Mire
By: Cheryl W.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Lord of the Rings or anything in conjunction with The Lord of the Rings nor am I making a profit from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Replies to Reviews are at the bottom of this story.
Now back to our story ...(I love saying that!)
*********************************8
Chapter 2
At the sight of the blood seeping from his brother's wound, Elladan cursed, "Oh Eru!" Immediately Elladan dropped down to kneel before Aragorn and began to untie the makeshift bandage.
"Stop, Elladan. It's fine until we reach home," Aragorn protested as he tried to step back from his brother's ministrations only to run into Legolas who stood behind him, blocking off that escape.
Aragorn's actions did not even delay Elladan, for an instant later the injury was revealed. Scowling at the bloody wound, Elladan snatched the knife that still dangled, forgotten from Legolas's hand. Without warning, he cut a slit in Aragorn's pant leg to better view the injury.
"You owe me new clothing!" Aragorn protested, appalled at the abuse his attire was suffering.
But any further protest died in Aragorn's throat as his big brother's angry eyes shot up to meet his. "You will be blessed if you do not need a new leg!" Elladan bit out, his worry morphing into fury. "Why did you keep this hidden from us?! What prideful, foolish, suicidal thought made you remain silent?!"
Anger surged through Aragorn, his voice was deadly and quiet as his eyes bore into Elladan's. "Do not mistake me for the boy I once was. I make my own way in this world. I need no "protectors" or "advisors"."
Elrohir, who had stood silently behind the kneeling Elladan, lifted his eyes from Aragorn's bleeding thigh to his human brother's face. "And what of brothers?" he challenged before nodding to Legolas, "Of friends? Do you also have no need for them?"
Sensing Elrohir's trap, Aragorn did not answer but stated, "I do not need to be coddled. I can take care of myself."
But an instant later, Aragorn cried out in agony and started to crumble to the ground. Swiftly, Legolas wrapped his arm around his friend's waist and held him securely against his chest.
Elladan released his painful grip on Aragorn's wound and stood to be toe to toe with his youngest brother. "Your body begs to differ with you, ranger." The bite of his words not lost on any of the group.
A dark look covered Aragorn's features. "It is so easy for you to stand there and judge me and my human frailty." He struggled to pull from Legolas' grasp and when Legolas didn't release his hold, Aragorn's eyes met Legolas's with a challenge. Reluctantly, Legolas released his supportive hold on his friend.
Elladan was shocked at Aragorn's words and was going to refute them but Aragorn never gave him the chance.
"You do not know the burden of mortality," Aragorn stated, daring any of the immortals to deny it.
Legolas now stood in front of his best friend and broke his long held silence, "But we know your worth to us." His eyes darkened with anger, "I had foolishly thought that your time among men would have made you realize the tenuous grip mortals have on life... that you have. And I believed that knowledge would make you safe guard your own life...as I would safe guard it. Today you have proven that you still value your life but a little. Or maybe you falsely believe your grasp on life is more tenacious than the rest of your mortal brethren?"
Aragorn's jaw clenched in fury and it was a moment before he could manage speech. At first his words bitter and quiet, "Nay, I have been taught well the frailty and the fate of all men, Legolas." Then a strange light sprang to his eyes and his tone turned both mocking and full of awe. "I wonder that you bothered to befriend a mortal. It would have faired you better to take me on as a pet, knowing, as you do, that my presence in your life will be brief and not long remembered by you after I have died."
With barely leashed fury, Legolas seized onto Aragorn's coat lapels and yanked the human in front of him. "Why do you speak to me like this?! With these lies?!"
But Aragorn calmly met his elven friend's furious gaze, "But they are not lies. Five hundred years from now, I will be long died and you will keep but the memory of me. In two thousand years, I will be just a faint recollection of a time when you thought it would be a novel concept to have a human friend. In ten thousand years, you will not even remember I existed. Maybe it is the truth of my words that angers you, my friend."
Elladan and Elrohir stood stunned, having never before witnessed a harsh word between the best friends who seemed closer to being brothers. Before, it seemed as if Legolas was holding back his anger from turning physical, but now at their little brother's words, they watched as agonizing grief stole over Legolas's very soul. A grief that gripped both twins just as firmly.
For a time Legolas said nothing but stared into his best friend's steady gaze. Then with sorrow, he released his grip on Aragorn's coat and let his hands drop listlessly to his sides.
