Title: Regret

Summery: When you lose a friend to death, it is tragic, but what if you lost them before you got the chance to say "I'm sorry." Could you live with that?

Note: I can't believe the feedback on this, it's unbelievable to me, and I thank each and every person who clicked this and is reading along. Hopefully the rest of "Regret" will not disappoint and will be enjoyable. So here is chapter 13, there isn't much Legolas in this one, but Aragorn plays a big part, so I hope you like it. Read on……

Chapter thirteen

The cave was meeting it's end, and Ginyc knew that the small village of Plemith was now only another hour or so away. The corrupt ranger also knew that the fact that he had two elves in his captivity, one being the prince of Mirkwood, would mean that there were others on their trail. He could see that Legolas was fading, and fast, and if they did not stop soon, the elf would probably die of exhaustion before the poison in his system even had a chance to do it's full damage.

"Not to worry, Prince Legolas," the man began, without even turning to meet the young elf's face as he spoke, "we're nearly there."

"Save your sympathy for better use, by letting him go," Piong responded on behalf of his monarch, "Jevinx has had his revenge, and has done enough harm to the prince to make both Thranduil and myself feel pain. He had his fun, now let him go, before he dies in here."

Legolas was dying, it was clear to all of those in the tunnel with him. His walk was no more than one stumble after another, and his constant gasps for air were the only noises that came from his thin and trembling lips. The gash along his upper right forearm was bleeding freely, and the skin around the wound was growing heated from infection. As he struggled to bring in the dusty air, the prince could feel the acid doing it's work, not only on his throat, but on his stomach as well.

It was as if there was a war going on within him, and for the first time in all of his long years, Legolas experienced the feeling of queasiness. He didn't understand this type of pain, and though he fought hard against it, there was nothing he could do to prevent the feeling of wanting to gag. He could feel the beads of sweat forming and falling from his glazed forehead, and as he shook his head to rid himself of them, the sharp pain returned to his throat and caused him to black out.

"You know as well as I do, that I cannot just let him go," Ginyc replied, almost in a laugh, as Legolas' body fell to the stone floor, alerting all of his companions, and bringing them to yet another halt. Piong's eyes widened when he saw the terrible condition the royal was in, and more than anything, he just wanted to see if Legolas' was alright, and still breathing. "How is he? For the sake of the Valar, someone check him" Piong cried out, as Aleic and a now dismounted Ginyc shuffled the fallen elf's side.

"He's alive, but he needs some attention soon, or he will not be for much longer" Aleic informed the ranger standing beside him as he again rose and met the eyes of Ginyc who nodded and replied. "Then we will make haste for Plemith, he can be tended to there."

"We're keeping him alive?" Hirid asked as he still stayed mounted upon his steed, with a confused look of his battered face.

The three men all looked at one another as Piong remained silent and observed each of the men and listened carefully to the words they spoke. "Only until Jevinx joins us, and fulfills whatever plan he has for the imp," Ginyc started as he and Aleic pulled Legolas to his feet and began to drag him over to the side of the horse he was tied to. "However, if Jevinx doesn't join us soon, we shall have no choice but to do away with him ourselves. It's too risky keeping these two with us for long," Ginyc finished as the prince's body was laid over the back of the steed in front of him.

"There will be no more stops, do y'all hear? Not another rest until we reach Plemith. It's not safe in these parts anymore," Ginyc called out as his steed broke into a quick sprint, "especially with Strider running around."

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The three friends were growing tired, and had been keeping to a fast pace for quite some time now, however none would dare think about stopping, they were close, too close, and stopping now would only prove pointless and a waste of a great opportunity. "We're catching up, I can feel it" Aragorn proclaimed with a grin growing on his stressed out features. Elrohir paused, which caused his two companions to do the same along the narrow passage that overlooked a deep gorge in the cavernous tunnel.

"What is it?" Kip asked, knowing that if the elf sensed danger, that surely there was some near by. It took some time, but Elrohir finally gave the two men an answer, though not exactly one they had hoped for. "Either Estel is right, and we are catching up, or," he paused again, letting his keen senses do the work for him, "or they have turned back this way."

Kip felt a pang of anxiety overcome him, "now what?" he questioned almost in a panic, "we can't just let them find us here." Aragorn knew the ranger was right, they needed the element of surprise, and just standing here and waiting to be found would not give them that, they needed an advantage, but he could not think of anything, his mind was too full at the moment.

"Not they," Elrohir corrected as he tilted his slender head to the side subtly, "there is only one that approaches, on foot," he finished, as surprised as the two young men about this. "Then we can take him, right?" Kip suggested, but went ignored, as Aragorn continued to ponder, just as his elven brother came up with a little plan of his own.

