I'm really sorry about how long this took, I just couldn't write ANYTHING.
I'd sit down at the computer and nothing would come out. It took me about a
month to get to the stage where I could write something, and until now
before I thought it was good enough to send out to the rest of the world.
With any luck, the next chapter will be out earlier than this one was. It'd
damn well better be, or I'll kill MYSELF. As always, ~blabla~ - Sindarin,
and Elvish translations will be at the bottom and, as always, REVIEW,
please. It's like oxygen. Only not. At all.
~
Merry and Pippin dismounted quickly, giving the reins of their ponies to hobbits who seemed to appear out of thin air to attend to the task. Aragorn and Legolas handed over their own mounts, under the hobbits' assurances that they would be well tended for, and turned back to Tem. The hobbit was nearly quivering, though with excitement or anxiety they couldn't be certain.
"I suppose you'll want to rest after your trip," he said in a disappointed voice, twisting his hands together. "There's an inn down the street that'll be thrilled to give you rooms as long as you'll be needing them."
Aragorn moved to beside the hobbit, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We are not here for our health, Master Tem," he said smoothly. "Anything we can do to help is our pleasure, as quickly as can be done." Tem looked up and nodded once, his excitable mood disappearing in the light of a job to be done.
"If you'll just follow me, then," he stepped back and gestured with his head down the street towards a narrow, three story building bearing a sign that labelled it The Weeping Willow. "You'll have to be going there anyhow," Tem added. "We've kept them that've been . turned . under the inn. If you'll just follow me." The air of excitability seemed to fade from him in the light of a job to be done, and after making sure that the others were keeping pace behind him he turned and walked briskly towards the inn.
The narrow building was actually surprisingly spacious, and neither of the taller beings had any difficulty standing to full height. They came through the door to find themselves standing in a common room of sorts. It was not filled to capacity, but nonetheless there were hobbits sitting with mugs of ale on their tables, although there was a distinct lack of the merriment that tended to accompany the traditional beverage.
Tem waved briskly at those seated with their drinks, then turned to Legolas and Aragorn. "They're downstairs," he said, gesturing towards a flight of stairs that was, like the rest of the building, narrow and showing signs of age. "We couldn't have them where they might hurt anyone, acourse."
The stairs held firmly as they descended into a dimly lit cellar that obviously spent most of its days as a storage site for the supplies that the inn would normally need. There were bushels of food, kegs of beer, and cartons of pipe-weed stacked along one wall, and signs that there had been more recently. Candles were burning merrily in brackets lining the walls, providing some light. On the other side the room turned sharply, flickers of light indicating a stranger source around the bend.
Beckoning with his hand, Tem started around the corner. Legolas could hear nothing, which surprised him. The reports he had received had given him the impression that there were at least six hostile hobbits in this makeshift jail, yet there was nothing to be heard.
"Curious," Aragorn murmured, and he nodded his agreement.
Then there was a sound of movement; bodies shifting position and a soft, low female voice spoke with just enough volume to make out the words.
"Tem, you're back. Have you brought any help?" Tem grunted noncommittally, and his head appeared around the bend once more.
"You can come around," he said softly. "Just be careful. We don't know yet what they can do." Legolas nodded his agreement and moved forward, his soft leather boots making no noise on the straw that was scattered across the cellar floor. Aragorn followed closely behind him.
There were two rows of barred storage rooms, separated by a narrow corridor. In the middle of the walkway, a young hobbit girl was seated on a stool, looking into one of the cells. When she heard Merry's foot scuff against a pebble she turned.
"You've come," she said happily, still speaking softly. "Perhaps something can be done now." Pippin stepped forwards and shrugged minutely.
"We've tried," he replied with a modest half bow, a mischievous grin on his face. Elanor rose from her stool and went over to hug the older hobbit.
"I told you they'd come, Uncle Pip," she said with a smile. "But you really shouldn't be out at your age. You're far too old for it now."
"Come now," Pippin protested, holding her away from him. "If I don't go, who'll go for me?"
"I would have," she pointed out, crossing her arms.
"Ah, yes, but Elanor, we needed you here. There's no two ways about it; my days aren't over yet. I plan to go out with a boom and a crash like you haven't seen since Bilbo left, and I can't do that sitting at home with my pipe, now can I."
