Here it is, sorry for the long wait! LPI3
Chapter 3: Moving
King Thranduil, Lord Elrond, and Elladan and Elrohir sat together at a table in Elrond's house one afternoon discussing the missing royals.
"Where in Middle Earth could they be?" Elladan asked looking out of the large window that showed the whole Rivendell Forest.
"Have we checked all of the forests between here and Mirkwood?" Elrohir asked looking around at all those present.
"We have searched every forest between here and Mordor, no man nor elf has seen them." Elrond sighed drumming his fingers against the cold wooden table.
"Why would they run away from us?" Thranduil asked rubbing his forehead with fingertips.
"Why do you not send Elladan and me to go out and search?" Elrohir suggested looking down at a large map of Middle Earth, "We are faster riders, and better fighters than most of your men, father, and we could scout the area and ask around."
"Well, it would not hurt to send you boys out, I have never doubted your strength, and I know that you will do your best." Elrond thought a moment, and turned to face Thranduil, "What do you think Thranduil?" he asked
Thranduil nodded his head, "I think it would be best that way."
"All right then, we are ready to go now." Elladan smiled and stood up from the table.
Elrohir also stood up and walked out of the room behind his brother.
Elrond watched his sons leave. "They will bring back our children, I know it."
Thranduil nodded. "Yes, they are smart and very talented young elves."
~*~
"Where should we search first?" Elladan asked getting up onto his horse once they were ready to leave.
Elrohir pulled out his map. "Why don't we check these areas here, and ask around?"
Elladan looked to where his brother was pointing and nodded in agreement.
Then the boys rode off at great speed; they didn't want to waste any time, incase their sister was in trouble.
~*~
Legolas slept on his stomach, because every time he turned over onto his back, the dust and dirt from the ground would get into his wounds on it. He only thought of Arwen now; he couldn't believe he had let her down. The only reason he stayed alive was in order to get her out of this place alive. If it weren't for her, he might have already given up all hope, but Arwen was too precious to him to just give up without a fight. He didn't know how long his body could keep up fighting, though.
Legolas had developed a fever from being down in the cold wet dungeons for so long and he was sweating tremendously. He could barely open his eyes, because every time he did, the room would spin and everything blurred together. Eldera just laughed at him every time Legolas showed signs of his sickness.
Eldera was commanded to keep an eye on Legolas now every day for hours at a time. The king was beginning to believe that if Legolas wasn't watched more often, he would figure out a way to get free. He said that elves could do whatever they wanted and they could do it in a heartbeat if they were left alone for one second.
Legolas knew that this was just another one of the King's theories. Yes, the elves were smarter than most, and they could find ways out of almost anything, but it was almost impossible for an elf to come up with something as simple as an escape plan when they are locked behind bars. Elves couldn't do everything they wanted.
It was now one week since Legolas and Arwen had been captured and taken to this place and Legolas had only seen Arwen once. He wondered, as he lay on the ground coughing like mad, where she was, and if she was all right. Images of her having to go through what he had to seep into his mind and he held back tears between coughing.
The door at the top of the stairs creaked open and Legolas heard heavy footsteps marching down the giant stone steps. He knew that they belonged to Elder. Every morning, about this time, as Legolas imagined it was morning, Eldera would come in, insult him, kick him a couple of times, and then try to get something new out of him.
Eldera walked over to Legolas' cell and looked at him through the bars, and then he placed the key into the lock and unlocked it. The door swung open instantly and Eldera walked in.
Legolas sighed and kept his eyes shut; he did not need to see Eldera to know that he was circling around him, probably with that ridiculous smirk on his face.
"The King wants you to be moved out of this cell and into a better secured one." Eldera said.
Legolas furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.
Eldera kicked Legolas hard in the rib section where he already had broken bones, causing Legolas to double over in pain and start to cough again.
"The King says that you have probably figured out a way to escape from this one, and he says that we should move you around every couple of weeks so that you cannot escape so easily."
