Color of Distress
Disclaimer – Maybe I'll do a proper one this time. Lord of the Rings does not belong to me, Tiffany, or as my screen name says, princess_yumin in any way. Lord of the Rings, and practically everything associated to it, belongs completely to JRR Tolkien. I am not associated with the brilliant man, and I am not doing this fic for money. All characters, including the hot elf Legolas, is not mine as well. Well, it's as proper as a disclaimer gets with me.
A/N: Well, I don't have much to say this time except… wow, chapter 9 already. It's moving along nicely. Enjoy!
Chapter 9 – "I will keep faith!"
The two swords clashed again and rang clear through the woods. The elf was red in the face and was attacking without reason, striking blindly. The man, although slower, blocked the frenzied attacks calmly.
"You will not win." Aragorn growled. He tried an attack, but it was swiftly blocked.
Legolas made no reply. His face was wet with tears, and his heart raced within him. Legolas was determined never to speak another word to Aragorn. He silently exchanged blows with the man, his face set in a dangerous expression. He heard the whistle of the sword by his ear, and saw a few strands of his hair flutter to the ground. He narrowed his eyes.
"Oh, look at that." Aragorn sneered. "Your perfect hair."
Legolas stared blankly at them, then shrugged.
It is naught but a few strands.
He will not get the better of me.
I will not listen to him.
I will not spare him.
And by dawn, he shall lay in his own blood.
Or I will be.
A mad throbbing pierced his skull. Gimli rolled onto his side and groaned as he sat up in a pile of dead leaves. He blinked until his eyes were back in focus, shook his head, then rubbed his sore behind.
"I must not be dead if I am in so much pain…" he moaned to himself. And then he remembered Legolas and Aragorn. He jumped to his feet but nearly fell back down again at what he saw.
They were engaged in deadly combat, and although Legolas seemed to be more panicked, no one could get the better of either. Aragorn threw what could have been a deadly thrust, but Legolas was ready and leapt to the side, immediately slashing at the man.
Although Legolas' movements were passionate and frenzied, his eyes held only an indifferent look of malice. His face was set in a hard mask; making it evident he would care less if Aragorn lay dead at his feet. As for Aragorn, Gimli noted with rising alarm, there was nothing less than sheer fury and hatred written upon his face.
"How did it come to this?" Gimli muttered to himself. He jumped as Aragorn cursed loudly as he missed running Legolas through, but managing to hit him in the side with a hard fist. He shivered as watched the scene unfold before him.
Legolas barely flinched from the hit, and immediately countered with a swipe of his sword. Aragorn dodged it and managed to avoid being hit. They stood apart catching their breath at opposite ends of the clearing, and neither had taken any notice of Gimli, who stood petrified that any one of his friends could be killed at any moment.
He chewed on his lip nervously, trying to think of a safe way to make them stop. Unfortunately, he could not think of a solution, and Gimli did not want to get further involved. He knew that both his friends were perfectly capable of slicing someone's head off when angry.
Gimli cleared his throat noisily, trying to get their attention.
A low growl came from Aragorn. "Stay out of this, Gimli. Legolas should concern you no longer. He is not worth your attention."
Gimli was torn. "But Aragorn, you know he is troubled. Did Galadriel not ask us to watch over him?"
Aragorn looked slightly apologetic, but remained stubborn. "We have watched over him carefully. But I cannot do this anymore. This voice will tear us all apart, and he is no longer fights it. Legolas goes too far."
"Damn your pride!" Gimli cried. "He does not mean it!"
He looked away from Gimli and stared hard at Legolas. "How do we know that?"
"What?"
"How do we know that he does not mean it?" Aragorn repeated. "You could see him fighting it before. I believe he has given into it, and what he says and does is a part of himself."
"You have given up on him?" Gimli was aghast.
Aragorn did not move at all. "Yes. And I will kill him tonight."
"You cannot kill him!" Gimli was beginning to get angry, but kept a tight hold on his temper. "Fine, give up on him, I will keep faith, but don't kill Legolas!"
"I will not change my mind." He took a step closer to Legolas, raising his sword higher, and looked back at Gimli menacingly. "Do not try to stop me."
Gimli nearly screamed with frustration. "Legolas!" he called to his friend. "End this now."
Legolas took this the wrong way on purpose, and made a mock bow to Gimli. "If you have finished your charming conversation with the dirty human, I will." He agilely began a series of fresh attacks at Aragorn.
"No! I did not mean end his life!" Gimli shouted, and unhooked his axe from his belt to be prepared if they came his way.
"It will end when his life does." Legolas spat, missing a hard thrust.
"Stop the fight!" Gimli begged. "If not for yourselves then for the hobbits. Frodo needs both of you to guide him."
His pleas went unanswered. Both Legolas and Aragorn were in deep concentration, and all that could be heard from the two was an occasional grunt and the clashing of the swords. Aragorn made the mistake of turning his back to Legolas for a split second, but it was all that was needed.
Gimli could not catch the movement with his sharp eyes, but once again, Aragorn was on the ground, and Legolas' sword tip was pressed onto his chest. He felt sick as the tip moved over the man's heart and stopped purposefully.
"I will not make the same mistake again." Legolas said softly, his expression unreadable. He stepped hard on Aragorn's hand until he dropped his sword, and kicked it aside.
"Then you will grant me an honorable death." Aragorn said stolidly. A thin line of sweat trailed down his forehead.
Legolas lifted the tip of the sword. "On your knees, then."
How did it come to this?
I finally have him.
Gimli was close to sobbing. A look mad of triumph lit up Legolas' eyes. He wanted to throw up. Legolas stood behind Aragorn, and held his sword ready by the man's neck.