"Talk some sense into him," Elanor turned pleadingly to Merry, who's normally innocent face turned even more vapid.
"But he's already got sense," he replied. Elanor rolled her eyes, and then turned to see the visitors. She blinked once, and parted her skirts in a curtsey.
"My Lord," she whispered, looking down. Aragorn chuckled softly, tilting her chin up with his fingers.
"I am no longer your lord, young Miss. I am no longer King. I am only one friend seeking to aid another. The time for formalities is long past; I neither require nor take pleasure in them now." With a small smile Elanor nodded and stood to her full height, reaching just over Aragorn's waist. Legolas smiled, and Elanor seemed to see him properly for the first time.
"Who is this?" she asked in a surprised tone, her voice rising slightly. There was movement in the cells behind her. Legolas stepped forward and nodded his head in greeting.
"I am Legolas Thranduilion, known as Legolas Greenleaf. I have come to offer what assistance I can provide, humble as it may be." Behind him he heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. Ignoring it, he stepped forward. "What has happened here?"
Suddenly, all around him, there was a jumble of movement. The light from the lamp had diverted his attention from the cells to the corridor, and he now saw clearly that there were indeed hobbits held prisoner, twelve of them. As he entered the lamplight they all moved, some lunging towards the bars and others shrinking back into the deepest darkness of their cells. Legolas blinked.
A hand reached through the bars to snatch for his cloak, or more likely the dagger at his belt, but stopped abruptly when the Elf turned and caught the hand in mid air. The hobbit hissed and struggled.
"Let me go!" he cried. "Let me go, filth! You're blinding me; let me go! Aberration!" his other hand emerged from between the bars and made a desperate swipe for the dagger, and Legolas captured that hand as well. Suddenly, he felt something push at his mind. A blackness, a presence. He pushed his mind out against it, and the hobbit squealed.
Legolas let go of his hands and stepped back a pace, a worried frown on his face. He turned to the others.
"Darkness had eaten his soul," he said as he left the light, the sounds of the hobbit's curses and squeals echoing in the stone corridor. "I cannot save him. He is beyond my aid."
Elanor turned abruptly to look at him. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Legolas shook his head.
"Now is neither time nor place to discuss this. Aragorn, you may be able to make more of this than can I, but I beg of you make haste. This place weighs heavily upon me."
Aragorn stepped forwards and looked at the cages and those inside them, who shrank back from him as if they feared he would strike them, but shook his head, turning back to his Elven companion.
"I fear I see no more than twelve frightened Hobbits, some with murder in their eyes. Whatever it is that you feel is lost to me, but I do not doubt that you perceive something that I cannot. Let us go away from here, and you can explain to us what you can."
Legolas nodded, turning to Elanor. "Must you stay here, or are you free to join our discussion? What you have to say may prove valuable, in the end."
The young Hobbit nodded. "I stay here because I choose to; I can leave when I wish. Tem, if you will watch them, to make sure that nothing happens?" The other nodded and sat down on the stool, one hand placed protectively on the light. The rest of the company turned and left the dungeons. Behind them, the Hobbits in the cells began to murmur.
When they reached the top of the stairs the Hobbits sitting at tables in the inn looked at them curiously but Elanor, who had taken the lead, shook her head and they all returned to their conversations and their mugs of ale. The girl led the other two through the building and out, not through the door by which they had entered but through a smaller exit at the back of the building that opened from the back of a hill to face a luscious meadow. Legolas felt a comforting reassurance at the sight.
From there they followed Elanor through the grass and the wildflowers until they reached a valley between two hills. There, nestled in the centre, was large tree, branches expanding to cover the valley in a protective shade. Elanor went to the base of the tree and sat down on a root, settling her skirts around her.
"This place is one of peace," she said. "All know if it, but few have the time or desire to come. I venture here often when I wish to think, or be alone. If you wish to speak in private we stand little chance of being overheard here."
Aragorn followed her example, settling himself on another root of the large tree, and Legolas stood off to one side. Seeing the other two looking at him expectantly, the Elf sighed and then began to speak.
