Capture in the Night:
Then the mountain rose before me
By the deep well of desire
From the fountain of forgiveness
Beyond the ice and the fire.
Though we share this humble path, alone
How fragile is the heart
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly
To touch the face of the stars.
Legolas awoke from his world of dreams with a start to see Jei beside him in the sunset, her face blank. He turned his head to look at her and she was gazing silently at the setting sun, sitting with her knees embraced to her chest. Her jaw clenched every few moments, her foot twitching as if she worried and he slowly reached out, his hand clasping her shoulder.
She jumped slightly, whirling to look down at him and as he smiled at her she returned the smile, closing her eyes and exhaling as he rubbed her shoulder. She was fully clothed again, dirty clothes under the robe, and the elven cloak still wrapped around her shoulders. But she glowed, in the sunset, even without the sunset. The color had returned to her face, and her expression, although worried, was not as pinched as it had been before. She seemed well and for that he was thankful.
"You will be the death of me," he said quietly to her, his hand dropping away from her shoulder, and he exhaled wearily.
"Oh, really?" she quipped. "I will be the death of you?" Her smile turned sardonic and he smiled to himself.
He lay for a long while, merely watching the sun set far off in the sky and it was beautiful. The red of the sun vanished into blue and pink and he felt the night coming once more. And it was only then that he realized he had whiled away the entire day in his world of dreams. He couldn't remember the last time that had happened but it had been another moment in his long life in which he had been wounded and he had dreamed for several days. His eyes focused on the coming night, on the purple that faded into midnight blue, and on the moon as she reappeared over them. It would be another cool night but it would be welcome this time around. The worst was behind them. Now it was only a matter of surviving any onslaught by the Ringwraiths.
The mere thought of it made him stiffen and he slowly, only then, began to rise. His chest pulled, the wound resisting but as she looked at him he hid away the grimace that had threatened to break over his face. With an exhalation he lifted himself onto his rear and gingerly hunched forward, pain throbbing.
"Does it hurt?" she asked him, gazing at him sadly.
He blinked as he lifted his eyes to the moon above and shadows fell on him, painting him blue and black. "No," he replied after a moment, his eyes shining.
Jei smiled faintly and she faced forward once more. "You're lying, of course," she said quietly and his eyes did not leave the moon. "But I forgive you for you wish not to alarm me."
After a moment he said softly, "Indeed."
Silence fell on them but it was not awkward. In fact, it was comfortable and Jei found herself once more looking at her situation and wondering, just wondering. The early morning light was now far off and she would be lying to herself if she said that the passed night had not been the longest she had ever experienced. She sighed softly, pulling his cloak a bit more tightly around her shoulders and his scent rose from it. If she closed her eyes she saw him, with his faint smile and beautiful eyes, and the image warmed her in the cool night. It was always a wonderfully sunny day when she thought of him, the blue sky the background for his image. But usually, only in her dreams. She opened her eyes slowly and looked at him to see him looking back.
"What were you just thinking?" he asked her quietly.
The night was much too dark for him. He needed to be surrounded by golden sunlight, always. She gazed at him, hesitating, and deep inside she felt something rise. And with the strange rising came the heavy burden of truth and fear. He returned her gaze, his hair blowing gently, and she whispered slowly, "You."
His lips lifted slightly and he tilted his head, turning a bit to her. "Tell me what you think of," he asked of her faintly, and in the blue glow of the moon he was ethereal. Only, she saw his beauty inside, as if it glowed enough to emanate through his flesh.
And it blinded her.
"I wish to know every thought you have," he said to her.
She turned her face away, feeling his beauty, his goodness. Feeling as if it seared her. But it was not only his light that seared her but the sudden heat from her chest, a burning flame against her skin. She withdrew into herself, feeling that he could see her shame, feel the heat of it through her clothes. And feeling that he would find out everything.
It terrified her.
"Is that not much to ask of me?" she said in a ghost of a breath.
He paused, gazing at her as she clutched the cloak against herself, almost as if hiding herself. "No," he replied after a moment. "It is not much to ask. But I fear, for you, it is much to give." And he stared at her intently as her eyes flickered in his direction but did not meet his gaze.
It was much to ask, after all.
But she shook her head slowly, her face pale. And it was not a trick of the moonlight. "I can not be honest to you, Legolas. I feel as if between you and I, there is much to cross and I will never reach you. My honesty would only widen that distance. And I can't bear the distance we have between ourselves as it is."
Beside her he did not speak for a long while, his eyes caught on her face and on the fear he saw there, the fear she failed to hide. And it was a long enough moment that she worried perhaps he had not heard, or had nor cared for her words. But then, what did one say, how did one respond to the words she had spoken?
"It does pain me, then," he said softly and she lifted her head quickly to look at him, to see him gazing at her sadly. "It pains my heart. To see you like this."
She stared at him wordlessly, lips parted. His eyes, dark in the moonlight, shone with that inner sunlight and she was afraid. Even with the warmth those eyes conveyed, she was afraid. Afraid of the darkness around her and afraid for she knew that in this darkness even the elf could not save her. And the fear became pain, a sickening pain that made her skin crawl.
"Your light will banish me," she whispered and her words hung eerily in the silence of the forest.
He frowned at her imperceptibly.
On her chest the burning seemed to blaze stronger, her flesh smoldering, and she looked into the night all around her, her gaze fearful. "I will fall under your goodness," she said in a trembling voice as she returned her eyes to him and she was lost in the gleaming light that was the elf. "Your light blinds the world in goodness and in that light I will fail. You will consume me and destroy me, and I will not be the person from before. I will never be again. I can not be…"
He shifted to face her, lips parting as she spoke once more.
