Chapter 12

The orc spied its prey. 'Silly humans, never looking where they are going.' He smiled as he saw the human's companion catch up with him. 'Well well, an elf too. I shall enjoy this.'

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"Legolas, I do not think we should go this way." Aragorn glanced around him. Something was amiss, but his heightened senses couldn't tell him what it was. He thought it would be safer to go another route.

"Why do you think we should turn around. I thought we wanted to get back to Rivendell as soon as possible." Legolas did not want any more delays. His arm was throbbing, and he was having trouble hiding his pain.

"It is not safe to go that way. I think we have gone too far north. We should turn around. I highly doubt that Imladris is in that direction."

Legolas just sighed. He knew the ranger was probably right. Besides, Aragorn had lived his entire life in this area.

"Well, which way do you propose we go?"

"Let's travel southwest. Maybe we will find Elladan and Elrohir. If not, we will be getting closer to Rivendell and will be more likely to find a familiar landmark."

"Or a search party," Legolas muttered.

"What?"

"Well, if your brothers return without us, it is only a matter of time before they send someone to look for us. Do you realize how embarrassing that would be?"

"Not too bad. At least we would be home."

Legolas glowered at him.

Aragorn couldn't help laughing at his friend's serious face. "You are looking at this the wrong way."

"I am not."

"Am too."

They loud bickering carried through the trees, where the danger was listening.

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'So, you are lost, little elf? And your ranger friend also? I shall help 'find' you.' The orc chuckled to himself. Even though their change of direction ruined some of his plans, they were plans that could be amended. He had strict orders from his master to find the human and elf, and, as much as he hated to admit, he was scared of failing his boss. He quietly called to his subordinates, telling them to regroup in another area. 'We shall not fail; it will be their heads instead of mine.'

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Even with their new path, Aragorn couldn't shake his feelings of foreboding. He felt as if something was following them. Pursuing them. Hunting them. He thought about mentioning it to Legolas, but decided against it because the 'human' had not yet cooled down from their last argument. 'Do I have a temper like that?' He wondered to himself.

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Slightly in front of Aragorn, Legolas was still fuming over some of the things Aragorn had said, even though most of them were true. He was too absorbed to pay attention to his surroundings until he heard a voice. He stilled his horse, all thoughts of his previous altercation forgotten.

Nothing. He heard nothing. He looked back at Aragorn, his gaze asking if Aragorn had heard the same noise.

Aragorn had, and the sound made his heart race. He barely breathed, concentrating on confirming what he had heard. When five minutes had passed and not another sound had come forth, he relaxed somewhat. "I guess our ears deceived us."

"Yes," Legolas said, unconvinced. They continued, but the two jumped at the slighted noise.

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"Stupid, I thought I told you to be quiet." Their captain had been less than forgiving when he found out what had happened. "You were supposed to be following at a safe distance. You almost blew our cover. We cannot attack them yet, we must wait for the opportune moment. Now they are alert to every little sound."

One of the orcs, young, brave, but not that intelligent, spoke. "Why must we wait. It's just one man and elf. They are no match for us."

"WE WAIT BECAUSE THE BOSS SAYS TO WAIT!"

The encampment was silent. Few dared to look at their leader. "Now, all of you, back to work." The head orc was upset for more reasons than the rest knew. Their master was traveling nearby, heading home. He had a friend with him that must not know his plans. The orc snorted in laughter. 'It appears there is more than one person trying to keep a secret.'

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Night fell, but neither of the friends wanted to sleep. They were too wary. Aragorn wanted to seek shelter in the trees, and for the first time in his life, Legolas found himself arguing against the idea. He did not think he could manage it with a broken wrist and in a human's 'clumsy' body. Of course, that remark had earned a glare from Aragorn, who sprinted up the tree and sulked until Legolas apologized.

"Oh, come on, you know I didn't mean it."

"Yeah, right."

"Well, if you are so offended by my comment, why don't you tell me what's so great about being human."

"There are many reasons. One... uh.... hmm..."

"See, even you can't find anything!" Legolas laughed.

"Hold on, I'll find something. What about, no, never mind. Or, wait, not that either."

Legolas rolled his eyes as he listened to Aragorn. "Give it up, you'll never find anything."

"Yes, I will."

"Well, we should get some rest. You can take first watch." It was apparent that Aragorn wasn't going to go to sleep no matter what. Legolas felt his eyelids grow heavy as Aragorn's incessant mumbling lulled the prince to sleep.

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The next morning the feeling of danger still had not left. In fact, it was stronger. The orcs had gotten the final command from their master, and their attack was ready to take place. They waited until the two beings stepped into the clearing of the woods, where there would be no trees to protect them.

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"We must be getting close." Legolas looked at Aragorn. "Right?"

"I think I know where we are. If I am right, we shouldn't be more than a day's ride home."

"IF you are right. How did we get so far from Imladris anyway?"

"Well, we did walk around in a circle for a while." Aragorn glanced at Legolas, his lips curling slightly into a smile.

"Are you blaming 'me' for this?" Legolas asked.

"Of course not," Aragorn replied, but Legolas heard the sarcastic tone in his voice.

"It wasn't. You were the once who got us lost."

"I didn't say anything."

"You-" Legolas' reply was cut off when an arrow flew past him, twitching as it embedded itself in a tree.

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"Fools, I told you to wait until they reached the clearing," the chief orc shouted. 'So there is a flaw in the plan. No matter, it makes no difference.' Still, he did not enjoy things going differently than planned.