Aragorn's breath caught as he watched tears well up in his friend's eyes and gracefully streaked down his beautiful elven face. Aragorn opened his mouth to try and undo the harm he had inflicted but before he could even decide what to say, Legolas turned from him and walked into the woods.
Looking to his brothers for support, Aragorn cursed himself as he saw that tears also tracked down their cheeks. "Would you have the lie remain between us?!" he painfully rebuked, his voice soft with anguish. "You are elves, I am a man. I am not your equal!"
Elrohir sadly implored as his eyes met his human brother's, "Sweet Eru, Estel! You are Legolas's friend and our brother! Not our competition!!! We, none of us, care what blood flows through your veins...we never have and we never will."
Before Aragorn could refute that, Elladan stepped before him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Enough. I must tend to your wound so we can be on our way. Now, sit," he ordered as he guided a protesting Aragorn to a log and forced him to take a seat upon it.
"I told you, I can tend to it at home," Aragorn argued but Elladan paid him no heed as he knelt before him.
With no prompting, Elrohir had ripped away a piece of his shirt, wetted it with water from his bottle and handed the wet strip of cloth to Elladan. Immediately, Elladan began to try and cleanse the wound.
Stiffening in agony at his brother's, albeit gentle, ministrations, Aragorn clamped his jaw shut, unwilling to let a cry of weakness escape. But a moment later a searing pain shot up Aragorn's leg. He cried out in pain and jerked away from his brother's touch. Holding up a hand to ward off anymore "assistance", Aragorn tried to conquer the pain that still seared along his nerves.
Squatting down beside Elladan, Elrohir, with concern as he witnessed the agony Estel felt, demanded of his older brother, "His wound is bad, is it not?!"
Tearing his concerned look from Estel, Elladan met his elven brother's worried look, "The wood splintered into the wound and the wound itself is deep."
Legolas, having heard his best friend's cry of agony, had sprinted back towards Aragorn. However, he did not rejoin his three companions but watched them from his spot in the forest. He heard Elladan's description of the wound and he shut his eyes in anguish and worry.
"I can do nothing out here but rewrap it to stop the bleeding," Elladan announced and Legolas watched as the elf, using Aragorn's original bandage, began to wind the fabric of the shirt around the wound.
Having managed his agony, Aragorn allowed his brother's ministration but growled, "I had it wrapped, Elladan."
With his head down, tying the bandage and securing it in place, Elladan breathed with pain, "I am sorry, Estel." His task done, he raised his eyes to Aragorn's. "I am sorry that our concern, our love for you is so unwelcome."
Aragorn clenched his jaw in anger and anguish. Without another word Elladan stood up and walked a few steps up the trail, his back to his brothers.
Elrohir tracked his brother's movements before refocusing on Estel, who was pushing himself to his feet. Immediately Elrohir wrapped his arm around Estel's waist to aid him.
Aragorn shot a look of displeasure at Elrohir. "I am not so weak, though human I may be. I can walk unaided." And he pulled from Elrohir's grasp.
"Oh for Valar sake!" Elladan yelled as he stalked back to stand before Aragorn. "Estel! No matter what race you claim as your own, elf, man or dwarf, the wound is bad!"
"I have had much worse and survived it on my own!" Aragorn shouted back, and Elladan and Elrohir recognized the ring of truth of his words. Grief swept through the elven brothers' hearts. They had not been there to protect their youngest brother from harm, nor even there to tend to his injuries these past five years.
Seeing his brothers' reactions were further anguish, Aragorn shook his head in defeat. He would never be his brothers' equal. With surprise, he saw Legolas step from the woods behind his brothers and approach the threesome.
Legolas could bear no more. No more words, no more anguish and no more delays in seeing his friend's wound properly tended to. Determinedly he stepped between Elladan and Elrohir, strode to Aragorn and with a graceful unforeseen motion, swept the human over his shoulders and began to walk to Rivendell.
"Put me down!" Aragorn demanded, struggling to dislodge himself from Legolas's shoulders. But the elf's strength easily overrode Aragorn's, keeping the human firmly in place as if his attempts were but that of a child's.
"Be still, Aragorn," Legolas ordered, tightening his grip on his friend's arm and uninjured leg. "I am not putting you down so save your strength."
Elladan and Elrohir trailed behind Legolas, relief and even humor entering their eyes as they watched their very unwilling brother being carried to Rivendell by his best friend. Leave it to Legolas to forego talk and take action when it came to their little brother's well being.
