Disclaimer: I don't own any part of LotR.

True To Ones Heart

~*Chapter Three*~

Legolas' soft voice sung sweetly throughout the forest. A slight breeze blew his long, silky blond hair into his face. Taking one of his slender hands, be brushed his hair from his face and tucked it behind one of his pointed ears.

He was looking forward to seeing his friends in Rivendell, he could not remember the last time he had the pleasure of being in the Elf Lord's company. Nenar, his horse, nickered softly. His voice died to a hum, and his crystal blue eyes gazed up towards the equally blue sky, it was indeed a beautiful day.

All he wanted to do was relax in the quietness of the forest. Legolas sighed, and patted Nenar's smooth neck. Legolas was weary from the long ride from Mirkwood, and he looked forward to relaxing when he reached his destination.

Spotting a small pond, he slowed his horse to a stop and gracefully slipped off its back, stroking its silky mane. He whispered softly in elvish, in the horse's ear, before letting the horse go off to get a drink from the pond. He had been riding hard for a few days now, for he had urgent news from his father, regarding the orcs traveling into elven territory. Legolas wandered through the forest shaking the stiffness of his limbs, from the ride. His sharp elven ears picked up on a faint conversation.

Strange, he thought, for it was highly unusual for any elf to travel in these parts of the woods unless it was to get to ones destination, but not to stop and start up a conversation.

Legolas went to investigate when he came to a small opening in the forest. The young elf could not believe his eyes, this was far worse then both he and his father could have fathomed. He watched the camp of orcs sit around a small campfire, laughing, having a good time. Orcs had now started to invade Rivendell as well, but why?

As Legolas got up form behind a bush that hid him from sight, out of the corner of his eye he spotted a limp figure bundled up in an elvish cloak. It appeared to be a child from Rivendell! Legolas slowly crept around the camp behind the trees to get a better look at the child.

He let out a small gasp as he realized that the unconscious child was not an elf, but a human, which shocked Legolas slightly.

What was a human child doing so far in Rivendell's forests, and wearing an elvish cloak? Legolas worried over the young child who had yet to show any signs of life, except for his chest raising and falling with each breath.

Suddenly it clicked in his mind, this must be the child that his father had been talking about! The young Dùnadan that Elrond had taken as his foster son!

The elves in Mirkwood did not fully approve of the Lord of Rivendell taking in a human child. Estel, yes that was his name! Legolas frowned; he just could not leave the child. Even if he was a human, he was Elrond's son. As much as he disliked humans, this particular child had done no harm to his people. It remained that fact that he was only a child.

Legolas cursed as he remembered that he had left his weapons back with his horse. Swiftly he rose, and sped to his horse. He could not waste time. Strapping his quiver on his back, he grabbed his bow and the two long Elven knives. Turning to his horse he whispered a few elvish words into its ear before taking off.

He returned to the orc camp, and he quickly climbed up a tree, hidden from the creatures' sights. Taking in a deep breath he drew an arrow and notched it to his bow, drawing it slightly taut and waited. He took a few deep, long breaths to calm himself.

Legolas knew he was being foolish; acting first, before thinking about his actions, but there was not time for that, not when the life of a child was at stake. He could do this. Stay strong Legolas. Opening his eyes, he pulled back the arrow, and found his first target. Aim. Fire. The first arrow surprised the orcs striking one of the larger orcs in its thick neck.

Letting out an anguished cry, the orc fell to the ground, where it remained. The other orcs looked around the camp, trying to find the intruder that killed one of their companions, but discovered non. Seeing that he succeeded in bringing down one of the orcs, Legolas notched another two arrows, and he took aim to the orc nearest to the boy and fired.

Estel let a small moan slip from his mouth. There was a dull throbbing in his arm, which had gone numb. Slowly the fog lifted from his mind as he realized that someone was attacking the orcs. An orc standing in front of him suddenly grunted and dropped to the ground, dead.

Estel gasped as he set his sight on the two arrows logged in body, one in the neck; the other had struck the orc in the middle of its forehead.

An arrow? Elves! His brothers had found him! Forgetting about his own injuries he tried to sit up to see the attackers, despite the pain it caused him. Pain shot through his arm, his head whirled dizzily. He leaned against the tree to support himself. An orc to his right was the next victim of the unknown attacker.

To Estel's disappointment, he realized that there was only one attacker; it couldn't have been his brothers, unless they had split up.

Another orc fell; an increasing pool of blood surrounded it. This time the attacker was revealed, as he jumped from a tree branch. It was indeed an elf. The elf landed gracefully in a kneeling position, poised to attack, with his bow raised.

Estel's eyes widened as he got a good look at the elf. He was not like any elf he had see before. The slender elf had a fair completion, no blemishes. His face was framed with long, incredibly straight, blond hair. And his eyes were unlike any he had seen before, a beautiful crystal blue. The elf was clad in dark green and brown, and not that from Rivendell. Estel could tell just by looking at the elf's appearance that he was not from Rivendell, and that he must be one of the woodland elves that Elrohir was always talking about.

Estel was amazed at the elf's graceful speed and agility as in one simple move his deadly aim took down a few more orcs. The woodland elf was quicker then Elladan, and his brother had the best shot in Rivendell! There was a look of determination on the elf's smooth, lean face. The elf caught sight of Estel looking at him and for a moment was distracted from the ongoing fight.

Estel watched in horror as two large orcs slammed into the elf throwing him back against the tree behind them.