"Estel," he spoke catching the man's attention, "do you remember the first time Elladan and I took you hunting, and we ended up stumbling into the camp of wild elves?"

A smile formed on Aragorn's face when he recalled the memory, and though he hated the plan the first time it entered his brother's head, he now understood the brilliance of it and gave Elrohir a nod in agreement, leaving their other companion in complete bewilderment. "What are you two talking about?" he asked, but was again ignored and cut off as Aragorn replied.

"Get out of sight," he ushered to the younger twin of Elrond, who returned the nod, and scrambled over the edge of the rocky cliff, and down onto a hollowed out lower shelf that gave him enough space to hide himself completely out of the two rangers' sight when they looked over.

"What exactly is he doing?" Kip asked, as he was increasingly getting annoyed with being out of the loop on this, but before Aragorn could give him an explanation the lone figure emerged in the distance, and gave the dunadan no choice but to act without fully explaining what was happening to his fellow ranger. "I'm sorry," he mouthed, as Kip's eyes narrowed on him, and the figure quickened his pace over to them. Aragorn's words were then followed by a hard punch to the side of Kip's cheek, sending the unprepared young man to the gravel covered ground with a yelp and a thud.

Before Kip could let out a shout in protest, Aragorn gave his side a quick kick, trying to be as gentle as possible but at the same time, trying to appear believable to the new set of eyes that watched carefully. Both men could feel themselves being studied, and even though Kip was yearning to fight back against the unexpected attack, he had a very good idea of what was being staged here, and tried his best to play along, even though Aragorn was making it very easy for him to not have to act at all.

"What's all this about?" Jevinx asked, causing Aragorn to pause somewhat, before sending another kick into the stomach of his friend who exaggerated a cry to follow it.

"Just finishing up some business here," Aragorn replied, not even bothering to make eye contact, but instead fell to one knee and gripped the young man' chin in his palm, as if mocking his victim, "aren't we?" he continued in teasing tone. "Well you rangers have got to learn not to mess around with stuff that doesn't involve you. If you did that, you wouldn't need to learn the hard way," he finished as he let Kip's head fall to the floor as he rose again to his feet.

"You have a problem with rangers?" Jevinx asked, still a little suspicious of the whole scenario set out before him. Aragorn finally turned and met eyes with the newcomer. "No," he answered, "not all of them, just this one."

As Jevinx approached them from behind, worry began to fill both the men's minds, and so to avoid further suspicious speculation, Aragorn went down to his knees again, to somewhat block Kip from the other man' view. "And who would this ranger, that you dislike so much be?" Jevinx asked again as he came to a halt a few inches south of Aragorn's back.

Unsure of how to continue, Aragorn gripped the collar of Kip's over tunic, and as gingerly possible pulled him to a sitting position, as he spoke gave the young ranger a pleading look for help. "Why don't you tell him your name, you piece of filth," he bated, immediately getting a response, but not one that he wished to have been given.

"Strider" Kip replied, causing Aragorn to narrow his eyes, and for Jevinx's to widen and bright up his.

"Strider?" Jevinx exclaimed, as Aragorn released his friend and rose once again to his feet and backed up so that he now stood beside the man who continued to speak. "This is the ranger, known as Strider?"

"Apparently," Aragorn answered, but went completely ignored by the man, who instantly took a few steps in Kip's direction, causing the anxiety to again grow in both their hearts. And as Jevinx fell to his knee beside the fallen ranger, Aragorn couldn't help but try to intervene, without sounding suspicious, or giving the whole thing away.

"I've been looking for you," Jevinx began, as he gave Kip a slight nudge to the cheek and a fake smile, " I was told you were on to me, but I had no idea you were this close. I'll give you credit, but I must say, it is not wise to get on my bad side, ranger. Or you will find yourself facing the same fate as your friend has."

The man's words struck a cord in Aragorn's mind, and instantly he wanted to tear the man apart for the trouble and pain he'd caused. It took all the strength he had to remain calm, but though he did not attack the man, Aragorn could not help but interrupt the conversation between Jevinx and Kip, who looked afraid for his life.

"You have a problem with this one too eh?" he began trying to draw the attention back to him, "small world."

"Yes I do" Jevinx replied, as he then gave Kip another punch to the face, a lot harder than the ones Aragorn had thrown, and caused the ranger's lip to split down the centre, and sending Aragorn into the defensives. "Hey now, this is my fight, not yours" he exclaimed, trying to put himself in between the two men, "I tracked him down, I should get to finish him off, not you."