Draped over Legolas's shoulders like the very stag he had sought, Aragorn fumed in angry humiliation. Again he tried to pull his arm and leg free from Legolas' steely grip but it was hopeless. He could not match the elf's strength. "I am not a child, Legolas! I will not be carried like one!" he growled in the elf's ear.
Legolas, for the first time since scooping up his burden, looked to Aragorn. "I know you are no child, Aragorn. But you are injured..." at Aragorn's look of protest, Legolas continued, "nay, do not deny what we all know. I will not allow you to walk on that leg and cause further pain and injury to yourself because of your misplaced pride."
"Pride?!" Aragorn scoffed. "Dangling over you shoulder like a stag, I have no pride left!"
Legolas could not hold back his smirk at his friend's allegory. And he could hear the snickers of Elladan and Elrohir behind him.
"Tell them not to laugh at me!" Aragorn threatened and Legolas knew to whom he indicated.
Spinning on his heels, Legolas faced the twins and said to Aragorn, "Tell them yourself, if you think it will do any good."
Raising his head as far as he could within Legolas' grasp, Aragorn seared his hardened gaze into his brothers. "The next elf that laughs will be the prey I seek on my next hunt."
For their part, the twins tried in earnest to wipe the smiles from their faces but could not hide the mirth that still lingered in their eyes. Being ever grateful for this small moment of levity in the situation.
Before Aragorn could offer up another threat, Legolas had turned around and again maneuvered through the trail to Rivendell.
For long moments, Aragorn remained silent and still, however Legolas knew it was but a lull in the storm. The protest came again although this time the tone held logic instead of anger.
"You can put me down, Legolas. I can walk," Aragorn calmly entreated.
"No," was Legolas' short, firm reply.
"You know how my brothers exaggerate any injury of mine. It truly is not serious." Aragorn watched his friend's face remain impassive and suddenly his frustration returned. How was he to speak of his strength when he hung about his friend's neck like a broken toy. "I could walk with your aid," he relented, earning him a smirk from the prince.
"No, Aragorn," Legolas replied with a laugh.
With a sigh, Aragorn accepted his fate. "Alright but when we reach Rivendell I must be able to walk."
Legolas shook his head, "You act as if you are in control. You are not, my friend."
"Please, Legolas," Aragorn solemnly requested, earning him a sharp look from his friend. Their eyes held as Aragorn implored, "Can you not leave me with some dignity? I have struggled to be respected as an adult..as a human, will you ruin that for me?"
Tearing his look from his friend's pained features, Legolas focused on the trail. After a moment he silently relented, "Alright, I will help you walk into Rivendell."
"Promise?" Aragorn asked.
"Yes," and Legolas met his friend's silver gaze, "I promise, Aragorn."
Before long, the graceful motion of the elf's gait lured Aragorn into sleep. Sensing their brother's state, Elladan and Elrohir came to flank Legolas, each quietly studying Estel with concern.
"He rests only," Legolas answered the unspoken question so softly that only their elven ears allowed them to hear it. With relief, the twins both sighed, their identical antics earning them a smirk from Legolas.
"I can carry him, Legolas," Elladan offered just as softly, his look imploring.
But Legolas unconsciously tightened his hold on his best friend. "He is no burden to me."
Knowing the words to be a gentle but firm refusal, Elladan pressed, "It is another hour's walk home."
Meeting Aragorn's oldest brother's eyes, Legolas made his decision inflexible, "I will carry him to Rivendell, Elladan."
Letting his own guilt distort his reason, Elrohir saw Legolas' refusal as a judgment. "You blame us for Estel's injury," which was more an anguished statement than a question. Elladan swung his look from Elrohir's face to Legolas', now with the same question for the prince.
"No, I do not," Legolas scoffed but he faced neither twin.
"Yes, you do and you are not wrong," Elladan replied sadly. "I should have realized we neared the mire and kept Estel from that cursed trap."
"No, I forgot about the mire and I told Estel to go that way," Elrohir disputed.
"Enough," Legolas ordered his voice stern though not above a whisper, ever mindful of the sleeping man he carried. He shot a look to each twin, "There is no fault, no blame. Some injuries happen without cause or warning. All that matters now is seeing that Aragorn is healed."
A denial and an encompassing worry seemed to seep from both twins but they nodded with agreement to Legolas's words and the elves again traveled in silence.