Legolas had not in fact figured a way out of his cell, but being moved into a different place was better than staying in this one, so he didn't object when several guards grabbed him and carried him up the stairs.
~*~
Legolas was dropped into the new cell and hit his already sore back on the stone floor; he gritted his teeth at the pain it exhorted onto his wounds.
The cell looked like his last one, but this time the bars were extra thick, and a small torn up mattress was lying in the corner. It was even a little warmer, but not by much.
Eldera shook his head and slammed the barred door behind him as he left Legolas alone.
Legolas slowly opened his eyes and through the blurriness of them he could make out a long darkened hall through the bars, a single torch lit at other end of it, making the end of the tunnel slightly glow. He moaned and slowly got up onto his hands and knees, trying to push past the pain he was exhorting on every bone he was having to move. He pushed himself up to sit on his knees and sat panting for a moment.
There were no guards patrolling this particular wing as far as he could see, but Legolas knew that if word got out that an elf had escaped down here, thousands of them would be searching every inch of this place. He needed to find a way to get out and find Arwen before he would be found missing, and with as many injuries as he had, that task would not be simple.
Legolas had sat quietly, thinking for a moment, when he heard the sound of light breathing coming from near by. He turned his head and assumed that it was coming from a nearby cell, probably next to him. He couldn't figure out why the King would place him in a cell where there were other prisoners as well. He thought the King wanted him to be alone. He pushed the thought away and listened more closely for a moment.
The breathing continued, very softly, as if the person were asleep. Legolas crawled over to the bars, and took hold of them before hoisting himself up onto his feet. He waited and leaned against the bars while his legs got used to standing- something he had not done for awhile. He peered out of his cell and into the one next to him. He could only see a small strip from the other cell due to not being able to have his head out of the bars.
"Hello?" He called in a hoarse whisper. There was a moment's silence and then another voice spoke back to him.
"Who is speaking to me?" It was the voice of an old man, or it sounded as one.
Legolas' hope of the person being Arwen shattered. "Just a prisoner." He mumbled.
"Well then, that makes two of us." The old man chuckled a little bit, and Legolas could hear him moving around in his cell. "What is your name then?"
"My name is Legolas son of Thranduil of Mirkwood." Legolas said proudly.
"An elf. I thought I'd never see one of those again in my life." The old man's voice sounded in awe, but Legolas took no notice of it.
"And you may never. I can not even see your. Tell me, what is your name?" Legolas tried to push his head a little farther so he could catch a glimpse of this man, but the bars were too thick and hard.
"My name is not important right now," the man said, and Legolas could hear him laughing lightly again. "What matters is how you got here."
Legolas did not see how this mattered one bit, but his father had always told him to respect and answer his elders when they spoke to him, so he answered. "I came with a companion, looking for an adventure."
"And you thought getting captured would be an adventure did you?"
Legolas rubbed his throbbing head. "We didn't mean to get captured."
"As you say so." The old man's voice was becoming softer now, as if he wished to return to sleep.
"Why is it that you are here old man?" Legolas asked.
The man didn't speak for a while and Legolas questioned himself if he should ask again or give up, but then the man spoke. "It was a long time ago."
This did not answer Legolas' question, but if it was all he would say, so be it.
"You say you were traveling with a companion?" the man asked.
"Yes." Legolas thought of Arwen again and guilt knotted inside him once more.
"Tell me; was this a young elven woman?"
Legolas lifted his head. "Yes."
"She went by the name of Arwen, yes, I remember her," the man's voice faded away for a moment as if he were remembering Arwen. "I remember her, yes, she was in that exact same cell you are in Legolas, and she was very sweet."
Legolas felt as if the air in his lungs had been sucked out. Arwen had been in this same cell? Where was she now? "Where is she now old man?" Legolas tried not to sound too eager.
"They took her out and removed her earlier this morning, I believe, right before you came." The old man coughed a few times, and mumbled something under his breath.
