Chapter 12
They hit the ground hard, Aragorn first, and then the Elves landed on top of him. He cried out, as he did not realize that the ground was coming up that quickly, and still had his hands in front of him. Legolas never felt them hit earth again as his head found the nearest outcropping of rock. The twins landed and rolled to their feet, tensing, but unhurt.
They looked up quickly when they heard a grating laughter that could only be human. Before they knew it, Elladan found himself beaten to his knees, and Elrohir flat on his face, both groaning as the hilts of swords found their heads and then curled as feet found their ribs, backs, and anything else they could not cover. One glance towards their counterparts proved their fears, yet they could do nothing as they found they could not move. They hadn't even noticed the daggers that had been drawn down their arms, evidently introducing some type of drug to their system.
When next they woke, they had no idea where they were, or where Nondil or Amolas were, but they had found Terach's group. Chained to separate walls, the four looked around disdainfully as they took in their surroundings. They were in a cave.
Lord Elrond looked up as Selinde found him. "Sir, where are your sons and Legolas? Kao is looking for Strider, and I would talk with Elrohir about something."
"They…they aren't here. There was a problem last night after you and Kao fell asleep, and Thranduil sent out search parties. They all went out in a group, and they are the only ones who have not returned. I was just going to see Kaolith; I need to speak with her about something. Is she still in her room?"
"Yes. What is it you want to talk to her about?"
"Something that we think may help her memory, but she isn't going to like it."
"You aren't going to tell me are you? You sound like Mithrandir."
The two walked off, laughing, and soon entered the Ranger's room to find it empty. Fear gripped Selinde, but then she saw the girl pressed into a corner, trying to hide.
"Kao, sweetie, it's okay. What's wrong little one?" The fear in her eyes should have been a clue, but Selinde didn't catch it in time. Instead, Lord Elrond watched in semi-amusement as the child stood up, jabbed her right fist into the she-Elf's eye, hooked a kick with her left leg into Selinde's ribs, and spun, catching her sister in a spinning back kick. Selinde fell to the ground, unconscious, and Kaolith blew by the Elf Lord, out into the Hall, becoming more and more petrified at the sight of the increasing number of Elves.
Lord Elrond sent some of King Thranduil's guards to look for the girl. *She can't get far*, he thought. He would soon learn his mistake. Bending over he scooped up the she-Elf and laid her on the bed. Treating the injuries the young ranger had inflicted, he knew Selinde would be feeling this in the morning. *What am I going to do with these two*, he thought to himself. Having not had much sleep in several days, the Elf Lord allowed himself to drift off.
Kao was in a panic. *How did she get captured by Elves,* she wondered. Strider, she had to find him, she was sure he was in trouble also. Wanting to escape from the palace, she hid from those who were trying to find her. Lord Elrond's mistake was that he forgot she lived around Elves. And even if her mind couldn't remember, her body could. So she slowly and patiently crept closer to her destination. The gates were open, for more search parties were getting ready to leave. Kao slipped out unnoticed, but not unarmed. She had found some weapons to use, though she wished she had her own.
She carefully searched the tracks and after several hours, found Strider's. She followed them into the woods.
Kaolith had been tracking her friend, more and more convinced that he was in grave danger, for longer than she cared to admit to. Standing up straight and stretching, she looked to the stars, wondering where her father was on a night like this. Curiously, the Man had been like an Elf in his love of the stars. This didn't occur to the Ranger at the time, however, as she heard someone coming. Jumping and catching the nearest tree branch, Kaolith pulled herself out of sight just in time for one of the search parties to pass her by.
When she was sure they were gone, she dropped down, more careful and fearful. The Elves were looking for her, she had heard them talking. Stalking behind them, she was not happy to see them following Strider's tracks, but was intelligent enough to let them follow the tracks and not try to confront them.
Soon, the group passed by the tracks, not stopping to notice that they ended as they were looking for a child. Said child did notice, however, and crept through the bushes, letting out a soft yelp as she soon found herself on her back, coughing, and holding her ribs. She saw the group of humans who were lying in wait, and called out to them.
Her fear intensified when they simply laughed, and, hearing her unconsciously speak in Elvish, preceded to capture her in their familiar manner. When she woke again, she felt as though a thousand Dwarf children were learning how to wield their mining tools on her body. Kaolith sat up gingerly, and looked into the eyes of more Elves than she could deal with. Eyes widening as one stepped forward, she retreated back into a corner, and hugged her knees to her chest.