With increasing worry, Legolas felt the growing heat emanating from Aragorn. A fever was latching onto the injured human. But the prince said nothing of this fact to Aragorn's two brothers. They could do nothing to help their brother, just as Legolas himself could do nothing but press onto Rivendell.
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TBC
And as always..I'ld love to hear what you think!
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Gemstone: Thank you for being the first one to review my story! It's that first review that sets the tone and I appreciate your kind words! And yes, I too love when the twins go all "big brother" on Estel. It's so cute!
Sarah: Thank you for your kind review! And I'm all about warm fuzzy feelings 'cause I love the chance to go "how sweet!".
Star-Stallion: Thank you for your praise. I'm so glad you think I'm being true to the characters. I really struggle hard with that.
Bill the Pony2: I'm overwhelmed that you are considering putting this on your favorite list!! I'll try hard to earn your loyalty.
Lina Skye: Thank you for your review! And I'm glad you are appreciating Aragorn's clumsiness (I think that's sexy too!!!).
Artaniel: Thank you for your praise! And I too LOVE when the character's I love get injured (hence why I write such injury laden stories!) My family has practically paid me NOT to put them in one of my stories (I think they fear for their very lives!).
Grumpy: Thanks for your encouragement! And I too have become very attracted to Aragorn's coat...or is it just him in the coat?!
Daniela: I really appreciate your email! (Also thanks for your very kind words about my other story "Destiny" I'll try to work on the second chapter for that story.)
Cassia: A huge thank you for letting me reference your wonderful Mellon stories and for your encouragement!
Ymmas Sirron: Thank you for the compliment! And, because I didn't want to be gutted like a fish, here's the next chapter like you ordered ..I mean pleaded?!.
Leggy-stinks: Thanks for your review! And I would pity Aragorn if I wasn't so busy hurting him.
Websterans: Thank you for your encouragement! I hope you like this chapter.
Athelassa: Thanks for the hug and the review! I'm really happy that you like my writing style! And I agree, there are too few stories that hurt Aragorn, hence why I decided to pen my own. (Which goes back to my belief that "What Cheryl wants, Cheryl gets...even if she has to create it herself!)
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By: Cheryl W.
Disclaimer: I don't own The Lord of the Rings or anything in conjunction with The Lord of the Rings nor am I making a profit from this story. No copyright infringement is intended.
Replies to Reviews are at the bottom of this story.
Now back to our story ...(I love saying that!)
*********************************8
Chapter 2
At the sight of the blood seeping from his brother's wound, Elladan cursed, "Oh Eru!" Immediately Elladan dropped down to kneel before Aragorn and began to untie the makeshift bandage.
"Stop, Elladan. It's fine until we reach home," Aragorn protested as he tried to step back from his brother's ministrations only to run into Legolas who stood behind him, blocking off that escape.
Aragorn's actions did not even delay Elladan, for an instant later the injury was revealed. Scowling at the bloody wound, Elladan snatched the knife that still dangled, forgotten from Legolas's hand. Without warning, he cut a slit in Aragorn's pant leg to better view the injury.
"You owe me new clothing!" Aragorn protested, appalled at the abuse his attire was suffering.
But any further protest died in Aragorn's throat as his big brother's angry eyes shot up to meet his. "You will be blessed if you do not need a new leg!" Elladan bit out, his worry morphing into fury. "Why did you keep this hidden from us?! What prideful, foolish, suicidal thought made you remain silent?!"
Anger surged through Aragorn, his voice was deadly and quiet as his eyes bore into Elladan's. "Do not mistake me for the boy I once was. I make my own way in this world. I need no "protectors" or "advisors"."
Elrohir, who had stood silently behind the kneeling Elladan, lifted his eyes from Aragorn's bleeding thigh to his human brother's face. "And what of brothers?" he challenged before nodding to Legolas, "Of friends? Do you also have no need for them?"
Sensing Elrohir's trap, Aragorn did not answer but stated, "I do not need to be coddled. I can take care of myself."
But an instant later, Aragorn cried out in agony and started to crumble to the ground. Swiftly, Legolas wrapped his arm around his friend's waist and held him securely against his chest.
Elladan released his painful grip on Aragorn's wound and stood to be toe to toe with his youngest brother. "Your body begs to differ with you, ranger." The bite of his words not lost on any of the group.
