Disclaimer: For full disclaimer, please see chapter 1.
A/N:
*grins insanely* Death threats! Yay! I LOVE death threats, I think I did mention that before somewhere... *g* You guys are all so sweet! *huggles all who have threatened to feed her to wargs/orcs/trolls/balrogs etc.*
Well, I think you know me better than to believe I would simply let Legolas freeze to death or let him drown! Really! You should know by now that that's not _painful_ enough. So, never fear, a simple frozen lake won't kill our favourite elven prince. *evil grin* And you're right, this IS in fact turning into something of a murder mystery! *g*
There seems to be a problem with Celylith though. I know that he's sweet - I think so myself - but I must really ask you not to kidnap him/put him in your pocket/try to marry him. The poor elf has enough trouble with Legolas and Aragorn already, there's no need to scare him away completely, is there? *g* I _could_ of course kill him off at the end of the story and _then_ I could hand out Celylith-clones, just like I did with Nólad. Well, how does that sounds? *ducks rotten fruit and sharp objects* No? Oh, come on, it sounds like... *has to run off to escape angry Celylith fans*
Come now, you have to be nice to me, and you know why? No, not because I can let Aragorn and Legolas die painful deaths, but because it's my birthday tomorrow! Yay Nili! I'm turning 21 and will finally be treated like an adult - in court, that is. That's not really good, is it? *g*
Anyway, here is chapter 9, which, of course, has a lot of Legolas angst, Aragorn angst, Celylith angst and ... well, general angst, I guess. Throw in an ice-covered channel, an elven popsicle and a reckless ranger and serve cold. On ice, of course. *g*
Enjoy and review, please!
Chapter 9
His heart seemed to thump impossibly loud in his own ears, drowning out all sounds except the desperate, lingering echo of his cry.
This was not happening, this couldn't be happening!
Stunned the young man shook his head, staring at the spot where his friend had disappeared only seconds ago. The softly rippling water somehow seemed to bring him back to the present, and he rushed forward, stopping just short of falling over the edge of the pier himself.
"Legolas!" Aragorn called desperately, trying to make out the elven prince's figure or at least catch a glimpse of pale golden hair in the water. "Legolas!! Valar, don't do this to me!"
While he was still trying to locate his friend, an arrow whizzed past his head, missing his temple by the fraction of an inch. The young ranger didn't even seem to notice, his eyes fixed on the rippling surface of the lake.
'Why is he not coming up? Where is he? Why is he not coming up??' a panicked voice inside of him screamed, threatening to push him over the edge into a pit of despair and mindless panic.
Another bolt crossed the distance between the obviously rather frustrated men on the other side of the now impassable channel and him, and this time it didn't miss completely but grazed his right upper arm, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Even that didn't seem to fully register in the young human's shock-numbed mind, until two more projectiles embedded themselves in the wooden pole right under his feet.
Aragorn's head shot up with a start, and he wobbly got back to his feet, his eyes still not leaving the surface. Since Legolas had broken through the ice, barely half a minute had gone by, but he should have resurfaces long ago!
The young man's eyes caught on the rippling surface of the channel, and this time he noticed something he had missed until now in his shocked state: The ripples weren't caused by the fact that Legolas had plunged into the icy water, if that had been the case, they should have died down already.
'Elbereth, no!'
Aragorn scrambled backwards when he realised the implications of his discovery, and he shot a quick look at the stars for a rough estimation. He turned to the small catwalk that was disappearing between the warehouses to his left and began to run southwards, neatly dodging two more crossbow bolts that almost burrowed themselves in his side.
Once in the relative safety the towering buildings supplied, he clutched his injured right arm to his chest, for the first time truly realising that he had been hit. He even quickened his pace when he caught sight of the channel again, running so fast that he almost slipped on the ice covered bridges.
Running parallel to the small canal in whose waters Legolas had disappeared, he shook his head, fervently pleading Ilúvatar and all of the Valar to lend him speed.
The ripples hadn't been caused by Legolas' fall, no, they had been caused by the current that flowed through the Long Lake, due to the two rivers that entered the water and the outflow on its southern side. A current strong enough to carry away an elf numbed by the iciness of the waters, Aragorn thought despairingly, giving an extra burst of speed when he heard the noise he dreaded more than anything else right now: The roaring of the giant waterfalls that marked the southern end of the lake.
They had been in the western part of the town, and during their flight they had apparently got further South than they had realised.
'A Elbereth, please no,' he thought despairingly as the noise of the falls grew louder.
If he was right, then Legolas was being swiftly carried South, and if he couldn't get to the channel soon and reach him before the town ended, he would be taken over the edge of the waterfalls to fall to his death in the icy waters of the River Running.
The contentment of having got Aragorn to safety was quickly replaced by shock when the cold hit Legolas like the blow of a sledgehammer, numbing his whole being. That was the first perception of course, one closely followed by the pain of a thousand sharp needles that stabbed into his muscles. Unconsciously, the elf gasped, and when he tried to breathe in, all he could find was water, icy cold water that froze his limbs.
Instinctively he tried to get back to the surface, but when he kicked out with his feet and tried to make swimming motions with his arms that were severely hindered by his long, billowing cloak, he felt himself be seized by an invisible hand and dragged away with the water, helpless to stop his movements.
For a moment Legolas was stunned by this, his numbed brain not really capable of understanding why he was moving to the side and not upwards, but this thought was soon drowned out by the desperate, all-consuming need for air. While his body was moving apparently on its own account, being carried off with the current, he tried again to reach the surface, and this time he managed to put enough strength into his movements to propel his frozen body upwards.
However, his momentum was stopped rather harshly when his head smashed against something smooth and solid, the abrupt collision causing stars to appear in his already blurry vision. Stunned, Legolas allowed the water to carry him further away while he tried to understand what that obstacle had been.
A part of him was too far gone to care and urged him to give in to the darkness that was beginning to steal over him, but another part of his brain screamed at him to fight, to try to reach the surface.
''Twas the ice, fool,' it screamed at him, trying to get through to him, 'Fight! You need to break through to the surface! You need air! Fight!!'
He wondered dreamily why he should do that; to him it seemed as if fighting would be rather uncomfortable. The cold was beginning to rob him of reasonable thought, seeping into his very heart and filling him with paralysing ice.
The current threw him into a pole that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, bringing him out of his dream-like state. Suddenly his survival instincts surged to life, and he ignored the pain that stabbed through his side where he had impacted with the wooden stilt and forced his body to obey his commands and try to reach the surface.
Again he hit a smooth surface and cursed inwardly when he realised that once again ice was separating him from the oxygen he so desperately needed, for even though the firstborn could hold their breath for much longer than other races, his had been knocked out of him by his first encounter with the sheet of ice and the pole, and if the growing roaring in his ears and his dimming sight were any indication, then he was reaching the ends of his endurance, fast.
The elven prince tried to loosen his cloak to give him more freedom of movement, but his frozen fingers wouldn't co-operate and he was unable to open the brooch that held the fabric together. He soon found out that fighting the current was not the best of ideas, and so he did his best to just float with the current, preserving as much air and strength as possible.
Both, however, were slowly but surely beginning to run out, and to his surprise he found that the current was growing stronger, pulling his body with it more insistently. With a sudden, sickening realisation he understood what that meant: The falls.
'Oh, dear Elbereth, no.'
Trying to fight off the panic that was beginning to envelop him now, he redoubled his efforts to reach the surface, when the stream suddenly rushed round a bend, slamming the fair haired elf first in the sturdy wooden poles of a large quay and then into a protruding rock the size of a horse.
One he could have tolerated, but two were simply too much. His head connected with the first obstacle and then with the second, and while he felt a blinding pain explode behind his eyes, his surroundings slowly began to fade. The cold disappeared, the need to breathe disappeared, and finally his consciousness decided that it was better off somewhere else, especially in the realm of blissful sleep.
Not being able to fight the descending blackness, Legolas lost consciousness, his last thought being how angry Aragorn would be with him for drowning like this.
Aragorn cursed profusely when yet another large house barred his way, the walls towering like insurmountable obstacles in front of his eyes.
He chose another narrow opening between two houses to his left and picked up speed once more, avoiding passers-by as best as he could. Farther to the South the warehouses and quays seemed to become fewer, and more and more dwellings were beginning to appear. Unfortunately, with the houses also came people, people that seemed to do nothing but get in his way, and in his worry he was not willing to stop and ask them to get out of his way.
While he sprinting down the catwalk, trying to ignore the ever growing roaring of the waterfalls, a detached part of him noted with an amused chuckle that he had left the state of worry already far behind him. The only thing he felt right now was a choking, almost paralysing fear, a fear to lose his best friend that was close to developing into a full-blown panic.
Another stab of guilt seemed to go through his heart. Yes, and if he lost Legolas, it would all be his fault. His elven friend had saved him instead of himself, and if anything happened to the elf because of his human clumsiness, he would never be able to forgive himself.
A sudden image of King Thranduil's white, shocked face appeared in his mind's eye, and he quickly pushed back these feelings and images. Legolas would not die, and he would not have to tell the King of Mirkwood of his death. He would not.
Suddenly, a large quay became visible to his right, and Aragorn changed his course slightly, nearly knocking down two passers-by, but neither noticing the slight impact nor the furious curses behind him.
Gasping for breath, he finally reached the large pier and skidded to a halt, nearly falling to his knees in relief when he saw that the water was in fact ice free. No ice covered the surface, and the reason for this became soon apparent when the young man looked around him and saw two large pipes that led to the channel from one of the nearby buildings. Hot, steaming water poured from their mouths, thus raising the water temperature and preventing it from freezing, a paradox sight since the water a little bit upstream was covered with ice.
In short, the dark water was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.
He looked around him wildly, trying to figure out how to get his friend out of the water and at the same time praying that he wasn't already too late and Legolas had already been washed away into the direction of the falls.
Aragorn was so focused on that task that he didn't hear someone approach, and so he whirled around when he felt a hand touch his shoulder and had already his sword out and at the other person's neck before he had even looked up.
"Whoa! Easy, lad, easy!" a surprised voice sounded, and Aragorn looked into the red face of a man that had raised his hands to indicate his peaceful intentions. Behind the man there stood two others, watching both of them anxiously.
Without a word the ranger sheathed his weapon again and turned back to the channel. The man looked at his friends for a few seconds before they all stepped closer to the younger man, peering into the water as well.
"You lookin' for something?" the man who had spoken earlier asked, looking intently at the dark waves, his voice slightly slurred.
Aragorn looked up at that, despair brightly shining in his grey eyes.
"A friend of mine fell in about half a mile upstream, I need to get him out before he gets carried to the falls! Help me, please!"
The three looked at each other and nodded.
"Sure, boy," the man said and nodded at his companions who ran off to reappear a second later with long poles. "You are lucky we are here. We work here, you know," he winked at the younger man, "During the day of course. We get the cargo from the barges onto the pier. Fishing things out of the water is what we do."
Aragorn shortly tore his eyes away form the channel and smiled thinly.
"Thank you. I…"
"I see something!" one of the other men shouted, and the young ranger whirled round, his eyes fixing on the stream. Really, there was something floating in the stream, something rather big and disconcertingly unmoving… A second later Aragorn saw a glimpse of fair hair that moved softly in the rippling water, and he felt relief so great that it almost drove him to his knees.
"Legolas!" he gasped, looking at the other men imploringly. "That's him! We need to get him out!"
The older man nodded and narrowed his eyes, calculating how to best catch the swiftly approaching being in the channel. All of the sudden, all drunken cheerfulness disappeared from his face.
"Alright. Lubron, you go to the other end in case he slips through. Quickly!"
The addressed man ran off while the other two stayed with Aragorn, waiting for the right moment to stop the prince with their poles when he floated past. The young ranger just stood next to the two men, staring with wide eyes at the quickly approaching body of his elven friend.
'Eru,' he noticed suddenly with a gasp, 'He's face-down! Oh, please, no…'
"Quickly!" he shouted, very close to a panic again. How much time had passed since Legolas had broken in? Five, six, seven minutes? "We've got to get him out! Now!"
"Hold your horses, lad," the older man advised, his eyes fixed on the body that was a mere ten yards away now. "We won't do him any good if we miss him and he takes a free ride off the waterfalls."
