Sacrifice
By Gozilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello! Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments! I am amending the fic along the way to make it more in line with the book (hopefully). Please accept my apology for any OOCs or discrepancies. ^-^
I know that elves should not be affected by sickness or coldness. But just to make the story more interesting, I assume that extreme coldness could still affect an elf. Please bear with me with that. Thanks!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. ^-^
Reviews are most welcomed!!
Enjoy!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*crap* – thoughts / tree talks
"crap" – conversation
(crap) – author's note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3: Bond of Friendship
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Flashback continues~
Slowly, Estel returned to consciousness. The first thing he sensed was that there was a source of warmth from the front. The flashing of light in front of his eyes through his closed eyelids told him that there was a small fire burning in front of him.
Estel opened his eyes and looked at the surroundings. He found himself in the wood beside the raging river, where he fell in earlier and almost died in there. Then it came to his attention that he was leaning on something soft.
"You are awake." came a soft gentle voice.
Weakly, Estel turned slowly to the source of the voice. A familiar face came to his sight.
It was the wood elf he saw two days ago.
Legolas' face was very pale. His blonde hair was dripping with water. His clothes were soaking. Estel could feel that the elf was trembling, which he assumed was probably due to the coldness of the weather.
Estel moved and found himself half naked, with most of his wet clothes taken off and being wrapped in a dry brown-green blanket. The strong arms of the elf held gently around his body, letting the child leaned against his body.
Before Estel could say anything, exhaustion and coldness overwhelmed him, dragging him back to the peaceful blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Estel slowly opened his eyes. The familiar sight of his room made him fully awake.
*Was that a dream?* he thought, confused.
He sat up and found that he was in his usual sleeping dress. The light of the morning sun shone through the curtains of the window. Everything was normal.
Estel was about to sigh in relief when he caught glimpse of a brown-green blanket neatly folded on the table near his bed.
He rushed out of the bed and took the blanket. Shocked, he realised that the incidence was no dream.
Although he still felt weak, he ran out of the room, trying to find his rescuer. He looked around the corridor but found no one to ask. After thinking of the possibilities, he ran towards the healing room of the palace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The healing room was very quiet. Estel tiptoed along the corridor, looking for any sign of the wood elf.
Suddenly, he heard a conversation between two persons from one of the resting rooms. He knew immediately that they were his elven brothers, Elladan and Elrohir. Quietly, he approached the room.
"Was he out of his mind?" Estel heard Elrohir yelled, "He is a wood elf! It is by their nature that they can't swim! I knew Legolas is one of the exceptions, but he is never a good swimmer! But jumping into that raging river in the middle of winter! What was he thinking? Commit suicide?"
"Keep your voice down." Elladan said, trying to calm his twin brother, "Haven't you heard what the healers said just now? Legolas is still in a fever and the most important thing is to let him sleep and rest. We don't want to wake him now."
"I know! I heard them!" Elrohir argued, "But I just can't stop wanting to beat him up for doing something this stupid! He could have drowned with Estel back in that river! Ok, even so he was lucky enough to get out of the freezing water, he could have died with hypothermia out there in the wood if we weren't looking for him!"
"Calm down, Elrohir." Elladan said, "He just wanted to save Estel. He would have come back to the palace with Estel if he had enough strength to do so. He was too exhausted after fighting against the currents that he could only lit a small fire and wait for rescue. Lucky that he always bring along a blanket whenever he travels, otherwise I am afraid that Estel might not survive the cold."
"That child was stupid enough to get himself in the water in the first place!" Elrohir shouted angrily, "He almost killed our best friend. I am going to teach him a real lesson for this!"
Estel could not stand it any more. He walked into the room, head lowered, "I am sorry."
Elladan and Elrohir were surprised to see their little brother.
Elladan approached Estel and held him gently, "Estel, why are you here? You are supposed to stay in bed and rest. You are just recovering from the incidence. Let me take you back to your room."
"No." Estel answered, "Please Elladan, please take me to Legolas."
"What do you want from him?" Elrohir asked, still in anger, "You have almost killed him for your own stupidity. He would be much better off if you would stay away from him."
"Stop it, Elrohir!" Elladan interrupted, "Estel, please don't mind his harsh words. He is just blinded by anger. Now, you should go back to your room and take some rest."
Estel didn't move, "Please Elladan, please take me to Legolas."
Elladan sighed in defeat. He looked at his twin brother, who turned and walked out of the room, still angry with the child. Elladan led Estel to the inner room.
Estel approached the bed, where Legolas was laid. The wood elf's face was flushing red due to the fever. His breathing was ragged and shallow.
But what worried Estel the most was the fact that Legolas' eyes were closed. He remembered once his father told him that elves sleeps with their eyes closed only when they are seriously injured, sick, or mentally hurt.
"Will he be alright?" Estel asked in a whisper.
Elladan looked at his little brother, putting an assuring hand on his shoulder, "I am sure he will. He is always a strong warrior. I am sure a little bit of water won't be able to take his life." he said as he turned and slowly walked out of the room.