A dark look covered Aragorn's features. "It is so easy for you to stand there and judge me and my human frailty." He struggled to pull from Legolas' grasp and when Legolas didn't release his hold, Aragorn's eyes met Legolas's with a challenge. Reluctantly, Legolas released his supportive hold on his friend.
Elladan was shocked at Aragorn's words and was going to refute them but Aragorn never gave him the chance.
"You do not know the burden of mortality," Aragorn stated, daring any of the immortals to deny it.
Legolas now stood in front of his best friend and broke his long held silence, "But we know your worth to us." His eyes darkened with anger, "I had foolishly thought that your time among men would have made you realize the tenuous grip mortals have on life... that you have. And I believed that knowledge would make you safe guard your own life...as I would safe guard it. Today you have proven that you still value your life but a little. Or maybe you falsely believe your grasp on life is more tenacious than the rest of your mortal brethren?"
Aragorn's jaw clenched in fury and it was a moment before he could manage speech. At first his words bitter and quiet, "Nay, I have been taught well the frailty and the fate of all men, Legolas." Then a strange light sprang to his eyes and his tone turned both mocking and full of awe. "I wonder that you bothered to befriend a mortal. It would have faired you better to take me on as a pet, knowing, as you do, that my presence in your life will be brief and not long remembered by you after I have died."
With barely leashed fury, Legolas seized onto Aragorn's coat lapels and yanked the human in front of him. "Why do you speak to me like this?! With these lies?!"
But Aragorn calmly met his elven friend's furious gaze, "But they are not lies. Five hundred years from now, I will be long died and you will keep but the memory of me. In two thousand years, I will be just a faint recollection of a time when you thought it would be a novel concept to have a human friend. In ten thousand years, you will not even remember I existed. Maybe it is the truth of my words that angers you, my friend."
Elladan and Elrohir stood stunned, having never before witnessed a harsh word between the best friends who seemed closer to being brothers. Before, it seemed as if Legolas was holding back his anger from turning physical, but now at their little brother's words, they watched as agonizing grief stole over Legolas's very soul. A grief that gripped both twins just as firmly.
For a time Legolas said nothing but stared into his best friend's steady gaze. Then with sorrow, he released his grip on Aragorn's coat and let his hands drop listlessly to his sides.
Aragorn's breath caught as he watched tears well up in his friend's eyes and gracefully streaked down his beautiful elven face. Aragorn opened his mouth to try and undo the harm he had inflicted but before he could even decide what to say, Legolas turned from him and walked into the woods.
Looking to his brothers for support, Aragorn cursed himself as he saw that tears also tracked down their cheeks. "Would you have the lie remain between us?!" he painfully rebuked, his voice soft with anguish. "You are elves, I am a man. I am not your equal!"
Elrohir sadly implored as his eyes met his human brother's, "Sweet Eru, Estel! You are Legolas's friend and our brother! Not our competition!!! We, none of us, care what blood flows through your veins...we never have and we never will."
Before Aragorn could refute that, Elladan stepped before him, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Enough. I must tend to your wound so we can be on our way. Now, sit," he ordered as he guided a protesting Aragorn to a log and forced him to take a seat upon it.
"I told you, I can tend to it at home," Aragorn argued but Elladan paid him no heed as he knelt before him.
With no prompting, Elrohir had ripped away a piece of his shirt, wetted it with water from his bottle and handed the wet strip of cloth to Elladan. Immediately, Elladan began to try and cleanse the wound.
Stiffening in agony at his brother's, albeit gentle, ministrations, Aragorn clamped his jaw shut, unwilling to let a cry of weakness escape. But a moment later a searing pain shot up Aragorn's leg. He cried out in pain and jerked away from his brother's touch. Holding up a hand to ward off anymore "assistance", Aragorn tried to conquer the pain that still seared along his nerves.
Squatting down beside Elladan, Elrohir, with concern as he witnessed the agony Estel felt, demanded of his older brother, "His wound is bad, is it not?!"
Tearing his concerned look from Estel, Elladan met his elven brother's worried look, "The wood splintered into the wound and the wound itself is deep."
Legolas, having heard his best friend's cry of agony, had sprinted back towards Aragorn. However, he did not rejoin his three companions but watched them from his spot in the forest. He heard Elladan's description of the wound and he shut his eyes in anguish and worry.
"I can do nothing out here but rewrap it to stop the bleeding," Elladan announced and Legolas watched as the elf, using Aragorn's original bandage, began to wind the fabric of the shirt around the wound.