Legolas cursed in his elven tongue, and softly hit his head against the bars, not wanting to cause more damage than was already done. "Where are you Arwen?" He thought.
The old man fell silent, and Legolas could hear his soft breathing, indicating that he had gone back to sleep. He sighed and stared down the empty corridor. The flickering light at the end of the hall put him in a trance and he sat down on the ground and fell asleep against the bars.
~*~
Elladan mounted onto his saddle and sighed as he stared at his brother who was parallel to him, staring down at a map, "Well, that is another city that doesn't know where they are. What is next?"
"We haven't tried Theserians; it is the last place that I can think of." Elrohir shrugged and tucked the map away.
"But Father says not to go there. Arwen wouldn't go against his wishes, would she?" Elladan asked.
Elrohir shook his head, "She does do what ever she wants and there is no stopping her when she does something."
"Alright, let's go and see if they are there." Elladan turned his horse around, and headed into the direction of Theserians.
~*~
Legolas was aroused out of his sleep by the whispering voice of the old man. He was still in the sitting position that he was in before he fell asleep; sleep never felt so good to him.
"Legolas," the man called.
Legolas peered as far as the bars would allow him, into the man's cell.
"I think I know a way to help your friend," he said.
"What is it?" Legolas asked eagerly.
"The elven maiden, Arwen, would talk about an escape plan that she had been planning, she told me what it was, if you're interested."
Legolas responded quickly, he didn't need to know any details; this was his one chance to get out and rescue Arwen. "I am very interested," he said.
The old man laughed. "Alright then, I will tell you. Lean your head toward my cell."
Legolas listened to Arwen's plan. It did sound like something Arwen would come up with: it was very well planned out, and it might actually work; that was Arwen for you.
The old man finished the plan and Legolas nodded, he would do it when Eldera came back later that day, but until then, he would have to think about how it would work.
A/N- Ok, that was that chapter, and I am really sorry for all the waiting, I really am, but it is very hard. Oh, and thank you to my beta reader Black Hawk! You are the best!
Chapter 3: Moving
King Thranduil, Lord Elrond, and Elladan and Elrohir sat together at a table in Elrond's house one afternoon discussing the missing royals.
"Where in Middle Earth could they be?" Elladan asked looking out of the large window that showed the whole Rivendell Forest.
"Have we checked all of the forests between here and Mirkwood?" Elrohir asked looking around at all those present.
"We have searched every forest between here and Mordor, no man nor elf has seen them." Elrond sighed drumming his fingers against the cold wooden table.
"Why would they run away from us?" Thranduil asked rubbing his forehead with fingertips.
"Why do you not send Elladan and me to go out and search?" Elrohir suggested looking down at a large map of Middle Earth, "We are faster riders, and better fighters than most of your men, father, and we could scout the area and ask around."
"Well, it would not hurt to send you boys out, I have never doubted your strength, and I know that you will do your best." Elrond thought a moment, and turned to face Thranduil, "What do you think Thranduil?" he asked
Thranduil nodded his head, "I think it would be best that way."
"All right then, we are ready to go now." Elladan smiled and stood up from the table.
Elrohir also stood up and walked out of the room behind his brother.
Elrond watched his sons leave. "They will bring back our children, I know it."
Thranduil nodded. "Yes, they are smart and very talented young elves."
~*~
"Where should we search first?" Elladan asked getting up onto his horse once they were ready to leave.
Elrohir pulled out his map. "Why don't we check these areas here, and ask around?"
Elladan looked to where his brother was pointing and nodded in agreement.
Then the boys rode off at great speed; they didn't want to waste any time, incase their sister was in trouble.
~*~
Legolas slept on his stomach, because every time he turned over onto his back, the dust and dirt from the ground would get into his wounds on it. He only thought of Arwen now; he couldn't believe he had let her down. The only reason he stayed alive was in order to get her out of this place alive. If it weren't for her, he might have already given up all hope, but Arwen was too precious to him to just give up without a fight. He didn't know how long his body could keep up fighting, though.