'Easy for you to say,' Aragorn fumed inwardly but forced himself to calm down. 'It's not your friend in there!'
Suddenly, Legolas' unmoving figure was within reach of the poles, and the two men skilfully hooked the wooden ends under the prince's body, stopping his forward motion. The current was stronger than expected though, and the men had trouble keeping the elf from floating away again.
"Go, boy," the older man grunted, straining to hold the pole in place, "Go, get him! We're losing him!"
Aragorn didn't have to be told twice, already kneeling at the very edge of the quay, trying to get a hold of his friend's billowing cloak. He could have screamed with frustration when the fabric stubbornly floated just out of his reach. The young ranger heard another grunt, and looked up to see the men's grip slipping.
Whirling back to the channel in horror, he watched as if in slow motion how his friend's body once again began to move, down the channel and into the direction of the roaring waterfalls.
"We're losing him!" the younger of the two men shouted alarmed. "He's slipping through!"
A wave of pure anger swept through the dark haired ranger.
'Oh no, you don't!' he thought wildly. There was no way he was losing his friend like this!
"Hold my legs," he said to no-one in particular, and without looking behind him to see if the men obeyed his command, he dove forwards, throwing himself at the motionless body of the fair haired elf that was slowly floating out of his reach.
'Humans,' Celylith thought to himself as he was swiftly making his way to the southern part of the city, 'I don't know if I feel anger or pity for them. Honestly, it took one of them over five seconds to draw his sword! That's nothing less than pathetic.'
But then again, he wasn't really complaining. If that human had been a tiny bit more competent, he would probably be dead now, or at least missing several important body parts. After about five minutes of running away – something for which he would get Legolas sometime later, he vowed, he hated running away - the humans had caught up with him, another rather shameful fact.
Yes, they had known the terrain a lot better than he did, and he had stumbled into a dead-end street, but they still shouldn't have got him, something that bothered his elven pride immensely.
But, he thought as he stopped for a second and then chose the catwalk to his left, they had caught up with him, and that was it. Most of them wouldn't do much for the next few weeks, and one or two mightn't to anything at all ever again. That was really too bad for them, but they had forced him to fight them, not the other way round.
Besides, every human should know better than to attack an elf at the rate of six to one, the silver haired elf decided irritated. Especially a Silvan elf, he thought rather smugly. The humans hadn't been a real problem for him, only one or two had even known how to handle a sword. And even their skill wasn't exactly what Celylith expected for example from the warriors of his guard, most of them would have lost to a decades old elfling armed with a stick.
After he had made sure that the men would bother neither him nor his friends again, he had returned to the place where they had separated and tried to reconstruct the way Aragorn and Legolas had chosen. After a few minutes of getting lost he had reached a large pier, and from then on it had been just a matter of following the arrows that stuck out of the houses and the trail Aragorn had left behind on the snow covered bridges.
Thinking back to that pier, Celylith picked up his pace. If that channel hadn't looked as if someone or something had broken through the ice, he would cut off his hair, get himself a scimitar and go to live with the orcs.
'It's not Legolas,' he tried to encourage himself, running down the catwalk, following the trail of cursing, indignant people the young ranger had apparently rather rudely shoved out of his way. 'You just couldn't see his tracks, that's all. He's a wood-elf, after all, you wouldn't be able to see his tracks in a hurry…'
He ran a bit quicker, nimbly avoiding smashing into humans that barred his way, his worry only increasing. If it had not been Legolas who had fallen into the channel, why had Estel been in such a hurry? If it had not been Legolas, then why hadn't they waited for him or tried to locate him? If it had not been Legolas, why…
A feeling of despair and failure swept through his entire being. He hadn't been there for his friend. He hadn't been there for his prince! O the Valar, what would the king say if…
Celylith shuddered and quickened his pace. He would not think of his liege now, that would only serve to transform him into a quivering, shaking, angst-ridden mass on the ground if he wasn't careful. He would not return to Thranduil's Halls bearing the news of Legolas' death, he would rather die himself than deliver the message that would surely break his king's heart.
The silver haired elf rounded a corner, almost colliding with two rather drunk-looking men and ran on, when suddenly his sharp elven eyes spied a small commotion on a pier to his right. There were three men with long poles that were apparently rather concentrated on something in the water, and about ten onlookers that stood a little further back from the quay's edge, peering at the channel curiously.
And there was another figure on his knees on the wooden structure, a person with dark, unruly hair that was just … Elbereth, what was he doing?
"Strider!" he called and dashed over to the small group, recklessly pushing his way through the men that separated him from the ranger.
The man didn't seem to hear him, for he threw himself into the water, almost falling in completely hadn't Celylith and a man next to him grabbed his legs just in time. The elf was just about to ask the young dark haired man if he had completely lost his mind when he shifted his focus from the human to the thing he had grabbed with both hands and felt his heart clench in his chest when he realised what it was: The still figure of his prince, floating face-down in the icy waters of the Long Lake.
"Legolas!" he gasped, too shocked to form a more coherent thought than that. Quickly he shifted his grip from Aragorn's legs to his shoulders, and together with the man that had grabbed the young dúnadan earlier they pulled the two wet beings back on shore.
Aragorn gasped for breath, clutching Legolas to his chest. After a second he realised that he had in fact not drowned – very curious indeed – and that there was someone talking to him rapidly in Elvish.
"Estel, what happened? Elbereth, what happened??"
'A good question,' Aragorn thought, his torso and face numbed by the cold water. Idly he wondered how much worse it had to be for Legolas; he had been in the water only seconds, after all…
"Legolas!"
With a start he let go of the prince's body and carefully rolled him on his back. He couldn't quite hide a gasp, and heard the same sound next to him when Celylith saw his friend.
Legolas was white as a wraith, and there was blood trickling slowly down the side of his face, colouring his blonde hair a horrible crimson. What worried Aragorn more was the fact that his lips had turned the colour of blueberries – a part of his brain mused detachedly that he had never known that a being's lips could turn that particular colour – and … that he was not breathing?
Trying to fight down his panic, he reached out and placed a trembling hand under his friend's chin, almost shuddering at how cold the skin felt. He almost sobbed with relief when he felt a very slow, very faint heart beat, but it was growing weaker by the second.
Ignoring Celylith's increasingly frantic questions, he tried to remember what his father had taught him about near-drowning victims. He pushed all his emotions back, locking them into a dark corner of his mind, and forced himself to view Legolas as a patient, not a friend. If he kept worrying like he did now, he wouldn't be able to help him and the elf would die because of his inability to act like a healer should.
All these thoughts flittered through his mind in a split second, and he turned to Celylith, eyes huge and dark in his pale face, not even noticing that he had reverted to the tongue of his childhood as well.
"Put your hand under the back of his neck and lift it. Push his forehead back and pull his jaw downwards. We need to restart his breathing. Now!"
Forcefully suppressing the trembles that coursed through his body, the elf did as he was told, carefully bending Legolas' head backwards and at the same time praying that Aragorn knew what he was doing.
The young man was busy opening his friend's shirt, having decided that a little bit more cold would hardly prove fatal after what the blonde elf had already been through. This way he would be able to see what he was doing, there was no need to accidentally break a few of Legolas' ribs or do damage much worse if he could help it.
Frantically feeling for the end of the breastbone, he placed his interlaced hands about three inches below that point and pressed down, trying to get Legolas to expel the water he had breathed in.
First, nothing happened, and Aragorn felt his control slipping. This wasn't just somebody he didn't know, somebody who happened to be his patient, this was a friend, his friend. His best friend that lay in front of him dying, dying because of him.
"Please, Legolas, don't do this to me," he whispered in Elvish, tears beginning to cloud his vision. He pressed down harder, unwilling to give up. "Do not leave me like this! You cannot die, not for me! Not for me…"
Suddenly, Legolas' body seemed to convulse, and he took a deep shuddering breath, followed by a hacking cough when his lungs expelled the fluid that had involuntarily been breathed in. Celylith needn't be told what to do, and he quickly turned his prince's body over to the side, helping him to cough up the water.
Aragorn sat back on his haunches, listening to the glorious sound of Legolas' ragged breathing, feeling more exhausted and happy than he could remember ever having been. Grinning from one ear to the other, he looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Well done, boy," the man who had helped him said, smiling down at him. "I thought he was dead for sure. Them elves are tough, aren't they?"
"Yes," Aragorn grinned, feeling giddy with relief. Noticing the way Legolas' breathing slowed some, he shrugged out of his damp cloak, ignoring the biting chill of the wind. "Yes, they are, Ilúvatar be praised."
He quickly wrapped the overcoat around the elf's shivering shoulders, pulling him close and gently brushing back wet blonde strands of hair that were plastered to his forehead.
"E-Es-tel?" Legolas asked weakly, eyes still closed.
"Shhh," The young ranger soothed, lifting his friend slightly to wrap Celylith's cloak around him as well. "We got you out, everything will be fine."
Slowly the elven prince's eyes opened, and he stared at the blurry face of his human friend that smiled down at him.
"What…" he asked hoarsely, frowning in confusion. "C-Celylith, w-where…"
"I am here, my lord," Celylith grasped one of Legolas' cold hands, sounding relieved beyond measure, "I am fine. I am just fine now."
Unsteadily Legolas' eyes wandered to the right, fixing on the silver haired elf's face. After a second he closed his eyes again, teeth chattering loudly now.
"I'm so c-cold…"
Aragorn's heart clenched in pain when he heard the weak voice of his elven friend, and inwardly he vowed to find every single one of the men that had ambushed them and throw them into the lake. Then they could see how they liked freezing to death while drowning at the same time.
"I know, my friend," he whispered, pulling the limp body of his friend a little bit closer against his chest, sharing his body heat. "This is all my fault. We will get you home soon."
Legolas seemed to relax at that, his white face drawn with cold and pain. The young man looked at Celylith, who nodded and rose to his feet.
"Wait here," he instructed the two of them while inwardly musing that neither one would in the near future. Legolas couldn't and you would need half a dozen men to make Aragorn leave his side. "I will see if I can find someone who can point us back to Owaeran's house. We cannot afford to get lost on the way."
He pushed through the crowd and approached a man that stood in the door of one of the nearby houses, hoping that he as a resident would be able to show them the way.
"Here." The soft voice made Aragorn look up from where he had been murmuring senseless, comforting words to his semi-conscious friend in the grey tongue, and he saw the helpful man crouched next to him, holding up his own cloak. "He looks as if he needs it." When he saw that Aragorn was about to protest, he added, "I'll be fine, lad. That was a brave thing you did earlier. Stupid, but brave nonetheless."
Aragorn accepted the cloak gratefully and merely shrugged while he wrapped it around the elven prince.
"He is my friend," he said simply, smiling slightly when he saw the man nod in understanding. "Thank you, sir. Thank you for helping us."
The other man got to his feet, swaying slightly.
"Ah, 'twas nothing, lad," he assured the young ranger. "The name's Tellyn, by the way. Come and visit us when you have a moment to spare."
"I will," the younger man assured, tightening his grip on Legolas. "We will. Thank you, Tellyn."
Tellyn only nodded and disappeared down a narrow bridge, supporting one of his two companions.
Aragorn turned his attention back to his friend, pulling the cloaks a bit tighter around the blonde elf's shivering body. They needed to get Legolas back into the warm house, and quickly. Shooting Celylith an impatient glare who was apparently receiving lengthy instructions, judging by the way the man he was talking to gesticulated, he tried to suppress the tremors that shook his own body. It was cold, very cold, and his human body was beginning to complain bitterly.
"Why did you do that, stubborn elf?" he questioned softly, taking one of Legolas' hands that somehow stuck out from the bundle of cloths that were wrapped around the elf, "Why did you push me? I couldn't bear the thought of you dying just because of me! Never do that again, do you hear me, mellonamin? Not for me, please..."
He closed his eyes to prevent embarrassing tears from spilling, and this way he was rather startled by the soft voice of his friend whom he had thought unconscious.
"Why … not?"
Aragorn looked down at the fair haired elf who had with some difficulty opened his eyes, teeth chattering loudly. He pressed his other hand against the side of Legolas' face in an attempt to warm him and gave the hand he held a squeeze.
"Hush, Legolas, you need rest. Sleep. We will get you somewhere warm in a second."
The prince however was not so easily deterred and gave a minute shake of his head.
