite and hatred as he held Legolas by his hair, the ashen elf was barely aware of his own danger. Tindel pulled his bow and let his arrow fly, it hit the orc between it's eyes, but he and Legolas had been hold up long enough for the rest of the wargriders and orc to caught up with them and one of them had his blade to Legolas throat, small beads of blood escaped from where it punctured the skin.
"Let go of your weapon and he lives," Tindel recognized that voice, and as he turned he saw Pilindë stand there, her eyes glowed with hate.
"Pilindë? Why?" Tindel asked not releasing his weapons.
"Because I can," she said as she walked up next to the in shock shaking Legolas. "Because you said no, prince," she whispered in his ear. "Because of your family who destroyed mine," she said as she drew her knife and pressed it against Legolas forehead. "Say no no more. Kill him," she said and nodded against Tindel.
Tindel knew that he had branches above his head that he might be able to jump to, but he would have to leave Legolas behind, alas, he no other choice; if he was killed Rúmil and Eyla wouldn't know were to search.
He jumped in the last minute the arrows hit the thin air where he just had been and then they flew around him as he hasted from the place, he knew that orc were good at climbing and he knew that his haste was of most importance.
"Kill him!"
He was one of the fastest climbers in Mirkwood and he dared to jump between the trees, he no longer had any weapons that hindered him. Rúmil was hopefully already looking in this direction, and if he found him quickly enough Legolas might escape further danger.
§~§
Legolas dimly heard the conversation, but he couldn't really estimate his situation, all his thoughts seemed to gather around the pain, he suddenly felt a cold blade to his forehead and the words:
"Kill him!"
He suddenly fell forward as the tight grip on his hair and arms and he felt how the earth chilled his already cold skin even more. And the burning pain in his side, he forced his eyes to focus, and the darkness became an uneven blur, and he saw the pale face of an elf, he recognized her, Pilindë, her beautiful face had such cruel lines and unforgiving eyes as she looked at him. She snorted as she turned him around with the tip of her foot and kneeled next to him.
"You little runt, your fathers power cannot protect you here, and by his words you will die," she said as she let the tip of the dagger trace down his left arm. She bent down and kissed him, softly. "That was for old friendship," she said as she rose. "This on the other hand, is a totally other thing," she continued, and her boot connected hard with Legolas jaw and the darkness came as a dragons flamed breath and swallowed him.
*~*
Tindel was tired, he was shaking of fatigue as he ran on the nearly overgrown passages; he had abandoned the trees when he had stopped hearing the orcs following him. His escape hadn't been a total success; an arrow had hit him, and it had pierced through his arm. He was unsure where he was and waves of nausea and panic gripped him as he suddenly realized that he had been going in the wrong direction. "No, no!" he whispered as he also realized that he was lost. "Adar!? What am I to do!?" he said as tears started to fall from his eyes.
Back in the city of Eryn Lasgalen, which had remained as a name for the city, Eledhin woke up with a start. "Tindel? Legolas?" he had felt his sons' pain and despair, unknowingly to himself he gripped his upper left arm. He hurriedly got up and called on a guard. "Cándil! Go to the kings' chamber and make sure that he is awakened! Then gather a search party!" he dressed and got his weapons, before he ran down the long corridors.
"Eledhin? What has happened?" Thranduíl said as he as well dressed for combat.
"Something has happed with the children, I don't know what. I felt Tindels pain as if it was I that was wounded."
"Legolas?" Thranduíl asked as he sheathed his sword, worry made his voice strangled.
"Tindel was scared. that something had happened."
"The evil that have crept into my lands will it claim more of my family?" Thranduíl said as he gripped a healers' satchel, he had learned much about healing since his sons last clash with death.
Tindel climbed up in to trees again, trying to reach the tops to get some kind of bearing. He climbed one handed and when he looked up he saw the night heavens and the star sign of Eärendil and then against the dark forest he saw the dim lights of Eryn Lasgalen, it was so very far away, but he knew that he had to go there or both he as well as Legolas would be lost. So he got moving even though he was so tired and his wounds hurt, he kept moving, not allowing himself to stop, 'cause he knew that he wouldn't get any further if he rested. His head wound pained and he suspected that it was the reason why his vision blurred sometimes.
^~^
Rúmil was near tears of powerlessness, and when Eyla and another hunter came back and said that they had lost the track again, Rúmil balled his hand and drove it into a nearby rock. Eyla sighed as she took his now bleeding hand and held it tightly to her chest.
"We lost the tracks now, but our Elven eyes will find them again, as we have done already."
