Lightning continued to light up the forest, and Aragorn winced when the bright light hurt his head. He'd forgotten his own injuries in concern for his friend, and ignored the pain as he walked as fast as his legs would carry him. He planned to walk all night and knew that if he ran, he'd tire too quickly. Of all the times that neither of us has a horse! Sighing, he suddenly realized something. What was Legolas doing in the woods outside Rivendell?
Aragorn suddenly heard a noise behind himself and spun around, thinking that the orcs had found them. He saw nothing however, and picked up his pace, unaware of the thick red drops that fell from the motionless body within his arms.
A few minutes later, he stopped to check on the elf's injury, carefully lowering him to the cold earth. He found that the wound was still bleeding, and now Legolas' skin was cold, his heart rate increasing. No…don't go into shock, Legolas! Please! he thought, but he knew that it was practically inevitable with a wound as serious as this.
At that moment, the sky finally decided to downpour, quickly soaking the two of them.
Aragorn gave a loud sigh of frustration, trying to shelter his friend from the rain. If the elf was truly going into shock, the coldness of the air and rain would make him worse.
Lifting his friend, Aragorn quickly walked on, having no choice; there was nothing nearby that would provide them with shelter. Even if there was, Aragorn knew that he couldn't afford to stop; Legolas had to get to Rivendell as soon as possible.
Lightning suddenly left the sky, heading towards a nearby tree and severing a branch from it.
Aragorn staggered back as the tree limb fell, but thankfully missed them. We can't continue through this storm…he realized. It's too dangerous…
Standing still for a minute, Aragorn tried to figure out exactly where he was, trying to think of anything nearby that they could use for temporary shelter.
As he stood motionless, he realized that Legolas had started to shiver. Dread washed over Aragorn, for he knew that elves weren't normally affected by the cold in the way that humans were; a shivering elf was a very bad sign.
A sudden thought struck Aragorn, and he headed off to the right, towards a hill that had a large undercut beneath it. They could stay under there for a little while, and hopefully dry off a little.
Legolas had yet to stir or make a sound, something that made Aragorn very nervous as he reached the hill. Instead of walking up it, he veered to the left, laying Legolas on the undercut ledge and crawling onto it himself, pulling the Elf further inside it. He found with utter relief that it was mostly dry on the ledge; the wind blowing the rain away from it, rather than towards it.
Kneeling beside his friend, Aragorn removed the wadded-up cloak from his wound, checking the status of the bleeding. To his dismay, he found that it hadn't slowed very much, and Legolas seemed to have definitely slipped into shock; he was shivering badly and his skin was whitish-gray and cold, his pulse rapid and weak.
"Legolas…" Aragorn moaned, tightly pressing the wet, bloody cloak against the wound. "Legolas? Mellon-nin? Please wake!"
Legolas remained as motionless as ever, eyes shut.
Hanging his head, Aragorn felt tears well up in his eyes. His best friend had tried to save his life, and he'd stabbed him! True, it was an accident, but the way it'd happened didn't matter; the fact remained that his best friend, the person he considered a brother, was dying before his eyes from a wound that he had inflicted!
The tears escaped, but Aragorn tried to deny future ones; giving in to emotion now would only hamper his efforts in taking care of Legolas. "Mellon-nin…" he whispered, desperately. "Please wake! Please wake…"
The elf continued to shiver, and Aragorn looked around for wood to make a fire with. Having no choice, he left Legolas alone while he quickly obtained firewood and brought it back, hoping that it wasn't too wet.
The wood ignited, and Aragorn added some dry grass from the ledge to keep the fire going, thankful that the wind was blowing the smoke away from them, rather than in their faces.
Aragorn pulled Legolas closer to the fire and pulled his wet cloak off. He bemoaned the fact that Legoas had obviously not taken any dry clothes on his journey, and he again wondered exactly what Legolas was doing in the woods outside Rivendell.
Aragorn himself had no dry clothes with him, as he'd expected to be home by now. He did however bring some healing herbs, as always, and he quickly looked through them to see if he had anything that could help his friend. He found something that would ease pain, but he had nothing that would cease bleeding.
Running a hand through his hair in frustration, he sighed. Giving Legolas this particular painkilling herb while he was already unconscious could prolong his comatose state, and Aragorn wanted nothing more than for his friend to wake.
