AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Ok, I do not have much to say for this chapter except that I wrote it really quickly (I got the entire thing typed in about half an hour) so if there are any typos, please forgive me. I did not think that I would be able to write any today because of Father's Day stuff, but I guess I got lucky. If there are any dads reading this (what are the chances?) Happy Father's Day. Please review!

Prisoners:

Kika felt as if she were watching herself react instead of being in charge of her own movements. She moved her head as quickly as she could, but everything seemed to be in slow motion, and she felt that she were moving her head through water, too slowly to save herself. She could not think; instinct had completely taken over.

Legolas watched on in complete horror. In the long moment that it took for the arrow to reach Kika, it seemed to him that time not only slowed, but stopped completely for the space of a heartbeat. That was all it took for him to experience every emotion imaginable. Fear that he would lose his love that he had only just discovered; anger at himself and Kika, anger that she had persisted in coming, and anger that he had consented; sorrow, for the life that he thought was already lost; pure hatred, aimed directly at the one who had dared to fire that arrow; and lastly, as he saw Kika attempting to remove herself form the arrow's path, hope.

As Kika moved her head, she also turned it slightly, as if she wanted to see the arrow fly past her. As she and Legolas continued to watch, both feeling completely helpless, the arrow glanced off of her cheek and clattered against a nearby tree before falling to the ground. Immediately, the passage of time returned to normal. Kika reached for an arrow of her own as her eyes searched the woods for her assassin. Legolas did the same, saying a quick prayer of thanks to the Valar as he did so. He spotted the blonde man running through the forest before Kika did.

"Halt and we shall spare you!" he called as a warning to the fleeing man. By now Kika had found the man and had her bow ready to shoot him. She glanced at Legolas to see what he intended to do. She knew that he would not want to kill him, for if he himself was not Deregond, he could provide information as to his whereabouts.

"We need to immobilize him, not kill him," said Legolas. They both loosed an arrow from their bows at the same time, each hitting a leg. The man fell onto the forest floor, writhing in pain and crying aloud for help from his companions, who were nowhere to be seen. Before he had even hit the ground, Kika and Legolas had been running for him. They now stood over him, and he looked up at them in terror.

"Please do not kill me," he whimpered.

"Hopefully it will not come to that," said Legolas. "Are you willing to cooperate with us?" The man nodded and continued to whimper pathetically, holding his legs. He looked up at Kika with hate in his eyes and muttered something under his breath.

"I will choose to ignore that comment," continued Legolas, "But the fact that you attempted to kill an elf will not be so easily overlooked. Where are Deregond and the rest of his men?" The man said something inaudible and looked fearfully to the west.

"If you are not willing to answer where you can be understood, you will be taken to Mirkwood where you can be interrogated more thoroughly," Legolas said threateningly.

"I do not know of any Deregond," said the man. Kika stepped forward menacingly.

"We have tracked him and the rest of you this far. We found your camp. We know that you are working for him. You have no other reason to attempt to kill me or any other elf. Where is he?" The man once again glared at Kika.

"Why should I answer to a she-elf?" he sneered. "You should have been an easy target." Kika leaned in closer to him.

"Perhaps you should answer because one of those arrows in your legs is mine, and I could easily plant one anywhere else I wished." The man cowered closer into the snow at her threat. Legolas glanced at Kika, amusement in his eyes. When had his sweet she-elf turned into a fierce interrogator?

"Deregond did not tell us exactly where we were going; somewhere on the Anduin." he finally confessed. Kika stood silently, waiting for Legolas to decide what to do. She knew that they could not leave him here, but they could not take him back to Mirkwood, for they would end up losing Deregond if they did that. Legolas let out a sharp, short whistle that surprised Kika and made her jump.

"What was that for?" she asked. Legolas smiled and pointed behind her, where she could barely make out four elves on horses racing toward them.

"Remember I said that they would be following close behind? With the time that we have spent here, I knew that they would be close, so I just sped them up a bit. They can take him back to my father, who will decide what to do with him, and you can return with them and have somebody bandage your cheek." When he said this Kika straightened and faced him stubbornly.

"I am not incapable of continuing. I can bandage it when we return." Legolas shook his head, and he looked just as determined as her.