"W-Why not, Aragorn?" he asked again, the Elvish words so slurred that the young ranger could hardly understand him. "If … if not f-for you, t-then for whom?" He tried to smile at his human friend and failed miserably due to the immense cold he felt, and added tiredly, "You … would do … s-same…"
Aragorn looked at him seriously, nodding his head slightly.
"Aye," he said softly, "I would."
Noting the way Legolas' eyes were beginning to drift shut again, he added,
"Sleep, Legolas. When you wake up you'll be in a nice warm bed with a hot fire going in the fireplace. I promise."
The fair haired elf's eyes shut to his obvious dissatisfaction and he drifted off into a deep sleep. Celylith chose just this moment to return, and he looked down on the two friends with worry in his blue eyes. Both Aragorn and Legolas were shivering now, and the elf was rather sure that he would have to carry both of them if they didn't get out of the cold soon.
For a moment he asked himself what it had to be like to inform both Lord Elrond and King Thranduil of their children's deaths, and decided with a rather unelvish inward shriek of terror that that would be worse than to face the Dark Lord himself. After all, he doubted that Sauron would give you the look while taking you apart piece by piece.
He crouched down next to Strider and gave him the most encouraging smile he could muster.
"Come, Estel," he said, trying to pull the limp body of their friend out of his arms, "Let me carry him, I know the way now." He saw the rebellious flicker in the silver eyes before the human had even opened his mouth. "No, Estel, listen to me. You are cold and wet yourself. Let me carry him, it will be swifter. Legolas needs to get to shelter now, just think of what would happen if you dropped him."
Aragorn glared a second or two at him, but relented rather quickly. The young man knew that Celylith was stronger than he was, and he wasn't as perturbed by the cold either.
He nodded, and Celylith quickly gathered his unconscious friend in his arms, turning his face towards his own body so that it would be sheltered from the icy wind that had begun to blow a few minutes ago. Carefully he began to make his way down the narrow bridge to his left, once in a while making sure that Strider was really following.
He wouldn't allow another one of his friends to get out of his sight today.
The arrival at Owaeran's house was nothing less than spectacular. They were standing in the hall, wet and frozen to the bone, Celylith cradling Legolas in his arms, while servants flocked around them, asking about a thousand questions at once. Alerted by the commotion, Seobryn appeared, took one look at the man and the two elves, turned as white as a sheet and ran off to find his employer.
Complete chaos descended when Owaeran and Seobryn reappeared, both staring at the beings in the hallway and trying to push their way through the other humans that crowded the space.
All in all, after a few second Aragorn was ready to scream. This was not what his friend needed, and every single of his instincts as a healer told him to get him somewhere warm and quiet. Just when he was seriously considering breaking the ancient laws of hospitality and dismembering one or two of the chattering servants, a loud yell could be heard, and his head swivelled to the left, along with every other head in the hall.
On top of the stairs stood Misien, glaring darkly at her husband and the assembled men in the hallway.
"Have you completely lost your minds?" she asked, her tone of voice suggesting that she already knew the answer to that question. "The poor boy," she nodded in Legolas' direction, "needs help and not this commotion. Return to your rooms, now! I will send for you if we need help. Go!"
The servants ducked their heads and shuffled off, and Aragorn noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Seobryn and Owaeran looked very much as though they wanted to do the same. He motioned Celylith to carry their friend up to his room and slowly followed him, stopping in front of Misien.
"Thank you," he said, bowing slightly.
"Oh, it was nothing, Mr. Strider," the elderly woman assured him, smiling at him. She shot a concerned look into the direction in which the two elves had just disappeared. "He fell into the lake, didn't he? Will he be alright? Can I do anything to help you? Should we send for a healer?"
Aragorn shook his head, refraining himself from running after his elven friends.
"No, my lady, thank you. I have some healing skills, and the firstborn are strong. He will be alright."
Behind him, Owaeran made a move as if to ask a question, but was stopped by a firm shake of his wife's head.
"Go to him, then," the woman said, pulling her robe tighter around herself. "I will send someone to light a fire and bring you some extra blankets."
The young ranger bowed again and nodded.
"Thank you."
He quickly disappeared down the corridor, having to stifle a smile when he heard Misien scold her husband for his "foolish, idiotic, irresponsible" actions. His smile quickly faded though when he entered Legolas' room and laid eyes on the pale, shivering form of his friend.
The elf looked young … far, far younger than he was, with his eyes tightly closed and deep, dark circlers under his eyes.
Aragorn quickly rummaged through his elven friend's packs and pulled out dry clothes and a few bandages, silently thanking Legolas that he had brought so many of them. The young man turned back to the bed, and while Celylith changed the other elf into dry clothes, he carefully examined the injuries Legolas has sustained. Pressing down lightly on the blossoming bruises that covered the side of his friend's chest, he once again reined in his temper. He just hoped that the men responsible for this didn't cross his way in the near future; he wouldn't want to be held responsible for his actions then.
He made sure that no ribs had been broken and carefully spread a salve over the darkening marks, inwardly thanking that his father in his wisdom had left behind a full set of healing utensils before he had left. While he cleaned the cut on Legolas' temple, a servant crept into the room, looking very much as though he expected to be shouted at again, lit a fire and handed Celylith several heavy blankets which they piled on the pale form on the bed after Aragorn had bound his head wound.
Sighing deeply, Aragorn stepped back.
"He will be fine," he said, sinking down on an armchair next to the bedside, "He will sleep for a few hours now, but had he not been an elf, he would probably be dead now. He might have a light concussion from the blow to his head, but I doubt it. He has a lot of bruises and his ribs are badly bruised as well, but he will be just fine, thank the Valar."
He looked up when Celylith crouched down in front of him, looking at him seriously.
"Thank you, Aragorn," the elf said solemnly. "Thank you for saving his life, and Lord Elrond be praised that he trained you as well as he did."
Before the young ranger could reply to this, he found himself pressed back into the chair by a strong slender hand.
"Stay here. I will get you some dry clothes and then I will have a look at your arm. Don't think I have missed it."
Aragorn didn't protest, for now that he was warm and relaxing, he found that his arm hurt fiercely where the crossbow bolt had grazed him. Celylith quickly returned with some of his clothes and proceeded with binding his wound, scolding him lightly for not getting out of the projectile's way fast enough. The ranger quickly retorted that he wasn't an elf, and that even they could get hit by arrows once in a while, and soon they were teasing each other mercilessly, both of them enjoying the light heartedness of the moment.
When Aragorn was just enumerating all the times his brothers had got hit by arrow, spears, crossbow bolts and the like and Celylith was protesting that they were Noldor and therefore didn't count, a small knock sounded on the door, and both of them looked up to see Seobryn stand in the door, looking rather worried.
"Is he alright?" the young man asked, carefully taking a step into the direction of the bed.
Aragorn nodded and smiled, turning back to his friend and reaching out to brush back a damp strand of hair that had fallen across Legolas' forehead, noting with satisfaction that his temperature was obviously slowly returning to normal.
"Yes, he will be. He will be just fine."
Seobryn gave a small sigh of relief.
"The Great Ones be praised! He appeared so … dead when you arrived here." He shot a quick look at the unmoving form on the bed. "But he looks a lot better now." He lowered his gaze and added, "Master Owaeran feels very guilty."
"Does he?" Celylith asked, somewhat sarcastically. "Well, his brother is apparently in a whole lot more trouble than we thought."
"It appears so," Aragorn agreed, leaning back into his chair. "Whoever these men were, they were not happy about strangers asking questions about the elusive Master Gwemyr. I think they were the same that came here asking all these questions."
"You met some of them?" Seobryn asked, eyes wide. "They did this?"
"You could say so," Aragorn said grimly. "And they were rather intent on asking us a few things as well. And somehow, they felt even more threatened when they discovered that Legolas and Celylith were elves."
"I don't know, Strider," Celylith said, frowning slightly. "Perhaps that were only the usual prejudices. You know: We eat babies, practice dark magic and capture men and dwarves to drink their blood."
"That explains a lot," Aragorn mumbled, grinning when he saw the indignation on the silver haired elf's face. "Peace, mellonamin, I was joking. But somehow I don't think so. It's just a feeling."
"Well, what else does that feeling tell you? You are Lord Elrond's son, after all."
"That we are in trouble, Celylith," Aragorn sighed, taking one of Legolas cold hands and warming it between both of his. "More and more serious trouble than we had thought."
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Celylith stated smugly, but worry could be clearly seen in his blue eyes. "Travelling with you two is truly a unique experience."
"So now what will you do?" Seobryn asked, looking at Aragorn questioningly. "You don't know who those men are, do you?"
"No," Aragorn agreed, his attention once again fixed on Legolas' pale face. He was still far too pale, but his elven body should at least spare him the illnesses a human would inevitably have contracted from being this long in ice water, such as pneumonia and the like.
He shook his head, silver eyes darkening when they came to rest on the bandage that wound round the elven prince's head.
"No, we do not. But we will find out, and then may Ilúvatar help them if they don't answer my questions."
TBC...
dúnadan - 'Man of the West', ranger
mellonamin - my friend
*sighs contentedly* No cliffy, see? I'm not thoroughly evil, now am I? Readers: Yes, you are!! *shrugs* Ah well, you're right, I guess... Okay, so look out for the next chapter, in which we will see ... hmm, annoyed rangers, a vengeful elven prince, and the effects of a simple law of nature that dictates that Aragorn must get into trouble if Legolas already has. *shrugs again* Reckless human, that one.
Do you feel that irresistable urge to submit a review? Yes? Good! Don't fight it! Review, please!!
Additional A/N:
Gwyn - *evil giggle* Oh yes, things are definitely heating up here! You might be right about the cliffies, btw, somehow there appeared yet another two at the end of the next chapters. I don't know where they come from either... Uhm, you've fallen for Legolas? Well, that happens rather often around here, I guess ... And real guys aren't this great because they're ... uhm, yes, real? Plus they don't get so many chances at acting all heroic and stuff... *g*
Grumpy - *g* Thanks! Glad you like the ciffies, there are many more coming up soon! Thanks for reviewing!
CrazyLOTRfan - You're backflipping just for me? Aww, I'm honoured... Wow, I'm in "101 Ways To Torture Fanfic Readers"? That is SO cool! And evil, of course, I love evil... Don't worry, we will have cliffies in the future, chapters 10 and 11 both have one! Yay!
XsilicaX - Precisely! I learned this a long time ago: Blackmail + Evil Cliffy = Many Lovely Reviews. Been following that equation ever since.... *g* And I would feel very sad indeed if I killed you. I would learn to move on, of course, but for approximately 5 seconds I would be heartbroken... LOL, I've been watching too much Austin Powers lately... Mhahaha! Many questions, and so few answers! You will have to wait a bit longer, I'm afraid... LOL, I'm sure you would LOVE to comfort Estel, but I'm afraid you'd have to get past Lina for that - and you know how she is... *g*
LOTRFaith - Yeah, well, Celylith was having a lot of fun on his own... And Legolas is indeed very self-sacrificing. Other people would call it 'stupid', but well... *evil grin* Thanks for the review!
Aratfeniel - *insane grin* Hey, who _isn't_ insane here? That's much more fun anyway... Celylith is pronounced like "Kelylith", with a K. In Sindarin all Cs are pronounced like 'K', just like Celeborn, Celebrimbor and so on. Great you liked the chapter, I hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
Coreinha - Me? Want to kill Legolas? Whatever gave you THAT idea? *g* Mighty-And-Powerful-Yet-Incredibly-Attractive-And-Intelligent-One? I LIKE that name! You may call me that from now on... *g*
Lina - *shakes Éomer's hand* I am so very proud of you and your Rohirrim! You really managed to hold her back - well done! LOL, Legolas is plunging into icy doom? I don't know why, but I just cracked up at that line! *watches Rohirrim ride triumphantly South* There they go again ... but they will be back ... they always are.... *sighs* Glad you still like it! *hugs Lina* Thanks for reviewing again!
Firnsarnien - No! *raises eyebrow* You're a Legolas fan? I would _never_ have guessed! *sarcasm* Really? Well, I do hope that there's Legolas angst in here, but he's busy being unconscious most of the time, so I don't rightly know... And now, put down that tomato or I won't post! I mean it! Put it down, now!
