Author: Mirrordance

Title: Escape

Summary: Aragorn is lost during a tour with the Rangers, and Legolas later finds him in Bree, without his memories & happily relieved of all his noble burdens, making the elf hesitate to bring him back to who he truly was.

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PART FOURTEEN

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      There were a lot of differences between a journey headed towards a place and the journey leaving it.  It was, in all fairness, theoretically the same road traversed, if only just facing in different directions.  But the journey leaving… the packs were heavier than they were when you first set out.  Both literally and figuratively, you took home more.  Legolas was learning this wasn't necessarily a good thing. 

      Well it seldom ever is…

      And when it was light, the sun was too bright.  But when night struck, it was also too dark.  Nothing was right, and there was a detachment that seemed to alienate the weary traveler.

      Or maybe it is just my foul mood.

      ~Haldir,~ asked Legolas, looking about him at the dark skies, ~How long has it been since we set out?~

      ~Just a few hours,~ replied the other elf, ~At this lazy, leisurely pace you keep, I am hardly surprised you think we have been going on and on forever.~

      ~Why must I rush?~ sighed Legolas, ~Away is away.  We'll get to wherever we're going one day.~

      ~If we should move any slower, we will be moving backwards,~ said Haldir dryly, ~Or perhaps is that what you would want?~

      Legolas smiled at him sourly, but otherwise ignored the question.  ~It is so dark for mid-morning.~

      ~I think the winds have shifted,~ said Haldir, ~And a storm comes our way.~

      ~I thought it was perhaps just my dim outlook on life,~ laughed Legolas, ~It turns out to be just my fouler luck after all.~

      ~We make our own luck,~ said Haldir.

      ~Then I cannot for the life of me understand why nothing goes my way,~ said Legolas, smiling in a helpless and resigned way when the first of the rain began to fall.

      ~How in the world did you meet the illustrious adan?~ asked Haldir.

      ~In my forest,~ replied Legolas, ~We met in Mirkwood.  I tried to steal his horse.~

      Haldir laughed, ~What in the world for?~

      ~I…~ Legolas hesitated, ~It's a long story.~

      ~It's a long road,~ Haldir pointed out.

      Legolas considered.  Haldir somehow became his anchor along this strange road.  He was unerringly grounded, and mercilessly truthful.  But the more time they spent together, the more Haldir was learning to understand him.  The Lothlorien elf held his tongue in moments when Legolas desired silence, spoke when Legolas needed the distraction.  In turn, Legolas was beginning to understand him too, and took his words in stride when they meant to chide, and seriously even when they hurt.  He liked Haldir, for a certainty.  But it made him uncomfortable to speak of himself, and even more of a past that still hurt and scarred him.  Then again… speaking of that time he met Estel… what did the crazed Ranger tell him?

      "So where will the wind take us this time, Tumbleweed?" Estel asked.

      "Your Elvish requires polish," Legolas said wryly, "the name means Greenleaf, my friend."

      "Ah, but the other suits you more," reasoned Estel, teasing, "Are you always just leaving places, Legolas? Are you ever actually going somewhere?"

      Legolas smiled, a bit sadly this time, "It has been the case lately, I admit."

      "Well," said Estel, "decide quickly.  Wherever we are headed, we must move at once.  My brothers ride hard and quick.  They will be upon us soon."

      "Take me somewhere different," Legolas said dreamily, "I want to get away."

      Estel gave it a moment of thought, before saying, "You shouldn't just flee places, mellon.  Seriously.  The past has a way of catching up, you might as well stare it in the face."

      "I've tried that tack," sighed Legolas, "I've trod that path.  It is the past that turned me away."

      And yet when he urged his horse forward, Estel noticed they seemed to be headed in the general direction of Mirkwood.  He wordlessly followed the elf's lead.

      And now I am leaving again, thought Legolas sadly, Estel will be disappointed in me.  Then again, he is escaping himself, and should not be the one to speak!

