Colour of Distress
Disclaimer – I am really tired of writing that Lord of the Rings is not mine in anyway. Because I want it to be mine, and because I HAVE to write this annoying thing to specifically state that it is not mine. I have to rub it into my own face.
A/N: I actually survived physics and I came through with my one-week deadline. Go me!
Chapter 8 – You lie to hide your fear.
Aragorn watched Legolas mull frantically over Gimli with an air of panic and, at the same time, detachment. In a corner of his mind, he felt that Legolas would never have had the heart to kill his friend, but still panicked because Legolas was obviously not in his right mind, and would be prone to do anything.
The way Legolas screamed for silence startled the man. Aragorn did not know if he meant for the voice to stop, or for them to stop. He admitted to himself heavily that he was afraid of Legolas.
Suddenly, Legolas' eyes cleared and he appeared to be calm.
Relieved, Aragorn approached the elf slowly, intending to take the knife away. Legolas smiled at the man, but it was not in friendship. His heart dropped when he saw the malice in Legolas' face.
"I told you not to approach me." He spat. "However, it will be Gimli who will suffer the consequences of your foolish actions."
Gimli turned pale. "That, I say, is unfair." He muttered.
Aragorn was giving way to despair. "Legolas…" he said quietly. "What has happened to you?" he searched his friend's face, but instead received a stony stare.
"Your jealousy."
"You have already accused me of that, and of selfishness as well." Aragorn said, raising his hands in the air. "And if it appeases the demon, I will gladly agree."
"I see no demon here." Legolas said calmly, as he twirled the knife around his fingers. His grip on Gimli was still, allowing him no chance of escape.
"Then look within yourself!" Aragorn exploded. "How are you so weak as to let a demon, or whatever this shadow voice is, take you over?"
I must keep talking to him. If I can delay him hurting Gimli for long enough… perhaps the voice will loosen its hold.
Legolas seemed to shrink back within himself, although he still held Gimli tightly, as if his life depended on it. "But I am strong, Estel," he whispered, swallowing a sob. "Galadriel has told me so."
Estel… do not be angry with me.
I am trying…
Forgive me, Gimli…
My actions are not my own…
Did you not hear that? Your dear friend has called you weak.
Galadriel has said otherwise. You lie.
Then you are saying you lie to yourself.
No….
You did not believe me, but I speak only the truth to you.
Look at the dwarf, see how he struggles to escape you. No friend would do that.
See how the man grows red with fury. These are no friends.
Delay no longer. Kill them now.
Legolas!
Gimli was shocked as the elf regained himself for a moment. The suffering that Legolas was in showed for a brief flicker upon his face. "Legolas!" he cried out, madly trying to reach his friend.
"You are no friend!" Legolas burst out furiously at Aragorn. "You covet my position!"
Aragorn had softened again when he saw Legolas' eyes previously fill with tears, and let his harsh tone pass. "I do not know of what you speak."
"You wish to be king."
Any resolve that Aragorn had to be gentle with Legolas vanished. "I choose my position of my own will." He said.
"You envy me! I was born into my position of a prince and kept it effortlessly. And I am prince of an immortal race, unlike you!" Legolas shouted. His fair face was tinged with red.
"And what does it matter that you are a prince of the elves while I am rightfully a king of men?" It took all of his self-restraint not to fly at the elf and hurt him.
"Being raised by Elrond, you realized that you wanted to be an elf. Then you would have been good as elf royalty after you married your precious Arwen. Admit it, human." Flaming blue eyes met stormy black ones in a triumphant attack. "You wish you were me."
Aragorn drew his sword in a flash, turning red with rage. "Voice or not, what you are saying must come from deep within yourself! I have tried being patient and understanding, elf, but you take me too far!"
"Aragorn, perhaps you want to be more prudent with your sword. If you'd like to recall, Legolas has a knife at my throat." Gimli said uncomfortable. He hoped that Aragorn would keep his temper.