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Legolas pulled out his bow, ignoring the protests of his wrist. Even though he was human it was apparent that he had not lost his skill. Many of the orcs fell, but they were still outnumbered ten to one. As he ran out of arrows he pulled out his twin blades. When he could spare time he would glance to see how Aragorn was. The 'elf' was doing fine, in no need of help. He stood a few feet away from Legolas.

The two did not stop until there were only five orcs left. They each had a few scratches, and both were fatigued, but the adrenaline in their systems allowed them to keep going.

One of the orcs rushed Legolas, his blade outstretched. Legolas spun around, hoping to avoid the sword, but it struck his leg. As he kneeled down in pain, he looked around him. He saw Aragorn, dead orcs laying at his feet. Determined not to let Aragorn's body suffer anymore, he slew the orc that towered over him.

"Is that all?" Aragorn asked.

"I think so," Legolas replied as he scanned the area surrounding them. As the adrenaline wore off, his wrist, which he had forgotten about, throbbed without mercy. As he looked down he heard the plucking of a string. He looked up, meeting the eyes of the creature that had shot the arrow that was flying towards him. The orc smiled triumphantly, and turned to flee.

******"Flashback"**************************************************************

The orc stood in the dark room, reading the letter his master had sent.

"If worst comes to worst, which it must not, you are to kill the human. The elf matters little, although in their current state it wouldn't be significant either way."

The orc smiled to himself. "It will not come to the point where I will have to choose."

******"End Flashback"**********************************************************

The orc chief was displeased. He had lost all of his men, but at least he had killed the human, like he had been ordered. He didn't wait to see the arrow hit it's mark; he fled, chuckling at the thought of the human's untimely demise.

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As Legolas saw the arrow come toward him time seemed to stand still. He knew he wouldn't be able to get out of the arrow's way with his injured leg. He looked up to see Aragorn standing near him, not yet aware of the danger that faced his friend. As he saw the arrow soar towards him one thought came to his mind. He couldn't let Aragorn's body die; it was the body of Isildur's heir, destined to reclaim the throne of Gondor. The knowledge of what was at risk weighed heavily on his mind as he set his plan into action. He sent a silent prayer to the Valar, hoping he was doing the right thing.

Legolas pulled on Aragorn's sleeve, bringing Aragorn between himself and the arrow. "I'm sorry, mellon nin. Please forgive me."

Legolas cringed as he heard Aragorn's cry of pain as the arrow entered his body.

To be continued....

Author's Note: Terrified of all the people who are glaring at her Uh... well....um.... gulp Please don't kill me. At least I didn't take that long to update this time? Stops laughing when everyone is still staring at her.

A big thank you goes to all my reviewers! Your comments mean a lot to me, and help inspire me to continue writing.

Silverknight7: Thank you for reviewing, and a Happy New year to you too.

Deana: Actually, I did notice that it was your second signed review. So I guess I'll have to say thanks twice, right? lol. Thank you for reviewing, they all mean a lot to me.

Elfmage: Thank you so much! I look forward to your reviews every time I post. And as for that letter, I promise to reveal what it said in the next chapter.

Lembas Pot: Don't worry, I will tell you everything soon. Thank you for reviewing.

Coolio02: Obviously you were right, but I decided it was time for me to stop picking on him. lol. Thanks for reviewing.

Rouge Solus: Thank you for reviewing.

Marbienl: Thank you so much for reviewing! I wrote part of that chapter for you. See if you can guess which part? lol. And, if Aragorn was to break a wrist to get back at Legolas, then he would have to live with it until they were switched back, and who knows when that will be? Oh wait, I do! grins I was able to follow you perfectly; I have a habit of being able to think faster than I can write/talk, confusing all that are are listening/reading my stuff. And, by the way, that is one of the great things about being an author; getting to leave all those awful cliffies. lol. Congratulations on finding one good thing about being human; I don't think I could put up with Elladan and Elrohir for the rest of eternity. lol.

Lulu Bell: Now that you mention it, I did see a business card from "The Elf Protection Agency" lying on the table in the room Elladan and Elrohir were last scene in. It said something about protecting all the elvish LotR characters from the evil fanfiction writers. Still, I didn't think that would run away from "me." cries lol. Thank you for reviewing.

Shauna: Thanks so much for your review. Sometimes I wish I could be an elf too. My friend and I once discussed what we would be if we were born in middle earth. She told me it was impossible for me to be an elf. in fact, she said I would be a dwarf! looks at Gimli Not that there's anything wrong with being a dwarf. (At least my friend didn't say an orc.)

Jamie: Thanks for reviewing. For some reason everyone wants to know what the letter said. I promise that I will tell you in the next chapter.

AAAClub: Thanks for reviewing again. And (even though it is very, very late) a happy belated Christmas and a happy belated new year to you too.

Butterflyer: I have exams next week, and I'm supposed to be studying for them, but I couldn't resist writing this chapter. (Who needs Pre-Calculus anyway?) The Return of the King is an awesome movie. I am currently broke because my friends/brother/boyfriend insisted on taking me with them when they went to see it, and of course they couldn't go together. I had to "suffer" through the movie three times. Pure torture. (My brother is rolling his eyes at the sarcasm in my voice.) Thank you for reviewing.

OBStar20: I understand. I've been really busy too. Thank you for taking your precious time to review.

Elven Kitten: Thank you for reviewing. Out of curiosity, if you had to pick, which would be your favorite of the three LotR movies?