The next four days went basically the same. Legolas continually tried to
convince Relaen and Liera to return home because Ereht was not trustworthy.
Ereht kept to himself. Relaen ignored her brother and tried to befriend the
Dark Elf. Liera yelled at Legolas for being a punk-face. The girls tried
their best to keep Legolas and Ereht from crossing paths, but it didn't
always work. There was more than one occasion where Liera and Relaen had to
get in between the two elves.
At sundown on the fourth day, the group came to the base of the Misty Mountains. "We will rest here until dawn." Ereht said, leaning against a boulder.
"We should continue. None of us are tired, unless you are to weak to continue." Legolas said, talking down to Ereht.
Ereht began walking towards Legolas, hand on his sword. Relaen jumped in front of him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Ereht." She said in a soothing voice. "Ignore him. He just wants to get on your nerves."
Ereht looked at Relaen and then returned to his previous spot. Relaen sighed and then jumped into one of the trees near the mountain's base, sitting on one of the lower boughs.
Liera grabbed Legolas's arm and pulled him away from the other two. "What are you doing?" she reprimanded as she punched him.
"Stating simple facts." Legolas replied, rubbing his arm where she hit him.
"You are being an idiot and a jerk. You know very well that we aren't going up because orcs are all over the mountain at night." Liera scolded. "And just to tell you, when you make comments like that and know the true reasons, it just makes you look like an idiot. Like you don't know these simple little facts that everyone, even Hobbits, know." She said before walking off. Legolas watched her go before deciding to chase after her to apologize.
Relaen kicked her legs as she sat in the tree. "You'll have to excuse my idiotic brother." She said. "He has...issues.with Dark Elves."
"All White Elves hate Dark Elves. It is something we get used to." Ereht said, pretending that he did not care.
"I don't hate Dark Elves. I don't hate you and you are a Dark Elf." Relaen said, protesting his statement.
"Then you are one in a million. Most think like Legolas does, with or without reason."
"If you knew the reason, then you may think differently." She said quietly.
Ereht jumped up in the tree and sat next to Relaen. "Then tell me."
"Long ago, when I was still a child, Legolas and our mother went out into the woods. A troop of Dark Elves over took them. They captured and beat both of them. My mother somehow convinced the elves to free Legolas, but instead of running home like he was told, he hid there in hopes of finding a way to free mom. He did not get the opportunity. Not long after he was freed, the Dark Elves killed our mother and he saw the whole thing. He spent much of his later years tracking down all of the Dark Elves that helped in the murder and killing them. He refuses to trust a Dark Elf. He wouldn't be here now if he wasn't so overprotective of me." She explained sadly, a single tear falling from her eye.
Ereht looked at her and felt something he had not felt in a long time, compassion and sympathy. Before he knew what he was doing, he lifted his hand and wiped the tear from Relaen's face. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly pulled his hand away, his cheeks turning slightly red. "I am sorry for your loss." He said, trying to cover his embarrassment.
Relaen smiled, glad that Ereht was finally showing some form of emotion besides anger. "It's alright. You had nothing to do with it. I miss her, but I'm glad I was raised by my father and brother. It's made me who I am today, a warrior."
"Why do you not hate Dark Elves as your brother does?" Ereht asked after a moment.
"Before my mother died, she taught me to look for the good in every situation and every person I meet. She taught me to trust unless my heart told me otherwise. My heart tells me that I can trust you, so I do. And I shall continue to until you break that trust, which you have not done." She explained.
The two sat in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. After some time had passed, Ereht jumped down. "Did you hear something?" he asked, his eyes searching the surrounding area.
Relaen stood on the bough of the tree. "I heard something, but I see nothing." She said. She looked down at Ereht. "What about you?"
Before Ereht could answer, an orc rushed towards him, a sword heading towards his chest. Ereht quickly jumped out of the way and pulled his own sword out in time for it to meet with the neck of the orc, decapitating it.
Relaen reached for her bow and began firing arrows as she saw the orcs coming. After a few minutes, her arrows ran low, so she jumped from the tree and stood beside Ereht, fighting the orcs with her knife and dagger.
As they fought, a horn could be heard in the distance. It was the orcs leader, calling them back. Knowing that if they chased the orcs, they would be dead in seconds, they remained and watched them flee. Relaen sighed and took a piece of cloth out of her quiver to clean her weapons. Ereht knelt and wiped his sword on the ground. Neither of them realized that a single orc remained. The orc took one shot with his bow, sending an arrow flying towards Relaen. Before she realized what had happened, she was on the ground with an arrow in her side.