      ~I was in a self-imposed exile in the forests of Mirkwood,~ said Legolas suddenly, after a moment of silence..

      ~Welcome back,~ Haldir teased him, ~I nearly gave up on you.~

      Legolas smiled, ~I'm sorry.  The memories are rich, and my mind takes flight with them.~

      ~Go ahead,~ Haldir encouraged.

      ~As you know, I was accused of my brother's murder,~ continued Legolas, ~No one believed I was innocent, and I left for the sake of my ada.  I spent years in the forest not knowing the centuries have passed me by.  Everyone thought I was dead.  In some sense, I suppose they were right.  But then at last I felt the strange, sudden and ardent desire to leave.  Thank the Valar, Estel and Mithrandir were… well, they were just there.  For the first time in centuries, I felt fate was smiling upon me.  I decided I would take one of their horses and they could share a steed, it would not have been much of a bother.  The stubborn adan had other ideas, of course.~

      ~I suppose he must have been a handful of a 'victim,'~ commented Haldir.

      ~To say the least!~ Legolas exclaimed, ~And so we met.  And so I've been saddled with his miserable company since.~

      ~The wound on your back?~ Haldir inquired.

      ~From the blade of my brother,~ said Legolas gravely, ~Legardo, the younger.  It was he who caused Lesandro's death.  I discovered this when I at last returned to my kingdom to clear my name.~

      ~I see,~ said Haldir softly, ~I know now why it would not heal, for it mirrors your heart's wounds.~

      Legolas shrugged, ~Much as I desire to forget, I could not.~

      ~Maybe you should forgive instead,~ Haldir pointed out.

      ~That would be harder,~ Legolas confessed,  ~I feel I lost all my blood brothers.  But then I gained one in spirit, in Estel.  It was his hands who healed my wound, and most certainly not just the one you've seen on my back.  Yes, he helped clear my name.  But more than that, he furnished me with the strength to want to, and the courage to try.  Do you know what he said to me? He said, 'You shouldn't just flee places.  The past has a way of catching up, you might as well stare it in the face.' Is it not ironic that now, it is he who is going against his own advice.~

      Haldir shook his head, dismayed, ~Such sensible words.  I wish you would both follow it.  It was gift, you see.  That courage, that strength to want to face a past that is admittedly truly painful, once again.~

      ~I regret I have not the heart to do the same for him, now,~ said Legolas sadly, ~He seems so happy here.  Why must he return to what once lent him pain and sorrow?~

      ~Because it is his pain and his sorrow to take,~ said Haldir simply, ~It is his life to live.  Whether you want it for him or not.  Whether he wants it or not.~

      Legolas shook his head, ~I do not want to have this conversation again.  You believe our leaving without him is a mistake.  We've long established this.~

      ~Well I'm here and I want to say it,~ Haldir said, ~So you have to put up with it.~ but he pushed the issue no more, and it made Legolas smile.

      ~You are losing your touch,~ he teased Haldir.

      The Lothlorien elf opened his mouth to retort something he was sure would have been clever, if not for the orc-presence he was sensing.  Legolas was coming to the same feeling.

      ~The dark courts them out of their hiding places,~ Legolas said softly, ~They are near.~

      ~And many,~ said Haldir, readying his bow even as he said, ~It may be wise to outrun them.  But… they will not be targeting the house, will they? We've all but left them just loosely protected there.~

      ~I know not,~ Legolas replied, ~But you are right.  'Tis a chance we cannot afford to take.  They will be upon us soon.  And they will face a tremendous force of two.~

      ~These are good odds,~ said Haldir, his face unreadable as the two elves aimed their arrows and released at almost the same instant, striking some foe unseen in the thick of the woods.  They heard the sound of their prey crying and falling, and more battle cries sounded.

      The rain began falling harder, just as the group of orcs emerged from the forests around them.

