Do you want me to babble nonsense? No? Ok, read on…

Legolas's eyes fluttered open. When his blurry vision cleared, he was instantly confused by his surroundings. He found himself inside a strange dwelling, small yet cozy, and very unfamiliar to him. A fire was burning in the small fireplace across the room. From the light that came through the window, he deduced that it was afternoon.

As he tried to move, Legolas found out that he couldn't; there were pounds of blankets on top of his body, confining him like a warm cocoon. He moved his head to the side and immediately hissed in agony. His head was pounding terribly, as if being hammered repeatedly from deep inside his skull. Closing his eyes, he willed the pain to disappear but now that he's conscious, the pain became more and more unbearable.

Someone entered the room then, walking closer to the bed. A gentle hand touched his brow, while another brushed his hair. Legolas opened his eyes, and saw the kind face of a woman.

"You've awakened! Oh dear me!" Gertha's eyes widened as she stared into the elf's silver eyes. "Hasmon! Come quick! He has awakened!"

Gertha pulled away several blankets from atop Legolas, leaving only one covering his body. "Your temperature has return to normal, thank the lord! When we found you, you're freezing like ice!"

All the while, Legolas stared at the woman warily. As soon as he was able to move freely, he sat up and scooted backwards, leaning against the headboard of the bed. He was even more startled when a big man burst into the room. Burrowing deeper into the blanket that covered his naked body underneath, Legolas asked in a trembling voice, "Wh…who are you? Where am I?"

The woman fondly smiled at him. "I am Gertha. And this is my husband, Hasmon. You're in our home." Legolas was even more puzzle. Why would I be in the home of humans? "How…did I get here?"

The man came closer. Legolas managed to stop himself from cringing in fear. The man was big! But he has a very kind face too, like his wife. I'm not their captive, am I?

"Don't you remember what happened?" the man asked gently.

The prince blinked. What happened? Do I remember what happened? A series of scenes flashed through his mind. He remembered a tiger…a fight…the cliff…fierce churning water…but he can't make the sense from out of them all. "…river…" he wondered out loud without realizing it.

"That's right. We found you lying by the river, unconscious. So we've brought you back," the man said. Legolas looked up to him, frowning in confusion. How did I end up in a river?

"What's your name, dear?" asked Gertha. The elf turned to the woman; the pain in his head became even greater with his every move. "I'm…I'm called…Les…err…Las…" He stuttered, forcing himself to think. Why is it so difficult to remember my own name? Massaging his forehead, he pondered hard. Legolas! That's it! That's my name! "I'm called Legolas," he said softly, feeling incredible relief for that small yet vital knowledge.

"Legolas? What a nice name." Gertha smiled. "What had happened to you, Legolas? You were near death when we found you."

The prince went silent again. The details had escaped him somehow, leaving him with only the glimpses and flashing memories, not clear or understandable. He thought hard, closing his eyes against the sharp pain that slammed against him with the effort. "I…I'm not…really sure…but…" Grabbing his head, Legolas groaned when the agony became so overwhelming.

"Oh, poor dear," Gertha crooned, brushing away a few strands of Legolas golden hair. "None of that for now. Just rest. You must've hurt your head terribly."

"My wife is right. Don't force yourself. It'll come back to you eventually," Hasmon added when he saw how deathly pale Legolas had become.

"Are you hungry?" Gertha asked. "Certainly you are. I've prepared some soup for you."

Legolas watched as she walked out of the room, wondering at her obvious kindness. He turned to Hasmon who was rummaging through a closet. The man then came forward with a shirt and leggings. "This might be a little big for you, but at least it will be comfortable. My wife is still mending your clothes. They are dirty and torn."

Legolas took the change of clothes from Hasmon, thanking him. He felt quite unsure what to do next, but Gertha entered the room carrying a tray. She put the tray on the bed. There were a bowl of soup and a glass of fruit juice. The soup smelled so delicious that Legolas immediately realized he was indeed famished. But he stared at the soup skeptically.