TrinityTheSheDevil - I know what you mean. FF withdrawal must be the most painful there is! It's horrible - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! *frowns in thought* You're right! This could become part of the dreams, but then agian, so will other things... *evil grin* Next chapter. *blinks* You really like seeing poor Aragorn hurt, huh? Well, don't worry: I haven't found a name for chapter 11 yet, so right know it's called "Torture-the-Ranger". See what I mean?
Critternut - What? *clueless look* You don't like my cliffies? Why not? _I _ think they are extraordinarily much fun! *g* Oh, no, you're right, I wouldn't let you hang forever, only for a few days. That's not too much, is it? And because you have reviewd, you really get a Legolas plushie! Here you go! *hands her plushie*
Alexa - *ducks slightly* Yes yes yes, your poor elfling, you're right there. Don't blame Celylith though, he had enough trouble on his own. IF you want to blame someone, then blame Legolas! He is such an idiot! I mean, most people would call it heroic or something, I call it stupid. LOL, j/k, don't kill me! See, update's here, am I forgiven now?
Arwen-Evenstar - *pokes her* Are you dead? Well, I'm terribly sorry, I never meant for this to happen! *nods solemnly* Oh yes, they do have a knack for getting themselves and all those with them into trouble. Just wait a chapter and you'll see _how_ much trouble...
Mouse - Oh, am I? Evil, I mean? Thanks! *huggles Mouse* So you want to know where I live? No problem, Germany, Berlin, come and visit any time! *g* And I'm NOT freezing Legolas, well, yes, maybe I am, but only a little. Plus he's an elf, he'll live. I think. *evil cackle*
Leggylover03 - What have I done? Well, uhm, thrown him into the lake? Yeah, I think that was it. Aragorn is not exactly diving, but somthing like that, yes. Thanks for reviewing!
Mer - Well, yes, Legolas' inner voice can be quite persistent form time to time, I'll give you that. The problem is, I have one of these myself, and it's twice as bad. *sighs* Poor Nili. Well, great you liked it! Thanks a lot for the review!
Cestari - *shakes her head* Time - what is that? I never have enough time... Well, actually I am quite glad that it _didn't_ really developed into a family tradition. It's quite painful, I guess, and it would spoil Aragorn's looks! Don't worry, I wouldn't Legolas die in a stupid lake, as I said, it's not painful enough. He won't get away with that! Wow, I'm under fav. stories and fav. authors? Thanks! *huggles her*
Delph - Hey, I am nice! Am I not? I mean, I post about every four days if FF.net lets me! I think that's quite fast, isn't it? *puppy dog eyes* Oh, and yes, I do have plot bunnies, wuite a lot of them, actually. But they're locked up in a cage in the basement, otherwise they'd wreak havoc with my life... *g* You're right! I mean, hey, Legolas is an elf! He'll live - probably... *evil grin* Thanks a lot for reviewing! They really help me a lot!
Fliewatuet - Well, I'm not _that_ fast, am I? Unfortunately, I'm not as fast as C&S, but then again, nobody is. *grins satisfied* So I surprised you? It would have been too easy if they had met with Adruran just yet. But you're right, eventually they will, and then this will get unpleasant real fast.... *g*
Zam - *stares wide-eyes* Okay then, Zam, calm down, that's it ... nobody wants to steal your Celylith, it's okay... Just Coreinha, Nilbrethiliel and about a dozen other people... *g* Well, Celylith would be called 'Celythramirion' then - that's not too bad, is it? *puts hand over Zam's mouth* Leave poor Seobryn alone, will you? He's blushing enough as it is! Honestly, he will get a stroke or somehitn like that and it will be YOUR fault! *watches Zam dive into the lake* Well, have fun then! You do know that he's an elf and can tolerate extreme temperatures better than you? But okay, go ahead, go on...
Imbefaniel - Yes, of course he will! I would never kill the poor elfling just like that! Sure you can join the Cellyith fan club! Just look out for Zam Kenobi - she is a bit, uhm, obsessed with him!
Aralondwen - *blushes* Thanks so much, I like being evil! It's so much more fun than being nice! Well, your torture machine sound very intimidating indeed, so I will update. See? Next chapter's here! So now give me back my plot bunnies, or I'll send my pet balrog Stan after you! Don't think I wouldn't! Thanks a lot for your ... uhm, let's say ... interesting review, huh? *g* It was slightly insane, but a lot of fun!
Halo - Oh, come on, you KNEW what was going to happen! You had some time to get used to the idea! Well, you're right, Legolas might feel slightly cold, but then agian, he's an elf, he will cope - I think... *evil cackle* Next bit's here, don't worry!
Miss Understood - Well, Legolas isn't exactly a girl, but I'll admit that sometimes he looks like one. A lot less than other elves, of course, but still... EEk! *runs off to escape angry Legolas fans* Yeah well, I'm sorry, but I thought something else might do a bit better. Otherwise the story would have been over far too soon. And I'm sorry about Seveawen, I just thought that the boy could use someone to cheer him up - don't be too angry, okay?
NaughtyNat - *bows* Thank you! I simply _love_ cliffies, I can chuckle for days after writing one... Well, I'm not yet sure about the owies. I think about the same for each of them, perhaps a little bit worse for Aragorn, but certainly not too much. And we can't forget poor Celylith either, can we? *evil smile* Don't worry though, Aragorn owies are coming in chapter 10 and 11!
Alilacia - Well yes, there are a few more cliffies coming up ... don't worry, only in chapter 10 ... and 11 .... *g* LOL, you can blink threateningly? That is interesting... You are soooo right, one really should send a carrier pidgeon to Elrond - they can use all the help they can possibly get, believe me... And you're right again, of course the water won't be good for poor ickle Legolas, and of course Aragorn will feel guilty. *sighs* They're quite predictable, aren't they?
Nilbrethiliel - Huh, wenn du moechtest, kann ich dich noch hinterherschmeissen! So zusammen unter'm Eis eingeschlossen zu sein macht doch gleich doppelt so viel Spass, oder? Tja, freut mich, dass jemand Seveawen nicht zu Hackfleisch verarbeiten moechte, die meisten Damen hier sind einfach ein wenig ... uhm, eifersuechtig? Ich hoffe uebrigens um deinetwillen, dass das nicht Celylilth unter deinem Bett war - andererseits muss ich mal vorbeikommen, und noch schlimmer, du muesstest es Zam Kenobi erklaeren, die da leicht besitzergreifend sein kann... Freut mich doch, dass du Angst magst, ich liebe es auch! Wir sind krank, ich weiss...
Tapetum Lucidum - LOL, 'icehanger' is a very fitting word! *g* Don't worry, I would never let Legolas freeze to death, as I said: Too easy and not painful enough! Well, I guess government are the same wherever you are, and ME won't be that different either... Thank you very much for all your kinf words, reviews really help me a lot - besides, I'm addicted to them... *g*
Jenny - Well, yes, I guess you could say that. He will be quite cold indeed... *evil chuckle* Thanks a lot for reviewing!
ManuKu - Wow, gleich zwei reviews auf einmal! Das ist ja umwerfend! *reibt Heande zusammen* Schoen! Ich weiss genau, was du eminst mit Zugfahren. Ein paar Jahre bin ich auch immer mit dem Zug zur Schule gefahren - irgendwo war's praktisch, aber auch immer ziemlich nervtoetend! LOL, tja, Sauron kann die Kreativitaet ja nicht immer mit Schwarz erdruecken, nech? *empoert* Hey, ich habe Celylith nie den 'geek' spielen lassen! Ich fand ihn schon immer cool, nur eben ein bisschen anders... LOL, Legolas as Leo II.? Na, da hab mal keine Angst, so einfach stirbt unser Lieblingselb nicht. Tja, ich nehme an, dass Celylith wirklich sein bester elbischer Freund waere, nachdem Glónduil ja nun aus dem Rennen ist... Momentan weiss ich noch nicht, wie viele Kapitel es geben wird, aber ich nehme an, es wird sich ungefaehr im gleichen Rahmen wie AEFAE bewegen, vielleicht ein oder zwei weniger. Und Celylith: Momentan habe ich noch keine Plaene, ihn umzubringen, aber was nicht ist, kann ja noch werden... *fieses Grinsen*
Carrie - Well, yes, you're right, it would be a lot easier if they wouldn't go to Lake-town, but so much less fun for us! We can't have that, can we? *eyes begin to gleam* Trees! I had totally forgotten about those wonderful things! Thank you for reminding me, I have just THE idea for a wonderful new scene now... I agree with you, Thranduil _should_ lock them up in the dungeons, but I guess Elrond wouldn't be too pleased about that and stuff... *shrugs* Bad for them. *huggles Carrie* Thanks for reviewing! I missed you, really, I did!
Amelie - No, I would never kill Legolas, I may be insane, but I'm not stupid! I know perfectly well that I wouldn't live to the next morning if I ever did that... *g* Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Randomramblings - Uhm, what shall I say: Yes? This chapter, the next chapter, and the chapters after that ... so, essentially, yes! *g* Thank you very much for the review!
ThE iNsAnE oNe - I don't know why, but that happens a lot to you, doesn't it? That FF.net eats your reviews, I mean - have you done something to it? But then again, FF.net doesn't need a reason for hating you... Well, I won't take him away, IF you make sure that the twins, Estel and Legolas treat him alright. I couldn't watch poor Nólad suffer, he's been through enough already... LOL, so now Estel is a ranger popsicle? That is definitely not good, just think of what Elrond would say... I know that RL can be busy sometimes, so there's no need for excuses. I hope you'll enjoy your holidays! I'm you will, Costa Rica ... *sighs* So great.
Stacee Phelps - Well, if you like Aragorn angst, then you're just right here! Just wait for chapter 11 and you'll know what I mean... *evil chuckle* I love dropping mysterious hints... *blushes* Well, I do certainly _not_ rival C&S, but they're goddesses anyway ... but thanks fir saying it! It gave me a morale booster! *g* Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Alisha - A very good question, my friend! In fact, it is a question I have asked myself numerous times! Why can't they just mind their own buisiness? I don't know why either, perhaps they're masochists - that's about the only explanation I can come up with. *nods* It's the reason why I decided to throw Legoals into the water and not Aragorn: Aragorn would be dead in two minutes while Legolas can survive a bit longer. Not that much longer, but a bit. *g*
Marbienl - *shoots Legolas annoyed look* Just WHY did you fix that? Now she'll try again to hypnotise my characters, and we can't have that!! *glowers at Marbienl* You hear me? Well, I wouldn't wish being trapped under ice on anyone either. I was trapped under an upturned boat once and almost drowned, and that wasn't fun either. And you're right. The whole story is a vicious circle... *g* Yeah, Legolas is something of a big brother, though not as protective (at least openly) as the twins. *g* Yes, you have many questions indeed, and some answers will be indeed provided in this chapter. Not all, but most of them. Oh, and I think Rashwe can bear a grudge for quite some time, after all, Elrohir DID want to feed it to the goblins. And hey, I'll be 21 tomorrow, and "meine Dame" isn't only for old people. It's just like "my lady"m and since they abolished "Fraeulein" there isn't much left... And don't worry, we will have Estel owies in chapter 11! Yay!
Salara - Oh, und noch eine doppelte review! Danke danke danke! Komm mir nicht mit Umzuegen! Ich werde wahrscheinlich auch bald umziehen, das ist dann ja auch erst mein 10. *seufzt* Irgendwann macht's auch keinen Spass mehr, oder? Hey! Celylith ist kein 'freakiger Elbe'! Lass das mal bloss nicht Zam hoeren, die kennt da gar nichts! Und nicht boese auf den Armen sein, der hatte mehr als genug eingene Probleme - ausserdem gibt es einem Gelegenhiet fuer ein bisschen Celylith angst, nech? *g* Eine Nólad-Klon? Natuerlich, meine Dame, kein Problem! Das mit den anderen koennte etwas problematischer werden, da ich die nicht auf Vorrat habe, aber ich werd gucken, was sich machen laesst! Danke fuer die lange review!
*shakes head* You didn't really think I'd let Legola die, did you? I'm not suicidal, you know... Thanks a lot for the lovely reviews! And tomorrow's my birthday, so you can send another one! J/K!! Thanks so much!