"This is my fault," Rúmil said slowly, mentally wishing for his older brothers. Rúmil had fought on the slopes of Mount Doom, there he knew how to act, here he was only panicked.
"No, they are youngsters, they know of the dangers but they are also thrilled over it, just like we were. Just that they got more than they bargained for. We'll find them, that's promise," Eyla said as she embraced her husband. She knew his thoughts for they were also in her mind. They wondered in which shape they would find the two elves in.
"Eyla, try and find the tracks again."
"Rúmil! Eyla!" the young ranger trained half-elf Glinn called as he came running. "It's Legolas'," he said as he panting showed them his find. An elvish buckle, Rúmil cried out as he gripped it, he recognized it well.
"Its' Legolas', I gave it to him last Yén, Glinn! Where did you find it?" Rúmil asked his voice strangled, Eyla saw how Glinn hesitated, he flinched when Rúmil repeated the question.
"I found it, trotted down into the ground, by orc feet. There were signs of battle."
Rúmil looked at the young ranger then he ran in the direction Glinn had arrived from.
"Rúmil! Wait!" he didn't care of Eylas scream. He was angered that he hadn't noticed that Legolas and Tindel had wandered off, that nightfall had come faster than he anticipated. His nephew, his beloved sister Ehfeníns son and he was to blame.
Eyla looked at the retrieving shape of her husband and she ordered the rest of the hunting party to follow. Glinn ran ahead, as fast as he could to catch up with Rúmil.
Rúmil and his small party reached the glen where Glinn had left his friends, they looked saddened and silently they watched Rúmil look at the dead orcs and wargs and when he saw a thing they had not he cried out.
"What?!" Eyla said as she got nearer, worry having her voice tight.
"His bow," Rúmil said as he untangled the broken shards from the ground, Eyla saw Legolas quiver lay a small distance away; the arrows scattered and broken. "Legolas wouldn't surrender these willingly."
"Here is blood, Elven," a hunter said and pointed at some splatters on a nearby tree.
"The tracks leads towards Dol Guldor," Glinn said as he started to interpret the signs. "They were attacked here and Legolas lost his bow because something grabbed it, the pin burst and the buckle flew over there," he said and pointed at the place where he had found it. "Tindel was thrown to the ground here by a warg, but he somehow escaped. Legolas was in more danger, he was caught and wounded," Glinn continued as he looked at the tree were Elven blood had been spilled. "Tindel in some way forced Legolas to move, he was limping, and bleeding, they were followed."
They continued and Glinn said what he saw in the tracks and Eyla silently wrapped Legolas knife in a cloth and when they reached the trees where Legolas and Tindel had parted Glinns eyes became large.
"Legolas, couldn't go any further on, he lost his second blade and Tindel most likely dragged him."
Eyla glanced at her loved one as she draped Legolas white knife along with his other. He too looked at the tracks, he seemed scared and his voice trembled.
"There was another elf here," he said and pointed on nearly invisible tracks of elfish boots. "A she-elf, to judge from the way the prints is laid."
"Yes, but why is this elf here?" Glinn asked himself, as he looked closer at the tracks.
~
Pilindë looked around at the orcs, they obeyed her; she was their commander. Then her eyes fell at the still form of Legolas, he hadn't regained consciousness since she had kicked him, grunted a short order to the closest orc. It lifted Legolas and placed him on a nearby table, there was a burning fire next by and in it lay implements of torture. The orc looked at the yet bleeding wound in Legolas side and it gripped a hot iron.
"Milady?" it asked as it glimpsed at Pilindë who simply nodded and a yelp escaped the still unconscious elfs' lips as the smell of burning flesh came into the air.
"Make sure that the elf don't die. I have many planes for him."
Legolas was hurting both on the inside and outside; the dull throbbing in his side had flared into a burning ache, it made his senses jump and with a gasp he regained consciousness. His vision was still blurry at best, he smelled the wretched creatures around and then Pilindë, a she-elf he had both loved as friend, and respected as a warrior. He was still wondering why she did this, she who had been like a sister to him.
"You're awake. If I had been you, I would stayed unconscious," Pilindë said as she touched his face. "You wont be so beautiful soon enough." Legolas looked at her, he tried to move his hand towards her, in an act of his own disbelieving and fear. She looked coldly as she pinned his arm down. "You will never string a bow."
Legolas opened his mouth to speak:
"Pilindë? Why?"
"You dare to ask, you denied me, your father killed my family, he took my birthright from me!" she shrieked as she rose angered. "You look surprised? Not so strange, your father most probably is too ashamed to speak of it! I'll tell you, princeling, I'll tell you everything."
To Be Continued. -always wanted to say that.