Having managed his agony, Aragorn allowed his brother's ministration but growled, "I had it wrapped, Elladan."
With his head down, tying the bandage and securing it in place, Elladan breathed with pain, "I am sorry, Estel." His task done, he raised his eyes to Aragorn's. "I am sorry that our concern, our love for you is so unwelcome."
Aragorn clenched his jaw in anger and anguish. Without another word Elladan stood up and walked a few steps up the trail, his back to his brothers.
Elrohir tracked his brother's movements before refocusing on Estel, who was pushing himself to his feet. Immediately Elrohir wrapped his arm around Estel's waist to aid him.
Aragorn shot a look of displeasure at Elrohir. "I am not so weak, though human I may be. I can walk unaided." And he pulled from Elrohir's grasp.
"Oh for Valar sake!" Elladan yelled as he stalked back to stand before Aragorn. "Estel! No matter what race you claim as your own, elf, man or dwarf, the wound is bad!"
"I have had much worse and survived it on my own!" Aragorn shouted back, and Elladan and Elrohir recognized the ring of truth of his words. Grief swept through the elven brothers' hearts. They had not been there to protect their youngest brother from harm, nor even there to tend to his injuries these past five years.
Seeing his brothers' reactions were further anguish, Aragorn shook his head in defeat. He would never be his brothers' equal. With surprise, he saw Legolas step from the woods behind his brothers and approach the threesome.
Legolas could bear no more. No more words, no more anguish and no more delays in seeing his friend's wound properly tended to. Determinedly he stepped between Elladan and Elrohir, strode to Aragorn and with a graceful unforeseen motion, swept the human over his shoulders and began to walk to Rivendell.
"Put me down!" Aragorn demanded, struggling to dislodge himself from Legolas's shoulders. But the elf's strength easily overrode Aragorn's, keeping the human firmly in place as if his attempts were but that of a child's.
"Be still, Aragorn," Legolas ordered, tightening his grip on his friend's arm and uninjured leg. "I am not putting you down so save your strength."
Elladan and Elrohir trailed behind Legolas, relief and even humor entering their eyes as they watched their very unwilling brother being carried to Rivendell by his best friend. Leave it to Legolas to forego talk and take action when it came to their little brother's well being.
Draped over Legolas's shoulders like the very stag he had sought, Aragorn fumed in angry humiliation. Again he tried to pull his arm and leg free from Legolas' steely grip but it was hopeless. He could not match the elf's strength. "I am not a child, Legolas! I will not be carried like one!" he growled in the elf's ear.
Legolas, for the first time since scooping up his burden, looked to Aragorn. "I know you are no child, Aragorn. But you are injured..." at Aragorn's look of protest, Legolas continued, "nay, do not deny what we all know. I will not allow you to walk on that leg and cause further pain and injury to yourself because of your misplaced pride."
"Pride?!" Aragorn scoffed. "Dangling over you shoulder like a stag, I have no pride left!"
Legolas could not hold back his smirk at his friend's allegory. And he could hear the snickers of Elladan and Elrohir behind him.
"Tell them not to laugh at me!" Aragorn threatened and Legolas knew to whom he indicated.
Spinning on his heels, Legolas faced the twins and said to Aragorn, "Tell them yourself, if you think it will do any good."
Raising his head as far as he could within Legolas' grasp, Aragorn seared his hardened gaze into his brothers. "The next elf that laughs will be the prey I seek on my next hunt."
For their part, the twins tried in earnest to wipe the smiles from their faces but could not hide the mirth that still lingered in their eyes. Being ever grateful for this small moment of levity in the situation.
Before Aragorn could offer up another threat, Legolas had turned around and again maneuvered through the trail to Rivendell.
For long moments, Aragorn remained silent and still, however Legolas knew it was but a lull in the storm. The protest came again although this time the tone held logic instead of anger.
"You can put me down, Legolas. I can walk," Aragorn calmly entreated.
"No," was Legolas' short, firm reply.
"You know how my brothers exaggerate any injury of mine. It truly is not serious." Aragorn watched his friend's face remain impassive and suddenly his frustration returned. How was he to speak of his strength when he hung about his friend's neck like a broken toy. "I could walk with your aid," he relented, earning him a smirk from the prince.
"No, Aragorn," Legolas replied with a laugh.
