Disclaimer: I may be older...but it still isn't mine.



Author's note: I bet you're wondering about the disclaimer. If you aren't, read it over and over until you do wonder about it. The reason why is...now I'm 15! Yay! Happy Birthday self! So happy Elenea's-first-post-as-a-15-year-old day! *I'm lobbying to make it a national holiday...It's not working yet...*





The Search continued slowly. Much slower, in fact, than Legolas had planned. The horse ambled through the woods slower than any other horse Legolas had known. It was as if he had quite a few more riders, or at least a ruder if a much denser mass.

After twenty minutes, they had only made it to a pond on the southern side of Mirkwood palace. Legolas was sure that it could have done twice that on any other day.

"We'll see you home soon enough," Legolas tried to reassure the horse. "We won't be gone for long."

The horse snorted and trudged along.

Thirty minutes later, they had finally passed completely out of sight of the palace. Legolas exasperatedly told the horse to stop and tugged on the reins. He was rather hungry. He walked up to the food bag, then stopped. He only had limited supplies. The horse was moving too slowly to eat now.

He hopped back on the horse. It trudged along and by the end of the day, they had made it about halfway to their destination. Legolas had planned to be in a nice comfy visitor's bed at the psychiatrists's office. Now, he was sleeping on the forest floor.

He went over to the horse and loosened the bag on it. He barely caught it as it fell to the ground like a rock. Who knew a laptop and lembas could be that heavy?

Maybe the Lira's packed me water! Legolas thought hopefully. He'd check in the morning.

He curled up in some leaves and went to sleep. Sleep is good, the still-sleep-deprived Legolas thought as he drifted off into sleep.

* * *

He woke late in the morning to find the horse trotting happily around him. He got it to stop, then heaved the very heavy bag onto it. The horse looked very tired now.

"How strange..." Legolas murmured, "Maybe it's the bag..." He hopped on the horse and began riding again. By 4 o'clock he finally reached the psychiatrist's.

He walked inside and up to the front desk.

"Yes?" A very prim secretary said, "Are you a patient?"

"No. I'm looking for someone who's supposed to be here," Legolas smiled.

The secretary looked as if she wasn't convinced he wasn't a patient. "Name?"

"Prince Lego-"

"Patient's name?"

"Oh. Haldir."

"Haldir of?" The secretary continued to prompt.

"Of Lothlorien. Sorry."

"Date of arrival?"

Legolas wasn't quite sure when he had arrived. "Either late two days ago or yesterday."

The secretary didn't reply either way. She typed something quickly, and ran her finger along the computer screen for ½ a minute before speaking.

"Ah yes," she said, "Haldir of Lothlorien. He arrived yesterday. The doctor saw him briefly, but said that there was nothing he could do. He's been transferred to the office in the north-west of Mirkwood."

"What?" Legolas exploded. "Can you even do that?"

"Yes. It's quite common," she replied calmly before returning to her typing.

Legolas sighed. "Well...thank you...," he mumbled before leaving. He deserved some lembas.

Outside he undid his bag from the horse, caught it, then opened it to find lembas. He almost fell over when what he saw inside decidedly wasn't lembas.