Trees and Stone

Chapter 8

Disclaimer

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Aragorn and the twins circled Kathios, but Kathios just stood there, taking everything they threw at him. He could not be killed. Arwen sat outside the room, holding her hands to her face. She was never one to be stable when seeing so much blood. Elrond and Mithrander finally reached the room. Elrond pulled his daughter up. "What's wrong Arwen?" he asked.

"Legolas… he is hurt… badly…" She said. Mithrander wasted no time in opening the door that had been shut and walked in. Aragorn and the twins continued to try to kill him, but their attempts were failing. Soon, Kathios was retaliating. He was trying to get them with his knife. Elrond came in as well.

"Mithrander! Saruman has him possessed!" Aragorn shouted. Mithrander's eyes widened, as did Elrond's. Mithrander started chanting, holding his staff out.

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"BLAST YOU GANDALF!!!!" Saruman screamed as he was thrown back from the palantir. Clearly his power over Kathios was not great enough.

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After a few minutes of chanting, Kathios felt the pain of the cuts and arrows he had taken from the twins and Aragorn. His eyes went wide, and Aragorn and the twins stopped moving. Slowly, he coughed and sank to the ground, his blood spilling out over the stone floor. The room was silent. Elrond rushed forward and looked for a pulse… and found none. He was dead.

"Kathios will be burned outside of the realm of Rivendell. His burning shall be his final disgrace." Elrond announced. Aragorn and Mithrander set out to take care of that. Elrond next went to Legolas. He looked over the cuts on him. There were the squares and lines around his original knife wound, the wounds from the "game" that Kathios played, broken ribs, the cut on his face, and the one on his arm. Legolas was still barely awake. He was still alive! Elrond sat down beside him. "Legolas, I am moving you to a different room. I know this will hurt, but it must be done." Elrond said, and he picked up the prince. Legolas cried out in pain. Elrond bit his lip and swiftly carried him from the room and into another one. He called Arwen and the twins in to help him. Everyone else was to wait until he had finished.

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Mithrander and Aragorn brought Kathios's body outside of the Rivendell realm, along with some soldiers, and his body was burned. The soldiers shook their heads. If only had didn't have a black heart. Not a tear was shed as they made their way back to Rivendell to announce the news to the elves of Rivendell.

When that was completed, Mithrander wrote a note to Thranduil. Legolas would not be able to make the journey. When he was finished, he sent the letter with the fastest messenger and the fastest horse.

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Elrond dabbed the cloth in the water mixed with a special herb that helped to clean out wounds. He carefully wiped away the blood on Legolas's face. Legolas closed his eyes, trying to refrain from crying since the salty tears burned the cut on his face. He wished he could leave and join his fellow elves in the Halls of Mandos. After what happened, there was no reason for him to leave. Surely he would not be able to aid the ring bearer in the quest to destroy the ring. Legolas opened his eyes a little and saw the twins. They had returned. But the sight of them didn't change his desire to die. He wanted to see his Ada…

Legolas's eyes closed. Elrond sighed. "He's unconscious. Blood loss." He said. His children groaned a little. But they returned to cleaning up his wounds.

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Two days later, Thranduil was sitting in his throne room when a messenger clad in Rivendell attire burst into the room. He stood. "Sire! I have a message from Mithrander in Rivendell!" he said, handing the envelope to the king. Thranduil grabbed it and tore it open.

Thranduil~

Something has happened here. A soldier of Rivendell had a grudge on Legolas ever since they were young children. One afternoon, Legolas was helping a little elfling out of a tree and the soldier, Kathios, came and attack him. Elrond and Glorfindel stopped him, but Kathios tried to stab Elrond, and your son saved him. He had a wound on his stomach. Kathios was locked away, but he escaped, and he found Legolas's room. He has injured Legolas greatly, and he has lost much blood. Kathios was killed however. Aragorn and the twins killed him. He was possessed by Saruman but I put a stop to that. Kathios was burned outside of the Rivendell realm and his soul is disgraced. We think it would be best if you came to Rivendell. I think Legolas would want to see you.

~Mithrander

Thranduil dropped the letter. He called a servent into the room. "I'm leaving now for Rivendell now." He said.

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Another two days later, Legolas was still unconscious. His wounds were cleaned up and bandaged. The Fellowship and Elrond were having a meeting in his office.