"When I was in the Havens," he said, "I learned many things. It is a place of knowledge, and I fear that I can say little more than that, as it is a place sacred to the Elves. Few who walk Middle-Earth are permitted to have such knowledge as may be gained there, but for reasons of my own I was allowed to return." He shook his head, dismissing the topic. "I have gained certain . talents, I suppose I must say. I ." he looked uncomfortable. "I have learned, under certain circumstances, to touch the minds of others. I did so with the Hobbits, and felt evil."
Elanor looked disbelieving.
"But they're good souls," she protested. "Briar was my second cousin thrice removed, and I know the others just as well. They've always been kind. I won't believe that they are evil."
Legolas held up a hand. "I did not say that they were evil," he replied. "Simply that there is evil in their minds. I cannot say much more, for I do not know, but I am certain that there is an external influence about here. Would that I could see one of the yrch, to help me better understand, however, it seems that you are safe from your kindred so long as you do not allow them within reach of a blade. Perhaps in time the evil will leave them, but I can offer you no words of hope there."
Elanor sighed and looked down sadly. Her hands worked at her apron, twining it into a cord and then releasing it. Finally she looked up.
"I will not deny that I hoped for a cure when Merry and Pippin set out," she said. "However, I cannot begin to place any blame into your hands. It is a small relief to know that this disease cannot be passed on between the Hobbits, and if you do not give up hope I will continue to try to heal those already cursed with darkness."
"It is all that can be done, I fear," Legolas answered. He turned to look at Aragorn. "However," he continued to the Ranger, "I believe that there is a task that I must now accomplish."
"After the feast," Aragorn interjected, and Legolas laughed softly.
"Of course," he replied. "My father's feast will pause for no Elf, nor man, nor beast, I fear. But, I cannot allow this plague to spread across Middle- Earth. I must try to find the cause, if not the cure. I would ask your aid in this, if you will give it?"
Aragorn stood quickly and nodded.
"How dare you even ask, mellonamin?" he demanded. "I have naught else to do, and although I do not know how I can assist I look forward to a chance to try my blade against the flesh of orcs once more."
Suddenly, to the surprise of the other two, Elanor rose from her seat on the root and stared at them defiantly.
"I will accompany you as well," she stated. Legolas shook his head.
"You do not know what you say," he said kindly, but with steel in his voice. "You know me not, and have known Elessar only as a King. Even I do not know how I propose to accomplish my task, only that I must. I cannot allow you to come on a journey such as this, unprepared and unplanned. Your place is here, to heal."
Elanor looked for a moment like she would protest, then her shoulders dropped and she nodded once.
"Forgive me," she said. "I don't know what came over me. Of course you are right. I have no place on quests, when the objective is not even known. I would be more of a hindrance than a help, and I can do good here. It was blindly that I offered."
Legolas laid a fond hand on her shoulder.
"An offer of help is never wrong," he offered. "You have a fair heart. Perhaps it will be enough to shed light on the darkness and heal your comrades. It is one hope we have. You will do well in what you seek to achieve. Now." His expression lightened slightly. "We have ridden for the better part of this day, taking little time to rest. For myself I would wish a cup of water to drink, if I may, and I'm certain that Aragorn could make use of something more substantial."
Aragorn chuckled and laughed.
"Sadly it is one of the burdens of being a Man," he agreed. "I would not turn away food, once offered. Would there be room in the Inn for two more in the common room?"
"Of course," Elanor answered immediately. "I'm certain that the owner would be absolutely thrilled to be able to claim two figures such as yourselves as proprietors. If you follow me back the way we have just come you will find tables aplenty and all that you could wish for to refresh yourselves."
They followed her once more through the valley, and Legolas was aware of Aragorn's gaze on him for the majority of the short journey. He looked into the Man's eyes once and read questions there, and the knowledge that things had been hidden from. He laughed inwardly; the Man was more perceptive than he was often credited with. He smiled at his friend and held up one hand slightly. Later, he indicated, and the other seemed to understand, for the gaze left him and the two instead watched the hills and the wildlife that inhabited them. A rabbit hurried away as they approached, and Legolas saw clearly two deer standing at the crest of a hill some miles away.
