DISCLAIMER- Not mine! Enough said!
Yup, I'm back! I apologise for lack of updates on my part, but I had 2 computer viruses, then it was my birthday, then it was back to school, and then there was LOADS of homework... in fact, I'm only managing this because I have an eye infection today and couldn't get to school! =S
Review replies at the END of this chapter; makes life easier!
~*~*~*~
Elladan opened the heavy wooden stable door. It creaked at the joints, crying out for a good rub down with oil.
"Sssh! Someone will hear you!" hissed Elrohir, following his twin into the darkened room.
They crept side by side until they reached their horses, Swiftfoot and Windshadow. Both were twin horses, born to the same mare, and so were regarded as perfect foals for the Lord of Imladris' boys. They were coal black, shining manes rippling down their necks like running water, shining toned bodies that moved in unison as they rode across the plains.
"We'll use the horses to find Estel and Legolas," said Elladan. "We can cover a lot more ground that way."
The young Elves hoisted themselves up atop their steeds, then, as silently as possible save for the steady clopping of neatly-shoed hooves, they passed through the stable door and away into the trees around Rivendell...
~*~*~*~
Aragorn woke blearily to find himself alone in a strange place he did not know. He was lying on a hard bed, staring up at the ceiling. The pillow was thin and cold, the room in which he was, dark and ominous. Light shone through a small crack underneath the doorframe, and whispers of voices, the ghosts of a barely audible conversation filtering through the door.
The boy swung his legs from the bed, standing wobbly on his feet. His head swam, an effect, he thought, of lying down for too long. His vision swam before him, the dreary bleak colours of the walls swimming into each other, the dusty timber floor rising and falling.
He staggered over to the door and pressed his ear against it, trying to make some sense of the incoherent mumbles that drifted outside.
"I am your only friend..." hissed an unnaturally seductive-sounding voice. Estel recognised that voice.
That voice had been their saviour, or so he had thought. That voice had healed his best friend in the entire world. But that voice was stunningly treacherous now, laced with the poison of malcontent, whispering untrue evils that confused a vulnerable mind.
Aragorn stopped. A vulnerable mind...
"Legolas!" he gasped.
He grasped the door knob with sweaty hands, fumbling with the circular golden object. He shook it hard, but to his dismay found that it was locked from the outside.
"Legolas!" he screamed through the wood. He prayed to Elbereth that his friend would hear him...
~*~*~*~
Hungry eyes leered into his face.
"You were born thirteen years ago. Your cursed father left your poor mother before you were born, and she died in childbirth." Marethiel paused, watching the reaction on the Elf's face.
"I saved you," she whispered. "I took you in and brought you up. You are mine. That Estel boy is ill news. We must get rid of him, quickly, lest he should throttle you and I in our sleep."
Legolas could not tear his gaze away from those deep dark eyes, eyes that held a glittering blackness that entered into his mind and could not be erased.
"Do you see that on the table?" she asked him.
He glanced over to see a beautifully crafted bow on its surface. Lying next to it was a quiver, a carved language that he felt he somehow recognised around the lip of it.
"Do you know what it is? Is it yours?"
He stared long and hard. He could feel barely a snatch of a distant memory stir within him; a sparkle of the past fleeting away in his mind. It took no form though, and disappeared from his heart completely.
"No," he sighed. "I do not think it is mine."
Marethiel's face held a sympathetic look. "Oh. That is good. It is that hateful boy's. He would have struck you down with it before you could have blinked."
Legolas' mind reeled. That Estel child had never seemed aggressive in a way. True, he had shouted much, but he didn't seem to want to hurt him!
"You did not fall Dertrúor," she told him, holding his hands and turning him away from the sight that had captivated him on the table. "He pushed you. He wanted you dead. He is anything but your friend."
Legolas suddenly felt comforted. This woman had helped him. Saved him. She was his friend.
"Legolas!" cried a dull voice. His head whipped round to an old oak door set in a slightly worn doorframe. Marethiel looked shocked.