Aragorn hated everything about Legolas at this moment. He hated the mix vulnerability and arrogance that he was now showing, he hated his long, fair hair, and he hated his delicate, pointed ears. So when Legolas tilted his head to the side in an elegant motion, studying Aragorn with narrowed eyes, he saw red and snapped.
The man flew forwards, uncaring of anything except that he had to mortally wound the elf.
Gimli's eyes widened with shock as Aragorn stood, looking at Legolas with pure revulsion and hatred. He heart plummeted into his stomach as Aragorn charged forward to Legolas, who still held the dwarf against a tree.
"The foolish human." Legolas spat. He turned around to face Gimli, who shuddered inwardly. He was also immensely dismayed when he saw Legolas' up close for the first time in days. His face was drawn and alarmingly white, his eyes burned with a mix bitterness, scorn, and fear, and his normally glossy hair was dull. Legolas looked like he was barely alive.
How could I have been so blind to his anguish?
How could I let this get so out of hand?
The knife was raised at Gimli, who immediately squeezed his eyes shut remorsefully. He began praying for an easy death, and suddenly heard the sound of the knife being thrust. He fell to the ground heavily.
All his senses were heightened, and he felt exhilarated by the upcoming fight. Legolas spun to avoid a thrust from Aragorn's sword, and stood in a casual way, leaning against a tree trunk.
"You cannot win this fight, because you are now unarmed. Give up now." Aragorn snarled. He raised his sword again.
"Am I truly unarmed?" Legolas said, amused. "I have my bow and arrow. I could shoot you now before you realize what has happened. But I know what you mean. A sword is the only true weapon to you, is it not?" He shrugged. "But I am still armed either way."
Aragorn laughed harshly. "You lie to hide your fear."
Legolas pushed back the cloak Galadriel gave to the fellowship to reveal a scabbard decorated in intricate designs, complete with a sword. He drew it, and the cold steel glinted in the dim moonlight. "I take it you are surprised. My father gifted it to me as I left Mirkwood to attend the council with Elrond. I believe you are the first person besides myself and my father to see it."
"You are no swordsman." Aragorn said scornfully.
"Of course not. I am an archer. I do not appreciate swords, which is why I never wore it until tonight, when I felt in my heart it would be needed. And before the sun rises, I will learn how to use it as well as the bow." Legolas said archly.
"If I do not kill you first."
Legolas blinked, and his gaze wavered. "Would you truly?" he whispered urgently. He put his hand out to the tree trunk to steady himself. "Estel, you would free me from this?"
Aragorn faltered for a moment, remembering what Legolas had written on the trees in blood. Has Legolas overcome the voice? But he immediately hardened himself to it. It is a trick. I am sure of it.
The elf shook his head violently for a moment, causing his hair to whip about his face. "Enough of this talking." Without further warning, he leapt forward, slashing at Aragorn.
Sparks flew as the man brought his own sword up to meet the attack. Legolas took a step away, and swung the sword around. Aragorn ducked, and was sure that he would have been sliced in two if he hadn't.
They now stood apart, glaring at each other.
Aragorn brushed his dark hair from his eyes. "Elves were always quick learners." He said mordantly. That fact made him even angrier, and his desire to hurt Legolas grew. Aragorn did not let him reply, but instead launched his own offensive against the elf.
Legolas jumped to avoid a low slash, and quickly brought his knee down on Aragorn back, knocking him into the ground.
Legolas held the sharp tip of his sword at Aragorn's throat. "Humans were always blinded by their emotions." He said with an unsettling gaze. "If you were an elf, you would have sensed my attack in advance."
Aragorn rolled to the side quickly, although the sword tip did scratch him, creating a long red line across his throat. "And you are too arrogant right now to be alert at all times. A true elf would have killed me right then. You are no elf."
Legolas suddenly turned grey, and his eyes were wild. He cried out wordlessly in a rage, and began attacking Aragorn as if he were in a mania.