Estel sat beside the bed and looked at Legolas for some good long moments, not knowing what to say. He ran through the whole incidence in his mind. Regrets filled his heart.
"Why did you do that? Why did you risk your life to save me? I am nobody but a human orphan." he said as a drop of tear fell from his face and he started to sob.
"Don't look down on yourself." came a weak whisper.
Estel looked up in surprise, meeting the silvery-blue eyes of the elf. He couldn't help but smiled in happiness, while tears continued to fall, "You are awake."
"I believe I said the same thing to you not so long ago." Legolas smiled weakly, his usually crystal clear eyes were clouded, "Don't worry. I am not ready to give up yet. Though I am already almost 3,000 years old, I am not planning to die in the next 3,000 years. I still have too many things I want to do." he choked and coughed violently as there was yet water in his lungs.
Estel did not know what to do. He sat very still with tearful eyes and waited for the elf to stop coughing.
Finally, Legolas stopped coughing. He lied on the bed and breathed heavily, exhausted.
A few moments of silence passed. Estel gathered himself and asked in a whisper, "Why did you risk your life to save me?"
Legolas stared at the ceiling and did not speak for a while. Estel felt uneasy with the silence.
"I see myself in you."
Shocked, Estel looked at the elf, confusion filled his gray eyes.
"I see myself in you." Legolas continued, his voice weak but clear, "The twins told me about your experience. I, too, had lost my mother in an orc attack many years ago. She was killed right in front of my eyes, protecting me from death. I can feel your grief. I see identical grief of mine in your eyes."
Tears started to roll down from Estel's eyes. For the first time since the orc attack incidence, Estel felt he could finally trust someone who understood his heart. He cried as he could finally release all the sadness and pain walled up inside him. Legolas stroke Estel's soft brown hair, whispering soft elvish words to comfort the child.
Estel slowly ceased crying, he felt the heavy burden on his heart being carried away by the soft words of Legolas. He knew he was ready to face his new life.
Estel smiled and he wiped away the tears. He straightened himself, "I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, or Estel as I am called in Rivendell." he said as he offered a hand.
Legolas smiled, "Nice to meet you, Aragorn. My name is Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thrandruil." he took Estel's hand and shook.
~End of flashback~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gandalf signed in defeat as he watched the future king lost in the memories with his best friend. He had sent a messager to Rivendell two days ago. He could only hope that Lord Elrond and Lady Arwen would make their way to Gondor before the future king collapses with the elf prince.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 3
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Please feel free to review and comment!
By Gozilla
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hello! Thank you so much for all the reviews and comments! I am amending the fic along the way to make it more in line with the book (hopefully). Please accept my apology for any OOCs or discrepancies. ^-^
I know that elves should not be affected by sickness or coldness. But just to make the story more interesting, I assume that extreme coldness could still affect an elf. Please bear with me with that. Thanks!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Disclaimer: I don't own anything and I don't have anything. So don't sue me!
Please excuse my poor English. ^-^
Reviews are most welcomed!!
Enjoy!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*crap* – thoughts / tree talks
"crap" – conversation
(crap) – author's note
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 3: Bond of Friendship
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~Flashback continues~
Slowly, Estel returned to consciousness. The first thing he sensed was that there was a source of warmth from the front. The flashing of light in front of his eyes through his closed eyelids told him that there was a small fire burning in front of him.
Estel opened his eyes and looked at the surroundings. He found himself in the wood beside the raging river, where he fell in earlier and almost died in there. Then it came to his attention that he was leaning on something soft.
"You are awake." came a soft gentle voice.
Weakly, Estel turned slowly to the source of the voice. A familiar face came to his sight.
It was the wood elf he saw two days ago.
Legolas' face was very pale. His blonde hair was dripping with water. His clothes were soaking. Estel could feel that the elf was trembling, which he assumed was probably due to the coldness of the weather.
Estel moved and found himself half naked, with most of his wet clothes taken off and being wrapped in a dry brown-green blanket. The strong arms of the elf held gently around his body, letting the child leaned against his body.
Before Estel could say anything, exhaustion and coldness overwhelmed him, dragging him back to the peaceful blackness.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Estel slowly opened his eyes. The familiar sight of his room made him fully awake.
*Was that a dream?* he thought, confused.
He sat up and found that he was in his usual sleeping dress. The light of the morning sun shone through the curtains of the window. Everything was normal.
Estel was about to sigh in relief when he caught glimpse of a brown-green blanket neatly folded on the table near his bed.
He rushed out of the bed and took the blanket. Shocked, he realised that the incidence was no dream.
Although he still felt weak, he ran out of the room, trying to find his rescuer. He looked around the corridor but found no one to ask. After thinking of the possibilities, he ran towards the healing room of the palace.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The healing room was very quiet. Estel tiptoed along the corridor, looking for any sign of the wood elf.
Suddenly, he heard a conversation between two persons from one of the resting rooms. He knew immediately that they were his elven brothers, Elladan and Elrohir. Quietly, he approached the room.
"Was he out of his mind?" Estel heard Elrohir yelled, "He is a wood elf! It is by their nature that they can't swim! I knew Legolas is one of the exceptions, but he is never a good swimmer! But jumping into that raging river in the middle of winter! What was he thinking? Commit suicide?"