Her hand lifted slowly, hesitating against his cloak where it clasped at her neck. And she was far away as she murmured quietly, her gaze blank, "I find myself missing that person at the strangest moments, that person I was, so long ago. She was beautiful and she shone with the same light you do. And it wounds me now, that light. It burns me for I am darkness, ever since. I have been darkness and I find myself slowly vanishing…" she paused once more, reluctantly, her words hanging. "No, not vanishing, Returning. The light and the darkness…"
And her hand clasped her chain.
He reached out to her, his fingers brushing the back of her hand and her skin froze him. She was cold, so cold to the touch and he clasped one hand over hers, wanting her to feel warmth.
"Oh," she murmured in a pained voice, and tears rose in her eyes as she continued to gaze blankly, looking through him. "That light…"
And suddenly, through the forest, resounded the high-pitched shriek of a Ringwraith.
Legolas whirled, blue eyes widening and immediately searching the area and beside him Jei scrambled backward, frantically. He looked at her, staring at her, and she crushed the chain in her hand, the tears falling down her face.
"No…no…"
Legolas rose, looming over her, and she lurched backward even more. But the fear on her face stopped him where he stood.
"Your light…your light," she whispered to him and he stared at her in confusion. "Your light threatens their darkness. My darkness. It's overwhelming and it draws them-"
He moved toward her as she muttered eerily, and his hand darted out, suddenly taking hold of her by the clasp of his elven cloak. The sudden gesture caused flame to streak up his chest and he winced, faltering and falling to his knees. But even so, his hand remained firmly clenched around her hand, fighting to open her fingers with his other hand as well.
"Legolas-" she whispered fearfully and she placed a hand to his forehead, even as his hand tightened before her throat, his knuckles digging into her neck. But she saw him then, at last, finally understanding and only then coming back to herself. "Legolas, your wound-"
"Is it the One Ring?" he asked her, biting out the words. And as she stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief he lifted his blue eyes to her, anger shining there. "Is that what we have been fighting for, the reason you go to Mordor? Tell me if it is the ring!"
She shook her head at him, her tears drying on her pale face. "No, Legolas. No," she uttered faintly and he bowed his head, relief swarming throughout his entire form. Her hand against his forehead forced him to look at her again, lifting his face to her, and she gazed at him steadily. "The One Ring is gone from Middle Earth, destroyed in the fires of Mordor. They come now…for a different reason entirely-"
And as he gazed at her his eyes darted sideways, looking at something behind her and the hand against her throat suddenly shoved her backwards to the floor roughly, causing her to cry out in surprise. She crashed to the floor as a shadow loomed above her and a scream broke from her throat as a Black Rider swooped in on them, his hands reaching out and taking hold of the elf.
"Legolas!"
The creature flung him to the floor violently, one withered hand streaking downward and his fingers tore into the elf's chest, into the wound, stabbing viciously.
Behind Jei came another Ringwraith, rising from the ground as if he had floated up and his arms wrapped around her neck, pulling her up roughly. She choked for a moment before kicking out, her hands lifting to wrench at his arms furiously. "Legolas!"
The elf made no sound, his frame stiff around the Ringwraith's clawed hand. The blood welled up once more, staining his chest, his clothes. And Jei screamed, struggling fiercely, tears flooding her eyes. It couldn't happen, not like this, not after so long and so much. She lurched, throwing herself backward and she rammed against the Black Rider holding her, forcing him back and to the floor forcefully. The creature made no sound as he hit, only the pull of his robes grazing the ground and she flailed, struggling to undo his grip, or weaken it. Ivory and Ebony stood still against the tree, so far away, along with her crossbow. Nothing in reach except her limbs and they did no damage against the Black Rider.
From the woods, coming from all directions, came the remaining Ringwraiths, floating forward soundlessly, converging on their one spot.
And all she could so was watch helplessly as they came forth, as they paused together surrounding the small clearing. Jei looked at them all in turn, slowly stopping as they stood silently and the Ringwraith holding her rose once more, heaving her up as if she weighed nothing. His grip was cold around her neck, the iciness of his robes seeping through her own robes and freezing her skin.
I won't go back. I won't, not again-
Several feet away the Ringwraith released the elf, pulling back a bloody hand and he lifted away noiselessly, rising to his full height and looming over Legolas' prone body. She watched him as he paused and then, slowly, he reached to his side and pulled forth his sword, the blade ringing menacingly in the night.
"Enough!" she cried, her face pinched in terror. And then, as they hesitated around Legolas she whispered, "It is enough," to the Ringwraiths, her eyes gazing at the elf where he lay unconscious, his chest streaked a dark red. Her words brought the Ringwraith with the sword to a halt and she bowed her head, not wishing to see anymore. "There is no need for the sword. I will go."
And above them came the sound of a large winged creature and she knew then, she was finally going back.
Yeah so I'm in a really happy mood right now because I think I may have gotten a better job which means once I get the ball rolling, more money for meeeee! Yay!! Anyways, erm, we are about two chapters done ahead of this one and a lot comes out, if not all. But it takes about two chapters to explain it all and I don't think a lot of you will be expecting what becomes of them. =) So for one I want tot hank all those people who decided to email because it feels good to know that people are still reading and care about the characters (Jei especially since she's an original character!) so here's another chapter. Kinda short but it takes us exactly where we need them all next.
So have fun and tell us what you think!
Oh and we've finally seen The Two Towers so stop feeling sorry for us, LMAO!!!
-Aeslinn
P.S. – San-chaaaaaaaaaaan! I was actually online like a week ago but I was promptly kicked off because I no longer use AOL. I use my dad's dsl service but I think he's cutting that too which means I might need to go back to AOL. Grr…How've ya been??