Word seemed to have been spread throughout the Willow that the danger was no greater than they had feared, and that perhaps the strangers might be able to help. Indeed, the atmosphere in the common room was lighter than it had been just before, when they had left it, and one or two clients lifted their mugs in a toast as the three entered the room. Elanor grinned at the man, then made her brief apologies to the Man and Elf and disappeared once more down the flight of stairs to the basement.
Behind the counter, a middle-aged Hobbit saw his two guests and pointed jovially at a table by the window. He knew just what they'd like, he said, and the view was magnificent from there. Nodding in agreement, Legolas and Aragorn made their way over.
~"I fear I am built too tall for this town,"~ Aragorn said with a laugh as he folded himself into a chair. Legolas managed to perch daintily, despite being just as tall as him, and laughed at his plight.
~"I have been told that there are ways to take inches off of one's height,"~ he replied. ~"Sadly, however, I believe that all of these methods involve a blade of some sort, and will leave a patron lacking not only height but limbs as well. I would not recommend you try them."~
~"No,"~ Aragorn agreed thoughtfully. ~"I think that I am inclined to agree with you on this point."~ He smiled warmly as the barman made his way over to their table and deposited their food in front of them. Legolas looked up with appreciation from the fresh salad on his plate, and the clear goblet of crystalline water.
"It is wonderful," he said, and reached into his purse to take out a silver coin. He gave it to the Hobbit, and only a firm smile and a refusal to take it back finally persuaded the bartender to keep the coin.
"Thank you, sirs," the Hobbit exclaimed. "Thank you." He made a quick bow and hurried off. Aragorn looked at his companion with an amused expression.
"What is it?" Legolas demanded. Aragorn laughed.
"There are few I have seen who can deter so easily with generosity as you can," he replied. "Had I offered him riches I have no doubt that he would have taken them without a second glance, much less a protestation."
"One coin does not make for riches," Legolas protested. "And it is in his nature. It had naught to do with me." His gaze firmed suddenly. "Come now, Aragorn. We must be off soon, if only so that I might prepare for my father's feast. If you wish to eat the roast that the innkeeper has so kindly provided for you, you would be wise to do so at once. Delightful as it is here, I do not wish to tarry."
~"En'rant"~ Aragorn replied. "I am no more inclined to stay. It feels to me like our presence here can bring only danger."
~
Yrch - ork. I think I've translated this before.
Mellonamin - my friend. I think I've translated this too. ^_^
En' rant - of course.
~
Merry and Pippin dismounted quickly, giving the reins of their ponies to hobbits who seemed to appear out of thin air to attend to the task. Aragorn and Legolas handed over their own mounts, under the hobbits' assurances that they would be well tended for, and turned back to Tem. The hobbit was nearly quivering, though with excitement or anxiety they couldn't be certain.
"I suppose you'll want to rest after your trip," he said in a disappointed voice, twisting his hands together. "There's an inn down the street that'll be thrilled to give you rooms as long as you'll be needing them."
Aragorn moved to beside the hobbit, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We are not here for our health, Master Tem," he said smoothly. "Anything we can do to help is our pleasure, as quickly as can be done." Tem looked up and nodded once, his excitable mood disappearing in the light of a job to be done.
"If you'll just follow me, then," he stepped back and gestured with his head down the street towards a narrow, three story building bearing a sign that labelled it The Weeping Willow. "You'll have to be going there anyhow," Tem added. "We've kept them that've been . turned . under the inn. If you'll just follow me." The air of excitability seemed to fade from him in the light of a job to be done, and after making sure that the others were keeping pace behind him he turned and walked briskly towards the inn.
The narrow building was actually surprisingly spacious, and neither of the taller beings had any difficulty standing to full height. They came through the door to find themselves standing in a common room of sorts. It was not filled to capacity, but nonetheless there were hobbits sitting with mugs of ale on their tables, although there was a distinct lack of the merriment that tended to accompany the traditional beverage.
Tem waved briskly at those seated with their drinks, then turned to Legolas and Aragorn. "They're downstairs," he said, gesturing towards a flight of stairs that was, like the rest of the building, narrow and showing signs of age. "We couldn't have them where they might hurt anyone, acourse."
