You guys are the best - Thanks for the reviews and sorry about the delays
in updating. My biology gives us crazy amounts of homework...
But anyway, here's a new chapter, read and review please!
Legolas fought now, against bonds that Eruheru tied with a smile. His wrists burned from the struggle, and blood now ran from them, staining his already-dirty tunic.
"You will not have her! By the gods, you shall not harm her!" Legolas yelled. The renewed, fiery strength was ebbing quickly, but Legolas did not dare show fatigue.
Eruheru turned to him with a smirk. "I may have liked you better as a stoic, my prince, but this emotion makes the next step all the more enjoyable."
"You monster!' Legolas said, teeth clenched. "You abomination!"
"Watch your fiery tongue, lad." Eruheru said.
Legolas could not stand this much longer - the pain, the endless shouting, to no avail. Eruheru stood, waiting, waiting, for what? Legolas felt a sob in his throat. It surprised him, how much he was now willing to trade just to walk under his trees... he fought against his own weakness, he was a warrior, and a warrior must be strong...
But he remembered an afternoon in the forest...
Two figures stood together, silhouetted against green forest. The slender forms were in this magical world, and leaves drifted down to the sun-dappled ground as minutes and a lifetime slipped away...
... for good-byes are too short...
"I love you, Sarie. It pains me to leave you." Legolas said, and tears trailed down his pale cheeks. He was ashamed of this and wiped them angrily away.
"Why do you try to hide your tears, Legolas?" Sarie said, looking deep within his blue eyes.
"Warriors - " He began, but was cut off.
" -- must be strong. I know. But have you realized, my prince, that strength does not lie only in putting on a mask and hiding what you feel. Strength is found in our emotions as well. The best warrior knows when he must let go, when it is all right to cry." Sarie said, gently kissing away a tear.
Legolas thought about her words. It hurt so much, he was leaving, and saying good bye was the hardest thing he had ever done. He embraced her tightly and cried into her hair.
Sarie knew then how much he loved her.
And Legolas was ready... to let go...
Legolas's thoughts returned to the present. Eruheru was looking at his in a curious way. Amusement played on the torturer's lips, but his eyes help a note of confusion.
Legolas felt wetness on his cheeks, and realized that he had unwillingly begun to weep. Silent sobs trembled through his thin, bruised body as he felt desolation more complete than ever before. When he had cried, he felt small, weak, but nonetheless better.
Through cracks in the hateful stone, weak sunlight forced its way in. Legolas felt an equally weak optimism... the sun still shines, pants grow, love is found and lost, Legolas thought. All this is still happening, all this, still...
"You are weaker," Eruheru said in a whisper. The whisper was not the comforting whisper of a shared secret, but the chilling brush of death's fingers against Legolas's soul.
"I am not weaker." Legolas replied.
'This is what all say." Eruheru lowered his gaze. "I believe it has come time to start the second stage. Save your tears, boy, you will need them."
Suddenly the door was thrown open. In came another elf warrior, holding a dirty elf-maiden in a shapeless brown dress. She struggled weakly, then looked up. Legolas realized with horror he knew who this was.
"No!" Legolas struggled harder than ever. The second elf warrior left swiftly, leaving Sarie kneeling on the hard ground. Eruheru crossed the room in two long strides and pulled her roughly to her feet. He pulled out a knife and traced it softly against her cheek, a cheek Legolas had kissed, that had once held color... A thin line of blood... and another...
Sarie's tears mingled with her blood... her magnificent blue eyes... had lost their life.
Legolas shouted, threatened, cursed. He was unconsciously stopping now, in hopelessness.
He found the strength to say, forcefully, one last time, "Take my life instead. Let her live."
Eruheru stopped suddenly and let go of Sarie, who dropped weakly to the ground. "Do you mean that, prince? Or will you, like many before, be valiant until death turns his gaze to you, then betray all you think you live for? It is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, your life is very valuable, is it not? Wouldn't you love to hear the birds sing and feel the sun's touch? Are you ready to die?"
" I will die for the maiden I love. I will die for my people. I would rather die a long, tortured death a million times over, than to escape it and live with the brand of traitor." Legolas stood tall and fair, and never had he looked more like the prince he was.
"I am ready," Legolas whispered inaudibly, and, whispering a prayer, was led to the darkness where many heroes of old ... had fallen.....