"Kao, little one, it's me. It's Legolas. Kaolith, please. Oh Elbereth, not now, not without Estel here."
Hearing her name, the Ranger shook her head at the confusion, trying to place a name to the face. She knew the name Estel as well, but it only reminded her of Strider, and she tried to push the Man out of her head. He must be in trouble if she ended up here.
"Kaolith, Strider sent me," Legolas tried, hoping to gain at least her temporary trust so that he could see to her new injuries. Elladan and Elrohir were still unconscious in the back corner, and he was not faring much better, but he knew that he had to get through to the child before he passed out again.
"St…Strider sent you? Is he okay? Where is he? Why would he send an…L-L-Legolas? Legolas, where are we, where are the twins? Are they here? Is this a…cave?" Memories came crashing back to her, and she pounced forward into the Elf's arms.
Smiling, Legolas let the darkness claim him once more, just barely seeing a bruised and broken Aragorn being thrown into the chamber with them.
Selinde woke in the morning feeling as if trampled by a hundred hobbits looking for mushrooms. She slowly stretched, trying to find all her injuries. She could tell she had broken ribs, and could feel a bandage wrapped around her head. She gasped and thought she had lost her sight again, when she realized that just one eye wasn't working. Then slowly, what had happened came back to her.
"The little imp," she said as she rose slowly. She had to sit on the edge of the bed to keep from spinning to the floor. "When I get my hands on her.....," she trailed off. Looking around, she wondered where everyone was.
Putting her feet slowly to the floor, she rose and waited. *Good, now lets see if I can walk,* she thought as she tentatively took a step, and then another. When she made it to the door and opened it, what she saw was amazing.
King Thranduil was excellent at keeping his palace orderly. What Selinde saw was pure pandemonium.
"Excuse me." She said to someone rushing by.
"Wait," she said to another.
"Pardon....," she never got it out.
"Dammit," she exclaimed. "What in Mordor is going on around here?"
Selinde started walking to the King's council chambers, staying as much out of the way as she could. As she approached the doors, she hesitated, and then decided to knock.
"Enter," the King bellowed. Selinde slowly opened the door to find the King, Lord Elrond, Gandalf and many of the Kings councilors in a meeting.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," she said. Quite a bit intimidated. She looked at Lord Elrond for help. "I'm sorry, could you tell me where Kao is?" The silence was deadly.
Selinde waited anxiously for someone to tell her that her sister was all right. *So I want to kill her for giving me a black eye,* she mused, *I still want to see her walking on her own two feet, relatively uninjured.* Thoughts that she did not want to ponder entered her mind as the Maiar, King, and Lord exchanged glances. As her imagination began to run rampant, she prodded the Lord into speaking. "Wouldn't you want me to tell you what I knew if it were Estel that was not here?"
Kaolith had fallen under the Prince when he fell, and was thankful for the other Elves when they lifted him and bore him back to where the twins were. It was then that she too caught sight of Aragorn, and pushed herself to her feet, stumbling over to him. Before she knew it, however, Elves were pushing her out of the way, not wanting a 'child' to get in the way. She could not shove her way back through, and eventually used her small stature to crawl, much to the protest of her bruises, underneath the mob.
Trying to help, the Ranger used what she knew to bind the gashes that adorned her friend's arms and chest, and then turned to his head wound. She didn't understand where the bandages were coming from, as they did not look like ripped clothing, but she would not look a gift horse in the mouth.
The stubborn Elves from Mirkwood would, however, and after Kaolith had been removed three more times, she found herself hanging by the hood of her cloak on the far wall.
"Hey! Guys, let me down! I can help, let me down!"
The three Elder's just looked at the she-Elf. They were each deep into their own thoughts as to how much she should be told.
"Well?" Selinde tapped her foot impatiently. "Do I need to tear the Palace apart looking for her?" Their looks gave them away. "She isn't here, is she? And the others, are they gone also?" She pulled a chair over, and uninvited, sat down.
"I'm sorry Selinde." Elrond tried to soothe her. "My sons and Legolas went out to help find the humans who stole the horses. Kao, well, she went 'Elf' crazy again and it seems has disappeared also. How she got out of the palace, we still haven't figured out."
Selinde thought for a moment. "You can bet she found Strider then. That means they are all in trouble. What about Tanad?"
"The human boy is still here, and not very happy. I think he feels as if he has been abandoned." Gandalf said.
"Do you know anything else?" Selinde questioned. "Or are you not going to tell me?"
They were relieved from answering, when a knock came at the door.