"How?!" she gasped aloud. Her glance returned to Legolas. "Hide! He is calling for you! If you go to him, it shall be your last action. I shall take care of him now..."
The Elf darted under the table, and watched in silence as the bent and now frail-looking woman snatched up a set of brass keys and fitted them to the lock, a dark purple bottle gripped tightly in her withered hand...
~*~*~*~
So... opinions? I'd be glad of them!
MoroTheWolfGod- Did you like that chapter?
leggylover03- Yes, I'm turning Leggy against Estel! I hope you had patience enough to wait for this chapter! ^_^
Lady Jaina- Oops... I let him get brainwashed. Don't hurt me! =S
Boromir- Thank you!
Irish QT- Ah, my devoted reader! Funnily enough, that 'music in the background'? In my mind, the Darth Vader theme was playing in my head... maybe that lets you have some insight into the insanity that is Star- Stallion's world... Dun dun daaaaa!
Tap Dancing Widow- Just a little sooner, yes. But we can't spend all of our lives going "What if-", huh? Otherwise it would be v. boring and predictable... unlike many of my fanfics!
RougeElf- Thank you! Yes, your ending would have been quicker... but not as much fun to write as turning friend on friend! *Mwuhahahahaha!!!*
Kawaii Elf Girl- Yes, he needs cookies! And I've promised you that you can blow up all my evil baddies (Marethiel, Saurar, everyone else you may not like apart from the Canon characters,) AFTER the fic is over!!! I'll put a little target on each of them... ^_^
Stephanie-Lou- Something! Oh, Marethiel is quaking in her boots!
Jo- Yes, but now it is A Tale of Hope and The Darkened Mind... he he he... =D Yeah, we'll still do the series. ^_^
Gilrean3- Yeah, I just made it up on the spot. I think it's kinda cool!
elfmage- Yay!!! POWER TO THE SADISTS!!! KEEP THE SADIST CODE!!! ^_^
See y'all soon!
Yup, I'm back! I apologise for lack of updates on my part, but I had 2 computer viruses, then it was my birthday, then it was back to school, and then there was LOADS of homework... in fact, I'm only managing this because I have an eye infection today and couldn't get to school! =S
Review replies at the END of this chapter; makes life easier!
~*~*~*~
Elladan opened the heavy wooden stable door. It creaked at the joints, crying out for a good rub down with oil.
"Sssh! Someone will hear you!" hissed Elrohir, following his twin into the darkened room.
They crept side by side until they reached their horses, Swiftfoot and Windshadow. Both were twin horses, born to the same mare, and so were regarded as perfect foals for the Lord of Imladris' boys. They were coal black, shining manes rippling down their necks like running water, shining toned bodies that moved in unison as they rode across the plains.
"We'll use the horses to find Estel and Legolas," said Elladan. "We can cover a lot more ground that way."
The young Elves hoisted themselves up atop their steeds, then, as silently as possible save for the steady clopping of neatly-shoed hooves, they passed through the stable door and away into the trees around Rivendell...
~*~*~*~
Aragorn woke blearily to find himself alone in a strange place he did not know. He was lying on a hard bed, staring up at the ceiling. The pillow was thin and cold, the room in which he was, dark and ominous. Light shone through a small crack underneath the doorframe, and whispers of voices, the ghosts of a barely audible conversation filtering through the door.
The boy swung his legs from the bed, standing wobbly on his feet. His head swam, an effect, he thought, of lying down for too long. His vision swam before him, the dreary bleak colours of the walls swimming into each other, the dusty timber floor rising and falling.
He staggered over to the door and pressed his ear against it, trying to make some sense of the incoherent mumbles that drifted outside.
"I am your only friend..." hissed an unnaturally seductive-sounding voice. Estel recognised that voice.
That voice had been their saviour, or so he had thought. That voice had healed his best friend in the entire world. But that voice was stunningly treacherous now, laced with the poison of malcontent, whispering untrue evils that confused a vulnerable mind.