A/N:
*grins insanely* Death threats! Yay! I LOVE death threats, I think I did mention that before somewhere... *g* You guys are all so sweet! *huggles all who have threatened to feed her to wargs/orcs/trolls/balrogs etc.*
Well, I think you know me better than to believe I would simply let Legolas freeze to death or let him drown! Really! You should know by now that that's not _painful_ enough. So, never fear, a simple frozen lake won't kill our favourite elven prince. *evil grin* And you're right, this IS in fact turning into something of a murder mystery! *g*
There seems to be a problem with Celylith though. I know that he's sweet - I think so myself - but I must really ask you not to kidnap him/put him in your pocket/try to marry him. The poor elf has enough trouble with Legolas and Aragorn already, there's no need to scare him away completely, is there? *g* I _could_ of course kill him off at the end of the story and _then_ I could hand out Celylith-clones, just like I did with Nólad. Well, how does that sounds? *ducks rotten fruit and sharp objects* No? Oh, come on, it sounds like... *has to run off to escape angry Celylith fans*
Come now, you have to be nice to me, and you know why? No, not because I can let Aragorn and Legolas die painful deaths, but because it's my birthday tomorrow! Yay Nili! I'm turning 21 and will finally be treated like an adult - in court, that is. That's not really good, is it? *g*
Anyway, here is chapter 9, which, of course, has a lot of Legolas angst, Aragorn angst, Celylith angst and ... well, general angst, I guess. Throw in an ice-covered channel, an elven popsicle and a reckless ranger and serve cold. On ice, of course. *g*
Enjoy and review, please!
Chapter 9
His heart seemed to thump impossibly loud in his own ears, drowning out all sounds except the desperate, lingering echo of his cry.
This was not happening, this couldn't be happening!
Stunned the young man shook his head, staring at the spot where his friend had disappeared only seconds ago. The softly rippling water somehow seemed to bring him back to the present, and he rushed forward, stopping just short of falling over the edge of the pier himself.
"Legolas!" Aragorn called desperately, trying to make out the elven prince's figure or at least catch a glimpse of pale golden hair in the water. "Legolas!! Valar, don't do this to me!"
While he was still trying to locate his friend, an arrow whizzed past his head, missing his temple by the fraction of an inch. The young ranger didn't even seem to notice, his eyes fixed on the rippling surface of the lake.
'Why is he not coming up? Where is he? Why is he not coming up??' a panicked voice inside of him screamed, threatening to push him over the edge into a pit of despair and mindless panic.
Another bolt crossed the distance between the obviously rather frustrated men on the other side of the now impassable channel and him, and this time it didn't miss completely but grazed his right upper arm, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Even that didn't seem to fully register in the young human's shock-numbed mind, until two more projectiles embedded themselves in the wooden pole right under his feet.
Aragorn's head shot up with a start, and he wobbly got back to his feet, his eyes still not leaving the surface. Since Legolas had broken through the ice, barely half a minute had gone by, but he should have resurfaces long ago!
The young man's eyes caught on the rippling surface of the channel, and this time he noticed something he had missed until now in his shocked state: The ripples weren't caused by the fact that Legolas had plunged into the icy water, if that had been the case, they should have died down already.
'Elbereth, no!'
Aragorn scrambled backwards when he realised the implications of his discovery, and he shot a quick look at the stars for a rough estimation. He turned to the small catwalk that was disappearing between the warehouses to his left and began to run southwards, neatly dodging two more crossbow bolts that almost burrowed themselves in his side.
Once in the relative safety the towering buildings supplied, he clutched his injured right arm to his chest, for the first time truly realising that he had been hit. He even quickened his pace when he caught sight of the channel again, running so fast that he almost slipped on the ice covered bridges.
Running parallel to the small canal in whose waters Legolas had disappeared, he shook his head, fervently pleading Ilúvatar and all of the Valar to lend him speed.
The ripples hadn't been caused by Legolas' fall, no, they had been caused by the current that flowed through the Long Lake, due to the two rivers that entered the water and the outflow on its southern side. A current strong enough to carry away an elf numbed by the iciness of the waters, Aragorn thought despairingly, giving an extra burst of speed when he heard the noise he dreaded more than anything else right now: The roaring of the giant waterfalls that marked the southern end of the lake.
They had been in the western part of the town, and during their flight they had apparently got further South than they had realised.
'A Elbereth, please no,' he thought despairingly as the noise of the falls grew louder.
If he was right, then Legolas was being swiftly carried South, and if he couldn't get to the channel soon and reach him before the town ended, he would be taken over the edge of the waterfalls to fall to his death in the icy waters of the River Running.
The contentment of having got Aragorn to safety was quickly replaced by shock when the cold hit Legolas like the blow of a sledgehammer, numbing his whole being. That was the first perception of course, one closely followed by the pain of a thousand sharp needles that stabbed into his muscles. Unconsciously, the elf gasped, and when he tried to breathe in, all he could find was water, icy cold water that froze his limbs.
Instinctively he tried to get back to the surface, but when he kicked out with his feet and tried to make swimming motions with his arms that were severely hindered by his long, billowing cloak, he felt himself be seized by an invisible hand and dragged away with the water, helpless to stop his movements.
For a moment Legolas was stunned by this, his numbed brain not really capable of understanding why he was moving to the side and not upwards, but this thought was soon drowned out by the desperate, all-consuming need for air. While his body was moving apparently on its own account, being carried off with the current, he tried again to reach the surface, and this time he managed to put enough strength into his movements to propel his frozen body upwards.
However, his momentum was stopped rather harshly when his head smashed against something smooth and solid, the abrupt collision causing stars to appear in his already blurry vision. Stunned, Legolas allowed the water to carry him further away while he tried to understand what that obstacle had been.
A part of him was too far gone to care and urged him to give in to the darkness that was beginning to steal over him, but another part of his brain screamed at him to fight, to try to reach the surface.
''Twas the ice, fool,' it screamed at him, trying to get through to him, 'Fight! You need to break through to the surface! You need air! Fight!!'
He wondered dreamily why he should do that; to him it seemed as if fighting would be rather uncomfortable. The cold was beginning to rob him of reasonable thought, seeping into his very heart and filling him with paralysing ice.
The current threw him into a pole that suddenly appeared out of nowhere, bringing him out of his dream-like state. Suddenly his survival instincts surged to life, and he ignored the pain that stabbed through his side where he had impacted with the wooden stilt and forced his body to obey his commands and try to reach the surface.
Again he hit a smooth surface and cursed inwardly when he realised that once again ice was separating him from the oxygen he so desperately needed, for even though the firstborn could hold their breath for much longer than other races, his had been knocked out of him by his first encounter with the sheet of ice and the pole, and if the growing roaring in his ears and his dimming sight were any indication, then he was reaching the ends of his endurance, fast.
The elven prince tried to loosen his cloak to give him more freedom of movement, but his frozen fingers wouldn't co-operate and he was unable to open the brooch that held the fabric together. He soon found out that fighting the current was not the best of ideas, and so he did his best to just float with the current, preserving as much air and strength as possible.
Both, however, were slowly but surely beginning to run out, and to his surprise he found that the current was growing stronger, pulling his body with it more insistently. With a sudden, sickening realisation he understood what that meant: The falls.
'Oh, dear Elbereth, no.'
Trying to fight off the panic that was beginning to envelop him now, he redoubled his efforts to reach the surface, when the stream suddenly rushed round a bend, slamming the fair haired elf first in the sturdy wooden poles of a large quay and then into a protruding rock the size of a horse.
One he could have tolerated, but two were simply too much. His head connected with the first obstacle and then with the second, and while he felt a blinding pain explode behind his eyes, his surroundings slowly began to fade. The cold disappeared, the need to breathe disappeared, and finally his consciousness decided that it was better off somewhere else, especially in the realm of blissful sleep.
Not being able to fight the descending blackness, Legolas lost consciousness, his last thought being how angry Aragorn would be with him for drowning like this.
Aragorn cursed profusely when yet another large house barred his way, the walls towering like insurmountable obstacles in front of his eyes.
He chose another narrow opening between two houses to his left and picked up speed once more, avoiding passers-by as best as he could. Farther to the South the warehouses and quays seemed to become fewer, and more and more dwellings were beginning to appear. Unfortunately, with the houses also came people, people that seemed to do nothing but get in his way, and in his worry he was not willing to stop and ask them to get out of his way.
While he sprinting down the catwalk, trying to ignore the ever growing roaring of the waterfalls, a detached part of him noted with an amused chuckle that he had left the state of worry already far behind him. The only thing he felt right now was a choking, almost paralysing fear, a fear to lose his best friend that was close to developing into a full-blown panic.
Another stab of guilt seemed to go through his heart. Yes, and if he lost Legolas, it would all be his fault. His elven friend had saved him instead of himself, and if anything happened to the elf because of his human clumsiness, he would never be able to forgive himself.
A sudden image of King Thranduil's white, shocked face appeared in his mind's eye, and he quickly pushed back these feelings and images. Legolas would not die, and he would not have to tell the King of Mirkwood of his death. He would not.
Suddenly, a large quay became visible to his right, and Aragorn changed his course slightly, nearly knocking down two passers-by, but neither noticing the slight impact nor the furious curses behind him.
Gasping for breath, he finally reached the large pier and skidded to a halt, nearly falling to his knees in relief when he saw that the water was in fact ice free. No ice covered the surface, and the reason for this became soon apparent when the young man looked around him and saw two large pipes that led to the channel from one of the nearby buildings. Hot, steaming water poured from their mouths, thus raising the water temperature and preventing it from freezing, a paradox sight since the water a little bit upstream was covered with ice.
In short, the dark water was one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen.
He looked around him wildly, trying to figure out how to get his friend out of the water and at the same time praying that he wasn't already too late and Legolas had already been washed away into the direction of the falls.
Aragorn was so focused on that task that he didn't hear someone approach, and so he whirled around when he felt a hand touch his shoulder and had already his sword out and at the other person's neck before he had even looked up.
"Whoa! Easy, lad, easy!" a surprised voice sounded, and Aragorn looked into the red face of a man that had raised his hands to indicate his peaceful intentions. Behind the man there stood two others, watching both of them anxiously.
Without a word the ranger sheathed his weapon again and turned back to the channel. The man looked at his friends for a few seconds before they all stepped closer to the younger man, peering into the water as well.
"You lookin' for something?" the man who had spoken earlier asked, looking intently at the dark waves, his voice slightly slurred.
Aragorn looked up at that, despair brightly shining in his grey eyes.
"A friend of mine fell in about half a mile upstream, I need to get him out before he gets carried to the falls! Help me, please!"
The three looked at each other and nodded.
"Sure, boy," the man said and nodded at his companions who ran off to reappear a second later with long poles. "You are lucky we are here. We work here, you know," he winked at the younger man, "During the day of course. We get the cargo from the barges onto the pier. Fishing things out of the water is what we do."
Aragorn shortly tore his eyes away form the channel and smiled thinly.
"Thank you. I…"
"I see something!" one of the other men shouted, and the young ranger whirled round, his eyes fixing on the stream. Really, there was something floating in the stream, something rather big and disconcertingly unmoving… A second later Aragorn saw a glimpse of fair hair that moved softly in the rippling water, and he felt relief so great that it almost drove him to his knees.
"Legolas!" he gasped, looking at the other men imploringly. "That's him! We need to get him out!"
The older man nodded and narrowed his eyes, calculating how to best catch the swiftly approaching being in the channel. All of the sudden, all drunken cheerfulness disappeared from his face.
"Alright. Lubron, you go to the other end in case he slips through. Quickly!"
The addressed man ran off while the other two stayed with Aragorn, waiting for the right moment to stop the prince with their poles when he floated past. The young ranger just stood next to the two men, staring with wide eyes at the quickly approaching body of his elven friend.
'Eru,' he noticed suddenly with a gasp, 'He's face-down! Oh, please, no…'
"Quickly!" he shouted, very close to a panic again. How much time had passed since Legolas had broken in? Five, six, seven minutes? "We've got to get him out! Now!"
"Hold your horses, lad," the older man advised, his eyes fixed on the body that was a mere ten yards away now. "We won't do him any good if we miss him and he takes a free ride off the waterfalls."
'Easy for you to say,' Aragorn fumed inwardly but forced himself to calm down. 'It's not your friend in there!'