The stairs held firmly as they descended into a dimly lit cellar that obviously spent most of its days as a storage site for the supplies that the inn would normally need. There were bushels of food, kegs of beer, and cartons of pipe-weed stacked along one wall, and signs that there had been more recently. Candles were burning merrily in brackets lining the walls, providing some light. On the other side the room turned sharply, flickers of light indicating a stranger source around the bend.
Beckoning with his hand, Tem started around the corner. Legolas could hear nothing, which surprised him. The reports he had received had given him the impression that there were at least six hostile hobbits in this makeshift jail, yet there was nothing to be heard.
"Curious," Aragorn murmured, and he nodded his agreement.
Then there was a sound of movement; bodies shifting position and a soft, low female voice spoke with just enough volume to make out the words.
"Tem, you're back. Have you brought any help?" Tem grunted noncommittally, and his head appeared around the bend once more.
"You can come around," he said softly. "Just be careful. We don't know yet what they can do." Legolas nodded his agreement and moved forward, his soft leather boots making no noise on the straw that was scattered across the cellar floor. Aragorn followed closely behind him.
There were two rows of barred storage rooms, separated by a narrow corridor. In the middle of the walkway, a young hobbit girl was seated on a stool, looking into one of the cells. When she heard Merry's foot scuff against a pebble she turned.
"You've come," she said happily, still speaking softly. "Perhaps something can be done now." Pippin stepped forwards and shrugged minutely.
"We've tried," he replied with a modest half bow, a mischievous grin on his face. Elanor rose from her stool and went over to hug the older hobbit.
"I told you they'd come, Uncle Pip," she said with a smile. "But you really shouldn't be out at your age. You're far too old for it now."
"Come now," Pippin protested, holding her away from him. "If I don't go, who'll go for me?"
"I would have," she pointed out, crossing her arms.
"Ah, yes, but Elanor, we needed you here. There's no two ways about it; my days aren't over yet. I plan to go out with a boom and a crash like you haven't seen since Bilbo left, and I can't do that sitting at home with my pipe, now can I."
"Talk some sense into him," Elanor turned pleadingly to Merry, who's normally innocent face turned even more vapid.
"But he's already got sense," he replied. Elanor rolled her eyes, and then turned to see the visitors. She blinked once, and parted her skirts in a curtsey.
"My Lord," she whispered, looking down. Aragorn chuckled softly, tilting her chin up with his fingers.
"I am no longer your lord, young Miss. I am no longer King. I am only one friend seeking to aid another. The time for formalities is long past; I neither require nor take pleasure in them now." With a small smile Elanor nodded and stood to her full height, reaching just over Aragorn's waist. Legolas smiled, and Elanor seemed to see him properly for the first time.
"Who is this?" she asked in a surprised tone, her voice rising slightly. There was movement in the cells behind her. Legolas stepped forward and nodded his head in greeting.
"I am Legolas Thranduilion, known as Legolas Greenleaf. I have come to offer what assistance I can provide, humble as it may be." Behind him he heard a noise that sounded suspiciously like a chuckle. Ignoring it, he stepped forward. "What has happened here?"
Suddenly, all around him, there was a jumble of movement. The light from the lamp had diverted his attention from the cells to the corridor, and he now saw clearly that there were indeed hobbits held prisoner, twelve of them. As he entered the lamplight they all moved, some lunging towards the bars and others shrinking back into the deepest darkness of their cells. Legolas blinked.
A hand reached through the bars to snatch for his cloak, or more likely the dagger at his belt, but stopped abruptly when the Elf turned and caught the hand in mid air. The hobbit hissed and struggled.
"Let me go!" he cried. "Let me go, filth! You're blinding me; let me go! Aberration!" his other hand emerged from between the bars and made a desperate swipe for the dagger, and Legolas captured that hand as well. Suddenly, he felt something push at his mind. A blackness, a presence. He pushed his mind out against it, and the hobbit squealed.
Legolas let go of his hands and stepped back a pace, a worried frown on his face. He turned to the others.
"Darkness had eaten his soul," he said as he left the light, the sounds of the hobbit's curses and squeals echoing in the stone corridor. "I cannot save him. He is beyond my aid."
Elanor turned abruptly to look at him. "What do you mean? What are you talking about?" Legolas shook his head.
"Now is neither time nor place to discuss this. Aragorn, you may be able to make more of this than can I, but I beg of you make haste. This place weighs heavily upon me."
