-no regrets-
by: Leabeth
Disclaimer
I own nothing, these characters belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. The only thing I own is Laurence. I make no money from this and I only write for fun.
A/N: for all of those who reviewed, thank you so much for your sweet words. I appreciate it a lot.
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Legolas laid hidden behind a bush, waiting for the foul creatures known has the Uruk-hai to appear in the clearing. Aragorn, Gimli and himself had been chasing the remaining demons after the destruction of the One Ring.
Many encounters had left the number of orcs and goblins greatly diminished. They were weary after so many battles but would not rest until there was still one of those demons left.
It had been by pure hazard that they had come across the trail of so many and they were glad that for once, the preys were coming towards them, not away.
Legolas could feel the slight trembling of the earth caused by the swift feet of the dark creatures. The rumbling was getting stronger with every second that passed and the battle would soon begin. Taking an arrow from his quiver, Legolas swiftly notched an arrow and carefully peered over the bush. He could see the first one coming straight towards him. A chill ran up his spine at the sight of the atrocious and unholy presence. These evil creatures were the embodiment of everything that he loathed, their sole purpose to massacre all that was dear to his heart.
Waiting for all the creatures to be assembled in the clearing chosen as a trap, Legolas jumped from his crouching position and sent an arrow flying through the neck of the leading Uruk-hai. The foul beasts were completely taken by surprise and paused for a brief moment to understand what was happening to them.
Taking advantage of their lack of reaction--Gimli, Aragorn and Legolas charged with a fierceness that betrayed their state of exhaustion. With adrenaline pumping in their veins, they managed to slay half of the beasts in a matter of seconds. Legolas with arrows, Aragorn with a sword and Gimli with an axe.
The three long time companions excelled in the art of battle and even the dwarf showed great agility in the face of adversity. Life experience had shaped them into yet unmatched warriors.
Legolas was a blur of movements, sending arrow after arrow at their enemies and killing with dead accuracy anything that he aimed for. The speed with which he used his long knifes was astounding and breathtaking to behold. With the agility of a great cat, he seemed to float above the earth with each strike. The tremendous force of his attacks showed in his bared teeth, clenched jaw and hard muscles rippling under his garments.
Aragorn was the incarnation of grace, strength and bravery, swinging his sword with a deadly controlled rage. He had not forgotten to what Boromir had fallen so many years ago. Only a dull pain remained at the memory of the brave Stewart of Gondor, and yet, he still relished in the satisfaction that revenge brought him.
Gimli also showed great strength and agility, boring down with his axe in deadly grace. He made up for his shortness with surprising endurance, rapidity and bravery. His axe was always true and inflicted deadly wounds with a single blow, often beheading his opponent in one swift motion.
Legolas saw one of the creatures creeping up on Aragorn and let an arrow fly, finding it's target and killing it instantly. Aragorn nodded his head and linked eyes with him for a brief moment, thanking him for saving his life yet again. It had become an habit for the three to watch each others backs and they had saved one another from the clutches of death many a time.
Only four Uruk-hai remained.
As he ran into battle, Legolas unsheathed his twin Elven blades in a graceful movement promising death and bloodshed. He let his opponent move towards him with its sword and ducking at the last moment, spun around and stabbed one of his knife in the creatures shoulder. With a loud shriek, the sword was dropped. Faster than the eye could follow, Legolas slashed his blade across the creatures neck, leaving it to choke on his own blood.
But suddenly, another man appeared in the clearing, a look of horror painted on his face. He was dressed in stange light blue clothing and seemed to bore no weapons.
Also seeing the newcomer emerge from the forest, one of the last Uruk-hai charged him with his sword. Amazingly, the unknown man kicked the sword from the creatures hands, caught it mid-air, rammed it through the deformed body and pushed the blade upwards, completely severing the demon in two.
Seeing the black blood on the blade, the man threw the sword on the ground with a disgusted look and pulled a shining metal objet until now concealed by his belt. Glancing back to his companions, Legolas discovered that Aragorn had killed the last of the beasts and that his two companions were walking in his direction.
Turning back to the man, Legolas spotted another figure, this one hiding in the forest. It appeared to be female and was handling an object similar to the one in the man's hand. He could tell in the woman's dark blue eyes that she was terrified, but he could not tell why. The battle had been short and was now over.
She had the bearings of a warrior and seemed alert to every movement the new man made. By the way she moved her tall body, he could also tell that she was an experienced fighter and a very strong one. *She most be a worthy opponent in battle,* thought Legolas.
He was about to call for her to step out of the woods when the man on his left suddenly raised the shining object in the woman's direction. He looked at the man, startled by his action. *Why is he handling that object like it is a weapon of some kind.*
Glancing back towards the woman, he could see that she had also raised the same shining object, aiming directly at the man's chest.
"Drop your gun!" She yelled at the man.
But he just kept staring at her, keeping the "gun" aimed in her direction.
"You're under arrest for the murders of two civilians, so drop your gun. You have no where to go and police back up his going to be here any seconds now." She said again.
*Police?…back up?….here in any second? But I can hear nothing for several miles around… and what's a "police"! * thought Legolas, distressed by the unknown terms but keeping his face a blank mask.
Once more, Legolas looked at the man and discovered that the man was wounded. He walked towards him, looking at the man's leg.
"You are injured!" said Legolas with concern in his soft voice.
