Chapter Two: Muffled Stars
***
Author's notes: Second chapter, already! I bet you're shocked I have it up, no? I didn't think I'd have time to write it today, but it appears that here it is! Whoa. Responses to the reviews are all in the bottom, so as to be less distracting to the chapter-and easier for all those silent readers who just pan over them =^^=.
I sort of overwrote this chapter to make up for the horrible first one. I hope I didn't alienate any of you too much with either the summary or the bloody awful first chapter, but I promise I'll *try* and make this story more interesting (a.k.a better) as it goes on.
*** directly before a stream of words signifies the beginning of a flashback-and indicates that the text should be in italics, but word's being stupid so it's not. The flashback ends with *** as well.
Any mistakes in the Elvish are a thousand times apologized for.
ALSO! This is a sequel to another story (Meeting in the Woods) in case any of you are completely confused by the references-to-the-past I made/will make. =^^=
Enjoy! =^^=
***
Four days. When Gandalf had spoken those words, it had all suddenly seemed so real. This wasn't just an avid threat cast by the young mind of a halfling-going through the mines. It was a fact, and he would just have to bear it. But the thought of those walls all sides, closing in, was nearly enough to drive him wild with misery. And that dwarf, ax proudly resting on a squared shoulder, chortling about childhood memories as they passed through the darkness.
You couldn't even tell day from night in this blasted place-for when daytime rose out, out in the world, outside, the sun touched only the mountainous rocks covering the mines, and not the bitter realm that the fellowship now made home in. Legolas glanced down at his fingers, the familiar pallor showing through the shadows, finding his hands shaking. How could he hide this?
During the day, Aragorn had often drifted back from the vanguard, falling silently into step with the elf. Out of all the fellowship, it seemed that this man was the only one who noticed any change in the placid elf, and tried to act casual as he casually glanced down his shoulder at the blonde creature. Making sure he was all right, at least for now.
"Legolas," Aragorn breathed, gently touching his calloused fingertips against the tailored shoulder of the elf's tunic. Hazy-eyed, the elf glanced back, brow somewhat creased. "We rest here, tonight. Were not you listening?" His voice, though still laced with a familiar condescending he had adapted since Rivendell, was clearly that of a worried friend.
Legolas shook his head lethargically, pushing a strand of hair violently away from his sharpened eyes. "I heard," he murmured in return. His gaze shifted, looking at the lot that had been staring upon the man and elf. In wordless agreement, they all turned, beginning to immerse themselves in rolling out bedrolls, and finding miss-matched handfuls of food in the depths of their packs.
Legolas tried to turn away, haughtily dismissive of his friend's wariness, but was stopped when a sturdy hand struck him gently in the chest. Taken aback, he turned his head sharply, looking at his friend defiantly through narrowed eyes. "I'm all right, Aragorn," insisted the elf. Though Aragorn's umber eyes showed no acceptance of the elf's words, he dropped his hand away, letting the elf drift towards the fellowship.
That night, Legolas fell asleep shuddering, despite himself, trying to come to terms with the fear that locked into him. The others were asleep, safe Boromir who inaudibly smoked a pipe while waiting out his watch. But the elf, he was wide-awake, his eyes staring into the darkness of the high ceiling. Desperately, he listened for the whisper of the moon, the gentle call of the trees and the snow and the faraway plants.
Instead, only his breathing reverberated like a drumbeat round his head, his desperate need to know that somewhere, outside of this incarceration, there dwelled anything alive, anything that was green and fair and wonderfully alive, that had a soft song of it's own to utter to the hopeless elf. The stars were muffled down here.
~*~
Their second day began after Legolas' shift. Begrudgingly, the elf had traveled from bedroll to bedroll, gently shaking life back into the motionless forms of his companions. All but Gimli seemed reluctant to force themselves deeper into the tomb, but the Dwarf was kept alive by the belief that, still, the Dwarf-lords lived, and he would find Balin, alive. They just had to venture deeper, quicker.
Legolas hunched beside the coals of the fire, blowing out the last ruby sparks. Though he hardly relished the idea of traveling onwards, it did mean that the other side of the mines would be all that much closer. He rose with the others, allowing himself to be guided into the queue, bringing up the rear, followed only by that man, Boromir.
Traveling was easier over the stone than it had been in the bitter conditions of the mountain for the mortals at hand, but the crags and roughly-delved paths were so unchanging, so square and dull that Legolas found himself more than once drifting off during the day, passing his mind into the realms of elf-dream. Many times, the Steward's son had laid a firm hand on the elf's shoulder, rousing him.