"Back off" Jevinx shouted, as he drew the black dagger from it's sheath and held it out, keeping Aragorn at arms distance who instantaneously waved his arms in front of him, showing that he meant no harm, and trying to seem as innocent as possible. More than anything though, he wanted to lash out at the man before him, but a part of him stopped himself, and that was the part that knew that whoever this man was, he could lead him to Legolas, and that wasn't something he was willing to let go so easily.

Seeing the opportunity to try and fight back, Kip struggled to get to his feet, but was quickly noticed, and met with another blow to the side of his aching head, sending him back to the ground in a tremendous amount of pain. "Enjoy death" Jevinx spat, causing Aragorn to realize that this was about to get too out of hand, but before he could reach the other ranger's side, Kip's ribs were collided with the tip of Jevinx's boot, sending the young man over the side, and down into the gorge.

"No!" Aragorn shouted, as he pushed past a very confused Jevinx and over to the edge to see what had become of his friend. The bottom of the pit was too far down and the black air within it made it very unclear. If not for the slight image, of two legs being pulled into the side ledge, Aragorn probably would have killed the man who attacked the young ranger, but instead, just turned around, met Jevinx's eyes with his own, and them proceeded to meet his fist with the man's stomach, sending him to the floor.

About five or so feet below, Kip was about to let out a groan, of both frustration and pain, but he was quickly halted by the hand of Elrohir, who covered his lips, and prevented any noise from escaping. "Be quiet" he whispered, as he positioned himself on the edge, trying to hear whatever he could that might help him know the standing of his human sibling with their new companion. Kip held in the cries, and instead cradled his bruised and battered abdomen in his arms tightly, as he rocked himself lightly trying to dull out the agony and immense amount of terror that he had just been through.

"What's the matter with you?" Jevinx shouted back at the man who hit him so violently, as he crawled back to his feet, and met Aragorn's angry eyes once again, this time with his own rage ablaze. "Do you have any idea how much coin that man had on him?" Aragorn rebutted, trying his hardest to sound believable, and it seemed as if it were working, because the livid expression on Jevinx's face faded, and was replaced with a smirk which then erupted into laughter.

"That's what you're worried about my friend?" the man laughed, causing Aragorn's eyes to darken again. "Do not call me your friend, especially after what you just wasted for me" Aragorn shot back, knowing that he had this man right where he wanted him.

It was Jevinx's turn to wave him down this time, and he immediately responded, "hey, if it's money you want, that I can repay. With a job that is."

"You're offering me a job?" Aragorn questioned as he tried to hide the smile that threatened to show itself. Jevinx nodded, "you have a hell of a right hook there, and a temper is what I look for in employees. Besides, you just helped me in more ways than I can begin to say. The job's yours if you want it," he finished holding out his left hand, waiting for the young man to take it.

"I don't know if I can trust you" Aragorn spoke as he extended his hand but did not meet the one of Jevinx quite yet.

"Not to worry, I don't trust you much either," Jevinx responded with a laugh that was met by a matching one from the foster son of Lord Elrond. "Now that's a great base for a partnership, I don't even know your name" Aragorn said as he still strayed from accepting the hand offered to him.

"Jevinx, son of Halrinx" the man answered, causing severe hatred to fill Aragorn's blood once again, when he recognized the name as the one that had been carved into the chest of the elf whose body had been found the day before. Aragorn's assumptions that this man knew of Legolas' whereabouts were now confirmed, and though he detested making any contact with the man, Aragorn finally shook Jevinx's hand and replied to his words.

"People call me Mardin" Aragorn lied, as the two pulled their hands away, and though for a second it seemed that the man didn't buy it, Jevinx eventually nodded and gave another crooked smile. "Well, Mardin," he began, as he turned back in the direction he had just came from, "have you ever been to Plemith?"

After a few minutes, Kip was finally allowed to speak again, and it was very clear to Elrohir, that the young ranger was not at all pleased with what had just occurred. "If Jevinx doesn't kill him, I will" he promised through clenched teeth, as he used the stone wall to get back on his feet.

"Well, in that case, I'm rooting for you," Elrohir replied almost laughing at the man's anger, which reminded him of the way Aragorn had reacted when the same thing had been done to him all those years ago. "But come now," he started again, "we have to follow them, Estel is in far over his head this time, and I just hope that he doesn't do anything without thinking it through very, very thoroughly."

This time it was Kip who had to hold back a grin, and as he then stumbled after the elf, back up to the ground level he couldn't help but whisper a response.

"Too late for that."

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To Be Continued………

It took me a bit longer than I though to add this chapter, but I was having a hard time getting it to upload. I hope it was worth the wait though, and please, like always, I'd really like to hear your opinions on this chapter. As for the next one, it should be up soon, and for all you Legolas lovers, you'll get to see a lot more of him in the next chapter, so until then, have fun on your vacations, and I hope to hear from you soon. Adios.