"Keep your voice down." Elladan said, trying to calm his twin brother, "Haven't you heard what the healers said just now? Legolas is still in a fever and the most important thing is to let him sleep and rest. We don't want to wake him now."
"I know! I heard them!" Elrohir argued, "But I just can't stop wanting to beat him up for doing something this stupid! He could have drowned with Estel back in that river! Ok, even so he was lucky enough to get out of the freezing water, he could have died with hypothermia out there in the wood if we weren't looking for him!"
"Calm down, Elrohir." Elladan said, "He just wanted to save Estel. He would have come back to the palace with Estel if he had enough strength to do so. He was too exhausted after fighting against the currents that he could only lit a small fire and wait for rescue. Lucky that he always bring along a blanket whenever he travels, otherwise I am afraid that Estel might not survive the cold."
"That child was stupid enough to get himself in the water in the first place!" Elrohir shouted angrily, "He almost killed our best friend. I am going to teach him a real lesson for this!"
Estel could not stand it any more. He walked into the room, head lowered, "I am sorry."
Elladan and Elrohir were surprised to see their little brother.
Elladan approached Estel and held him gently, "Estel, why are you here? You are supposed to stay in bed and rest. You are just recovering from the incidence. Let me take you back to your room."
"No." Estel answered, "Please Elladan, please take me to Legolas."
"What do you want from him?" Elrohir asked, still in anger, "You have almost killed him for your own stupidity. He would be much better off if you would stay away from him."
"Stop it, Elrohir!" Elladan interrupted, "Estel, please don't mind his harsh words. He is just blinded by anger. Now, you should go back to your room and take some rest."
Estel didn't move, "Please Elladan, please take me to Legolas."
Elladan sighed in defeat. He looked at his twin brother, who turned and walked out of the room, still angry with the child. Elladan led Estel to the inner room.
Estel approached the bed, where Legolas was laid. The wood elf's face was flushing red due to the fever. His breathing was ragged and shallow.
But what worried Estel the most was the fact that Legolas' eyes were closed. He remembered once his father told him that elves sleeps with their eyes closed only when they are seriously injured, sick, or mentally hurt.
"Will he be alright?" Estel asked in a whisper.
Elladan looked at his little brother, putting an assuring hand on his shoulder, "I am sure he will. He is always a strong warrior. I am sure a little bit of water won't be able to take his life." he said as he turned and slowly walked out of the room.
Estel sat beside the bed and looked at Legolas for some good long moments, not knowing what to say. He ran through the whole incidence in his mind. Regrets filled his heart.
"Why did you do that? Why did you risk your life to save me? I am nobody but a human orphan." he said as a drop of tear fell from his face and he started to sob.
"Don't look down on yourself." came a weak whisper.
Estel looked up in surprise, meeting the silvery-blue eyes of the elf. He couldn't help but smiled in happiness, while tears continued to fall, "You are awake."
"I believe I said the same thing to you not so long ago." Legolas smiled weakly, his usually crystal clear eyes were clouded, "Don't worry. I am not ready to give up yet. Though I am already almost 3,000 years old, I am not planning to die in the next 3,000 years. I still have too many things I want to do." he choked and coughed violently as there was yet water in his lungs.
Estel did not know what to do. He sat very still with tearful eyes and waited for the elf to stop coughing.
Finally, Legolas stopped coughing. He lied on the bed and breathed heavily, exhausted.
A few moments of silence passed. Estel gathered himself and asked in a whisper, "Why did you risk your life to save me?"
Legolas stared at the ceiling and did not speak for a while. Estel felt uneasy with the silence.
"I see myself in you."
Shocked, Estel looked at the elf, confusion filled his gray eyes.
"I see myself in you." Legolas continued, his voice weak but clear, "The twins told me about your experience. I, too, had lost my mother in an orc attack many years ago. She was killed right in front of my eyes, protecting me from death. I can feel your grief. I see identical grief of mine in your eyes."
Tears started to roll down from Estel's eyes. For the first time since the orc attack incidence, Estel felt he could finally trust someone who understood his heart. He cried as he could finally release all the sadness and pain walled up inside him. Legolas stroke Estel's soft brown hair, whispering soft elvish words to comfort the child.
Estel slowly ceased crying, he felt the heavy burden on his heart being carried away by the soft words of Legolas. He knew he was ready to face his new life.
Estel smiled and he wiped away the tears. He straightened himself, "I would like to formally introduce myself. My name is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, or Estel as I am called in Rivendell." he said as he offered a hand.
Legolas smiled, "Nice to meet you, Aragorn. My name is Legolas Greenleaf, son of Thrandruil." he took Estel's hand and shook.
~End of flashback~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gandalf signed in defeat as he watched the future king lost in the memories with his best friend. He had sent a messager to Rivendell two days ago. He could only hope that Lord Elrond and Lady Arwen would make their way to Gondor before the future king collapses with the elf prince.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
End of Chapter 3
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Please feel free to review and comment!