"Legolas will not be able to come on the journey. He is too badly injured and they will not heal for some time. I do not want you to leave Rivendell with one less than we originally thought." Elrond said. Everyone was quiet.

"What about Glorfindel?" Frodo asked. Elrond shook his head.

"Glorfindel has no desire to leave." Elrond said, sitting back in his chair.

"I think we can manage." Mithrander said. Everyone looked to him.

"I don't know…" Elrond protested.

"We will most likely be passing the Loríen realm, so if we need, we might be able to have Galadriel send an elf along with us." Gandalf said. Elrond sighed.

"Alright, if you really think so…" Just then, the door opened. Thranduil stormed in. He had just arrived in Rivendell. Elrond jumped up from his chair. Thranduil softened a little when he saw his long time friend. Elrond embraced him and excused himself from the Fellowship. He led Thranduil up to Legolas's room. The Fellowship tried to follow, but Mithrander held them back.

Elrond opened the door. Legolas was still asleep. Thranduil rushed in and sat beside his son. "He woke up briefly yesterday. He was calling for you. Hopefully he will wake today." Elrond said. Thranduil nodded and brushed some hair from Legolas's face. He hated to see his only son like this. Elrond quietly left the room.

"Legolas, please come back here. It's me, your Ada." Thranduil whispered. Legolas made a little noise, but stayed asleep. Thranduil sighed and continued talking to him, hoping that Legolas would recognize his voice and come back.

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Legolas was strolling through a beautiful forest. He had never seen it before, but he didn't mind. He loves the trees and the way that the sun shone through the leaves making faintly green light on the forest floor. Since the trees were not dense, more sunlight was allowed in. He smiled and sang to himself. Suddenly, he heard something. He looked around, startled. It sounded faintly like… Thranduil? He spun around when he heard the voice again. He saw an outline of a figure. Legolas took a step back. "Legolas. It's me, Ada. Come back. Please? I can't lose you now…" He said. Legolas's eyes went wide. It was his Ada! Legolas started running towards the outline.

Legolas's eyes suddenly snapped open. Thranduil jumped back a little, surprised by the quickness that he woke up. "Legolas!" He cried. Legolas turned his head and saw Thranduil sitting beside him. He bit down on his lip. Pain was searing through his entire body.

"Ada!" Legolas cried out. Thranduil leaned forward and took Legolas's hands in his own. Legolas shuddered and Thranduil pulled the blanket up over him.

"Legolas, I'll be right back. I want to find Elrond." He said, standing. Legolas nodded weakly. Thranduil left the room.

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Legolas was sitting on his balcony watching as Elrond spoke to the Fellowship of eight. He wished he could go, but he could barely move on his own. He was getting better, and the wounds were healing, but he still was weak from losing so much blood. Finally, his friends turned and started out on the road to Mordor. He sighed heavily, but they only caused him to cough. The pain was excruciating. It wasn't long before Thranduil and Elrond joined him in his room. "Legolas, I was thinking that we should take you home soon." Thranduil said. Legolas looked up at him sadly. Thranduil tried to smile, but he just couldn't. Elrond put a hand to his friend's shoulder. Legolas had stopped talking after he woke up. The only word Thranduil had heard him say was Ada, and that was a week and a half ago.

"I know that being around trees would help you recover faster." Elrond told Legolas. "Stone cannot compare to your trees." He added. They both looked down sadly at the young elf. His hopes of traveling and having adventures and being part of the destruction of the ring were shattered.

Legolas said nothing, so Elrond and Thranduil went back into the room. "I'm worried, Elrond." Thranduil said. Elrond nodded.

"I think he will be ok. Understand, Thranduil, that when he found him, there was almost no part of him that wasn't covered in blood. What Kathios did to him must have traumatized him. That's why I feel that being back in Mirkwood might help him to recover if he's among things he knows well." Elrond said. Thranduil nodded.

"Thank you for everything Elrond." Thranduil said.

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Ugh, I feel like this story is going downhill. * cry *   I'll try to make the next chapter better. I think there will only be like one or two more to go. I'm trying to form out another idea for my next story. I haven't found it yet. Anyways, review!!! Thanks!!

Peace In~

Banana Nut Muffin