"Get out of the way! He's dangerous!" cried the woman hidding in the wood behind him.
He turned around to face her.
"Do you know this man?", asked Legolas, feeling as though he should acknowledge the warning in the woman's voice.
But before she could answer, his body stiffened, sensing danger from an unknown source.
A creeping feeling made it's way in his gut, telling him that the man was more than he appeared to be.
And then he understood that the evil that he still felt even after the deaths of the Uruk-hai emanated from the man he had thought an ally.
He spun sharply around to face the man, and came upon the sight of a madman.
A deadly gleam was in the man's eyes, grinning evilly at him.
*Is it possible that the object the man is holding be a weapon?*
Then, he heard a clasp of thunder and felt himself thrown backwards by an unseen force.
An explosion of pain was the last thing he felt in his chest before darkness claimed him.
Aragorn and Gimli watched in horror as their friend flew backwards in a scream, sparkles of blood staining is fair face and hair. Hardly able to breath in their panic, they rushed to his side.
"No, no, no." repeated Aragorn as he kneeled beside his bleeding friend.
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The instant Laurence had a clear view of the killer, she took aim and shot a single bullet towards his head. But a fraction of a second before she squeezed the trigger, the dark haired man and the midget came rushing towards their friend. In order not to hit one of them, she had to slightly move her gun to the right, succeeding in only grazing the killers temple, not even hard enough to render him unconscious.
The two man were blocking her view now, and although she moved to the right to take aim again, the killer had fled through the trees, making him an impossible target. Soon, he had disappeared. Laurence wanted to go after him but the blond man needed immediate medical attention so she let him go. She cursed loudly under her breath and turned her attention on the fallen man.
To get better access to the wound, Aragorn was cutting the light tunic of Legolas. His face was even paler than usual and he was having a hard time breathing. It was frightening to see so much blood made by a weapon that they did not see. Aragorn wondered if it was some form of sorcery.
The woman he had seen take chase after the unknown man came rushing back towards them. She kneeled beside Legolas and helped him spread the front of the tunic apart.
Laurence looked at the dark haired man in front of her and noticed that he was rather calm given the circumstance. He would be able to assist her in stabilising the blond man.
"Hi, my name is Laurence. What's yours?" she asked while putting pressure on the chest wound of the blond haired man.
"I am called Aragorn and I demand that you tell me if you have anything to do with this sorcery!" answered Aragorn with anger in his voice.
"Sorcery? Your friend was shot with a bullet, there's nothing of sorcery about
that !" replied Laurence with an incredulous look on her face.
"What is a bullet? Asked Aragorn, having never heard of the word before.
"You don't know what a bullet his?"
"If we knew, do you think we would be asking?" said Gimli, angered by the suspicious look the woman was giving him.
Laurence quickly understood that the wall she passed through didn't just bring her in another place but also in another time. She was intelligent enough to come to the conclusion that she wasn't even in her own world anymore. The creatures that littered the ground were enough proof of that, so this had to be another world.
Pushing these disturbing thoughts aside, she turned her attention once more on the injured man, checking his pulse and looking in his eyes to see if he was responding to stimuli. His pulse was slow and his breathing sounded much too laboured but she had no oxygen mask to help him breath. With no equipment, she wasn't sure she would be able to save his life, little less to disinfect his wound. She passed her hand behind his back to check if there was an exit wound but found none. They would have to get the bullet out. She had a small pouch in the inside pocket of her jacket with first aid instruments in it. She would have to use the small tweezers.
She could still feel the gaze of the midget on her so she raised her head and answered Aragorn's question.
"A bullet is a small round metal objet that is shot with a gun. The man who escaped me shot your friend with it. Now we have to stop the bleeding and get the bullet out." Answered Laurence.
"Gimli, tear my cloak and give us some pieces to press on the wound." Asked Aragorn in an urgent manner while he pressed his bare hands on the wound.
Gimli had already been shredding pieces of cloths while speaking soothing words to Legolas, hoping that his friend could hear him and take some comfort in them. He gave the cloths to Aragorn and started shredding the man's cloak.
"wake up Legolas! Who will make my days miserable if you are not around anymore to render me deaf with your constant chatter of trees and your singing?" said Gimli with teasing and sadness in his voice.
Laurence looked up at Gimli and saw that his eyes shone with unshead tears. She reached for his hand and taking hold of it she said, " I will do everything in my power to save your friend. In the meantime, continue talking to him, maybe he can hear you and find strengh in your voice."
Gimli looked at her. "Thank you."
Aragorn looked at her with surprise on his face and said "Do you have notions in the field of healing my Lady?"
"In my line of work, I have to have extensive notions of medical aid." She answered. "I have been in this kind of situation many times 'cause in my world, gunshot victims are a daily matter."
Aragorn nodded his head in approval, knowing it was not the time the ask questions about what she meant when she said 'my world'.
He could tell that the bleeding had almost stopped and that Legolas was beginning to stir. He put a bit more pressure on the wound and heard Legolas moan in pain, slightly arching his neck backwards.
Leaning closer to his friends face, he waited to see if he would open his eyes. Gimli was doing the same and together they waited anxiously for Legolas to lift his eyelids. But they were not greeted by their friends arousal. Rather, they witnessed his breathing getting slower and slower until it stopped.
TBC…..
Gulp!! Is he dead??