With a sigh, Aragorn accepted his fate. "Alright but when we reach Rivendell I must be able to walk."
Legolas shook his head, "You act as if you are in control. You are not, my friend."
"Please, Legolas," Aragorn solemnly requested, earning him a sharp look from his friend. Their eyes held as Aragorn implored, "Can you not leave me with some dignity? I have struggled to be respected as an adult..as a human, will you ruin that for me?"
Tearing his look from his friend's pained features, Legolas focused on the trail. After a moment he silently relented, "Alright, I will help you walk into Rivendell."
"Promise?" Aragorn asked.
"Yes," and Legolas met his friend's silver gaze, "I promise, Aragorn."
Before long, the graceful motion of the elf's gait lured Aragorn into sleep. Sensing their brother's state, Elladan and Elrohir came to flank Legolas, each quietly studying Estel with concern.
"He rests only," Legolas answered the unspoken question so softly that only their elven ears allowed them to hear it. With relief, the twins both sighed, their identical antics earning them a smirk from Legolas.
"I can carry him, Legolas," Elladan offered just as softly, his look imploring.
But Legolas unconsciously tightened his hold on his best friend. "He is no burden to me."
Knowing the words to be a gentle but firm refusal, Elladan pressed, "It is another hour's walk home."
Meeting Aragorn's oldest brother's eyes, Legolas made his decision inflexible, "I will carry him to Rivendell, Elladan."
Letting his own guilt distort his reason, Elrohir saw Legolas' refusal as a judgment. "You blame us for Estel's injury," which was more an anguished statement than a question. Elladan swung his look from Elrohir's face to Legolas', now with the same question for the prince.
"No, I do not," Legolas scoffed but he faced neither twin.
"Yes, you do and you are not wrong," Elladan replied sadly. "I should have realized we neared the mire and kept Estel from that cursed trap."
"No, I forgot about the mire and I told Estel to go that way," Elrohir disputed.
"Enough," Legolas ordered his voice stern though not above a whisper, ever mindful of the sleeping man he carried. He shot a look to each twin, "There is no fault, no blame. Some injuries happen without cause or warning. All that matters now is seeing that Aragorn is healed."
A denial and an encompassing worry seemed to seep from both twins but they nodded with agreement to Legolas's words and the elves again traveled in silence.
With increasing worry, Legolas felt the growing heat emanating from Aragorn. A fever was latching onto the injured human. But the prince said nothing of this fact to Aragorn's two brothers. They could do nothing to help their brother, just as Legolas himself could do nothing but press onto Rivendell.
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TBC
And as always..I'ld love to hear what you think!
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Gemstone: Thank you for being the first one to review my story! It's that first review that sets the tone and I appreciate your kind words! And yes, I too love when the twins go all "big brother" on Estel. It's so cute!
Sarah: Thank you for your kind review! And I'm all about warm fuzzy feelings 'cause I love the chance to go "how sweet!".
Star-Stallion: Thank you for your praise. I'm so glad you think I'm being true to the characters. I really struggle hard with that.
Bill the Pony2: I'm overwhelmed that you are considering putting this on your favorite list!! I'll try hard to earn your loyalty.
Lina Skye: Thank you for your review! And I'm glad you are appreciating Aragorn's clumsiness (I think that's sexy too!!!).
Artaniel: Thank you for your praise! And I too LOVE when the character's I love get injured (hence why I write such injury laden stories!) My family has practically paid me NOT to put them in one of my stories (I think they fear for their very lives!).
Grumpy: Thanks for your encouragement! And I too have become very attracted to Aragorn's coat...or is it just him in the coat?!
Daniela: I really appreciate your email! (Also thanks for your very kind words about my other story "Destiny" I'll try to work on the second chapter for that story.)
Cassia: A huge thank you for letting me reference your wonderful Mellon stories and for your encouragement!
Ymmas Sirron: Thank you for the compliment! And, because I didn't want to be gutted like a fish, here's the next chapter like you ordered ..I mean pleaded?!.
Leggy-stinks: Thanks for your review! And I would pity Aragorn if I wasn't so busy hurting him.
Websterans: Thank you for your encouragement! I hope you like this chapter.
Athelassa: Thanks for the hug and the review! I'm really happy that you like my writing style! And I agree, there are too few stories that hurt Aragorn, hence why I decided to pen my own. (Which goes back to my belief that "What Cheryl wants, Cheryl gets...even if she has to create it herself!)
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