Aragorn stopped. A vulnerable mind...
"Legolas!" he gasped.
He grasped the door knob with sweaty hands, fumbling with the circular golden object. He shook it hard, but to his dismay found that it was locked from the outside.
"Legolas!" he screamed through the wood. He prayed to Elbereth that his friend would hear him...
~*~*~*~
Hungry eyes leered into his face.
"You were born thirteen years ago. Your cursed father left your poor mother before you were born, and she died in childbirth." Marethiel paused, watching the reaction on the Elf's face.
"I saved you," she whispered. "I took you in and brought you up. You are mine. That Estel boy is ill news. We must get rid of him, quickly, lest he should throttle you and I in our sleep."
Legolas could not tear his gaze away from those deep dark eyes, eyes that held a glittering blackness that entered into his mind and could not be erased.
"Do you see that on the table?" she asked him.
He glanced over to see a beautifully crafted bow on its surface. Lying next to it was a quiver, a carved language that he felt he somehow recognised around the lip of it.
"Do you know what it is? Is it yours?"
He stared long and hard. He could feel barely a snatch of a distant memory stir within him; a sparkle of the past fleeting away in his mind. It took no form though, and disappeared from his heart completely.
"No," he sighed. "I do not think it is mine."
Marethiel's face held a sympathetic look. "Oh. That is good. It is that hateful boy's. He would have struck you down with it before you could have blinked."
Legolas' mind reeled. That Estel child had never seemed aggressive in a way. True, he had shouted much, but he didn't seem to want to hurt him!
"You did not fall Dertrúor," she told him, holding his hands and turning him away from the sight that had captivated him on the table. "He pushed you. He wanted you dead. He is anything but your friend."
Legolas suddenly felt comforted. This woman had helped him. Saved him. She was his friend.
"Legolas!" cried a dull voice. His head whipped round to an old oak door set in a slightly worn doorframe. Marethiel looked shocked.
"How?!" she gasped aloud. Her glance returned to Legolas. "Hide! He is calling for you! If you go to him, it shall be your last action. I shall take care of him now..."
The Elf darted under the table, and watched in silence as the bent and now frail-looking woman snatched up a set of brass keys and fitted them to the lock, a dark purple bottle gripped tightly in her withered hand...
~*~*~*~
So... opinions? I'd be glad of them!
MoroTheWolfGod- Did you like that chapter?
leggylover03- Yes, I'm turning Leggy against Estel! I hope you had patience enough to wait for this chapter! ^_^
Lady Jaina- Oops... I let him get brainwashed. Don't hurt me! =S
Boromir- Thank you!
Irish QT- Ah, my devoted reader! Funnily enough, that 'music in the background'? In my mind, the Darth Vader theme was playing in my head... maybe that lets you have some insight into the insanity that is Star- Stallion's world... Dun dun daaaaa!
Tap Dancing Widow- Just a little sooner, yes. But we can't spend all of our lives going "What if-", huh? Otherwise it would be v. boring and predictable... unlike many of my fanfics!
RougeElf- Thank you! Yes, your ending would have been quicker... but not as much fun to write as turning friend on friend! *Mwuhahahahaha!!!*
Kawaii Elf Girl- Yes, he needs cookies! And I've promised you that you can blow up all my evil baddies (Marethiel, Saurar, everyone else you may not like apart from the Canon characters,) AFTER the fic is over!!! I'll put a little target on each of them... ^_^
Stephanie-Lou- Something! Oh, Marethiel is quaking in her boots!
Jo- Yes, but now it is A Tale of Hope and The Darkened Mind... he he he... =D Yeah, we'll still do the series. ^_^
Gilrean3- Yeah, I just made it up on the spot. I think it's kinda cool!
elfmage- Yay!!! POWER TO THE SADISTS!!! KEEP THE SADIST CODE!!! ^_^
See y'all soon!