"This is dull for me too, Master Elf, but we need you attentive," he had murmured, his voice gentle, yet commanding-like the soothing voice of a skilled governor. Legolas had mentally forgiven Boromir for his unfair outburst to Aragorn so long ago in Rivendell, and had immediately taken to the man. Boromir was kind despite his arrogant shell, and an extremely good friend-particularly to the haflings Pippin and Merry.
"Yes," Legolas agreed, abstractedly rubbing his left eye with deft fingers. "I'm sorry, thank you." The elf then fell into his accustomed step behind Sam, slow steps to keep from overtaking the hobbit, slow steps to keep from being heard.
~*~
Aragorn had taken a spot flanking Gandalf, occasionally glancing back on the seven in a solemn line behind. Most had given up conversation hours before-the only sounds now came from the careless feet of the inexperienced hobbits, and the occasional curse from Gimli as he misjudged the height of yet another overhanging rock.
"What's the point in having a helmet if all the blows strike you mid-face?" he grumbled to Pippin behind him, rubbing the bridge of his reddened nose with plump fingers. Aragorn let his gaze sweep past the dwarf to the others. Frodo and Sam followed Pippin, then Legolas and Boromir. The elf had become hunched again, a habit that Aragorn had thought he witnessed the end to. The Prince had defensively curled his shoulders inwards, hands uselessly draped at his side, head bowed forward, glancing to the side.
"Legolas will find his blitheness again, Aragorn," Gandalf broke in to Aragorn's thoughts, causing the man to turn. "He suffers only from shock. He does not hear the murmurs of life about him, the hum of life familiar only to the elves. It is dead in here, and he reacts by being dead himself. Do not burden yourself with worrying for him."
Aragorn nodded slowly, stealing another glance back. When, more than a year before, the elf had fair broken down in finally-friendly arms, Aragorn had felt an almost parental need to protect the elf. He acknowledged that the elf had faced more in life than Aragorn ever would, and could probably deal with it by himself, but deep inside he knew the Golden Prince could not survive without a friendly hand guiding him away from fey paths.
***"I have enough problems with my father as it is, Aragorn," the elf had said conceitedly, thinning his eyes towards his friend. "I do not need another constantly leading me along the way,"
"I'm not your father, Legolas-I am your friend! I lead you because I couldn't stand for you to venture astray."
"I know where to go, Rhîw-Lotheg. I've learned that much in my time," Legolas had retorted, using one of the elvish name he had bestowed upon his friend. Aragorn had never understood that name-Winter-Flower, a murmured christening that the elf had spoken since the night on the crags…***
Gandalf extended an arm, catching the dazed Aragorn in the chest. Aragorn glanced, puzzled, upon the leader of this fellowship, and found only the comfortingly creased emotionless visage common to Gandalf. "We rest here," the wizard announced. In a flash of gray, he ascended a stairwell to the side that Aragorn hadn't noticed.
Legolas cast a withering glance upon Aragorn as the man opened his mouth to voice some abstract concern, swiftly following the hobbits up the stairs. Gentle as he had always been, despite his quivering heart and worse, his wavering courage, the elf bent over, laying a slender hand in between's Sam's shoulders as the hobbit slipped, guiding him to the plateau where they would sleep.
~*~
Aragorn waited until Legolas' watch, the second of the night, before approaching the elf. As usual, he was cross-legged on a rock, perfectly balanced where a mortal may have wavered, softly singing to himself in elvish.
"Lle tyava quell, Legolas?" [Are you well, Legolas?] Aragorn inquired gently, leaning against a stone near to the elf. Annoyed, the archer looked up, cutting his mournful song short. He quirked an eyebrow, his sapphire eyes scanning Aragorn's expression expertly, as if judging his motives.
"Uuma dela onin, Aragorn. Esta." [Don't worry about me, Aragorn. Rest.] Legolas replied firmly, one of his fingers tracing the contours of the bow proudly lain in his lap. He swept his eyes over towards the rest of the fellowship, protectively glancing over each sleeping form, before returning his enervated eyes towards Aragorn.
"Tampa, Legolas," [Stop, Legolas,] Aragorn pleaded, annoyed with his friend's pride. "I know you fear this darkness, but you are safe here, I promise you that," Aragorn pressed, dropping into the Westron.