"Don't worry. It's mushroom soup. I know that elves do not eat meat," Gertha said in assurance. Legolas slowly smiled, and picked up the bowl. To his horror, his hands can't stop shaking when he held the spoon. So embarrassed he was with his weakened condition, Legolas put the bowl down. Without a word, Gertha picked it up and start to spoon-feed the elf, just like she would her own child.

Hasmon looked at the whole scene with mixed emotions. He was happy that Gertha had found someone she could pamper, but at the same time he felt quite fearful for the future.  What will happen when Legolas left then? Can she cope? Was it right to bring him here after all? He doesn't look like ordinary elf to me. There's more to this one that I can't put my finger on.

After the meal, Legolas got dressed into the change of clothes provided by Hasmon, and immediately fell into exhausted sleep.

***************

Unknown to Legolas, his brother Keldarion and the other elves of Mirkwood were searching high and low for him, combing through the woods, following the river down stream. They found no apparent signs for Legolas's whereabouts, except for several human tracks near a fish trap. They moved on further away, unaware that they were actually closer to the missing prince than they thought….

*************

"My lord! Forgive me, but Tiger has gotten free!" a servant reported to Thranduil, kneeling in front on the Mirkwood king in fear.

"What?!!!" Thranduil practically jumped out of his seat. "How did that happen?"

"I was opening the door to Prince Legolas's chamber, bringing the tray of food for Tiger, when he suddenly pushed by me and ran out! I swear my lord, I never thought he would escape like that or I would have been very careful when I enter."

Thranduil sighed. "The beast must be very worried about his master, and decided to go looking for Legolas himself. He can wait no longer." Thranduil slapped the armrest in pure frustration. "I can wait no longer! Guards!"

Thranduil ordered the elven guards to follow the tiger. "Bring him back if you can. Keep him out of trouble. We don't want Legolas to return home only to find his beloved pet fall to harm."

***************

The man walked briskly to the chief's dwelling. After knocking briefly, he burst inside. "Bregus! You are not going to believe this!"

Bregus looked up from the sword he was sharpening. It was the day after they'd brought back his brother's body. They had buried him that morning under the old oak tree, with Bregus vowing for vengeance. "What is it, Darco? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"No. Better yet, I've seen the elf!"

"You say what?" Bregus stood up, knocking the stool in his haste.

"The elf that killed your brother. I saw him!"

"Where?"

"Remember the old man named Hasmon, that lived at the edge of this village deep in the woods?"

"Hasmon. How can I forget? He's the reason that I got this!" Bregus growled, pointing at his blinded left eye, a black eye-patch covering it. He had received it fifteen years ago in an incident. The subject of the incident was unclear to him now, something about Hasmon protecting a girl's virtue or something. Oh, yeah. I was having a grand time with that pretty bitch in the barn, enjoying her desperate struggle when Hasmon came running and poked me in the eye, just like that! Too bad I was just a kid then, too young to fight back, or he would be long dead by now! "What about him?"

"I went to his cottage last night, trying to grab me one of his many chickens. His chickens are so fat, don't know what he feeds them…"

"Darco, get to the point!"

"Well, err…anyway, as I walked pass a window, I could hear Hasmon and his wife talking. They were saying something about an elf they'd found stranded by the river, how they are going to care for him until he get well and all that. I peered inside and saw the elf sleeping, the actual one that had killed Brutus!"

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Bregus grabbed hold of Darco's shirt collar.

"Well…I…I was tired when I got home last night. I just woke up myself..."

"Idiot!" Bregus released his hold. "Get some of our men to Hasmon's house and bring that elf to me!"

"Now?"

"Of course, now!" Bregus shouted impatiently.  As Darco ran out through the door, Bregus clenched his fists, his eyes glinting dangerously. "Revenge is sure sweet. But I never thought it would be this soon. Your death will be avenged, Brutus. I'll see to it!"

TBC…

Yeah, I know. Too coincidental to be believed. So sue me. He! He!