"You were nearly killed! It is my fault that I allowed you to come, and I will not risk your life any further. You will return with them. They are trustworthy and will protect you on the return trip." As he said this, Kika noticed that he said it as he had spoken to the guards that he had commanded, not as he usually spoke to her.

"Is that an order?" she asked quietly. Legolas softened and walked closer to her.

"I do not want anything to happen to you. Surely you can understand that?" Kika stared at him inflexibly.

"Yes, I understand that. I do not want anything to happen to me either. You do not wish to lose your life, yet you continue. How is that any different?" Legolas began to say something, but then thought better of it.

"You are injured," he finally said. Kika glared angrily.

"This 'injury' is only a flesh wound. Why must you be so overprotective?" Legolas sighed and looked over her head at the elves that had arrived and were waiting for orders while watching the argument.

"Bind this man and tend to his wounds. He will be taken to Mirkwood, but wait until we return to leave. We are going to look around to see if anyone else was here and fled." The elves immediately jumped off their horses and went to the man to carry out his orders.

"Why can you no be as obedient as them?" Legolas asked in jest as they walked warily to the west.

"Because I have not sworn my obedience as they have," replied Kika sensibly. Legolas silently walked on, surveying the ground.

"There were other men here, but they must have fled when we captured that one," he said. He stopped and turned to face her. "Kika, put simply, I love you and I wish no harm to come to you." He touched her cheek gently near her wound. "This is my fault. You could have been killed. I never should have let you come with me. If something worse had happened to you." his voice trailed off and he shuddered at the very thought. He gazed into her eyes. "I could never forgive myself. When I saw that arrow coming for you, I felt so helpless and guilty. I could not have felt worse if I had shot it myself." Kika looked at him in amazement.

"This was not your fault! He could have shot at you as easily as he did me, only I must have seemed an easier target. And you did not 'let' me come," she said resolutely. "I would have come with or without your consent. If I had come without, I probably would be dead right now."

"How would you be dead." Legolas asked, obviously confused.

"You stopped your horse just before I saw the arrow. If we had kept moving, I would not have seen it. Why did you stop? Did you hear him or something?" A look of realization had passed over his face, but then it was replaced by more uncertainty.

"I do not know. I did not hear him or know that he was there; something just felt wrong. The forest suddenly went so tense it felt as if the very air would shatter if my horse took another step." He glanced up to the trees, and Kika moved to one nearby.

"Thank you," she whispered quietly to the forest. As she placed her hand on the tree, however, she froze.

"What is wrong?" asked Legolas, seeing the look of alarm on her face.

"Call your elves!" she cried. "They are very near and are about to ambush us!" she explained as she drew her bow and gazed around her. Legolas once again gave the sharp whistle without questioning her and he, too, drew his bow in anticipation of an attack. His men came running silently and when they saw that Kika and Legolas had their bows ready, they did the same while trying to look for their target. Just then Legolas saw a movement in the brush and immediately loosed an arrow, with one of Kika's following close behind. There was a cry of pain, then silence for a fleeting moment before six men sprang out at them. Four immediately fell with arrows in them. Legolas quickly signaled his men not to harm the remaining two. They had paused when their comrades fell.

"Deregond, you will not be harmed if you give in now." The tall dark-haired man on the right laughed.

"You expect me to give myself up? Do you think that these are my only men? There are many more waiting for my signal. You should be the ones to give in." Some of the elves behind Legolas and Kika stirred nervously. Legolas shook his head.

"That is nothing but an empty threat. We could tell from your camp how many men you had with you. Now do give in or will you be taken by force?" The man beside Deregond began to shrink back. "You have the same option," said Legolas to the fearful man. It seemed that the man could not decide who he feared more, the elves or Deregond. Finally, after glaring at Legolas for quite some time, Deregond dropped his sword and signaled the other man to do the same. The elves behind Kika and Legolas quickly rushed forward to bind them. Legolas quickly took charge, instructing two elves to make sure that there were no other men, then to stay behind and bury the ones that had been killed. He told the other two elves to bring the three prisoners to Mirkwood, and Legolas and Kika would go with them. Legolas refused to let Deregond out of his sight.