Ereht saw the arrow but couldn't move Relaen in time. He saw her get hit. In seconds, he was on top of the orc, slitting its throat. After he had killed it, he returned to Relaen's side. She was laying on the ground, shock and pain on her face. "I can help you, but it will hurt. Do you want me to try?" Ereht asked, placing his hands on the arrow. Relaen nodded and braced herself. Ereht pulled out the arrow, tip and all, while Relaen held back a scream.
Ereht leaned over the wound. It was turning black around the edges. He cursed under his breath. "The arrow was poisoned." He said, more to himself than to his patient. He sat on the ground and placed Relaen's head in his lap. "Try not to move to much. This is going to hurt, but it will keep you alive." He whispered in her ear. She nodded her understanding.
Ereht put his hands over the wound and began mumbling incomprehensible words. Relaen felt as though everything were being torn from her body. It was the worse pain she'd ever felt. She couldn't hold back her cry of pain or the tears that were gathering in her eyes. After a few long, agonizing, minutes, Ereht pulled his hands from her wound and a black dust had gathered in his hands. He let the wind carry it away before wrapping her abdomen to stop the bleeding.
When he had finished, Relaen laid on her back and looked up at Ereht. "What was that?" she asked. She was shaking uncontrollably and her face was streaked with tears.
He wiped the tears from her face and put his arms around her to comfort her. "It was some of my magic. I took the poison out of your system." He explained.
Legolas and Liera had stumbled across the orc's camp and killed the main leaders. When they began to walk back to their company, they heard Relaen scream. Without a word, both of them began running towards where they had left her and Ereht earlier. Legolas was the first to reach the site and he found Relaen shaking visibly and being held by Ereht. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, kneeling down next to his sister.
"An orc shot her in the side with a poisoned arrow. I extracted the poison and dressed her wound." He said quietly, not wanting to stress Relaen any more than she already was. She was finally beginning to calm and she wasn't shaking as bad.
Liera came up behind them. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked, looking over the dressing on the wound.
Ereht nodded, still holding Relaen, though now he appeared to be holding her more protectively than comfortingly. "She needs a fire. Due to her blood loss, she has become cold."
Liera put a hand on Legolas's shoulder. "Legolas, let's go get some firewood." She said quietly. Legolas stood and walked away with Liera. "Are you ok?" she asked him after they were a distance away.
Legolas held his head down, shame on his face. "I should have been there, Liera. If I had been there, then."
"Then what? She still would have gotten hurt and then we wouldn't have found the orc leaders and killed them, causing the others to retreat." Liera said.
"But if I had been there, then he wouldn't have been." He mumbled.
Liera took his hand. "He saved her. He did not harm her. You should just be happy with the fact that she will be alright now. You don't always have to be the one to save your sister."
Legolas nodded. "Yes I do. You don't understand." He said.
Liera stopped and faced Legolas, looking him in the eye. "Then make me understand." She said. She grabbed his other hand. "I want to understand everything about you."
Legolas took a deep breath. "Before my mom died, I promised her that I would always protect Relaen. Of course, at that time, mother thought that Relaen would become a precious little princess, not a warrior, but it was still a promise. I have always been there when she got hurt and I was always the one to dress her wounds and watch over her as she healed. It's been like that for five thousand years." He explained, shame still in his voice.
"That's not totally true." Liera said. Legolas gave her a confused look. "For a few years there, Relaen was in a different world and she was taken care of by other people, myself included. This is just like that. When you couldn't be there, someone else was there."
Legolas smiled. "You're good at making people feel better, you know that?" he said. He put his arms around Liera and hugged her. "Thank you." He whispered before pulling away. "C'mon, if I couldn't heal her, then I'm at least gonna make her warm." He said as he began picking up firewood. Liera smiled and began helping him.
Ereht took his cloak from his back and laid it over Relaen, who was now sleeping. 'You are going crazy, Ereht. Helping a White Elf?' he thought to himself. 'You're treating them as equals!' He looked down at her and pushed a hair from her face. 'But she is different than the others. She respects me.stands up for me.' His thoughts were broken as Legolas and Liera came up the hill, each carrying an armful of wood.
Legolas looked at him suspiciously as he set up the fire. "Is she asleep?" he asked.
Ereht nodded. "She needs rest. Depending on how she sleeps through the night, we may need to stay here again tomorrow. She shouldn't travel until she is totally healed."
Legolas nodded and leaned against a tree. Liera sat beside him and yawned. "I think we should all get some sleep. If she is well enough tomorrow, then we are going to have quite a hike before we reach a place that we can rest safely for the night." He said.
Liera laid her head on Legolas's shoulder. "I think that is a great idea." She said sleepily.
Legolas smiled and laid his head on hers and closed his eyes. Soon, both of them were asleep.
