Author's Note: Alright then, here we are with more story. I love all of
you guys for your reviews, they make me write faster (hint, hint). And for
those of you who want to know what's up with Legolas and why he's acting
this way, all I can say is you'll have to wait. (Come on, think of who
you're dealing with here.) But as always, have faith and all will come
clear eventually. And as always, I own nothing of Tolkien's brilliance, I
only borrow due to lack of creativity on my part. And I should also
mention that I probably don't even own any rights to the title as I took
that from a Smashing Pumpkins song, so I'm just stealing left and right
here. All I ask is that if you want more story you don't report me. :)
Okay, that's quite enough babble, on with the mystery!
Chapter 4
A few hours had passed by the time another messenger came to see them, and the bulk of that time had been spent in silence by the former three hunters. Gimli paced about the room, often muttering to himself, while Aragorn went over a few documents that needed his approval. As for Legolas, he seated himself by a window and gazed silently out of it.
"Somebody has come," Legolas finally murmured aloud. Both Gimli and Aragorn turned expectantly toward him, but then turned the opposite way when they heard the door open. A man pushed his way through and paused to catch his breath, as though he had been running a good distance to bring them news.
Aragorn waited patiently while the man sucked in a breath and then said to them, "The body lays within the houses of healing my lord."
Aragorn nodded his thanks and gave leave to the man before turning to beckon Legolas and Gimli to come with him. Gimli followed anxiously at his heels while Legolas followed more placidly a few feet behind them.
As they made their way down the street to the houses of healing, Aragorn noted that a small crowd had gathered and was watching the king's progression avidly. Apparently news traveled fast.
Legolas was painfully aware of the scrutiny their group received as they walked, and his sharp ears overheard the word elf more than a few times and he saw some people pointing him out to one another. Legolas bristled at this on the inside, obviously they too had heard that some were under the impression that this was the work of an elf.
'They are right to fear you as they do,' Legolas' unbidden mental thoughts came forth once again. 'They can see the unrest in you, the weariness that comes from so much bloodlust.'
'But I am done with fighting,' Legolas thought back to himself, wondering briefly why it always seemed as though there were two voices in his head. 'I only wish to live in peaceful times.'
'An assassin does not know the meaning of peace. The bloodlust will drive you mad until it is satisfied again.'
Legolas shook his head slightly, silencing the battling thoughts. When his head had cleared, he noticed that they now stood before the houses of healing. This surprised Legolas more than his traitorous thoughts. He had actually lost track of time and where they were going, slight as it was. That had never happened to him before.
Aragorn had already entered the small building and Gimli had paused next to the door, looking back and waiting for Legolas to enter. He seemed confused when Legolas finally came back to his surroundings and took an abrupt step forward, but he said nothing about it and only followed the elf inside.
The air was always slightly cooler in the houses of healing as there were little windows. The dim atmosphere helped to calm patients and, truth to be told, helped keep the bodies preserved longer. Silently, the three were led into one of the first rooms, and in the center of the room laid out on a stone slab was the victim.
Legolas almost paused when he first entered the room. He had not been expecting the body to be in a state such as what it was in. The victim was a male, that much was clear, and a rather large male, but it looked as though he had not even stood a chance.
Legolas first immediately noticed that his throat was laid open, and Legolas had to admit that it was done neatly, a single precise line as opposed to a jagged wound. In addition to the throat wound, which Legolas suspected must have been the last and fatal wound, his right palm was slashed through the center so that he would be unable to hold a sword and his left shoulder was laid open to the bone so that it would be difficult to rotate it and move his arm. Finally, Legolas' keen eyes caught that on the bottom of the man's right leg there was a small pool of blood. The tendons in the back of his heel had been slashed.
Legolas could not help but note that most of the vital areas one normally concentrated on for defeating a foe had been destroyed. This was not merely an ambush by a rogue, but the work of a trained individual.
Aragorn had been quietly bending over the body, making the same assessments Legolas made from a slight distance. After a few moments he straightened with a sigh. He looked at Legolas and the elf solemnly met his dark gaze.
"This was done by an elvish blade," he said softly.
Legolas took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Though it is almost impossible to tell if the wielder of the blade was an elf or not," Aragorn continued hastily.
Legolas re-opened his eyes slowly. As much as he hated to admit it, he could understand why the men had been so quick to blame an elf. The work was done so strategically and perfectly, and it had to have been done with great speed. There was hardly ever enough time in a fight to focus on several different spots at once such as had been done here. The man had probably been down before he even knew what hit him.
And there was one more thing Legolas had to admit.
The body held almost all of the marks that an elf learned to focus on when in training. It was almost as if the man had been merely used as a practice target, a game.
Legolas shifted his eyes away from the body and found that Aragorn was still watching Legolas closely. When the elf moved his eyes back to his, Aragorn turned his eyes down and back onto the body, systematically going through all of the wounds. Though Legolas did not voice any of his thoughts, he had to wonder if Aragorn knew what he did, if he too knew the places an elf focused on when fighting. Aragorn had never shared that particular knowledge with Legolas, but it was not a far-fetched idea, he had grown up around elves after all.