      Haldir jumped from his horse, more comfortable upon his own two feet in the midst of battles.  He patted the steed's flank and spoke to it in their native tongue, sending it away from the fray, to seek help if they can find it.  Legolas did the same; having the horse around was having one more thing to worry about.  While they were undoubtedly handy in some battles, being surrounded by orcs on foot presented greater dangers to the horse--which was a large target and difficult to completely protect, and to its master should it fall.

      Haldir found it easy to occupy Estel's usual place covering Legolas' back.  It was, after all, an instinctive stance for warriors.  But he found Legolas was a good co-worker when it came to such things, non-invasive, but accurate and effective.  The two elves at this point have resorted to their blades, but there were still wild arrows flying about from the orcs who cared little about hitting their own comrades as long as they got the target.

      Ducking and swinging, kicking and slashing, the two elves were handling themselves very well amidst the flood of their enemies.

      That was, until one of those stray orc arrows had the blind luck to hit Haldir straight through his leg.  He stumbled back and bit back a cry, slamming against Legolas who heard the familiar sound of the 'thwok' of a shaft going through flesh.

      Legolas swung his blade wide, discouraging any orc from moving forward for a brief moment, as he twisted and caught Haldir by the arm, steadying him.

      Haldir gave him a quick nod to assure Legolas that he was all right, and Legolas accepted this wordlessly.  The two of them resumed fighting.  But as they continued, Haldir noticed that Legolas' swings were wider, his steps larger, his strokes bolder.  The Mirkwood elf was instinctively taking over most of the circle that protected the pair of them from their enemies, compensating for a weakness he must have decided Haldir's injury brought.

      Haldir was both insulted and amused, embarrassed and appreciative.  The wound was smarting, and perhaps it was his nerves and resolve that kept him going, but he felt the sticky wetness of his own blood streaming in rivulets along his leg, and knew that the injury was bad enough.  Especially when the pain slowly escalated, and his breaths were cut short, and when his world started spinning.

      One of the first things a warrior learned in battle was that a single injury is the catalyst to more.  One injury kept a warrior from being adequately able to protect himself, until another came, and the ability diminished even more.

      Another lucky slash caught him across the arm, and he dropped one of his twin blades.

      Haldir was still a force to be reckoned with even with just a single sword and a pair of injuries, but he knew that it would do him an infinite good if this battle was over at the soonest possible time.

      The orc troop was thinning.  But it would not diminish soon enough.  He ducked as an axe sailed over his head.  But his head did not miss the thick of its handle when the wielder set his movement in reverse.

      His mind slipped.  Lights exploded beneath his eyes, and they slowly drifted shut.  He thought he murmured an apology to Legolas.  But he wasn't sure.  He knew no more.

      ~Haldir!~ Legolas exclaimed, as he felt the Lothlorien elf's body slump to the ground.  He swung his blade wide again to fend of attackers from his side, as he had done before.  But while that still worked, a wilier orc from Haldir's side grabbed the unconscious elf by the hair and pressed a dirty blade threateningly against his neck.

      "Lay down your weapons, elf," he told Legolas, "Or this one dies."

      It certainly made Legolas pause.

      "Why should I? You will kill us anyway," he retorted boldly, but his eyes could not seem to stray from the sword against Haldir's pale neck.

      "We might," laughed the orc, "But I do not think you will see his neck cut open before you, his life-blood spilling to the ground and emptying his body as much as my blade is emptying it of its soul, if you thought you could do something to stop it."

      Legolas tried to stare the orc down.  He will not be intimidated.  He knew in his heart that if they were taken captive, Haldir would meet the same end, and if he should surrender, he will only succeed in being included.  But the orc was right too.  He could not see Haldir die before him.  Perhaps if he stalled long enough, he could keep them both alive.  Perhaps someone would come and aid them, even… Death seemed so final.  The possibilities were infinite.  As long as one was alive, something could be done.  

      The orc pressed the blade closer against Haldir's throat.  The sight of a thin line of blood was enough to send Legolas' weapons crashing to the ground.

TO BE CONTINUED…