Suddenly, Legolas' unmoving figure was within reach of the poles, and the two men skilfully hooked the wooden ends under the prince's body, stopping his forward motion. The current was stronger than expected though, and the men had trouble keeping the elf from floating away again.
"Go, boy," the older man grunted, straining to hold the pole in place, "Go, get him! We're losing him!"
Aragorn didn't have to be told twice, already kneeling at the very edge of the quay, trying to get a hold of his friend's billowing cloak. He could have screamed with frustration when the fabric stubbornly floated just out of his reach. The young ranger heard another grunt, and looked up to see the men's grip slipping.
Whirling back to the channel in horror, he watched as if in slow motion how his friend's body once again began to move, down the channel and into the direction of the roaring waterfalls.
"We're losing him!" the younger of the two men shouted alarmed. "He's slipping through!"
A wave of pure anger swept through the dark haired ranger.
'Oh no, you don't!' he thought wildly. There was no way he was losing his friend like this!
"Hold my legs," he said to no-one in particular, and without looking behind him to see if the men obeyed his command, he dove forwards, throwing himself at the motionless body of the fair haired elf that was slowly floating out of his reach.
'Humans,' Celylith thought to himself as he was swiftly making his way to the southern part of the city, 'I don't know if I feel anger or pity for them. Honestly, it took one of them over five seconds to draw his sword! That's nothing less than pathetic.'
But then again, he wasn't really complaining. If that human had been a tiny bit more competent, he would probably be dead now, or at least missing several important body parts. After about five minutes of running away – something for which he would get Legolas sometime later, he vowed, he hated running away - the humans had caught up with him, another rather shameful fact.
Yes, they had known the terrain a lot better than he did, and he had stumbled into a dead-end street, but they still shouldn't have got him, something that bothered his elven pride immensely.
But, he thought as he stopped for a second and then chose the catwalk to his left, they had caught up with him, and that was it. Most of them wouldn't do much for the next few weeks, and one or two mightn't to anything at all ever again. That was really too bad for them, but they had forced him to fight them, not the other way round.
Besides, every human should know better than to attack an elf at the rate of six to one, the silver haired elf decided irritated. Especially a Silvan elf, he thought rather smugly. The humans hadn't been a real problem for him, only one or two had even known how to handle a sword. And even their skill wasn't exactly what Celylith expected for example from the warriors of his guard, most of them would have lost to a decades old elfling armed with a stick.
After he had made sure that the men would bother neither him nor his friends again, he had returned to the place where they had separated and tried to reconstruct the way Aragorn and Legolas had chosen. After a few minutes of getting lost he had reached a large pier, and from then on it had been just a matter of following the arrows that stuck out of the houses and the trail Aragorn had left behind on the snow covered bridges.
Thinking back to that pier, Celylith picked up his pace. If that channel hadn't looked as if someone or something had broken through the ice, he would cut off his hair, get himself a scimitar and go to live with the orcs.
'It's not Legolas,' he tried to encourage himself, running down the catwalk, following the trail of cursing, indignant people the young ranger had apparently rather rudely shoved out of his way. 'You just couldn't see his tracks, that's all. He's a wood-elf, after all, you wouldn't be able to see his tracks in a hurry…'
He ran a bit quicker, nimbly avoiding smashing into humans that barred his way, his worry only increasing. If it had not been Legolas who had fallen into the channel, why had Estel been in such a hurry? If it had not been Legolas, then why hadn't they waited for him or tried to locate him? If it had not been Legolas, why…
A feeling of despair and failure swept through his entire being. He hadn't been there for his friend. He hadn't been there for his prince! O the Valar, what would the king say if…
Celylith shuddered and quickened his pace. He would not think of his liege now, that would only serve to transform him into a quivering, shaking, angst-ridden mass on the ground if he wasn't careful. He would not return to Thranduil's Halls bearing the news of Legolas' death, he would rather die himself than deliver the message that would surely break his king's heart.
The silver haired elf rounded a corner, almost colliding with two rather drunk-looking men and ran on, when suddenly his sharp elven eyes spied a small commotion on a pier to his right. There were three men with long poles that were apparently rather concentrated on something in the water, and about ten onlookers that stood a little further back from the quay's edge, peering at the channel curiously.
And there was another figure on his knees on the wooden structure, a person with dark, unruly hair that was just … Elbereth, what was he doing?
"Strider!" he called and dashed over to the small group, recklessly pushing his way through the men that separated him from the ranger.
The man didn't seem to hear him, for he threw himself into the water, almost falling in completely hadn't Celylith and a man next to him grabbed his legs just in time. The elf was just about to ask the young dark haired man if he had completely lost his mind when he shifted his focus from the human to the thing he had grabbed with both hands and felt his heart clench in his chest when he realised what it was: The still figure of his prince, floating face-down in the icy waters of the Long Lake.
"Legolas!" he gasped, too shocked to form a more coherent thought than that. Quickly he shifted his grip from Aragorn's legs to his shoulders, and together with the man that had grabbed the young dúnadan earlier they pulled the two wet beings back on shore.
Aragorn gasped for breath, clutching Legolas to his chest. After a second he realised that he had in fact not drowned – very curious indeed – and that there was someone talking to him rapidly in Elvish.
"Estel, what happened? Elbereth, what happened??"
'A good question,' Aragorn thought, his torso and face numbed by the cold water. Idly he wondered how much worse it had to be for Legolas; he had been in the water only seconds, after all…
"Legolas!"
With a start he let go of the prince's body and carefully rolled him on his back. He couldn't quite hide a gasp, and heard the same sound next to him when Celylith saw his friend.
Legolas was white as a wraith, and there was blood trickling slowly down the side of his face, colouring his blonde hair a horrible crimson. What worried Aragorn more was the fact that his lips had turned the colour of blueberries – a part of his brain mused detachedly that he had never known that a being's lips could turn that particular colour – and … that he was not breathing?
Trying to fight down his panic, he reached out and placed a trembling hand under his friend's chin, almost shuddering at how cold the skin felt. He almost sobbed with relief when he felt a very slow, very faint heart beat, but it was growing weaker by the second.
Ignoring Celylith's increasingly frantic questions, he tried to remember what his father had taught him about near-drowning victims. He pushed all his emotions back, locking them into a dark corner of his mind, and forced himself to view Legolas as a patient, not a friend. If he kept worrying like he did now, he wouldn't be able to help him and the elf would die because of his inability to act like a healer should.
All these thoughts flittered through his mind in a split second, and he turned to Celylith, eyes huge and dark in his pale face, not even noticing that he had reverted to the tongue of his childhood as well.
"Put your hand under the back of his neck and lift it. Push his forehead back and pull his jaw downwards. We need to restart his breathing. Now!"
Forcefully suppressing the trembles that coursed through his body, the elf did as he was told, carefully bending Legolas' head backwards and at the same time praying that Aragorn knew what he was doing.
The young man was busy opening his friend's shirt, having decided that a little bit more cold would hardly prove fatal after what the blonde elf had already been through. This way he would be able to see what he was doing, there was no need to accidentally break a few of Legolas' ribs or do damage much worse if he could help it.
Frantically feeling for the end of the breastbone, he placed his interlaced hands about three inches below that point and pressed down, trying to get Legolas to expel the water he had breathed in.
First, nothing happened, and Aragorn felt his control slipping. This wasn't just somebody he didn't know, somebody who happened to be his patient, this was a friend, his friend. His best friend that lay in front of him dying, dying because of him.
"Please, Legolas, don't do this to me," he whispered in Elvish, tears beginning to cloud his vision. He pressed down harder, unwilling to give up. "Do not leave me like this! You cannot die, not for me! Not for me…"
Suddenly, Legolas' body seemed to convulse, and he took a deep shuddering breath, followed by a hacking cough when his lungs expelled the fluid that had involuntarily been breathed in. Celylith needn't be told what to do, and he quickly turned his prince's body over to the side, helping him to cough up the water.
Aragorn sat back on his haunches, listening to the glorious sound of Legolas' ragged breathing, feeling more exhausted and happy than he could remember ever having been. Grinning from one ear to the other, he looked up when he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Well done, boy," the man who had helped him said, smiling down at him. "I thought he was dead for sure. Them elves are tough, aren't they?"
"Yes," Aragorn grinned, feeling giddy with relief. Noticing the way Legolas' breathing slowed some, he shrugged out of his damp cloak, ignoring the biting chill of the wind. "Yes, they are, Ilúvatar be praised."
He quickly wrapped the overcoat around the elf's shivering shoulders, pulling him close and gently brushing back wet blonde strands of hair that were plastered to his forehead.
"E-Es-tel?" Legolas asked weakly, eyes still closed.
"Shhh," The young ranger soothed, lifting his friend slightly to wrap Celylith's cloak around him as well. "We got you out, everything will be fine."
Slowly the elven prince's eyes opened, and he stared at the blurry face of his human friend that smiled down at him.
"What…" he asked hoarsely, frowning in confusion. "C-Celylith, w-where…"
"I am here, my lord," Celylith grasped one of Legolas' cold hands, sounding relieved beyond measure, "I am fine. I am just fine now."
Unsteadily Legolas' eyes wandered to the right, fixing on the silver haired elf's face. After a second he closed his eyes again, teeth chattering loudly now.
"I'm so c-cold…"
Aragorn's heart clenched in pain when he heard the weak voice of his elven friend, and inwardly he vowed to find every single one of the men that had ambushed them and throw them into the lake. Then they could see how they liked freezing to death while drowning at the same time.
"I know, my friend," he whispered, pulling the limp body of his friend a little bit closer against his chest, sharing his body heat. "This is all my fault. We will get you home soon."
Legolas seemed to relax at that, his white face drawn with cold and pain. The young man looked at Celylith, who nodded and rose to his feet.
"Wait here," he instructed the two of them while inwardly musing that neither one would in the near future. Legolas couldn't and you would need half a dozen men to make Aragorn leave his side. "I will see if I can find someone who can point us back to Owaeran's house. We cannot afford to get lost on the way."
He pushed through the crowd and approached a man that stood in the door of one of the nearby houses, hoping that he as a resident would be able to show them the way.
"Here." The soft voice made Aragorn look up from where he had been murmuring senseless, comforting words to his semi-conscious friend in the grey tongue, and he saw the helpful man crouched next to him, holding up his own cloak. "He looks as if he needs it." When he saw that Aragorn was about to protest, he added, "I'll be fine, lad. That was a brave thing you did earlier. Stupid, but brave nonetheless."
Aragorn accepted the cloak gratefully and merely shrugged while he wrapped it around the elven prince.
"He is my friend," he said simply, smiling slightly when he saw the man nod in understanding. "Thank you, sir. Thank you for helping us."
The other man got to his feet, swaying slightly.
"Ah, 'twas nothing, lad," he assured the young ranger. "The name's Tellyn, by the way. Come and visit us when you have a moment to spare."
"I will," the younger man assured, tightening his grip on Legolas. "We will. Thank you, Tellyn."
Tellyn only nodded and disappeared down a narrow bridge, supporting one of his two companions.
Aragorn turned his attention back to his friend, pulling the cloaks a bit tighter around the blonde elf's shivering body. They needed to get Legolas back into the warm house, and quickly. Shooting Celylith an impatient glare who was apparently receiving lengthy instructions, judging by the way the man he was talking to gesticulated, he tried to suppress the tremors that shook his own body. It was cold, very cold, and his human body was beginning to complain bitterly.
"Why did you do that, stubborn elf?" he questioned softly, taking one of Legolas' hands that somehow stuck out from the bundle of cloths that were wrapped around the elf, "Why did you push me? I couldn't bear the thought of you dying just because of me! Never do that again, do you hear me, mellonamin? Not for me, please..."
He closed his eyes to prevent embarrassing tears from spilling, and this way he was rather startled by the soft voice of his friend whom he had thought unconscious.
"Why … not?"
Aragorn looked down at the fair haired elf who had with some difficulty opened his eyes, teeth chattering loudly. He pressed his other hand against the side of Legolas' face in an attempt to warm him and gave the hand he held a squeeze.
"Hush, Legolas, you need rest. Sleep. We will get you somewhere warm in a second."
The prince however was not so easily deterred and gave a minute shake of his head.