Ereht looked up at the sky, still trying to figure out what he was doing. Half of him was disgusted by these elves and wanted to get rid of them. He looked back down at Relaen. The other half wanted to stay here, just like this.
At sundown on the fourth day, the group came to the base of the Misty Mountains. "We will rest here until dawn." Ereht said, leaning against a boulder.
"We should continue. None of us are tired, unless you are to weak to continue." Legolas said, talking down to Ereht.
Ereht began walking towards Legolas, hand on his sword. Relaen jumped in front of him and put her hand on his shoulder. "Ereht." She said in a soothing voice. "Ignore him. He just wants to get on your nerves."
Ereht looked at Relaen and then returned to his previous spot. Relaen sighed and then jumped into one of the trees near the mountain's base, sitting on one of the lower boughs.
Liera grabbed Legolas's arm and pulled him away from the other two. "What are you doing?" she reprimanded as she punched him.
"Stating simple facts." Legolas replied, rubbing his arm where she hit him.
"You are being an idiot and a jerk. You know very well that we aren't going up because orcs are all over the mountain at night." Liera scolded. "And just to tell you, when you make comments like that and know the true reasons, it just makes you look like an idiot. Like you don't know these simple little facts that everyone, even Hobbits, know." She said before walking off. Legolas watched her go before deciding to chase after her to apologize.
Relaen kicked her legs as she sat in the tree. "You'll have to excuse my idiotic brother." She said. "He has...issues.with Dark Elves."
"All White Elves hate Dark Elves. It is something we get used to." Ereht said, pretending that he did not care.
"I don't hate Dark Elves. I don't hate you and you are a Dark Elf." Relaen said, protesting his statement.
"Then you are one in a million. Most think like Legolas does, with or without reason."
"If you knew the reason, then you may think differently." She said quietly.
Ereht jumped up in the tree and sat next to Relaen. "Then tell me."
"Long ago, when I was still a child, Legolas and our mother went out into the woods. A troop of Dark Elves over took them. They captured and beat both of them. My mother somehow convinced the elves to free Legolas, but instead of running home like he was told, he hid there in hopes of finding a way to free mom. He did not get the opportunity. Not long after he was freed, the Dark Elves killed our mother and he saw the whole thing. He spent much of his later years tracking down all of the Dark Elves that helped in the murder and killing them. He refuses to trust a Dark Elf. He wouldn't be here now if he wasn't so overprotective of me." She explained sadly, a single tear falling from her eye.
Ereht looked at her and felt something he had not felt in a long time, compassion and sympathy. Before he knew what he was doing, he lifted his hand and wiped the tear from Relaen's face. When he realized what he was doing, he quickly pulled his hand away, his cheeks turning slightly red. "I am sorry for your loss." He said, trying to cover his embarrassment.
Relaen smiled, glad that Ereht was finally showing some form of emotion besides anger. "It's alright. You had nothing to do with it. I miss her, but I'm glad I was raised by my father and brother. It's made me who I am today, a warrior."
"Why do you not hate Dark Elves as your brother does?" Ereht asked after a moment.
"Before my mother died, she taught me to look for the good in every situation and every person I meet. She taught me to trust unless my heart told me otherwise. My heart tells me that I can trust you, so I do. And I shall continue to until you break that trust, which you have not done." She explained.
The two sat in silence, neither knowing what to say to the other. After some time had passed, Ereht jumped down. "Did you hear something?" he asked, his eyes searching the surrounding area.
Relaen stood on the bough of the tree. "I heard something, but I see nothing." She said. She looked down at Ereht. "What about you?"
Before Ereht could answer, an orc rushed towards him, a sword heading towards his chest. Ereht quickly jumped out of the way and pulled his own sword out in time for it to meet with the neck of the orc, decapitating it.
Relaen reached for her bow and began firing arrows as she saw the orcs coming. After a few minutes, her arrows ran low, so she jumped from the tree and stood beside Ereht, fighting the orcs with her knife and dagger.
As they fought, a horn could be heard in the distance. It was the orcs leader, calling them back. Knowing that if they chased the orcs, they would be dead in seconds, they remained and watched them flee. Relaen sighed and took a piece of cloth out of her quiver to clean her weapons. Ereht knelt and wiped his sword on the ground. Neither of them realized that a single orc remained. The orc took one shot with his bow, sending an arrow flying towards Relaen. Before she realized what had happened, she was on the ground with an arrow in her side.
Ereht saw the arrow but couldn't move Relaen in time. He saw her get hit. In seconds, he was on top of the orc, slitting its throat. After he had killed it, he returned to Relaen's side. She was laying on the ground, shock and pain on her face. "I can help you, but it will hurt. Do you want me to try?" Ereht asked, placing his hands on the arrow. Relaen nodded and braced herself. Ereht pulled out the arrow, tip and all, while Relaen held back a scream.
