Authors Note: Ok, first of all "The Last Unicorn" lyrics belong to Jimmy Webb, and Aragorn and Elrond and those people and places like that belong to Tolkien. [sad sigh] And also, this is probably the stupidest story I could ever come up with, so don't kill me! Thank you! And Enjoy!

The Last Unicorn

By Firniswin

Chapter 1

Priceless

~

When the last eagle flies

Over the last crumbling mountain

And the last lion roars

At the last dusty fountain

In the shadow of the forest

Though she may be old and worn

They will stare unbelieving

At the last unicorn

~

Aragorn crept silently through the trees making his way back to Imladris, his home. He had been in the wild for over a year now and had not seen his family in so long he felt he was begging to forget what they looked like. He smiled at the thought of his brothers strangling him in a hug then pulling pranks on him, like the time they put poison ivy in his bed, or the time they dyed his hair blue.

"Brothers." he scoffed as he shook his head and kept on going.

He wanted so badly to get to his family, but an aching pain in his heart told him to stay, just for the night. But he was so close.

His heart won him over, he settled down on a green turf in a glade and caught his lost breath, he was awfully tired. He had traveled for days without sleep and the circles under his eyes confirmed the lack of sleep.

He did not start a fire because he had learned when traveling with Legolas that fire attracts orcs, or so it seemed, every time they lit a fire, some sort of danger came and one had to carry the other back to Rivendell.

And for better safety he decided to settle himself in a tree, the elf prince had taught him many times before how to sleep in trees without falling and it had become a prized asset along with his other abilities.

He scampered lightly up the tree and set himself on a low branch, just high enough so if someone came along they could not see him but he could see them. He hunched up against the tree's midsection and fell into a soft but restful sleep as the birds whistled songs about him.

~

"Come on!"

A loud back paining crack of a whip made it's way into Estel's sleep. He awoke with a jerk and blinked to clear sleep groggy eyes. The young ranger looked down to see five shapes making their way near the tree. But now that they were closer and the sleep had fled he saw a sixth, yet it was unlike the rest. It had a slight glow and walked on four legs, it was an animal, yet it had the grace of an elf.

He watched as the shimmering beast went reluctantly forward, and now that it was just below the tree he stared in wonder, it was a unicorn. She was white and her mane had streaks of silver and blue, her horn that sat in all it's majesty atop her noble head was gold and silver, the silver and gold hue entwined together and spiraled to the top.

Her hooves seemed silver and her tail was the same as her mane, her eyes were soft and gentle showing that she did not deserve what beheld her.

Aragorn wanted to slay them all, such a rage blew through him, it ached his heart to see this beautiful animal trapped by his own race and being tortured. 'But if I go down now-' he thought about the consequences a moment, 'gurth' he thought of the elven word instead of death in his own tongue, it had a calming effect and made him feel a bit easier.

Aragorn silently eased his weight to another part of the branch, 'I will wait till they sleep.' he thought to himself as he watched the men make their camp.