Gimli looked at the body as well, but he did not know of special target areas or elvish styles of fighting. All he knew was that the job seemed to have been done extremely efficiently. Even as a dwarf, whose fighting methods were more brute force than strategy, Gimli thought that it had been overdone, there was no need for this many wounds.
"Well," Gimli finally broke the silence that had come down upon them, "what is to be done now?"
Aragorn sighed and straightened, "Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do but wait. If this was merely a one time thing done by a passing intruder, than there is no point in setting up a watch or extra guards. We will not know what to reinforce until it happens again. But I will send out a statement to the people, and inform them of what has happened so that they may not go out by themselves at nightfall."
Aragorn paused and looked at Legolas again. "Let us pray this was merely a one time offense."
Legolas gave a grim nod, his thoughts elsewhere. Gimli watched the exchange between the two, wondering if there was something he was missing. He decided to dismiss the idea when both Aragorn and Legolas turned to exit the room and he followed.
Once outside of the houses of healing, Aragorn went off to announce the news to the heralds and to find the family of the poor victim so that they might identify him. Gimli and Legolas were thus left to themselves and they stood awkwardly outside of the houses of healing, unsure of where to go.
Legolas took one look around at the crowd that was still gathered. They looked on with great interest, as if something of interest might happen right before them.
"Do they not know that one of their own was just killed?" Legolas asked quietly.
Gimli grunted. "That they do know, they just want to see who did it and who it will happen to next. Men are a morbid race."
"Foolish would be my word for it," Legolas muttered before making a decision and heading off to the left, away from all of the activity. Gimli followed without even asking where the elf was planning on going.
When they were well away from the crowd and heading towards the borders of Gondor, Gimli spoke up. "Do you think an elf could have done it?"
"Anybody could have done it master Gimli," Legolas replied thinly, "even a dwarf with proper training."
Gimli noted the manner in which Legolas spoke and decided to let the matter drop. They continued on in silence for a moment longer until Gimli asked casually, "So what did you do after leaving me to all the ale last night?"
Legolas stopped abruptly in his tracks and fixed Gimli with an intense stare. Gimli stopped as well, startled by his friend's reaction. Legolas stared at him for a few moments before seemingly coming to some sort of conclusion and then he started on again without saying a word to Gimli.
Gimli remained where he was, confusion plastered all over his face. "Do you wish to be alone?" he called after the elf's quickly retreating back.
"If you please, master dwarf," Legolas called back without looking over his shoulder.
Feeling even more confusion and a small sense of rejection, Gimli slowly turned and walked back towards the center of Gondor, hoping that all the elf needed was a few moments to himself before coming back to his senses.
Chapter 4
A few hours had passed by the time another messenger came to see them, and the bulk of that time had been spent in silence by the former three hunters. Gimli paced about the room, often muttering to himself, while Aragorn went over a few documents that needed his approval. As for Legolas, he seated himself by a window and gazed silently out of it.
"Somebody has come," Legolas finally murmured aloud. Both Gimli and Aragorn turned expectantly toward him, but then turned the opposite way when they heard the door open. A man pushed his way through and paused to catch his breath, as though he had been running a good distance to bring them news.
Aragorn waited patiently while the man sucked in a breath and then said to them, "The body lays within the houses of healing my lord."
Aragorn nodded his thanks and gave leave to the man before turning to beckon Legolas and Gimli to come with him. Gimli followed anxiously at his heels while Legolas followed more placidly a few feet behind them.
As they made their way down the street to the houses of healing, Aragorn noted that a small crowd had gathered and was watching the king's progression avidly. Apparently news traveled fast.
Legolas was painfully aware of the scrutiny their group received as they walked, and his sharp ears overheard the word elf more than a few times and he saw some people pointing him out to one another. Legolas bristled at this on the inside, obviously they too had heard that some were under the impression that this was the work of an elf.
'They are right to fear you as they do,' Legolas' unbidden mental thoughts came forth once again. 'They can see the unrest in you, the weariness that comes from so much bloodlust.'
'But I am done with fighting,' Legolas thought back to himself, wondering briefly why it always seemed as though there were two voices in his head. 'I only wish to live in peaceful times.'
'An assassin does not know the meaning of peace. The bloodlust will drive you mad until it is satisfied again.'
Legolas shook his head slightly, silencing the battling thoughts. When his head had cleared, he noticed that they now stood before the houses of healing. This surprised Legolas more than his traitorous thoughts. He had actually lost track of time and where they were going, slight as it was. That had never happened to him before.
Aragorn had already entered the small building and Gimli had paused next to the door, looking back and waiting for Legolas to enter. He seemed confused when Legolas finally came back to his surroundings and took an abrupt step forward, but he said nothing about it and only followed the elf inside.