As Legolas was slammed into the tree forcefully, he could hear his ribs crack under the pressure. He dropped his bow, and doubled forward in pain when the orcs released their grip on him. The wind was knocked out of him as he gasped for breath. He gasped for breath, as a rush of air suddenly filled his lungs. The orcs that had taken him down sneered down at him.

Moving surprisingly fast, the orc grabbed Legolas by the arm and threw him to the ground. Legolas rolled and quickly recovered as he scrambled to his feet, unsheathing his two long elven knives. He moved himself into a fighting stance, as one of the orcs came charging at him.

With graceful speed, the elf dodged the orcs swing to his head. One of Legolas' knives caught the orc in the throat, and the orc fell to the ground and was still. But as soon as the orc hit the ground, another one quickly took the place, swinging its' sword at the elf in an effort to bring him down in any way possible.

The orc brought the sword down and Legolas defected the blow with his knives and pushed the orcs sword from the orc's hands. The orc grabbed a hold Legolas' arm trying to spin him into another tree, but Legolas twisted his wrist and threw his body to the side, flipping the orc over his back.

Estel was surprised with the elf's strength, as he watched the elf flip over the orc that was more then two times his size. To his horror, he watched as another orc crept up from behind raising his sword, ready kill the elf with one strike.

"Look out!"

Estel managed to choke out a small warning from his dry throat. Legolas heard the raspy cry from the child and spun on his heels, just in time to see the orc bring the sword down. Legolas lifted his arms to defend himself against the attack on his chest. The sword bit deeply into Legolas' forearm.

Legolas winced at the pain, but quickly recovered and brought his knife up at the orc and buried it deep in the orc's chest. The shocked orc clobbered the elf hard on the head, before falling to the ground. The sudden outburst knocked Legolas off his feet.

Before Legolas had a chance to recover from the blow an orc from behind him kicked him forcefully in the stomach, jarring the already cracked ribs. Legolas gritted his teeth, as the pain increased, and now he was almost sure that he had broken some of his ribs. His forearm throbbed, as blood continued to gush out from the wound.

Legolas remembered the child; he could not give up.

Rising to his feet, he could not recall when he had dropped his knives, but he could have cared less about that as the orc took another swipe at him. Legolas sidestepped and lunged at the orc, knocking both of them to the ground. Legolas spotted one of his knives lying at hands reach and grabbed it.

Estel watched the fight intensely, as the elf continued to dodge the orcs. His vision blurred, and he blinked trying to clear them once again. Counting the number of orcs left, Estel was amazed to see that the elf alone had killed more then half!

Legolas' moves slowed somewhat as his tied, aching body protested against the sharp movements. Legolas faced his last opponent; the two circled one another waiting for the other to make his move. Suddenly the orc lunged forward. Legolas moved away from the deadly strike, he brought up his knee hitting the orc in the chest. Legolas was dragged to the ground as the orc grabbed a hold of his ankle. And the two tumbled to the hard forest ground, one on top another.

Estel watched the elf fall on top of the orc, desperately he wanted to help, but every time he made any sudden moves his head would spin, and threatened to take his breath away and drag him into unconsciousness. All he could do was sit and watch helplessly as the thick, ugly creature advanced upon the slender elf.

The orc grabbed Legolas by the neck and hauled him up off the ground. Legolas choked as the orc's grip around his neck tightened, and his air supply was cut off. The elf's vision dimmed as he gasped for air. He remembered that he was still holding onto one of his knives, and in a desperate attempt to free himself, Legolas stabbed the orc's arm causing it to let go.

Legolas dropped to the ground. Coughing harshly, Legolas' hands slid up his neck gingerly feeling the soon to be bruises. Recovering from his cough attack, Legolas gathered himself back up to his feet as his opponent readied itself for another attack. As the orc started running towards him, Legolas raised his arm with the bloodied knife. Legolas threw the knife with the accuracy of a deadly assassin. The knife found its target, burying itself deep in the orc's heart, killing it instantly.

Legolas let out a soft sigh, and looked around at his surroundings. He was sure that there was another orc around. There was a rustling sound from behind him. Legolas turned, and spotted the orc that had slipped away. The orc was holding a strung bow aiming right at him, and as soon as Legolas had looked in the orc's direction, it let the arrow go. The impact of the arrow to his shoulder threw Legolas back slightly.

Legolas felt the arrow tear into his flesh. Pain rippled throughout his battered and bruised body. His eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground. The orc, happy with his job, quickly disappeared into the forest.

Estel watched, horrified as the elf swayed at his feet, and then collapsed where he lay unmoving. Estel's eyes scanned for the orc, but it had quickly disappeared. He tried to jump to his feet to help the fallen elf, but he moved too quickly; jarring his broken arm. Immediately he regretted the sudden movements as the dull throb in his head grounded him. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard waiting for the nausea to pass. Exhausted and in pain, the young child retreated into a deep sleep.

TBC…

*Heart4strider: Glad you're enjoying the story…and don't worry Legolas is making his appearance in this chapter!

*Andmetwen: You should feel sorry for Estel! The poor child getting beat up by orcs!

*MaverickGirl: *snicker* Elrond will be much happier when he gets Estel back, so don't you worry.

*Tithen Min: Stop you're making me blush! Lol. I know my chapters aren't very long, but this chapter is a bit longer…I think.

*Snuffles: Ahh you are too kind! Thank you so very much =)

*Ringwraith9: Thank you for the review! ^_^