Aragorn stepped forwards and looked at the cages and those inside them, who shrank back from him as if they feared he would strike them, but shook his head, turning back to his Elven companion.
"I fear I see no more than twelve frightened Hobbits, some with murder in their eyes. Whatever it is that you feel is lost to me, but I do not doubt that you perceive something that I cannot. Let us go away from here, and you can explain to us what you can."
Legolas nodded, turning to Elanor. "Must you stay here, or are you free to join our discussion? What you have to say may prove valuable, in the end."
The young Hobbit nodded. "I stay here because I choose to; I can leave when I wish. Tem, if you will watch them, to make sure that nothing happens?" The other nodded and sat down on the stool, one hand placed protectively on the light. The rest of the company turned and left the dungeons. Behind them, the Hobbits in the cells began to murmur.
When they reached the top of the stairs the Hobbits sitting at tables in the inn looked at them curiously but Elanor, who had taken the lead, shook her head and they all returned to their conversations and their mugs of ale. The girl led the other two through the building and out, not through the door by which they had entered but through a smaller exit at the back of the building that opened from the back of a hill to face a luscious meadow. Legolas felt a comforting reassurance at the sight.
From there they followed Elanor through the grass and the wildflowers until they reached a valley between two hills. There, nestled in the centre, was large tree, branches expanding to cover the valley in a protective shade. Elanor went to the base of the tree and sat down on a root, settling her skirts around her.
"This place is one of peace," she said. "All know if it, but few have the time or desire to come. I venture here often when I wish to think, or be alone. If you wish to speak in private we stand little chance of being overheard here."
Aragorn followed her example, settling himself on another root of the large tree, and Legolas stood off to one side. Seeing the other two looking at him expectantly, the Elf sighed and then began to speak.
"When I was in the Havens," he said, "I learned many things. It is a place of knowledge, and I fear that I can say little more than that, as it is a place sacred to the Elves. Few who walk Middle-Earth are permitted to have such knowledge as may be gained there, but for reasons of my own I was allowed to return." He shook his head, dismissing the topic. "I have gained certain . talents, I suppose I must say. I ." he looked uncomfortable. "I have learned, under certain circumstances, to touch the minds of others. I did so with the Hobbits, and felt evil."
Elanor looked disbelieving.
"But they're good souls," she protested. "Briar was my second cousin thrice removed, and I know the others just as well. They've always been kind. I won't believe that they are evil."
Legolas held up a hand. "I did not say that they were evil," he replied. "Simply that there is evil in their minds. I cannot say much more, for I do not know, but I am certain that there is an external influence about here. Would that I could see one of the yrch, to help me better understand, however, it seems that you are safe from your kindred so long as you do not allow them within reach of a blade. Perhaps in time the evil will leave them, but I can offer you no words of hope there."
Elanor sighed and looked down sadly. Her hands worked at her apron, twining it into a cord and then releasing it. Finally she looked up.
"I will not deny that I hoped for a cure when Merry and Pippin set out," she said. "However, I cannot begin to place any blame into your hands. It is a small relief to know that this disease cannot be passed on between the Hobbits, and if you do not give up hope I will continue to try to heal those already cursed with darkness."
"It is all that can be done, I fear," Legolas answered. He turned to look at Aragorn. "However," he continued to the Ranger, "I believe that there is a task that I must now accomplish."
"After the feast," Aragorn interjected, and Legolas laughed softly.
"Of course," he replied. "My father's feast will pause for no Elf, nor man, nor beast, I fear. But, I cannot allow this plague to spread across Middle- Earth. I must try to find the cause, if not the cure. I would ask your aid in this, if you will give it?"
Aragorn stood quickly and nodded.
"How dare you even ask, mellonamin?" he demanded. "I have naught else to do, and although I do not know how I can assist I look forward to a chance to try my blade against the flesh of orcs once more."
Suddenly, to the surprise of the other two, Elanor rose from her seat on the root and stared at them defiantly.
"I will accompany you as well," she stated. Legolas shook his head.
"You do not know what you say," he said kindly, but with steel in his voice. "You know me not, and have known Elessar only as a King. Even I do not know how I propose to accomplish my task, only that I must. I cannot allow you to come on a journey such as this, unprepared and unplanned. Your place is here, to heal."