Aragorn effortlessly beat the attacks back, uncaring that tears were now streaming down Legolas' face. Hatred had filled him completely, and could care less that he was hurting his friend in the worst possible way.
"You are no elf."
Didn't your 'friend' just confirm what I have told you all along?
No, NO!
Ada! Nana! Mithrandir!
Edraith nin! (Save me!)
Leathiate nin! (Release me!)
Ada!
To be continued….
As the sadist as I am, I had to make Legolas cry out for his mother and father because he's so afraid. I'm terrible.
Here are my reviewers, as wonderful as ever:
Houki: It's your pick. I wrote it so that it could be taken either way, which I really like. I couldn't figure out which one he should be screaming to, so I do think it is a stroke of genius on my part. (And those don't happen often.)
Cheysuli: I was regretting taking physics that day, but now… it's not so bad anymore. And I think someone will walk into the whole fight scene pretty soon, although the three of them did move father away from where they camped. And where did you get that book on Sindarin and Quenya sentence structure?
Rainy: My lord, I forgot to write in the outcome of Gimli!! Er…. Next chapter, we'll find out. I promise.
Skye: Did you mean that it was awkward that I left it there or that it was just a cliffhanger?
RainyDayz : Wow, thank you. And I'm assuming you were talking about coming back after that month where the fic just sat there because I wrote nothing. (I think it was back in December). I had to kick myself really hard to get writing.
Erthothwen: I'll fully take you up on that offer about physics homework. ^_^ Meh… three pennies? I thought Legolas would come back from the dark side for the blue lint. (Loved your review, I laughed like mad and spat ginger ale all over my screen.)
Silent Angel: Apart from getting an email about an updated fic, I LOVE e-mails, except for spam. I'm crazy about them. I love the little box that pops up in the corner of my screen when I have new mail. I've even trained my computer to say "Hello, this is Orlando Bloom." Everytime I have a new e-mail. My god, I really need to stop. Babbling on about emails….. *sighs*
Lady Daine: I'm as far from a Tolkien purist as one can get, short of hating him. ^_^ But I do think the guy was pretty brilliant for coming up with the whole Lord of the Rings deal. And the italics…. I never thought about how I got them. I save it in html format on Microsoft word, so maybe that's why? Ooh, do you think I can train my turtle to do my work for me? For all I know, Pookie's brilliant!
Soulsearcher-arbariel : I watched Buffy in it's early days, but I never seem to watch it anymore. So I would have no idea about the Willow and huge eyes thing. And I completely agree with you that Legolas and Aragorn should have had some huge scene where they blow up at each other and start fighting. Legolas is so laid back in the movie. I wish he were a bit more aggressive. Eeee…. Please don't kill me. *gets out Legolas action figure* Hahaha! He will protect me! ^_^
MiriGreenleaf: Oh gosh, the flu! I normally get it every year, but apparently not this year. *knocks on wood* Anyways, get better soon!
Merrylyn – Chapter titles… hmm… before I save and upload my chapters, I just skim through the chapter and pick out a short statement from it that would vaguely apply to everything that occurs in the chapter. And voila!, I have a chapter title. I haven't considered starting another fic yet, because this one is so consuming. And I've got no idea what to write about. The only members of the fellowship that interest me are Legolas, Aragorn, and Gimli. (Obviously.) That and I would have to sit and think for a plot….
Milu – Actually, I thought the elvish took away from the story, because I had the translations in brackets. But if people like it, I'll keep it going.
Dream Keeper – That sounds so interesting! I've never thought about it much before. Do tell more, unless you don't feel like typing much. (By the way, thanks for the explanation.)
I don't remember who I told I'd find the address of the website I got my elvish dictionary program for (I think it was Shinzui), so here it is.: http://www.jrrvf.com/%7Ehisweloke/sindar/ I think it's pretty good, as I don't write tons of elvish.
Again, let me know if you want an e-mail telling you about chapter updates… and I'll get the Chapter 8 up ASAP. I can't hazard a guess this week when it'll be done because I'm being swamped with work. And that settles everything!