Feeling the elf's pulse, Aragorn found it even weaker, and knew that Legolas was firmly rooted in shock, induced by his blood loss. The most important thing now was to keep the elf warm.
Aragorn sighed as the storm continued to rage around them, and he carefully pulled his friend into his lap, hoping that his body heat would help to warm him.
Legolas remained unconscious, his head resting against the human's chest.
Aragorn could feel the deep shudders that ran through his friend's body, and he tightened his hold on the elf, as if he could stop the shivering. Sighing, Aragorn wondered if his family realized that he hadn't come home that night.
With a gasp, Aragorn suddenly remembered what the orc had told him; that they planned to attack Rivendell on the morrow. My father and brothers! he thought. They will not expect something like this…by the time they realize what is going on, it may be too late!
Aragorn closed his eyes, in fear for his family's lives…especially when he realized that his arrival in Rivendell would possibly occur after the orcs' attack, when it would be too late to warn his father. Orcs attack in the night…I will surely not arrive home until well after dawn!
Another terrible thought suddenly assaulted him. If my father is killed, then Legolas may have no chance at survival…
Sighing loudly, Aragorn didn't realize how tightly he was clutching his friend, in his distress.
Thunder rumbled, but the sound was much softer than it had been earlier, and Aragorn opened his eyes, relieved to see that the rain was falling lighter.
Finally realizing that he was possibly cutting off his friend's air supply, Aragorn loosened his hold on Legolas, laying him down so he could take another look at the wound.
It was still bleeding.
Aragorn dropped his face into his hands, not sure what he should do. If he stayed here and tended his friend, then the orcs would attack Rivendell, and his father and brothers could die. If they left again now and traveled all night, he might be able to reach Rivendell before the orcs attacked…but if he did that, then Legolas could die along the way.
"What do I do?" he asked himself, aloud. He'd never been so unsure of himself in his entire life. Looking at his friend, he searched Legolas' deathly pale face, seeing no sign of imminent consciousness. He risked his life to save mine…his wound was caused by me! If he dies, I will never forgive myself…
Sighing, Aragorn wished that he could mentally send a message to his father or brothers, as he knew that he owed Legolas this debt. If I could but stop the bleeding and find a way to keep him warm, I could resume my journey and stop only when we need to…
Digging through his pack, Aragorn mentally kicked himself for not bringing the medical supplies that he usually brought with him when he journeyed. I'd planned to be home by nightfall…He had no needle or thread to stitch the wound, and so had no choice but to merely bind it as tightly as possible.
Legolas made no sound or movement at Aragorn's ministrations, and the human sighed loudly, wishing that his friend would regain consciousness.
The rain abruptly tapered off to drizzle, to Aragorn's relief, and he grabbed Legolas' cloak to see if it was still wet.
It was nearly dry, and Aragorn laid it a little closer to the fire, not seeing his friend's body move slightly behind him. A strange noise suddenly filled Aragorn's ears, and he realized that it was the sound of labored breathing.
Quickly turning, he saw the expression of pain on Legolas' face as the elf breathed heavily.
"Legolas!" Aragorn exclaimed, dropping to his knees beside him.
Legolas made no indication that he'd heard him, eyes tightly squeezed shut.
The human saw that the elf was shivering even worse now, his body still suffering shock from his injury. Hoping to offer warmth, Aragorn carefully pulled him into his lap again, hoping that Legolas knew that he wasn't alone.
Legolas gave a pained gasp, despite Aragorn's gentleness.
"Mellon-nin?" said Aragorn, anxiously. "Are you awake?"Legolas could hear his voice, but wasn't coherent enough to understand the words, or make any kind of reply.
Aragorn saw this, and sighed, holding the elf tightly. "Forgive me, mellon-nin," he whispered, his throat constricting. "Please, forgive me…"
The pain-caused tension in the elf's body suddenly vanished, and Aragorn sighed, knowing that he was unconscious once more.
The rain finally stopped, and Aragorn knew that they needed to continue their journey. The sooner they started, the more often he could stop to tend to his friend.
Grabbing Legolas' mostly-dry cloak, he carefully wrapped the elf in it and gently lifted him, kicking dirt onto the fire to put it out.
Climbing out of the undercut, Aragorn started walking again as fast as he could, hoping that it wouldn't once more begin to rain…
