Acknowledgements: Again, thanks to my dear beta. I would also like to thank everyone that reviewed. You made my day.
Warning: I'm not Tolkien and I don't own any of the characters. I'm sure that you're pretty used to this spiel by now, right?
Chapter 2: Deep Holes and Flying Elves
As he came to, Merry began to notice that it was significantly colder than it had been a few minutes before. With a shudder, he sat up and rubbed his head.
What happened?
"Merry?" A quiet voice groaned beside him. "You all right?"
"Aside from a few broken bones, suppose I'm ok."
"Good. Look!" The world seemed to glow a moment as the lantern was raised to eye level, revealing Pippin's pained, yet smiling face. "I saved the light-thingy."
"Huzzah. Where are we?" Merry moved his gaze upwards. The navy sky stood out against the black trees. There was not a star in sight.
He heard Pippin laugh shortly beside him. "Looks like a hole to me."
"How did we get here?" The older Hobbit glanced at the bottom of the hole. The feeble light from the lantern displayed scattered tree needles and displaced dirt. "Was there a cave-in or something?"
"Dunno."
They sat in silence for a few moments.
"You don't know where we are, do you?" Merry ventured, plucking a lead from his hair.
"Not a clue."
"Just checking. I guess we just wait then."
More silence.
"Do you think they'll notice that we left?"
"Who? The Company?"
"Well, yes."
"It is my belief that they'll notice that there is a significant drop in complaints about the lack of food," replied a wry voice.
Merry and Pippin stared at each other from across the lantern light.
"Up here."
Slowly, they raised their eyes to the sky. A silhouette leaned over the edge of the giant hole. A surprisingly familiar silhouette.
"Legolas!" Merry cried warmly. "Are we glad to see you!"
Pippin's insides roiled at the sudden thought of being rescued by the quiet Elf, a blow to his self-respect. "Even though we were just about to figure our way out of this hole without you," he muttered, then yelped as Merry smacked him in the arm. The silhouette shifted and sighed.
"What are you doing down there, master Hobbits? Find any mushrooms?" The Elf's voice was devoid of emotion, tinged only slightly with weariness. The Hobbits glanced at each other sheepishly, deciding not to answer. "Well, I suppose you want out, then?"
"Yes… that would be wonderful." As Legolas disappeared, Merry turned to Pippin and glared. "Be nice! He's helping us out!"
"He isn't helping my pride. This is embarrassing," Pippin complained, grabbing the lantern. "Strider will be wanting this back."
Merry nodded in agreement, then winced as a heavy rope conked him on the head.
"Oops." Legolas said mildly from above. "Didn't see you there."
"This night gets worse and worse," muttered Merry, gripping the rope and preparing to haul himself up.
"Hey! Why do you get to go up first?" The outraged sound of Pippin's voice broke through the air. His brain nearly frozen, Merry said the first thing that came to mind.
"Because I'm the oldest, that's why."
"But I'm the youngest! I've not even come of age yet."
"So? This experience with build character."
"I've already got enough character. I've got character coming out of my ears!" The Hobbit ran over and grasped the rope right above Merry's hands. "'Sides, I'm charming. You should never deprive the world of charm such as this."
"Oh, you had to dig for that one, didn't you? Get back down here!" Merry yanked Pippin down as he tried to scramble up the dirt walls.
"No!"
"Yes!"
"Nooooo!"
Above the struggling Hobbits, Legolas was trying vainly to keep a hold on the rope. His addled hands couldn't grip properly.
Elbereth, why must I deal with this?
"Could you two not-"
With a snap and a jerk the Elf was flung out into empty space. Time seemed suspended for one moment when he was totally weightless, then FWAP! His body came to rest facedown in the soft soil.
There was a moment of silence, then a whisper from Pippin reached his ears.
"Wait 'til we tell Sam that Elves can fly! Won't he be excited?"
Legolas growled and lifted himself up from the dirt, rolling into a sitting position. The ledge where he had previously been standing seemed to be a thousand miles away. They were trapped in the hole.
Just when things couldn't possibly get much worse, Legolas's newly repaired hair tie chose that moment to snap again.
After the watching the raging Elf for a minute, Merry leaned over to Pippin, who had coils of the rope draped over him. "You don't happen to know any Elvish, do you?"
"If I did, I wouldn't even obscenities to translate for you."
"Hmmmm. Legolas, it's not the end of the world or anything, being trapped in this hole."
No answer.
"I agree," Pippin chimed in cheerily. "Strider will find us in the morning."
"How do I manage to get into these things?" Legolas muttered, raking his hair from his face. All he had been required to do in Imladris was explain to Lord Elrond about the unfortunate escape of the creature Gollum and ride home. But nooooo… he had to defend Aragorn's honor before the Council and effectively guilt trip himself into travelling to Mordor on this endless mission. And now he was in a hole with two Hobbits. Definitely enough misery to last him several centuries.
On the upside, at least he wasn't stuck with the Dwarf…
"How?" asked Pippin with a confused voice. "You fell in. Same way we all got in here. What?" He glanced at Merry, the familiar face of his friend far more comforting than the withering stare that was currently coming from the Elf. "Did I say something wrong?"
Merry, by nature, was more observant of the moods around him than the flamboyant Pippin. It wasn't difficult for him to pick up the waves of irritation that were radiating from Legolas. The fact that Merry could almost feel the daggers shooting into his chest clued him in.
Perhaps I should snap him out of it…"Legolas, uhm, this isn't such a big deal for you, is it? I mean, you are an Elf and you kind of live in the woods on a regular basis."
"Big deal? I should think not!" The Elf prince scrambled to his feet and brushed the debris from his clothing. "For an Elf of Mirkwood a night in the forest is… is…" So this is what being at a loss for words feels like. "It's like… I don't know. But it is definitely not a, as you say, big deal." His voice finished a good octave higher than usual.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Merry persisted, lifting the lantern up higher so that he could a better look. "You've a twig in your hair."
Legolas's hand swiftly snatched the offending twig and threw it out of sight into the dark. "Thank you," he said tersely.
"Are you nervous?" Pippin asked, cocking his head to the side. "Your hands are shaking."
"Would you kindly stop asking me questions and making observations before I can answer the aforementioned questions?" His shout echoed through the trees and off into the moonless, starless night. "Really, master Hobbits, I am quite fine. Just a bit shaken from my fall and- oh no."
"Oh no what? What? What is it?" Pippin spun around to stare into the darkness behind him. "Do you hear something?"
"Can you not feel it?" The Elf's voice was heavy.
"Feel what?"
"The moisture in the air. There is rain on the wind."
"Oh." Merry clucked his tongue against his teeth. "That's not good."
~ More to come. ~
Hope that you found this entertaining. Again, thanks for the reviews!