"It is not darkness I fear, Rhîw-Lotheg," the elf snapped. He winced at himself, glancing at his upturned palms. Still, his hands shook, the quivering relentless. Though he tried to keep himself from breaking again, from succumbing do the overwhelming urge to scream or to crumple uselessly into a ball, he couldn't stop himself from hissing angrily.
Aragorn shook his head softly, and glanced towards the ceiling. "It is dead in here. I have felt it too. Gimli may believe that the Naugrim still live, but I do not harbor such a hope." Aragorn hesitated, still carefully watching his fair friend, before pressing, "You need not be dead yourself, Legolas-this world needs your light. Will you deny the others that? We all look to you for sturdy ground, Legolas. You are unearthly, but you are sound, and that is something we all need to hold on to."
Aragorn trailed off, scrunching his face slightly. The words he spoke didn't make sense to him, but they had been thrown from his throat in all truth. He certainly always had looked to the elf as a reassurance that it would all turn out all right in the end. Perhaps this protective being deep within the man that surfaced whenever Legolas was in trouble was greedy, and only protected the elf to keep Aragorn himself from going mad with fear.
Legolas shuddered involuntarily, and condemned himself violently in elvish, before looking at Aragorn. For a moment, Aragorn saw the fear in Legolas's soft eyes, and desperately hoped that the elf would speak of what he felt. Instead, he murmured, "'tis now your watch."
Aragorn stared after the elf in disbelief, and couldn't bring himself to believe that the elf was really asleep when his eyes merged with the dream world.
And indeed, lying stiffly in his bedroll, feigning sleep, Legolas couldn't quite bring himself to terms with what he felt. How could the fellowship look to him for hope when he grasped to all of them, though inconspicuously, for just that?
***
A/N: Bit longer than the first one. I got fairly in to writing it, so sorry if it seems more amateur-ish than usual…
In response to your reviews (YAAAAY!)
Mother Nature: This is more supposed to be a serious-fic. I'm sorry about the whole Legolas-As-A-Brit thing…In all my general-fictions, I tend to make all my characters talk like I do, which can sometimes be a bit alienating. I usually go back and edit dialogue in fan-fics, but I forgot to on this one…LOL Thanks for pointing that out! So note to everybody; Legolas isn't actually as overwhelmingly English as he previously was. Hope you enjoy this chapter!
RuByMoOn: Hope I updated soon enough =^^= And hope you enjoyed!
Goblz: LOL Thanks! Hope you didn't have to wait to long, and I hope the chapter wasn't horrible, and you'll stick around for the next.
Evil Spapple Pie: LOL Yep, the sequel. *dramatic sigh* Sorry about the whole my-brain-is-a-thesaurus…My family is composed of brilliant geniuses (unfortunately it apparently skips a generation. No, wait. It just skipped me.), and I absorbed all of their smart-like words…I'll try and tone-down on my crazy-talk LOL. Hope I wrote more, and soon enough, and hope you enjoyed!
Slea: LOL I'm glad you like my character-assumptions, and I hope you didn't find them TOO OC. Thanks for your review! Hope you enjoyed!
Elentari Manwe: Oh no! Sorry about giving you a bad feeling. Of course I'm not going to make him go (completely) mad. Only enough to look sexy! I used to be incredibly claustrophobic-now I just call it "cozy" and it's all good-so I know about how mad it can make people…LOL Tunnels are evil though, I can completely relate to that. There's a plethora of tunnels on the road when I drive through the Rockies, and it nearly drives me completely off my rocker, again. Hope you enjoyed! =^^=
Tithen Min: I bloody LOVED that film. "My stepdad had emotional problems." "Hey! I have those too!" ROFL Though the bunny was extremely scary, particularly in the movie-scene I thought…Gaah. I'm back! Hope that's a good thing XD Thanks for the quote J
Celestra: LOL Glad you think the idea's original =^^= And I hope that originality is a good thing. Don't have a pic of my shrine yet XD I still have to buy a picture-frame for my ickle poster, and fix my scanner up…but soon! LOL
ElvenBabyEvenstar: *stares blankly* He lives WHERE!? That's so wrong, though! Ok…let's say he ran away from home as a child and lives in a TREE because it scared him so much ROFL…Where'd you find that out? =^^= Thanks for your review! And YAAAAAAAAAAY You have an account-can't wait to read some of your fics! Anxiously awaiting the bribe fic…and I bet your art is beautiful even if your art teacher is annoying. (I stained my pants today with acrylics. Grahhhh…) Hope you enjoyed! =^^=