Disclaimer: See chapter 1, please. Basically it says I own nothing!
Beta: Not betaed by Akedhi yet, but revised by myself. Yes, after re-reading the beta-version of chapter 5 I've been able to figure some mistakes out by myself. ;)
Response to reviews: Thank you all for encouraging me to keep on writing! :)
Pegasus, Thanks for your, uhm, let's call it "friendly flaming". :) Don't mind I was not hurt by your words but nonetheless I'd like to set records straight.
First, I did not say these birds were crows or crebains from Dunland which Saruman used as spies. Where did you get that idea from? I just said they were "crow-like" birds. That simply means that they look like crows, it doesn't mean they are crows. Actually they are far from being crows or normal birds at all, that is, as will be revealed by Gandalf in a later chapter. You will also find out why they attack the wolves in that chapter. :) Besides, I may quote: "Crows: Black carrion birds associated in Tolkien's work with the forces of darkness." The Encyclopaedia of Arda. Considering this, I think it would be ok to use crows acting as evil creatures in a LOTR-fanfic. But as I've said before, "my" birds are not really crows. You'll learn more soon, I promise :)
Second, of course a mother wolf is much more dangerous than a lonely male wolf, that was the whole point! :) We (you, other readers and I) know it but little Legolas doesn't know it, at least not in this story, because he has not had proper lessons yet and still has a lot to learn about the animals dwelling in his father's woods. He's a small elfling and a quite naïve one at that, at least in this situation. I thought it would be clear that I was being a bit sarcastic on his rather innocent ideas concerning female wolves. Sorry if it wasn't clear enough! :/ However, the fact that he is able to befriend even a mother wolf and her offspring makes the situation so very special. And that's what I wanted to tell here: that Legolas is a very special little wood-elfling who could even befriend an overprotective, usually slightly over-aggressive mother wolf! :)
Third, apart from the fact that considering this is Mirkwood I think it wouldn't be totally out of line to have something abnormal like a stray single mother wolf wandering through this cursed forest, I promise you that there is a reason why this wolf is alone! You just have to wait and read the next few chapters! Everything will be revealed there! :)
You were simply a little bit too fast with your criticism about the birds and wolves here :). Believe me, I am certainly not someone just writing down what's swimming in my head without thinking about it twice and third and turning an idea over and over again to make sure there's as much logic to it as possible. Nobody is perfect though, mind you, and I think it's forgivable when an author is slightly illogical – there are two words for it: "poetic licence". :)
For the proper English comment: Thanks for pointing those mistakes out to me. :) As I've said in my A/N English is not my native language and honestly I wasn't aware that "You guys" is not proper English. *sigh* I still have a lot to learn in English.
Please read the updated A/N at the beginning of this story for comments about why I thought a beating or spanking (which is actually what I thought of when I wrote about a beating, I just didn't know that verb, either! *argh*) might be possible amongst elves.
Pooh, that's it for now, I think. And don't worry I haven't been hurt by your words as I could see that you were simply just thinking/reacting too fast! :) If something at all I'm only disappointed with myself for obviously not being able to make things such as the "birds/crows"-issue clearer and that my English is not as good as I hoped. *sniff*
It's encouraging however, to see, that even though you think I've messed up the facts you still enjoyed reading my stuff! *grin*
And now, on with the story…
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Father and Son – Chapter 9
It was before dawn that King Thranduil, Lord Elrond, Mithrandir and the troop got up and continued their search for the lost little elfling.
They worked their way through the forest, heading into the direction of the clearing Thranduil had thought of in the night because for some strange reasons pictures of that clearing constantly had been flashing through the king's mind as soon as he had awoken from a light slumber this morning and he had felt the desperate urge to head down there.
They had walked and searched for about an hour as suddenly the forest grew still. The searchers walked on but strained their ears to listen as the trees started to tremble and groan, a suddenly appearing wind rustling through their leaves.
Thranduil stopped dead in his tracks, staring at the canopy.
Cold shivers ran down his spine as the icy breeze blew against him, and his heart clenched awfully in his chest. He could hear his child's horrified sobs carried along the painful moan of the air. He could hear his son's laboured breathing and he could almost feel the unnatural rapid, fearful beating of Legolas' little heart in his own. The mere sounds were so brutal to him that his whole body ached instantly and tears stung in his eyes.
"Legolas…" He breathlessly gasped in terror, his fair face now deathly pale.