"Enter." The King said. A messenger came forward and delivered his package. "I believe this is for you Elrond. It is from Lady Galadriel."
Elrond started to open the letter. He almost felt the need to shiver for the stare the she-Elf was giving him. He finally managed to pull the letter out, when Selinde actually had the nerve to read over his shoulder. When he turned to look at her, she just shrugged and walked away.
"Fine, Tanad and I will be ready to leave in a half an hour. If permitted, we would like horses. If not, we will travel on foot." She slammed the door when she left.
The Elder's looked shocked, but turned back to Elrond and the letter. "She says that the legend is real as far as her research shows. She also does not know of many Bethunian Elves left. She agrees that this may be a way to get the knowledge that was there." Elrond paused. "Yes, but at what cost?"
Selinde had stalked from the room, and went in search of Tanad. She found him in the gardens. "Are you okay Tan?" She asked the young boy.
"Selinde! Yes, I am fine. How are you? And where are Kao and the others?"
Selinde laughed and smiled at the boy. "It looks as if they have gone and gotten themselves into trouble. Would you be willing to help me find them?" Tanad's smile said it all. "Fine, be ready in half an hour. I don't know yet if we will have horses, but we will leave either way. Understand?"
Tanad nodded and went to get his belongings.
Meanwhile, Kaolith was still struggling against her forced captivity, wondering aloud, rather loudly at that, when her friends would wake up. Suddenly, her hood slipped off the rock, and she crumpled down to the ground. Trying to ignore her injuries, the Ranger stumbled to her feet, only to fall again. On her knees, Kaolith looked up in defeat. She couldn't help; she was only a child, and a human child at that. *What help can I be anyway?* Blinking the sudden need to sleep out of her eyes, she shook her head when there were suddenly twice as many Elves, and crawled over to the nearest twin.
"Elladan, 'Dan, wake up, please. You need to help your brother. Stupid Elf, get up, you're of the 'higher race', you aren't supposed to be unconscious when we need your help." She wasn't sure why she was so annoyed and irritable all of a sudden. She supposed it had something to do with the three sons of Elrond and the Prince of Mirkwood who were lying at her knees. She reached out to what she thought was the 'real' Elrohir, and shook him as well.
"Get up, get up…please, Estel needs you." With that, she slumped over, joining them in oblivion.
Terach sat back on his heels. "He may not make it, they beat him too hard. With the break in his arm and the gashes, he's in shock, and I don't know if we can pull him out of it. We need athelas, but they won't give us any." He glanced over at the twins, the Prince, and the girl. "I'm just glad they aren't awake right now. I don't want to be the one to tell them that their brother may die." He had been around Legolas for long enough that he did not even notice there was no blood tie between the two, and assumed that the Ranger was in the same situation. "I've done all I can, it's up to the Valar now. I'll go see to them."
Standing, he turned and walked over to the others. He looked at his Prince first, dismayed at what he saw. True to the Elf's character, he had ignored his own injuries to help the others, and now was too pale for even an Elf's fair hue, and that made the bruises stand out even more. Running his hands over Legolas's chest and torso, he could feel the heat emanating from broken bones and bruises that ran deeply into his body. There was nothing he could do without herbs; all the bandages in the world would not save Thranduil's son.
Bowing his head, he saw that Lord Elrond's two were in the same boat. Badly injured, though better off than their friend, the two had entered darkness painfully, and their closed eyes attested to the grave situation. Terach was overwhelmed with the imminent loss of immortal life, for if he could not find a way to change their fate soon, only a lost King, who the Mirkwood warrior knew to be dead, killed along with his father those years ago, would be able to save them. He looked to the human child, seeing her staring up at him through pain-clouded eyes.
"You can help them, can't you? Because I am only human, and I can not."
"I'm sorry young one…I think only the lost King of Gondor could save them at this point." He bowed his head, not really caring if Kaolith was hurt; she was not his responsibility. They needed some sort of miracle to save any of the Lord and King's sons, and the child who was plagued by her own guilt at her race was well on her way to joining them.
To the Reviewers:
Kar – Hey Kar! Thank you, thank you. Hmmmmm, the end. *Starts to price real estate on distant shores." Cube, pack your bags, we best be leaving soon. LOL
Sparx - Hey Sparx! Writing the twins is fun to do. And Cube just had to add the "get out of my head part", i'm sure you know why. Beware, I think it is about to get worse.
Cathy - Ok Cathy, we are giving. I swear, pushy people! LOL As for what happens next, I have no idea. I can't even remember what we wrote.