Legolas had developed a fever from being down in the cold wet dungeons for so long and he was sweating tremendously. He could barely open his eyes, because every time he did, the room would spin and everything blurred together. Eldera just laughed at him every time Legolas showed signs of his sickness.
Eldera was commanded to keep an eye on Legolas now every day for hours at a time. The king was beginning to believe that if Legolas wasn't watched more often, he would figure out a way to get free. He said that elves could do whatever they wanted and they could do it in a heartbeat if they were left alone for one second.
Legolas knew that this was just another one of the King's theories. Yes, the elves were smarter than most, and they could find ways out of almost anything, but it was almost impossible for an elf to come up with something as simple as an escape plan when they are locked behind bars. Elves couldn't do everything they wanted.
It was now one week since Legolas and Arwen had been captured and taken to this place and Legolas had only seen Arwen once. He wondered, as he lay on the ground coughing like mad, where she was, and if she was all right. Images of her having to go through what he had to seep into his mind and he held back tears between coughing.
The door at the top of the stairs creaked open and Legolas heard heavy footsteps marching down the giant stone steps. He knew that they belonged to Elder. Every morning, about this time, as Legolas imagined it was morning, Eldera would come in, insult him, kick him a couple of times, and then try to get something new out of him.
Eldera walked over to Legolas' cell and looked at him through the bars, and then he placed the key into the lock and unlocked it. The door swung open instantly and Eldera walked in.
Legolas sighed and kept his eyes shut; he did not need to see Eldera to know that he was circling around him, probably with that ridiculous smirk on his face.
"The King wants you to be moved out of this cell and into a better secured one." Eldera said.
Legolas furrowed his eyebrows. "Why?" he asked.
Eldera kicked Legolas hard in the rib section where he already had broken bones, causing Legolas to double over in pain and start to cough again.
"The King says that you have probably figured out a way to escape from this one, and he says that we should move you around every couple of weeks so that you cannot escape so easily."
Legolas had not in fact figured a way out of his cell, but being moved into a different place was better than staying in this one, so he didn't object when several guards grabbed him and carried him up the stairs.
~*~
Legolas was dropped into the new cell and hit his already sore back on the stone floor; he gritted his teeth at the pain it exhorted onto his wounds.
The cell looked like his last one, but this time the bars were extra thick, and a small torn up mattress was lying in the corner. It was even a little warmer, but not by much.
Eldera shook his head and slammed the barred door behind him as he left Legolas alone.
Legolas slowly opened his eyes and through the blurriness of them he could make out a long darkened hall through the bars, a single torch lit at other end of it, making the end of the tunnel slightly glow. He moaned and slowly got up onto his hands and knees, trying to push past the pain he was exhorting on every bone he was having to move. He pushed himself up to sit on his knees and sat panting for a moment.
There were no guards patrolling this particular wing as far as he could see, but Legolas knew that if word got out that an elf had escaped down here, thousands of them would be searching every inch of this place. He needed to find a way to get out and find Arwen before he would be found missing, and with as many injuries as he had, that task would not be simple.
Legolas had sat quietly, thinking for a moment, when he heard the sound of light breathing coming from near by. He turned his head and assumed that it was coming from a nearby cell, probably next to him. He couldn't figure out why the King would place him in a cell where there were other prisoners as well. He thought the King wanted him to be alone. He pushed the thought away and listened more closely for a moment.
The breathing continued, very softly, as if the person were asleep. Legolas crawled over to the bars, and took hold of them before hoisting himself up onto his feet. He waited and leaned against the bars while his legs got used to standing- something he had not done for awhile. He peered out of his cell and into the one next to him. He could only see a small strip from the other cell due to not being able to have his head out of the bars.
"Hello?" He called in a hoarse whisper. There was a moment's silence and then another voice spoke back to him.
"Who is speaking to me?" It was the voice of an old man, or it sounded as one.
Legolas' hope of the person being Arwen shattered. "Just a prisoner." He mumbled.