The air was always slightly cooler in the houses of healing as there were little windows. The dim atmosphere helped to calm patients and, truth to be told, helped keep the bodies preserved longer. Silently, the three were led into one of the first rooms, and in the center of the room laid out on a stone slab was the victim.
Legolas almost paused when he first entered the room. He had not been expecting the body to be in a state such as what it was in. The victim was a male, that much was clear, and a rather large male, but it looked as though he had not even stood a chance.
Legolas first immediately noticed that his throat was laid open, and Legolas had to admit that it was done neatly, a single precise line as opposed to a jagged wound. In addition to the throat wound, which Legolas suspected must have been the last and fatal wound, his right palm was slashed through the center so that he would be unable to hold a sword and his left shoulder was laid open to the bone so that it would be difficult to rotate it and move his arm. Finally, Legolas' keen eyes caught that on the bottom of the man's right leg there was a small pool of blood. The tendons in the back of his heel had been slashed.
Legolas could not help but note that most of the vital areas one normally concentrated on for defeating a foe had been destroyed. This was not merely an ambush by a rogue, but the work of a trained individual.
Aragorn had been quietly bending over the body, making the same assessments Legolas made from a slight distance. After a few moments he straightened with a sigh. He looked at Legolas and the elf solemnly met his dark gaze.
"This was done by an elvish blade," he said softly.
Legolas took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
"Though it is almost impossible to tell if the wielder of the blade was an elf or not," Aragorn continued hastily.
Legolas re-opened his eyes slowly. As much as he hated to admit it, he could understand why the men had been so quick to blame an elf. The work was done so strategically and perfectly, and it had to have been done with great speed. There was hardly ever enough time in a fight to focus on several different spots at once such as had been done here. The man had probably been down before he even knew what hit him.
And there was one more thing Legolas had to admit.
The body held almost all of the marks that an elf learned to focus on when in training. It was almost as if the man had been merely used as a practice target, a game.
Legolas shifted his eyes away from the body and found that Aragorn was still watching Legolas closely. When the elf moved his eyes back to his, Aragorn turned his eyes down and back onto the body, systematically going through all of the wounds. Though Legolas did not voice any of his thoughts, he had to wonder if Aragorn knew what he did, if he too knew the places an elf focused on when fighting. Aragorn had never shared that particular knowledge with Legolas, but it was not a far-fetched idea, he had grown up around elves after all.
Gimli looked at the body as well, but he did not know of special target areas or elvish styles of fighting. All he knew was that the job seemed to have been done extremely efficiently. Even as a dwarf, whose fighting methods were more brute force than strategy, Gimli thought that it had been overdone, there was no need for this many wounds.
"Well," Gimli finally broke the silence that had come down upon them, "what is to be done now?"
Aragorn sighed and straightened, "Unfortunately, there is nothing we can do but wait. If this was merely a one time thing done by a passing intruder, than there is no point in setting up a watch or extra guards. We will not know what to reinforce until it happens again. But I will send out a statement to the people, and inform them of what has happened so that they may not go out by themselves at nightfall."
Aragorn paused and looked at Legolas again. "Let us pray this was merely a one time offense."
Legolas gave a grim nod, his thoughts elsewhere. Gimli watched the exchange between the two, wondering if there was something he was missing. He decided to dismiss the idea when both Aragorn and Legolas turned to exit the room and he followed.
Once outside of the houses of healing, Aragorn went off to announce the news to the heralds and to find the family of the poor victim so that they might identify him. Gimli and Legolas were thus left to themselves and they stood awkwardly outside of the houses of healing, unsure of where to go.
Legolas took one look around at the crowd that was still gathered. They looked on with great interest, as if something of interest might happen right before them.
"Do they not know that one of their own was just killed?" Legolas asked quietly.
Gimli grunted. "That they do know, they just want to see who did it and who it will happen to next. Men are a morbid race."
"Foolish would be my word for it," Legolas muttered before making a decision and heading off to the left, away from all of the activity. Gimli followed without even asking where the elf was planning on going.
When they were well away from the crowd and heading towards the borders of Gondor, Gimli spoke up. "Do you think an elf could have done it?"
"Anybody could have done it master Gimli," Legolas replied thinly, "even a dwarf with proper training."
Gimli noted the manner in which Legolas spoke and decided to let the matter drop. They continued on in silence for a moment longer until Gimli asked casually, "So what did you do after leaving me to all the ale last night?"
Legolas stopped abruptly in his tracks and fixed Gimli with an intense stare. Gimli stopped as well, startled by his friend's reaction. Legolas stared at him for a few moments before seemingly coming to some sort of conclusion and then he started on again without saying a word to Gimli.
Gimli remained where he was, confusion plastered all over his face. "Do you wish to be alone?" he called after the elf's quickly retreating back.
"If you please, master dwarf," Legolas called back without looking over his shoulder.
Feeling even more confusion and a small sense of rejection, Gimli slowly turned and walked back towards the center of Gondor, hoping that all the elf needed was a few moments to himself before coming back to his senses.