Out of nothing he broke into a frantic run - followed by his stunned friends and warriors. Even though all of them had heard the trees whispering of danger and fear they had not heard or felt what Legolas' father had.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Legolas could not help crying almost hysterically now.
Finally the pain had overpowered the adrenaline and his small body was hurting all over. Tears, pain and fear clouded his vision as he stumbled on.
He reached thick undergrowth and without hesitation he jumped into it, hoping the birds could not attack him in there. He was proved right as most of the evil beasts flinched back and only two smaller ones kept on attacking him, ripping off his hair, biting his delicately pointed ears, while the other birds hovered above the undergrowth, shrieking in protest at the loss of their prey.
Crawling with the cub in his arms was a difficult task, but somehow Legolas managed to move forward on his knees and one hand. He did not dare to stop with the two birds still clinging to him.
After a while too short for his liking he reached the end of the undergrowth and hesitated. If he would leave the protection of the undergrowth now he would be easy prey for the birds again – on the other hand every nerve in his small hurting body screamed for him to run as fast and as far away from here as possible.
He looked around frantically, trying to shake off the two birds at the same time, and spotted another area of thick undergrowth further down a small path he had not noticed before. I must get there, he thought desperately.
Clapping his left arm over his head in an attempt to block the painful attacks of the birds he stood up and rushed forward, his the other arm still tightly wrapped around the whimpering cub pressed against his chest.
The birds crushed down on him again as soon as he left the protection of the bushes. He had to bend further down in order to protect both, the cub and his vulnerable belly, as they advanced him from the front. His blocking arm was bleeding severely now but at least the birds could not peck his head and not rip off his hair anymore. They slammed into his shoulders, legs and back though, obviously trying to bring him down. It was clear to him, that they wanted the cub – not him – and he clutched the small animal even tighter.
"Ada…" He sobbed out again and again. "Ada, Ada, please help me!"
Another root got in his way and he almost fell, almost gave in, but then he heard the booming voice of his father echoing through the wood…
"LEGOLAS!!!"
A trace of unexpected relief flared up in him and pushed him to move on even faster.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"LEGOLAS!!!" Thranduil yelled while running as fast as he could. He still could not see his son anywhere, but he knew he must be near.
"Ada!" came a tiny cry.
There it was! The one voice he had been prayed for to answer since he could not remember when. The angelic sound he had feared he would never have the joy hearing again. But the pain, sadness and horror in his little son's voice almost tore him in two. He sped up, rushing forward below a small slope that was too high for him to jump on or look over. He knew, his son was somewhere on the other side of it.
And although he already knew Legolas was in great danger and terrible pain, he had never expected to see what his view was provided with when he turned around the corner of the slope.
He almost died right there and then. Legolas stumbled across the small path towards him, upper body bent down, some sort of grey bundle pressed to his chest, while eight strange black-feathered birds attacked him, pecking, pecking, pecking. His face was dirty and wet from tears and blood, his eyes wide with fear, a dark bruise on his forehead making his skin look horrifying pale. His small body was covered with bruises and cuts as far as Thranduil could see, and blood as well as green, brown, and violet stains marked his torn tunic and leggings.
Thranduil dashed to his little son, fell to his knees as he reached him and pulled him into his embrace as tightly as possible, hitting the birds away from Legolas with one strong arm, the other one firmly wrapped around the shivering small form of his son. Protectively he pulled his large cloak over him. He bent further down to cover Legolas completely with his own body, protecting him against the birds, which now, of course, attacked the king.
The warriors, bows ready and arrows notched, stood and watched in disbelief. They could not shoot the birds – if they did they would risk their king's life! Some of them immediately drew their swords instead but stopped in their attempts to get to the king as Gandalf stepped forward and rammed his staff into the ground with all his might.
The earth shook a little as the top end of Gandalf's staff was ignited with a blinding, bright, even almost deafening white light. The birds shrieked in horror and fled.
And suddenly all was still.
Not one single leaf rustled in the mighty blow of the wizard's staff.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
"Ada…" Legolas' soft sob and a low whimper brought them all back to consciousness. Only Thranduil did not move.
"Ai, Elbereth!" Lord Elrond rushed forward and kneeled next to the king, softly touching Thranduil's right, slightly bleeding shoulder, but staring at Legolas in shock. The king was still somehow blocking the birds' attack, bending over his child and pressing him tightly against his chest with closed eyes.