Gimli met Legolas' eyes pleadingly, but the elf glared back. He was afraid again. Gimli looked into Aragorn's eyes, which were still lit with an angry flame.
He is going to die hating Legolas.
Legolas will live on forever hating the memory of Aragorn.
Legolas swung the sword up in a high arc.
"This is not happening!" Gimli shouted. In one irrational moment, he ran forwards, barreling into Legolas and Aragorn.
In the following confusion, he grabbed Legolas from behind and held him tightly as he could, ignoring the hits that were raining down upon him.
"Aragorn!" he shouted.
The man was on his feet. "So you are helpful after all." He said ominously. Aragorn retrieved his sword.
"Traitor!" Legolas cried, and a look of the betrayed was written on his face.
"No!" Gimli exploded. His face was a deep red. "Aragorn, put that sword down!"
Aragorn was surprised by the amount of force and anger in Gimli's voice that he stopped. He crossed his arms impatiently. "Why?"
"In my pocket is the potion from Galadriel. Give it to Legolas." Gimli commanded, still clutching the elf tightly.
"No." Aragorn said. "My intention to kill him is still there. If you try to stop me, I have no qualms in killing you as well."
"Do it!" Gimli shouted. "Can you not see that this is the only way? Killing us will not accomplish anything. Give it to him, Aragorn, and we will fight with Legolas!"
"If it is not a death by the sword, it is a death by poisoning!" Legolas said quietly, still struggling against Gimli.
"You must trust me." Gimli said, holding him tighter still. "Galadriel gave it to us. Does she have any reason to poison you? I doubt it. Will you take it willingly, Legolas? It would pain me to force you."
Legolas began shaking violently. "No. I'll have not of that." his whispered. His efforts at freeing himself became even more vigorous.
Gimli sighed heavily, suddenly feeling deflated. "Aragorn, will you help me?"
Aragorn looked up to the sky, battling with his pride and his buried love and concern for his friends. Finally he looked back, resigned to it. "Very well."
"No!" Legolas screamed suddenly. "I would rather die!"
Miserable elf.
You lost your chance again.
You did not succeed in forcing me to kill Aragorn.
My faith in Gimli was rightly placed.
Was your lesson in obedience at Lothlorien not enough?
Would you like another one?
I would rather die.
Legolas clawed at Gimli's solid arms, trying to break the impenetrable hold. "You cannot do this to me!"
Aragorn retrieved the bottle from Gimli's pocket and opened it carefully; avoiding Legolas flailing arms and legs.
"Let me die instead!" Legolas said with a wrenched sob. His eyes were wide with fear, his lips pale. "This will send me to it!"
"Trust me, Legolas." Gimli grunted. It was all he could say. He was having a harder time holding onto him as Legolas grew more desperate in his movements. He switched positions to make everything easier for Aragorn. Gimli held Legolas' head still with one hand and felt terrible as he looked into Legolas' helpless, frightened eyes. He held the elf's mouth open with the other hand, and sat on top of him to hold him down.
Aragorn averted his eyes as he placed two drops of the potion in between Legolas' lips. He no longer held a grudge against Legolas, and it hurt him to see the elf so powerless.
The effect was almost instant.
" Ten faro-im…" Legolas murmured in broken voice before his eyes fell shut and his body went limp.
"What does that mean?" Gimli whispered, gently letting him go.
Aragorn was troubled. "Perhaps we should not have given it to him… he said 'it will hunt me.' Legolas is never afraid without a good reason."
Gimli stood there, not knowing whether to be relieved or afraid. "I told him to trust us. We will protect more then before. I promised."
"If we can help him at all..." Aragorn said heavily, sheathing his sword.
To be continued.
Good lord, I've gotten an overwhelming amount of responses with my last chapter, some even by e-mail, and I can't possible go through and thank everyone individually like I used to do. So here are the brilliant reviewers, in order of when I received them:
Cheysuli, Lhachel, Erhothwen, O.B.I.M, Becca, Valerie, Elf Child, Soulseearcher - arbariel, merrylyn, SIHansonWeasleyGamgee, Raindayz, Criket, Musicgrl, Imaginator, analorien, MiriGreenleaf, Jessica, Meenie, Skye, Wicked Misty, Fantasia, orli, Kaimelieamin, Lady-Daine, Imirie, Saki, Anya Dvorak, and Ana!
Whew. Actually, what the heck. I'll respond to some.
Cheysuli – Thanks for the book. It's really helpful, although I haven't had much time to look at it. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!
Erhothwen – Legolas must have been dropped on the head several times as a baby… maybe it was done or purpose?? Just joking.
O.B.I.M. – Maybe it's me being obsessed and psychotic, but does OBIM stand for Orlando Bloom is mine??
Soulsearcher- Arbariel – Oh… my… lord. Your review has to be the most passionate thing I have ever read. The whole scene didn't really end up the way you predicted though…. And man, I have to get someone in there soon! It was supposed to be in this chapter, but it didn't happen. Oh well. There's always the next chapter.
RainyDayz – I love the HOLY MOTHER OF LIFE SUCKING ORC SHRIEKS thing you wrote. It had me rolling on the floor… did you come up with that? It's brilliant!
Meenie – I am NOT better than JK Rowling. But heck. I bow back to you.
I got a lot of reviews bemoaning cliffhangers, but I don't do it intentionally. It's just where I stop writing after one session, so I'll try to tone it down as much as possible. Hopefully, it's not so bad this time. If you want an update e-mail, let me know, but Chapter 10 will probably be done in a week. Wednesdays seem good as an update day. It's nice to have a deadline. You actually get working.