Elanor looked for a moment like she would protest, then her shoulders dropped and she nodded once.
"Forgive me," she said. "I don't know what came over me. Of course you are right. I have no place on quests, when the objective is not even known. I would be more of a hindrance than a help, and I can do good here. It was blindly that I offered."
Legolas laid a fond hand on her shoulder.
"An offer of help is never wrong," he offered. "You have a fair heart. Perhaps it will be enough to shed light on the darkness and heal your comrades. It is one hope we have. You will do well in what you seek to achieve. Now." His expression lightened slightly. "We have ridden for the better part of this day, taking little time to rest. For myself I would wish a cup of water to drink, if I may, and I'm certain that Aragorn could make use of something more substantial."
Aragorn chuckled and laughed.
"Sadly it is one of the burdens of being a Man," he agreed. "I would not turn away food, once offered. Would there be room in the Inn for two more in the common room?"
"Of course," Elanor answered immediately. "I'm certain that the owner would be absolutely thrilled to be able to claim two figures such as yourselves as proprietors. If you follow me back the way we have just come you will find tables aplenty and all that you could wish for to refresh yourselves."
They followed her once more through the valley, and Legolas was aware of Aragorn's gaze on him for the majority of the short journey. He looked into the Man's eyes once and read questions there, and the knowledge that things had been hidden from. He laughed inwardly; the Man was more perceptive than he was often credited with. He smiled at his friend and held up one hand slightly. Later, he indicated, and the other seemed to understand, for the gaze left him and the two instead watched the hills and the wildlife that inhabited them. A rabbit hurried away as they approached, and Legolas saw clearly two deer standing at the crest of a hill some miles away.
Word seemed to have been spread throughout the Willow that the danger was no greater than they had feared, and that perhaps the strangers might be able to help. Indeed, the atmosphere in the common room was lighter than it had been just before, when they had left it, and one or two clients lifted their mugs in a toast as the three entered the room. Elanor grinned at the man, then made her brief apologies to the Man and Elf and disappeared once more down the flight of stairs to the basement.
Behind the counter, a middle-aged Hobbit saw his two guests and pointed jovially at a table by the window. He knew just what they'd like, he said, and the view was magnificent from there. Nodding in agreement, Legolas and Aragorn made their way over.
~"I fear I am built too tall for this town,"~ Aragorn said with a laugh as he folded himself into a chair. Legolas managed to perch daintily, despite being just as tall as him, and laughed at his plight.
~"I have been told that there are ways to take inches off of one's height,"~ he replied. ~"Sadly, however, I believe that all of these methods involve a blade of some sort, and will leave a patron lacking not only height but limbs as well. I would not recommend you try them."~
~"No,"~ Aragorn agreed thoughtfully. ~"I think that I am inclined to agree with you on this point."~ He smiled warmly as the barman made his way over to their table and deposited their food in front of them. Legolas looked up with appreciation from the fresh salad on his plate, and the clear goblet of crystalline water.
"It is wonderful," he said, and reached into his purse to take out a silver coin. He gave it to the Hobbit, and only a firm smile and a refusal to take it back finally persuaded the bartender to keep the coin.
"Thank you, sirs," the Hobbit exclaimed. "Thank you." He made a quick bow and hurried off. Aragorn looked at his companion with an amused expression.
"What is it?" Legolas demanded. Aragorn laughed.
"There are few I have seen who can deter so easily with generosity as you can," he replied. "Had I offered him riches I have no doubt that he would have taken them without a second glance, much less a protestation."
"One coin does not make for riches," Legolas protested. "And it is in his nature. It had naught to do with me." His gaze firmed suddenly. "Come now, Aragorn. We must be off soon, if only so that I might prepare for my father's feast. If you wish to eat the roast that the innkeeper has so kindly provided for you, you would be wise to do so at once. Delightful as it is here, I do not wish to tarry."
~"En'rant"~ Aragorn replied. "I am no more inclined to stay. It feels to me like our presence here can bring only danger."
~
Yrch - ork. I think I've translated this before.
Mellonamin - my friend. I think I've translated this too. ^_^
En' rant - of course.