But anyway, here's a new chapter, read and review please!
Legolas fought now, against bonds that Eruheru tied with a smile. His wrists burned from the struggle, and blood now ran from them, staining his already-dirty tunic.
"You will not have her! By the gods, you shall not harm her!" Legolas yelled. The renewed, fiery strength was ebbing quickly, but Legolas did not dare show fatigue.
Eruheru turned to him with a smirk. "I may have liked you better as a stoic, my prince, but this emotion makes the next step all the more enjoyable."
"You monster!' Legolas said, teeth clenched. "You abomination!"
"Watch your fiery tongue, lad." Eruheru said.
Legolas could not stand this much longer - the pain, the endless shouting, to no avail. Eruheru stood, waiting, waiting, for what? Legolas felt a sob in his throat. It surprised him, how much he was now willing to trade just to walk under his trees... he fought against his own weakness, he was a warrior, and a warrior must be strong...
But he remembered an afternoon in the forest...
Two figures stood together, silhouetted against green forest. The slender forms were in this magical world, and leaves drifted down to the sun-dappled ground as minutes and a lifetime slipped away...
... for good-byes are too short...
"I love you, Sarie. It pains me to leave you." Legolas said, and tears trailed down his pale cheeks. He was ashamed of this and wiped them angrily away.
"Why do you try to hide your tears, Legolas?" Sarie said, looking deep within his blue eyes.
"Warriors - " He began, but was cut off.
" -- must be strong. I know. But have you realized, my prince, that strength does not lie only in putting on a mask and hiding what you feel. Strength is found in our emotions as well. The best warrior knows when he must let go, when it is all right to cry." Sarie said, gently kissing away a tear.
Legolas thought about her words. It hurt so much, he was leaving, and saying good bye was the hardest thing he had ever done. He embraced her tightly and cried into her hair.
Sarie knew then how much he loved her.
And Legolas was ready... to let go...
Legolas's thoughts returned to the present. Eruheru was looking at his in a curious way. Amusement played on the torturer's lips, but his eyes help a note of confusion.
Legolas felt wetness on his cheeks, and realized that he had unwillingly begun to weep. Silent sobs trembled through his thin, bruised body as he felt desolation more complete than ever before. When he had cried, he felt small, weak, but nonetheless better.
Through cracks in the hateful stone, weak sunlight forced its way in. Legolas felt an equally weak optimism... the sun still shines, pants grow, love is found and lost, Legolas thought. All this is still happening, all this, still...
"You are weaker," Eruheru said in a whisper. The whisper was not the comforting whisper of a shared secret, but the chilling brush of death's fingers against Legolas's soul.
"I am not weaker." Legolas replied.
'This is what all say." Eruheru lowered his gaze. "I believe it has come time to start the second stage. Save your tears, boy, you will need them."
Suddenly the door was thrown open. In came another elf warrior, holding a dirty elf-maiden in a shapeless brown dress. She struggled weakly, then looked up. Legolas realized with horror he knew who this was.
"No!" Legolas struggled harder than ever. The second elf warrior left swiftly, leaving Sarie kneeling on the hard ground. Eruheru crossed the room in two long strides and pulled her roughly to her feet. He pulled out a knife and traced it softly against her cheek, a cheek Legolas had kissed, that had once held color... A thin line of blood... and another...
Sarie's tears mingled with her blood... her magnificent blue eyes... had lost their life.
Legolas shouted, threatened, cursed. He was unconsciously stopping now, in hopelessness.
He found the strength to say, forcefully, one last time, "Take my life instead. Let her live."
Eruheru stopped suddenly and let go of Sarie, who dropped weakly to the ground. "Do you mean that, prince? Or will you, like many before, be valiant until death turns his gaze to you, then betray all you think you live for? It is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, your life is very valuable, is it not? Wouldn't you love to hear the birds sing and feel the sun's touch? Are you ready to die?"
" I will die for the maiden I love. I will die for my people. I would rather die a long, tortured death a million times over, than to escape it and live with the brand of traitor." Legolas stood tall and fair, and never had he looked more like the prince he was.
"I am ready," Legolas whispered inaudibly, and, whispering a prayer, was led to the darkness where many heroes of old ... had fallen.....