Ereht leaned over the wound. It was turning black around the edges. He cursed under his breath. "The arrow was poisoned." He said, more to himself than to his patient. He sat on the ground and placed Relaen's head in his lap. "Try not to move to much. This is going to hurt, but it will keep you alive." He whispered in her ear. She nodded her understanding.
Ereht put his hands over the wound and began mumbling incomprehensible words. Relaen felt as though everything were being torn from her body. It was the worse pain she'd ever felt. She couldn't hold back her cry of pain or the tears that were gathering in her eyes. After a few long, agonizing, minutes, Ereht pulled his hands from her wound and a black dust had gathered in his hands. He let the wind carry it away before wrapping her abdomen to stop the bleeding.
When he had finished, Relaen laid on her back and looked up at Ereht. "What was that?" she asked. She was shaking uncontrollably and her face was streaked with tears.
He wiped the tears from her face and put his arms around her to comfort her. "It was some of my magic. I took the poison out of your system." He explained.
Legolas and Liera had stumbled across the orc's camp and killed the main leaders. When they began to walk back to their company, they heard Relaen scream. Without a word, both of them began running towards where they had left her and Ereht earlier. Legolas was the first to reach the site and he found Relaen shaking visibly and being held by Ereht. "What did you do to her?" he demanded, kneeling down next to his sister.
"An orc shot her in the side with a poisoned arrow. I extracted the poison and dressed her wound." He said quietly, not wanting to stress Relaen any more than she already was. She was finally beginning to calm and she wasn't shaking as bad.
Liera came up behind them. "Is she going to be alright?" she asked, looking over the dressing on the wound.
Ereht nodded, still holding Relaen, though now he appeared to be holding her more protectively than comfortingly. "She needs a fire. Due to her blood loss, she has become cold."
Liera put a hand on Legolas's shoulder. "Legolas, let's go get some firewood." She said quietly. Legolas stood and walked away with Liera. "Are you ok?" she asked him after they were a distance away.
Legolas held his head down, shame on his face. "I should have been there, Liera. If I had been there, then."
"Then what? She still would have gotten hurt and then we wouldn't have found the orc leaders and killed them, causing the others to retreat." Liera said.
"But if I had been there, then he wouldn't have been." He mumbled.
Liera took his hand. "He saved her. He did not harm her. You should just be happy with the fact that she will be alright now. You don't always have to be the one to save your sister."
Legolas nodded. "Yes I do. You don't understand." He said.
Liera stopped and faced Legolas, looking him in the eye. "Then make me understand." She said. She grabbed his other hand. "I want to understand everything about you."
Legolas took a deep breath. "Before my mom died, I promised her that I would always protect Relaen. Of course, at that time, mother thought that Relaen would become a precious little princess, not a warrior, but it was still a promise. I have always been there when she got hurt and I was always the one to dress her wounds and watch over her as she healed. It's been like that for five thousand years." He explained, shame still in his voice.
"That's not totally true." Liera said. Legolas gave her a confused look. "For a few years there, Relaen was in a different world and she was taken care of by other people, myself included. This is just like that. When you couldn't be there, someone else was there."
Legolas smiled. "You're good at making people feel better, you know that?" he said. He put his arms around Liera and hugged her. "Thank you." He whispered before pulling away. "C'mon, if I couldn't heal her, then I'm at least gonna make her warm." He said as he began picking up firewood. Liera smiled and began helping him.
Ereht took his cloak from his back and laid it over Relaen, who was now sleeping. 'You are going crazy, Ereht. Helping a White Elf?' he thought to himself. 'You're treating them as equals!' He looked down at her and pushed a hair from her face. 'But she is different than the others. She respects me.stands up for me.' His thoughts were broken as Legolas and Liera came up the hill, each carrying an armful of wood.
Legolas looked at him suspiciously as he set up the fire. "Is she asleep?" he asked.
Ereht nodded. "She needs rest. Depending on how she sleeps through the night, we may need to stay here again tomorrow. She shouldn't travel until she is totally healed."
Legolas nodded and leaned against a tree. Liera sat beside him and yawned. "I think we should all get some sleep. If she is well enough tomorrow, then we are going to have quite a hike before we reach a place that we can rest safely for the night." He said.
Liera laid her head on Legolas's shoulder. "I think that is a great idea." She said sleepily.
Legolas smiled and laid his head on hers and closed his eyes. Soon, both of them were asleep.
Ereht looked up at the sky, still trying to figure out what he was doing. Half of him was disgusted by these elves and wanted to get rid of them. He looked back down at Relaen. The other half wanted to stay here, just like this.