"W-Why not, Aragorn?" he asked again, the Elvish words so slurred that the young ranger could hardly understand him. "If … if not f-for you, t-then for whom?" He tried to smile at his human friend and failed miserably due to the immense cold he felt, and added tiredly, "You … would do … s-same…"
Aragorn looked at him seriously, nodding his head slightly.
"Aye," he said softly, "I would."
Noting the way Legolas' eyes were beginning to drift shut again, he added,
"Sleep, Legolas. When you wake up you'll be in a nice warm bed with a hot fire going in the fireplace. I promise."
The fair haired elf's eyes shut to his obvious dissatisfaction and he drifted off into a deep sleep. Celylith chose just this moment to return, and he looked down on the two friends with worry in his blue eyes. Both Aragorn and Legolas were shivering now, and the elf was rather sure that he would have to carry both of them if they didn't get out of the cold soon.
For a moment he asked himself what it had to be like to inform both Lord Elrond and King Thranduil of their children's deaths, and decided with a rather unelvish inward shriek of terror that that would be worse than to face the Dark Lord himself. After all, he doubted that Sauron would give you the look while taking you apart piece by piece.
He crouched down next to Strider and gave him the most encouraging smile he could muster.
"Come, Estel," he said, trying to pull the limp body of their friend out of his arms, "Let me carry him, I know the way now." He saw the rebellious flicker in the silver eyes before the human had even opened his mouth. "No, Estel, listen to me. You are cold and wet yourself. Let me carry him, it will be swifter. Legolas needs to get to shelter now, just think of what would happen if you dropped him."
Aragorn glared a second or two at him, but relented rather quickly. The young man knew that Celylith was stronger than he was, and he wasn't as perturbed by the cold either.
He nodded, and Celylith quickly gathered his unconscious friend in his arms, turning his face towards his own body so that it would be sheltered from the icy wind that had begun to blow a few minutes ago. Carefully he began to make his way down the narrow bridge to his left, once in a while making sure that Strider was really following.
He wouldn't allow another one of his friends to get out of his sight today.
The arrival at Owaeran's house was nothing less than spectacular. They were standing in the hall, wet and frozen to the bone, Celylith cradling Legolas in his arms, while servants flocked around them, asking about a thousand questions at once. Alerted by the commotion, Seobryn appeared, took one look at the man and the two elves, turned as white as a sheet and ran off to find his employer.
Complete chaos descended when Owaeran and Seobryn reappeared, both staring at the beings in the hallway and trying to push their way through the other humans that crowded the space.
All in all, after a few second Aragorn was ready to scream. This was not what his friend needed, and every single of his instincts as a healer told him to get him somewhere warm and quiet. Just when he was seriously considering breaking the ancient laws of hospitality and dismembering one or two of the chattering servants, a loud yell could be heard, and his head swivelled to the left, along with every other head in the hall.
On top of the stairs stood Misien, glaring darkly at her husband and the assembled men in the hallway.
"Have you completely lost your minds?" she asked, her tone of voice suggesting that she already knew the answer to that question. "The poor boy," she nodded in Legolas' direction, "needs help and not this commotion. Return to your rooms, now! I will send for you if we need help. Go!"
The servants ducked their heads and shuffled off, and Aragorn noticed out of the corner of his eyes that Seobryn and Owaeran looked very much as though they wanted to do the same. He motioned Celylith to carry their friend up to his room and slowly followed him, stopping in front of Misien.
"Thank you," he said, bowing slightly.
"Oh, it was nothing, Mr. Strider," the elderly woman assured him, smiling at him. She shot a concerned look into the direction in which the two elves had just disappeared. "He fell into the lake, didn't he? Will he be alright? Can I do anything to help you? Should we send for a healer?"
Aragorn shook his head, refraining himself from running after his elven friends.
"No, my lady, thank you. I have some healing skills, and the firstborn are strong. He will be alright."
Behind him, Owaeran made a move as if to ask a question, but was stopped by a firm shake of his wife's head.
"Go to him, then," the woman said, pulling her robe tighter around herself. "I will send someone to light a fire and bring you some extra blankets."
The young ranger bowed again and nodded.
"Thank you."
He quickly disappeared down the corridor, having to stifle a smile when he heard Misien scold her husband for his "foolish, idiotic, irresponsible" actions. His smile quickly faded though when he entered Legolas' room and laid eyes on the pale, shivering form of his friend.
The elf looked young … far, far younger than he was, with his eyes tightly closed and deep, dark circlers under his eyes.
Aragorn quickly rummaged through his elven friend's packs and pulled out dry clothes and a few bandages, silently thanking Legolas that he had brought so many of them. The young man turned back to the bed, and while Celylith changed the other elf into dry clothes, he carefully examined the injuries Legolas has sustained. Pressing down lightly on the blossoming bruises that covered the side of his friend's chest, he once again reined in his temper. He just hoped that the men responsible for this didn't cross his way in the near future; he wouldn't want to be held responsible for his actions then.
He made sure that no ribs had been broken and carefully spread a salve over the darkening marks, inwardly thanking that his father in his wisdom had left behind a full set of healing utensils before he had left. While he cleaned the cut on Legolas' temple, a servant crept into the room, looking very much as though he expected to be shouted at again, lit a fire and handed Celylith several heavy blankets which they piled on the pale form on the bed after Aragorn had bound his head wound.
Sighing deeply, Aragorn stepped back.
"He will be fine," he said, sinking down on an armchair next to the bedside, "He will sleep for a few hours now, but had he not been an elf, he would probably be dead now. He might have a light concussion from the blow to his head, but I doubt it. He has a lot of bruises and his ribs are badly bruised as well, but he will be just fine, thank the Valar."
He looked up when Celylith crouched down in front of him, looking at him seriously.
"Thank you, Aragorn," the elf said solemnly. "Thank you for saving his life, and Lord Elrond be praised that he trained you as well as he did."
Before the young ranger could reply to this, he found himself pressed back into the chair by a strong slender hand.
"Stay here. I will get you some dry clothes and then I will have a look at your arm. Don't think I have missed it."
Aragorn didn't protest, for now that he was warm and relaxing, he found that his arm hurt fiercely where the crossbow bolt had grazed him. Celylith quickly returned with some of his clothes and proceeded with binding his wound, scolding him lightly for not getting out of the projectile's way fast enough. The ranger quickly retorted that he wasn't an elf, and that even they could get hit by arrows once in a while, and soon they were teasing each other mercilessly, both of them enjoying the light heartedness of the moment.
When Aragorn was just enumerating all the times his brothers had got hit by arrow, spears, crossbow bolts and the like and Celylith was protesting that they were Noldor and therefore didn't count, a small knock sounded on the door, and both of them looked up to see Seobryn stand in the door, looking rather worried.
"Is he alright?" the young man asked, carefully taking a step into the direction of the bed.
Aragorn nodded and smiled, turning back to his friend and reaching out to brush back a damp strand of hair that had fallen across Legolas' forehead, noting with satisfaction that his temperature was obviously slowly returning to normal.
"Yes, he will be. He will be just fine."
Seobryn gave a small sigh of relief.
"The Great Ones be praised! He appeared so … dead when you arrived here." He shot a quick look at the unmoving form on the bed. "But he looks a lot better now." He lowered his gaze and added, "Master Owaeran feels very guilty."
"Does he?" Celylith asked, somewhat sarcastically. "Well, his brother is apparently in a whole lot more trouble than we thought."
"It appears so," Aragorn agreed, leaning back into his chair. "Whoever these men were, they were not happy about strangers asking questions about the elusive Master Gwemyr. I think they were the same that came here asking all these questions."
"You met some of them?" Seobryn asked, eyes wide. "They did this?"
"You could say so," Aragorn said grimly. "And they were rather intent on asking us a few things as well. And somehow, they felt even more threatened when they discovered that Legolas and Celylith were elves."
"I don't know, Strider," Celylith said, frowning slightly. "Perhaps that were only the usual prejudices. You know: We eat babies, practice dark magic and capture men and dwarves to drink their blood."
"That explains a lot," Aragorn mumbled, grinning when he saw the indignation on the silver haired elf's face. "Peace, mellonamin, I was joking. But somehow I don't think so. It's just a feeling."
"Well, what else does that feeling tell you? You are Lord Elrond's son, after all."
"That we are in trouble, Celylith," Aragorn sighed, taking one of Legolas cold hands and warming it between both of his. "More and more serious trouble than we had thought."
"That doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Celylith stated smugly, but worry could be clearly seen in his blue eyes. "Travelling with you two is truly a unique experience."
"So now what will you do?" Seobryn asked, looking at Aragorn questioningly. "You don't know who those men are, do you?"
"No," Aragorn agreed, his attention once again fixed on Legolas' pale face. He was still far too pale, but his elven body should at least spare him the illnesses a human would inevitably have contracted from being this long in ice water, such as pneumonia and the like.
He shook his head, silver eyes darkening when they came to rest on the bandage that wound round the elven prince's head.
"No, we do not. But we will find out, and then may Ilúvatar help them if they don't answer my questions."
TBC...
dúnadan - 'Man of the West', ranger
mellonamin - my friend
*sighs contentedly* No cliffy, see? I'm not thoroughly evil, now am I? Readers: Yes, you are!! *shrugs* Ah well, you're right, I guess... Okay, so look out for the next chapter, in which we will see ... hmm, annoyed rangers, a vengeful elven prince, and the effects of a simple law of nature that dictates that Aragorn must get into trouble if Legolas already has. *shrugs again* Reckless human, that one.
Do you feel that irresistable urge to submit a review? Yes? Good! Don't fight it! Review, please!!
Additional A/N:
Gwyn - *evil giggle* Oh yes, things are definitely heating up here! You might be right about the cliffies, btw, somehow there appeared yet another two at the end of the next chapters. I don't know where they come from either... Uhm, you've fallen for Legolas? Well, that happens rather often around here, I guess ... And real guys aren't this great because they're ... uhm, yes, real? Plus they don't get so many chances at acting all heroic and stuff... *g*
Grumpy - *g* Thanks! Glad you like the ciffies, there are many more coming up soon! Thanks for reviewing!
CrazyLOTRfan - You're backflipping just for me? Aww, I'm honoured... Wow, I'm in "101 Ways To Torture Fanfic Readers"? That is SO cool! And evil, of course, I love evil... Don't worry, we will have cliffies in the future, chapters 10 and 11 both have one! Yay!
XsilicaX - Precisely! I learned this a long time ago: Blackmail + Evil Cliffy = Many Lovely Reviews. Been following that equation ever since.... *g* And I would feel very sad indeed if I killed you. I would learn to move on, of course, but for approximately 5 seconds I would be heartbroken... LOL, I've been watching too much Austin Powers lately... Mhahaha! Many questions, and so few answers! You will have to wait a bit longer, I'm afraid... LOL, I'm sure you would LOVE to comfort Estel, but I'm afraid you'd have to get past Lina for that - and you know how she is... *g*
LOTRFaith - Yeah, well, Celylith was having a lot of fun on his own... And Legolas is indeed very self-sacrificing. Other people would call it 'stupid', but well... *evil grin* Thanks for the review!
Aratfeniel - *insane grin* Hey, who _isn't_ insane here? That's much more fun anyway... Celylith is pronounced like "Kelylith", with a K. In Sindarin all Cs are pronounced like 'K', just like Celeborn, Celebrimbor and so on. Great you liked the chapter, I hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
Coreinha - Me? Want to kill Legolas? Whatever gave you THAT idea? *g* Mighty-And-Powerful-Yet-Incredibly-Attractive-And-Intelligent-One? I LIKE that name! You may call me that from now on... *g*
Lina - *shakes Éomer's hand* I am so very proud of you and your Rohirrim! You really managed to hold her back - well done! LOL, Legolas is plunging into icy doom? I don't know why, but I just cracked up at that line! *watches Rohirrim ride triumphantly South* There they go again ... but they will be back ... they always are.... *sighs* Glad you still like it! *hugs Lina* Thanks for reviewing again!
Firnsarnien - No! *raises eyebrow* You're a Legolas fan? I would _never_ have guessed! *sarcasm* Really? Well, I do hope that there's Legolas angst in here, but he's busy being unconscious most of the time, so I don't rightly know... And now, put down that tomato or I won't post! I mean it! Put it down, now!
