Color of Distress
Disclaimer – Still not mine… and though I have already corrected it in the review section, I will state it again here. The poem I used in the last chapter was supposed to be entitled "Alone" and not "Requiem", by Robert Louis Stevenson.
A/N: May as well continue my countdown… eleven more days until the Two Towers! And this is rather important: This chapter gets a more violent and more serious than the rest, and this chapter alone may as well be categorized as horror and rated R, although I personally think it's current rating is adequate. I don't know how squeamish you get, but this is just a general warning in case you'll be offended by anything that happens in this chapter. Or I may just be worrying too much about it. In any case, I have done my part and warned you. Enjoy!
Chapter 3 – "Immortal no longer"
He drank the wine. And when he had finished, he drank some more, laughing and crying at the same time. He gagged as he forced himself to swallow the sweet liquid, drunk, in pain, and eyes lit with a wild light. Legolas' chest heaved for air as he was allowed a short reprieve.
Now run… run into your precious woods.
"I drank for you, but I will not run for you!" Legolas shouted, picking up his knife, unsure of what he would attack. He spun around, searching in vain.
He felt like the forest was closing in on him, trapping him in a leafy cage. The once soothing trees appeared now to be dark and foreboding; it's gentle rustling now a mockery. Yet it called him, and he found himself being drawn closer.
Legolas' normally light steps were leaden and tired, and he whimpered as he realized he was running into the heart of the woods. He finally stopped, and stood in a large clearing, staring around helplessly.
His heart thundered in his chest. "It is over." He told himself reassuringly. "I will go back."
Your lesson in mortality has not finished yet…
Legolas cried out in fear.
No more!
Stop…. please…
And then it came in a sly whisper.
How would you like to write?
"I like it not." He said, clenching his fists.
It remained silent. As he turned to leave, his sliver knife slipped out of his hand and fell to the ground with a soft clatter. Legolas bent to pick it up, and caught his reflection in the blade as he did so. Dull blue eyes gazed back at him, speaking of the unimaginable torments that were inflicted upon him.
Still looking into his reflection, he touched the tip of the blade with his forefinger, running it along the fine edge. Legolas moved back to lean against a tree, exhausted.
He dropped the knife for a second time when he saw blood on his sleeve. Legolas had cut his finger again, and much more deeply this time. It dripped to the ground, coloring the forest floor crimson.
Legolas roused himself out of his daze and looked around for a particular leaf off of a tree he knew would stop the bleeding.
I wonder why Gimli dislikes the trees so… they are so helpful and giving…
He placed his hand on the trunk of the tree while he bent over to pluck a leaf. When Legolas straightened, he noticed that a line of blood had spread over the dark wood. He looked at it closer.
The trees give us so much… shade, protection; even herbs… yet we give nothing back…
Perhaps… I should give back… by giving my blood to the trees…
Just as Mithrandir gave his blood and life for the fellowship…
It is an idea….
"I drank for you, but I will not run for you!"
Gimli grunted and rolled over, still half dreaming of overflowing mines of mithril. He cracked open an eyes as he heard some strange noises…. laughing, crying, and whimpering all at once, and the steady footsteps of a shadowy figure that was disappearing deep into the woods.
He struggled to wake up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with the back of his hand, and stood up clumsily. Gimli looked for Legolas, and soon realized apprehensively it was Legolas who had been making the noises and running.
He moved as quietly as possible and followed Legolas, and cursed under his breath as his tripped over several wine jugs strewn across the floor.
Has he been drinking?
The footfalls of Legolas grew fainter, and Gimli sped up, marveling at how effortlessly Legolas moved. He crouched behind a large bush as the elf stopped at a clearing, looking around blankly, as if he were lost.
Gimli was about to jump up from behind the foliage to bring Legolas back, but he spoke first.
"It is over," he breathed, and his eyes reflected the moonlight. "I will go back."
Gimli sighed in relief, although he had no idea what Legolas meant by it. Again he was about to reveal himself when Legolas became frozen with fear, his eyes wide. He cried out suddenly, scaring Gimli to his wit's end.
His heart was racing as he watched Legolas further, unsure if he should remain hiding or go to his friend. In the end, he stayed where he was, watching Legolas murmur something uneasily, and who appeared to be in the grip of a deep trance.
He shifted his weight to peer around the bush as Legolas turned his back by a tree, apparently looking for something in a hurried manner. Gimli caught a flash of red on his fine silver sleeve, and he soon become conscious of the fact that Legolas had hurt himself somewhere.
This time, he made up his mind to call to his friend first, and stood up. Legolas did not notice him at all. His face rested on the side of the tree, and he traced his bloodied finger along its trunk, forming a script he did not understand.
Gimli backed away in horror, and ran back to fetch Aragorn, shaking uncontrollably at his discovery.
"Aragorn!" came the urgent whisper. "Aragorn!"
The man did not stir, but furrowed his brow in his sleep, as if he did not want to hear anything.
"Aragorn!" he was being shaken roughly, each shake a punctuation of the sentence. "You… must… wake… up!"
"Go away," he groaned. "It is far too early for breakfast." Aragorn felt a smart smack at one side of his face. "Stop it! I wish to slumber in peace." Another smack.
"Wake up, wake up, wake up!" Gimli growled, barely believing that Aragorn refused to rise. "Legolas has run off and is in grave danger!"
Aragorn shot upright immediately, squinting at Gimli. "What has happened?" he asked abruptly, standing up.
"Legolas… I have not the heart to say. It is horrible…" Gimli moaned, putting his head in his hands. "Just… come with me."
He swiftly followed the dwarf, stepping around the empty wine jugs that still lay strewn on the floor. "Did Legolas consume all of this?" He asked, looking back at the mess.
"I think so…" came the strained reply.
