EPILOGUE
Panic surged through Aragorn's veins as he found himself swiftly hurtling through blank space. His velocity gained in momentum and the hardy Ranger flailed his arms uselessly. He began to bellow as loudly as the wind swirling around him until he realized that all sound around him had stopped except for his wordless screaming.
He also found that he had landed on something solid and for all accounts he remained uninjured.
Although he could not say the same for Elladan, his adopted Elven brother who lay beneath him.
"Get off of me, you dirty human." Elladan grumbled as he roughly pushed Aragorn off his bruised chest. Aragorn mumbled several words of thanks and humble apologies while two strong arms reached under his and hoisted him to his feet. The same arms spun him around until he was facing the wickedly grinning Elrohir.
"Good landing, brother. Perhaps when Elladan recovers his pride you shall tell us all of your journeys."
Aragorn was trying to clear the hair and leaves from his face, not to mention regain his balance. The world had not righted itself for him yet. Elrohir still held two strong hands on Aragorn's shoulders, but Aragorn sorely wished that his exuberant brother would quit shaking his nauseated body.
"We almost doubted your survival!" Elrohir laughed. Then he leaned in close and whispered in Aragorn's ear: "To be quite honest, I don't think even Gandalf knew at first how to rescue your sorry selves."
Aragorn was about to respond for the third time but found himself cut off by a strong hand on his back. He jumped and looked into the smiling face of Lord Elrond. It was a very rare sight to see the stern Lord smile, and although it was not an ear to ear grin like that of Elrohir, for Elrond, it was no small feat. "Welcome home, Aragorn."
Aragorn nodded warmly at his father. He looked over his father's form and saw the hurried chaos of Mirkwood Elves. "What's happened?"
Elrond followed his gaze and turned a concerned look back to Aragorn. "They are having some…difficulties locating Prince Legolas. Unfortunately, I do not think he had the most inviting arrival as you did." He gestured to the scowling dark-haired Elladan that only now had risen to his feet.
Legolas' mind bade him not to awaken so hastily; he wanted to remember this scent for the rest of his days. The smell of a freshly cleansed forest flooded his being; his senses told him that it had rained in Mirkwood, probably the night before. The ground underneath his prone body was cool and moist; drops of water trickled from the leaves above him and splattered on his forehead. Despite the fact that he had not opened his eyes yet, he smiled broadly. He was home.
Then the sounds of crashing foliage by careless Elves made his eyes snap open. Frantic voices were calling his name so he knew a timely appearance would likely be in order. He stood up slowly, stretching his arms behind his back and feeling the satisfying pop of jostled cartilage snapping back into place. He gently pushed the tall brush back to reveal Elves running in wayward directions, taking to the trees and whistling commands to fellow searchers. He was about to call to them when he heard his own name called.
"Legolas?"
It came as a question, as if in disbelief. Legolas turned at the sound of the tentative voice and could barely hide the shock from his face as he faced his father, the King.
Misgiving left the face of the King and was replaced by a quick flash of relief before the King regained his royal stance. He folded his hands in front of him and spoke in his regal voice. "Are you hale?"
Legolas nodded quickly. "Aye my Lord. Has Aragorn been accounted for?"
Thranduil thoughtfully glanced back to the clearing in the wood. "From what I have heard."
Legolas, too, seemed to draw himself up in a princely manner and followed his father back to the clearing. "And the portal?"
"Closed. Gandalf is performing some sort of spell with the palantir." He said the word 'spell' with a particular distaste. The scores of Elves nodded at Legolas with warm smiles and affectionate taps on his arms. He smiled and nodded at them just as kindly with his hands clasped behind his back. They neared where the opening had been and Legolas studied the spell-drawing Mithrandir with a mixture of wonder and anxiety as the wizard mumbled unintelligible words with his eyes closed.
But Legolas' attention was quickly drawn from Gandalf to three Elves carrying out the unconscious form of Calenuil. Legolas' eyes grew wide with alarm. "What happened to my uncle?"
Thranduil stated it as simply as he could. "The palantir took him by surprise."
THE END
You're right, I lied. Here it is:
The first thing Buffy noticed was that her limbs felt more tired than they should have. The second thing struck her as more odd than refreshing; why on earth would someone put pine-scented air fresheners in her bedroom? The third and final thing she noticed drew her wide awake; the fact that she couldn't remember going to bed in the first place.
She sat up quickly and instantly regretted the hasty action. She moaned and rubbed her head as she felt a pounding headache form behind her eyes. As her eyesight slowly adjusted to the natural light filtering through a forest canopy, she then realized that she was in a… forest. Her eyes darted back and forth quickly before she flopped back down with a grunt.
"Ah shit."
TO BE CONTINUED…
But not right now.
Thank-yous:
Lisette: You can thank yourself for this cliffhanger. (By the way, I'm not so much multi-talented as I am multi-scatterbrained. Big difference.)
B-Slayer, Supergurl15, CaiteeMarsters, AlynnaLis, Europa, Ami, Mija, Fastpilot, PheonixStar, IceBubble and everyone else who took the time to review and most importantly, read. You gals made it worthwhile.
Look for the next installment on the LOTR site, since it will now take place in Mirkwood. And yes, there will be guaranteed romance in the next one.