"Well then, that makes two of us." The old man chuckled a little bit, and Legolas could hear him moving around in his cell. "What is your name then?"
"My name is Legolas son of Thranduil of Mirkwood." Legolas said proudly.
"An elf. I thought I'd never see one of those again in my life." The old man's voice sounded in awe, but Legolas took no notice of it.
"And you may never. I can not even see your. Tell me, what is your name?" Legolas tried to push his head a little farther so he could catch a glimpse of this man, but the bars were too thick and hard.
"My name is not important right now," the man said, and Legolas could hear him laughing lightly again. "What matters is how you got here."
Legolas did not see how this mattered one bit, but his father had always told him to respect and answer his elders when they spoke to him, so he answered. "I came with a companion, looking for an adventure."
"And you thought getting captured would be an adventure did you?"
Legolas rubbed his throbbing head. "We didn't mean to get captured."
"As you say so." The old man's voice was becoming softer now, as if he wished to return to sleep.
"Why is it that you are here old man?" Legolas asked.
The man didn't speak for a while and Legolas questioned himself if he should ask again or give up, but then the man spoke. "It was a long time ago."
This did not answer Legolas' question, but if it was all he would say, so be it.
"You say you were traveling with a companion?" the man asked.
"Yes." Legolas thought of Arwen again and guilt knotted inside him once more.
"Tell me; was this a young elven woman?"
Legolas lifted his head. "Yes."
"She went by the name of Arwen, yes, I remember her," the man's voice faded away for a moment as if he were remembering Arwen. "I remember her, yes, she was in that exact same cell you are in Legolas, and she was very sweet."
Legolas felt as if the air in his lungs had been sucked out. Arwen had been in this same cell? Where was she now? "Where is she now old man?" Legolas tried not to sound too eager.
"They took her out and removed her earlier this morning, I believe, right before you came." The old man coughed a few times, and mumbled something under his breath.
Legolas cursed in his elven tongue, and softly hit his head against the bars, not wanting to cause more damage than was already done. "Where are you Arwen?" He thought.
The old man fell silent, and Legolas could hear his soft breathing, indicating that he had gone back to sleep. He sighed and stared down the empty corridor. The flickering light at the end of the hall put him in a trance and he sat down on the ground and fell asleep against the bars.
~*~
Elladan mounted onto his saddle and sighed as he stared at his brother who was parallel to him, staring down at a map, "Well, that is another city that doesn't know where they are. What is next?"
"We haven't tried Theserians; it is the last place that I can think of." Elrohir shrugged and tucked the map away.
"But Father says not to go there. Arwen wouldn't go against his wishes, would she?" Elladan asked.
Elrohir shook his head, "She does do what ever she wants and there is no stopping her when she does something."
"Alright, let's go and see if they are there." Elladan turned his horse around, and headed into the direction of Theserians.
~*~
Legolas was aroused out of his sleep by the whispering voice of the old man. He was still in the sitting position that he was in before he fell asleep; sleep never felt so good to him.
"Legolas," the man called.
Legolas peered as far as the bars would allow him, into the man's cell.
"I think I know a way to help your friend," he said.
"What is it?" Legolas asked eagerly.
"The elven maiden, Arwen, would talk about an escape plan that she had been planning, she told me what it was, if you're interested."
Legolas responded quickly, he didn't need to know any details; this was his one chance to get out and rescue Arwen. "I am very interested," he said.
The old man laughed. "Alright then, I will tell you. Lean your head toward my cell."
Legolas listened to Arwen's plan. It did sound like something Arwen would come up with: it was very well planned out, and it might actually work; that was Arwen for you.
The old man finished the plan and Legolas nodded, he would do it when Eldera came back later that day, but until then, he would have to think about how it would work.
A/N- Ok, that was that chapter, and I am really sorry for all the waiting, I really am, but it is very hard. Oh, and thank you to my beta reader Black Hawk! You are the best!