TrinityTheSheDevil - I know what you mean. FF withdrawal must be the most painful there is! It's horrible - I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy! *frowns in thought* You're right! This could become part of the dreams, but then agian, so will other things... *evil grin* Next chapter. *blinks* You really like seeing poor Aragorn hurt, huh? Well, don't worry: I haven't found a name for chapter 11 yet, so right know it's called "Torture-the-Ranger". See what I mean?
Critternut - What? *clueless look* You don't like my cliffies? Why not? _I _ think they are extraordinarily much fun! *g* Oh, no, you're right, I wouldn't let you hang forever, only for a few days. That's not too much, is it? And because you have reviewd, you really get a Legolas plushie! Here you go! *hands her plushie*
Alexa - *ducks slightly* Yes yes yes, your poor elfling, you're right there. Don't blame Celylith though, he had enough trouble on his own. IF you want to blame someone, then blame Legolas! He is such an idiot! I mean, most people would call it heroic or something, I call it stupid. LOL, j/k, don't kill me! See, update's here, am I forgiven now?
Arwen-Evenstar - *pokes her* Are you dead? Well, I'm terribly sorry, I never meant for this to happen! *nods solemnly* Oh yes, they do have a knack for getting themselves and all those with them into trouble. Just wait a chapter and you'll see _how_ much trouble...
Mouse - Oh, am I? Evil, I mean? Thanks! *huggles Mouse* So you want to know where I live? No problem, Germany, Berlin, come and visit any time! *g* And I'm NOT freezing Legolas, well, yes, maybe I am, but only a little. Plus he's an elf, he'll live. I think. *evil cackle*
Leggylover03 - What have I done? Well, uhm, thrown him into the lake? Yeah, I think that was it. Aragorn is not exactly diving, but somthing like that, yes. Thanks for reviewing!
Mer - Well, yes, Legolas' inner voice can be quite persistent form time to time, I'll give you that. The problem is, I have one of these myself, and it's twice as bad. *sighs* Poor Nili. Well, great you liked it! Thanks a lot for the review!
Cestari - *shakes her head* Time - what is that? I never have enough time... Well, actually I am quite glad that it _didn't_ really developed into a family tradition. It's quite painful, I guess, and it would spoil Aragorn's looks! Don't worry, I wouldn't Legolas die in a stupid lake, as I said, it's not painful enough. He won't get away with that! Wow, I'm under fav. stories and fav. authors? Thanks! *huggles her*
Delph - Hey, I am nice! Am I not? I mean, I post about every four days if FF.net lets me! I think that's quite fast, isn't it? *puppy dog eyes* Oh, and yes, I do have plot bunnies, wuite a lot of them, actually. But they're locked up in a cage in the basement, otherwise they'd wreak havoc with my life... *g* You're right! I mean, hey, Legolas is an elf! He'll live - probably... *evil grin* Thanks a lot for reviewing! They really help me a lot!
Fliewatuet - Well, I'm not _that_ fast, am I? Unfortunately, I'm not as fast as C&S, but then again, nobody is. *grins satisfied* So I surprised you? It would have been too easy if they had met with Adruran just yet. But you're right, eventually they will, and then this will get unpleasant real fast.... *g*
Zam - *stares wide-eyes* Okay then, Zam, calm down, that's it ... nobody wants to steal your Celylith, it's okay... Just Coreinha, Nilbrethiliel and about a dozen other people... *g* Well, Celylith would be called 'Celythramirion' then - that's not too bad, is it? *puts hand over Zam's mouth* Leave poor Seobryn alone, will you? He's blushing enough as it is! Honestly, he will get a stroke or somehitn like that and it will be YOUR fault! *watches Zam dive into the lake* Well, have fun then! You do know that he's an elf and can tolerate extreme temperatures better than you? But okay, go ahead, go on...
Imbefaniel - Yes, of course he will! I would never kill the poor elfling just like that! Sure you can join the Cellyith fan club! Just look out for Zam Kenobi - she is a bit, uhm, obsessed with him!
Aralondwen - *blushes* Thanks so much, I like being evil! It's so much more fun than being nice! Well, your torture machine sound very intimidating indeed, so I will update. See? Next chapter's here! So now give me back my plot bunnies, or I'll send my pet balrog Stan after you! Don't think I wouldn't! Thanks a lot for your ... uhm, let's say ... interesting review, huh? *g* It was slightly insane, but a lot of fun!
Halo - Oh, come on, you KNEW what was going to happen! You had some time to get used to the idea! Well, you're right, Legolas might feel slightly cold, but then agian, he's an elf, he will cope - I think... *evil cackle* Next bit's here, don't worry!
Miss Understood - Well, Legolas isn't exactly a girl, but I'll admit that sometimes he looks like one. A lot less than other elves, of course, but still... EEk! *runs off to escape angry Legolas fans* Yeah well, I'm sorry, but I thought something else might do a bit better. Otherwise the story would have been over far too soon. And I'm sorry about Seveawen, I just thought that the boy could use someone to cheer him up - don't be too angry, okay?
NaughtyNat - *bows* Thank you! I simply _love_ cliffies, I can chuckle for days after writing one... Well, I'm not yet sure about the owies. I think about the same for each of them, perhaps a little bit worse for Aragorn, but certainly not too much. And we can't forget poor Celylith either, can we? *evil smile* Don't worry though, Aragorn owies are coming in chapter 10 and 11!
Alilacia - Well yes, there are a few more cliffies coming up ... don't worry, only in chapter 10 ... and 11 .... *g* LOL, you can blink threateningly? That is interesting... You are soooo right, one really should send a carrier pidgeon to Elrond - they can use all the help they can possibly get, believe me... And you're right again, of course the water won't be good for poor ickle Legolas, and of course Aragorn will feel guilty. *sighs* They're quite predictable, aren't they?
Nilbrethiliel - Huh, wenn du moechtest, kann ich dich noch hinterherschmeissen! So zusammen unter'm Eis eingeschlossen zu sein macht doch gleich doppelt so viel Spass, oder? Tja, freut mich, dass jemand Seveawen nicht zu Hackfleisch verarbeiten moechte, die meisten Damen hier sind einfach ein wenig ... uhm, eifersuechtig? Ich hoffe uebrigens um deinetwillen, dass das nicht Celylilth unter deinem Bett war - andererseits muss ich mal vorbeikommen, und noch schlimmer, du muesstest es Zam Kenobi erklaeren, die da leicht besitzergreifend sein kann... Freut mich doch, dass du Angst magst, ich liebe es auch! Wir sind krank, ich weiss...
Tapetum Lucidum - LOL, 'icehanger' is a very fitting word! *g* Don't worry, I would never let Legolas freeze to death, as I said: Too easy and not painful enough! Well, I guess government are the same wherever you are, and ME won't be that different either... Thank you very much for all your kinf words, reviews really help me a lot - besides, I'm addicted to them... *g*
Jenny - Well, yes, I guess you could say that. He will be quite cold indeed... *evil chuckle* Thanks a lot for reviewing!
ManuKu - Wow, gleich zwei reviews auf einmal! Das ist ja umwerfend! *reibt Heande zusammen* Schoen! Ich weiss genau, was du eminst mit Zugfahren. Ein paar Jahre bin ich auch immer mit dem Zug zur Schule gefahren - irgendwo war's praktisch, aber auch immer ziemlich nervtoetend! LOL, tja, Sauron kann die Kreativitaet ja nicht immer mit Schwarz erdruecken, nech? *empoert* Hey, ich habe Celylith nie den 'geek' spielen lassen! Ich fand ihn schon immer cool, nur eben ein bisschen anders... LOL, Legolas as Leo II.? Na, da hab mal keine Angst, so einfach stirbt unser Lieblingselb nicht. Tja, ich nehme an, dass Celylith wirklich sein bester elbischer Freund waere, nachdem Glónduil ja nun aus dem Rennen ist... Momentan weiss ich noch nicht, wie viele Kapitel es geben wird, aber ich nehme an, es wird sich ungefaehr im gleichen Rahmen wie AEFAE bewegen, vielleicht ein oder zwei weniger. Und Celylith: Momentan habe ich noch keine Plaene, ihn umzubringen, aber was nicht ist, kann ja noch werden... *fieses Grinsen*
Carrie - Well, yes, you're right, it would be a lot easier if they wouldn't go to Lake-town, but so much less fun for us! We can't have that, can we? *eyes begin to gleam* Trees! I had totally forgotten about those wonderful things! Thank you for reminding me, I have just THE idea for a wonderful new scene now... I agree with you, Thranduil _should_ lock them up in the dungeons, but I guess Elrond wouldn't be too pleased about that and stuff... *shrugs* Bad for them. *huggles Carrie* Thanks for reviewing! I missed you, really, I did!
Amelie - No, I would never kill Legolas, I may be insane, but I'm not stupid! I know perfectly well that I wouldn't live to the next morning if I ever did that... *g* Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Randomramblings - Uhm, what shall I say: Yes? This chapter, the next chapter, and the chapters after that ... so, essentially, yes! *g* Thank you very much for the review!
ThE iNsAnE oNe - I don't know why, but that happens a lot to you, doesn't it? That FF.net eats your reviews, I mean - have you done something to it? But then again, FF.net doesn't need a reason for hating you... Well, I won't take him away, IF you make sure that the twins, Estel and Legolas treat him alright. I couldn't watch poor Nólad suffer, he's been through enough already... LOL, so now Estel is a ranger popsicle? That is definitely not good, just think of what Elrond would say... I know that RL can be busy sometimes, so there's no need for excuses. I hope you'll enjoy your holidays! I'm you will, Costa Rica ... *sighs* So great.
Stacee Phelps - Well, if you like Aragorn angst, then you're just right here! Just wait for chapter 11 and you'll know what I mean... *evil chuckle* I love dropping mysterious hints... *blushes* Well, I do certainly _not_ rival C&S, but they're goddesses anyway ... but thanks fir saying it! It gave me a morale booster! *g* Thanks a lot for reviewing!
Alisha - A very good question, my friend! In fact, it is a question I have asked myself numerous times! Why can't they just mind their own buisiness? I don't know why either, perhaps they're masochists - that's about the only explanation I can come up with. *nods* It's the reason why I decided to throw Legoals into the water and not Aragorn: Aragorn would be dead in two minutes while Legolas can survive a bit longer. Not that much longer, but a bit. *g*
Marbienl - *shoots Legolas annoyed look* Just WHY did you fix that? Now she'll try again to hypnotise my characters, and we can't have that!! *glowers at Marbienl* You hear me? Well, I wouldn't wish being trapped under ice on anyone either. I was trapped under an upturned boat once and almost drowned, and that wasn't fun either. And you're right. The whole story is a vicious circle... *g* Yeah, Legolas is something of a big brother, though not as protective (at least openly) as the twins. *g* Yes, you have many questions indeed, and some answers will be indeed provided in this chapter. Not all, but most of them. Oh, and I think Rashwe can bear a grudge for quite some time, after all, Elrohir DID want to feed it to the goblins. And hey, I'll be 21 tomorrow, and "meine Dame" isn't only for old people. It's just like "my lady"m and since they abolished "Fraeulein" there isn't much left... And don't worry, we will have Estel owies in chapter 11! Yay!
Salara - Oh, und noch eine doppelte review! Danke danke danke! Komm mir nicht mit Umzuegen! Ich werde wahrscheinlich auch bald umziehen, das ist dann ja auch erst mein 10. *seufzt* Irgendwann macht's auch keinen Spass mehr, oder? Hey! Celylith ist kein 'freakiger Elbe'! Lass das mal bloss nicht Zam hoeren, die kennt da gar nichts! Und nicht boese auf den Armen sein, der hatte mehr als genug eingene Probleme - ausserdem gibt es einem Gelegenhiet fuer ein bisschen Celylith angst, nech? *g* Eine Nólad-Klon? Natuerlich, meine Dame, kein Problem! Das mit den anderen koennte etwas problematischer werden, da ich die nicht auf Vorrat habe, aber ich werd gucken, was sich machen laesst! Danke fuer die lange review!
*shakes head* You didn't really think I'd let Legola die, did you? I'm not suicidal, you know... Thanks a lot for the lovely reviews! And tomorrow's my birthday, so you can send another one! J/K!! Thanks so much!