Aragorn remained alert as he went along behind the dwarf, carefully stepping over tree roots. Gimli unexpectedly stopped in front of him, muttering to himself.
"What is the matter?" Aragorn asked warily.
"These damned paths look too much alike," Gimli blustered, looking around frantically.
"What? Are we lost?" Aragorn demanded, crossing his arms.
Gimli began running without a reply, and took paths in no particular order, Aragorn close behind. He nearly ran into Gimli when he stopped suddenly before a clearing. He moved forward in order to get a better view, and what he saw made him want to pass out.
Legolas was crouched by a tree, sobbing, his sleeves slashed through several times in different places, covered in blood.
Aragorn stepped forward slowly. "Legolas?" he ventured cautiously.
From where he was standing, the moon filtered pale rays of light into the clearing, and Aragorn finally saw to what extent Legolas went through.
All over the massive oak and beech trees, were scripted several words, all in Legolas' hand, and all written in blood.
Gimli went to stand next to Aragorn, and clutched his axe when he saw the trees. "Who has attacked him?" he whispered fiercely. "I swear to kill him!"
"Would you kill Legolas?" Aragorn asked, looking stricken as he tried to approach the elf without frightening him more.
"He… he did this?" Gimli stammered, looking up at the writing. "He did this himself?"
"It is his own handwriting." Aragorn affirmed, turning his head back to Legolas. "'tis elvish."
"What does it say?"
Aragorn's eyes were darkly sorrowful. "I am immortal no longer… and immortal I never shall be again… for the darkness which consumes me…seeks to consume my very soul and grace…" he stopped, and swallowed hard. "I will read no more of this."
Gimli wiped his tears off his face. "And I will listen to no more of what troubles our friend." He said bleakly. "We must help him now." He approached Legolas and touched his knee gently. "Legolas, come, we will take care of you now."
Aragorn let the dwarf go on with his soothing words, and looked at the dismal tree trunks again, covered in beautiful yet horrifying writing.
The Prince of Mirkwood is a coward…
Pathetic little prince…
Unable to control even himself…
Then he caught another writing, messier than the rest, scrawled quickly in a corner, as if the writer's hand was shaking.
I would rather pass on than linger here with this torment…
I wish to be free…
"Legolas." Something touched his knee.
Has my inner torment manifested itself into a physical form?
He buried his head into his knees, shaking uncontrollably.
I could end it all now…
I could kill it….
His wounded fingers felt the handle of his knife and gripped it tightly.
"…take care of you now…"
I could kill it…
Before it kills me…
End it…
"Come Legolas," Gimli said to him, patting his back. "It will be fine."
"You will be silent." Legolas hissed dangerously in a hoarse whisper. "You will torment me no longer. Leave me!" he sprang to his feet and wielded his knife.
Gimli fell back. "No, no!" he shouted. "Legolas, it is I, Gimli!" he rolled aside as Legolas nearly stabbed him through. "Aragorn!"
The man was immediately next to him, pulling Gimli to his feet. "We cannot harm him further…" Aragorn said, watching Legolas look around in confusion. "Help me and try to calm him! Call to him."
The blow did not connect.
Legolas saw no one in the clearing. Did it flee?
"Legolas! Do you not hear me?"
"I do hear you," Legolas responded furiously, staggering. "And I wish for you to be silent!" He slashed away at the air where the noise was coming from.
"Legolas Greenleaf! Come back to us!"
He muffled a sob. "Go to you, the demon which seeks to kill me? I may be weakened, but I am no fool!" Legolas leapt at the sounds again.
"By Elbereth, we want to save you!"
Legolas trembled in a mix of pain and rage, and he laughed bitterly. "Then let me kill my tormentor!"
And finally, he managed to strike upon something.
To be continued…
Alright, now it's reviewer thanking time!
Houki: I don't think you're that emotionally high stung…in fact, I'm kind of glad that it brought up some sort of emotion.
Thaurvingwen: Another crier? I don't think it was that sad or emotionally provoking… or maybe you were crying because of the cliffhanger??
Supernovacide: I can't wait for more either…. Ideas for this fic, that is. I'm in a pickle after the next chapter as to what I should do.
Sobbing madly: Well, you're the third person that is!
Milu: Wow… I feel almost over-appreciated. Thanks very much, though! Erm.. the mortal thing… *bangs head on keyboard* Mustn't give anything away yet….
Lotrmatrixstarwarsfan: Powers of darkness? Perhaps….but I can't give anything away… that would be no fun and bad bad bad….
Cheysuli: Neither can I. As I said above, I'm in a pickle.
Crys Ritter: Yep, it's red. (Bit obvious, though…. *sigh*) Yeah, it makes me wonder why we want to make the poor elf suffer so much…
Enigma Jade: Red again. (I guess it was waaaaaaay too obvious.)
Amia: I don't care if people tell me to keep writing, 'cause the more I get it, the faster I'll go. It's a motivation thing.
Idyllic Dreams: Don't be depressed!!!!!!!!! (And I can't believe I have to torture Leggy so much for my own purposes of writing!)
St.CathrineEvangelineWoodsorel: Thanks again for pointing that poem mistake out for me!! (And I think it was that death threat that stirred me into getting this chapter up quickly… ^_^)
Princess_yumin: Wait. That's me and my correction of the poem notice. (I'm just going up my review of chapter 2 list…. And there I was.)
And I've forgotten to mention: If you would like me to send you an e-mail when I update new chapters, just let me know in your review AND leave me your e-mail address. (It's rather a bother, checking FF.net for updates when you can be informed when it's up.)
And for any other review of chapter 2 I didn't catch because it came in after I typed this up, THANK YOU!! (And the next chapter is coming soon….and then, as I've already mentioned, I'm in a pickle as to what to do. Any suggestions??)