Thranduil started at the touch of Elrond's hand and opened his eyes. He glimpsed down on Legolas and pulled him a little away from himself so he could take a proper look at him. Father and son locked eyes, and Legolas tried very hard to get his sobbing under control but it was futile. All this had been too much for the little elfling and now that he was safe the last traces of strength evaded him. He wailed helplessly.
"Oh my dear sweet, little squirrel." Thranduil sobbed out breathlessly and pulled his son back into his tight, warm embrace. He was still unaware of the precious burden in Legolas' arms and the trouble he caused the wolf cub when he held his son so tightly. The cub could hardly breathe and squirmed in Legolas arms until its small whimper startled the elder elf and he pulled away again, looking down on his son.
"A wolf cub!" Lord Elrond cried in surprise, shooting Gandalf a puzzled look over the king's head. The wizard moved closer, kneeling next to Legolas, smiling at the young prince who quite honestly looked like as if he had been thrown into a mincer.
"Ah, there, so you have found a new friend, hm, little one?" Gandalf asked gently and stroked Legolas' head affectionately as the child took a deep steadying breath and nodded, looking incredible sad. The wizard took the trembling cub from Legolas in one of his large strong hands, calming it instantly. But Legolas still cried.
"Th-the b-birds… th-they killed… the nana… and, and… two… and then…" Legolas gasped, his shoulders trembling terribly. The mere look was so heart-rending that even Gandalf, Elrond and the warriors could feel tears stinging in their eyes.
"Th-they w-want…k-kill him, too." The elfling wailed on, frantically rubbing his left eye with his tiny bloody fist, his voice faltering. "I… I… ran… was so… hard…pecked me… and… and…oh, ada, ada… please, don't…angry…me…please, don't send me away again…" The small elfling threw himself back into Thranduil's tight hug and faint.
"My little squirrel!" Thranduil sobbed out and cradled Legolas in his arms, his heart breaking once again. What had he done? What only had he done to his little son?
Lord Elrond squeezed his good shoulder firmly. "Mellon nin, I must tend to his wounds!" The healer said as he stood up and spread his bedroll over the forest ground. Thranduil only nodded and gently lowered the limp body of the tiny elf on the soft blanket. He carefully undressed the elfling, taking off Legolas' tunic, his eyes not leaving his son's face once, while Lord Elrond took off the child's boots and leggings.
Meanwhile three of the warriors started building a fire as they knew from own experience that the healer would need hot water and Legolas most likely would need the extra warmth, too. When they were done Mithrandir charged them to take care of the little wolf cub for he wanted to assist Elrond seeing to the prince's wounds.
The healer from Imladris worked quickly and with greatly experienced skills, cleaning wounds, stitching cuts, rubbing in ointments, bandaging legs, arms, hands, head and back. As soon as he had administrated to every wound, he wrapped Legolas up in Thranduil's cloak. All this happened with the help from Mithrandir and under the watchful eyes of the elfling's father, who could do nothing but gently and soothingly caress his son's pale cheeks.
"He feels so cold…" Thranduil murmured, worried, still not looking up from his son. Lord Elrond reached out his hand and touched Legolas' face and a deep frown darkened his features. – The elfling was not cold. He was icy!
"Give me your blankets." He told the two warriors, who stood closest to him. They obeyed instantly and Elrond wrapped Legolas up in the two more blankets. Gently he laid his hand on the child's forehead, closed his eyes and listened deeply. Without any warning the healer's eyes snapped open and he stood.
"We must make back for the palace with greatest haste." He said, with a slightly shaking voice, gesturing for Thranduil to lift Legolas up. The other elf nodded and gently gathered the tightly wrapped up elfling in his arms.
The king, the healer and the wizard as well as most of the warriors started running back to Thranduil's palace, while three warriors put out the fire and started to clean the forest ground from the burnt wood.
Thranduil was running as quickly as possible considering Legolas' rather weakened state and only stopped when Lord Elrond wanted to check on the prince from time to time. If possible the frown on the Noldor elf's brow grew deeper and deeper with each time he reached out for Legolas' spirit.
As they hurried forward Elrond slowed down a bit to move to the rear end of the group, so that he was out of earshot from Thranduil, who was in the lead of the party once again and did not notice Elrond's move.
Gandalf, however, read the signs the healer sent out to him, slowed down, too, and came up right beside Elrond.
"Something concerns you greatly, young one," the Istar stated, fearing he already knew what bothered his friend. He and Elrond exchanged worried glances and the healer nodded.
"The prince is fading." He whispered hoarsely, swallowing down the lump in his throat.