A/n: Well, Yay!!! I updated, I updated, I UPDATED!!!!!!!!!! *does a dance* To tell you all the honest truth, *is there any other kind?* I cried when I saw all those reviews in my inbox. *sniffles* It was like the gods had decided I was a good person after all and they weren't going to try to kill me with an icicle from the ceiling!
Oh, and as one reviewer asked, I present the story of how I got my muses:
One day in June, I was sitting outside my box, which I live in, as some of you may already know. It's a good strong box; a bed was carried in it, so it's nice and roomy. I have saran wrap on the outside to keep out the rain, and on the inside I have nice thick shag carpeting. And internet connection, naturally. Well, I was sitting there, soaking up the sun, when I suddenly noticed a group of rather odd people standing across the road, looking lost. When they caught sight of me, they withdrew into a huddle.
The next thing I knew, they had come over, putting chloroform against my nose. I think I blacked out.
I woke up in a desolate place, full of junk and grey slate and used bottles of hairspray. They were standing next to me, staring at me intently.
ME: Uhhh.... who the hell are you?
Them: We're muses.
ME: Um. Okaaay... but isn't my writing good enough already?
One Muse: *snort* *looks over my previously written works* Hell, no.
ME: And you kidnapped me because... ?
One: Okay. Can we work out a deal? Your writing sucks. We're muses.
ME: *blinks*
One: *waits patiently for me to grasp the blatantly obvious*
~three hours later~
ME: Oh, so you're offering to help me?
One: Took you long enough! Well, yes. But we're kind of homeless at the moment.
ME: Ummm...
One: I'll take that as a yes!! Come on, gang, we're moving in!!!!
Raucous cheers rose from the assembled weirdos. I sighed. Little did I know these oddball muses would soon take over my life.

Ahem. That was a wee bit long, but I enjoy writing odd stuff like that. Well, on to the chapter!!!!!!

Disclaimer: Sigh... I wish I did, I truly wish I did.

Chapter Six: Inside and Outside

Legolas sat at the window of Haldir's talan, wishing he could forget the accursed Elf. But for some reason, Haldir stuck in his mind like no one else. Not even Gwaloth, or Erin, inspired this. He leaned his forehead against the windowpane. It was not snowing, but it was deathly cold outside. The wind was screaming like a dying animal, and the trees were groaning.

Legolas sighed. Poor Haldir had to stand outside in the frigid weather, all day today. That wasn't what Legolas had thought of as what they would be doing in the talan today. He was all alone. Truthfully, he had hoped that Haldir would stay and talk to him. He enjoyed the sound of the Elf's chatter, though half of it was beyond his scope of understanding.

Lost in a daydream, Legolas tried to imagine what Lorien would look like in the summer when the air was golden, and the sun was shining. He sighed. //The summer is also when the Dark Man comes... and he will be angry with me if I have disobeyed him and remembered. Well, at least I have not made a sound...//

The mantra rose, unbidden, into the back of his mind. Do not speak. Do not sing. Do not cry. Do not scream. Do not remember, they will betray you if you do. Do not make a sound.

Legolas shivered with pleasure. The memory of the pain was... beautiful... the pain he had grown to beg for and taught to love... the blood.

Blinking, he looked down into the courtyard and frowned. There was a small animal on the ground. He peered closer. It was a baby bird. His eyes widened. The bird was going to die.

Legolas got up, eyes white with shock. Birds were not evil like humans and Elves and the two-leggers. Birds were beautiful.

Slowly, a thought began to form in the middle of his crazed mind. //The bird... must not die. The bird must not die. It never hurt, it never betrayed. It is worthy of the pain of life. It needs to live. It must live.//

Legolas stumbled over to the door and turned the handle. The door opened partially, but is was jammed. Legolas's face contorted with frustration as he slammed against it. Finally, it opened. He darted outside, and the wind slammed the door shut behind him. It also in turn slammed him into the door. Legolas shuddered in pain.

It was cold. So cold... and the wind was like knives... He had to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming in agony. He looked down. The baby bird had struggled over to the base of a tree, but the wind kept blowing it away. Legolas's eyes went black. He slowly lowered himself down onto all fours, and crept down the wooden ladder, shaking from the cold and the wind.

It buffeted him in the face like a fist, pounding him backwards. He gritted his teeth. //Bird must live.//

It took an eternity. The wind was shrieking, making an unholy din in his ears and blowing his hair back from his face, chilling him. His clothes were of no use, as the wind bit right through them. They were too thin to protect his wraithlike form as he dug bleeding fingers into the frozen ground. His nose felt like it was going to fall off, it was so cold. His ears were a deep red, and his eyelashes were iced over, making him squint. He was numb all over, and the wind hurt like all hell.

Finally he reached the bird. Quaking with exhaustion, pain, and the deep cold that was worming through his whole body, he reached out to pick it up. His fingers refused to move quickly, the blood on them freezing. Quickly, he stuffed the bird into his tunic, where he was still a little warm.

He walked over to the tree, and looked up. The nest was in a hollow, and it was awfully, terribly, and damningly- completely out of his reach. He stared stupidly at it for a moment, and then tried to scrabble up the smooth bark. It did him no good. The tree was slippery as ice.

He stood, leaning into the tree, and cried angrily. Hot tears burned him as they dripped down his face and froze. He looked up again, saw the nest, and slid to the ground, crying.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Haldir was walking back from patrol when he saw Legolas, huddled over next to a tree. Haldir could have screamed. He walked angrily over to where the prince sat, dressed in thin clothing. Honestly, the Elf had no common sense. Haldir had dressed for the weather, in a thick cloak and wearing heavy layers of padding underneath his light leather armour.

He stalked over to the Prince, intending to simply pick him up and drag him back into the warmth. But then he saw, with a sense of numbness, that Legolas was crying.

He walked over quickly, and knelt beside him. "What's wrong, Legolas?" he asked gently, taking the Elf's hands between his and warming them. Legolas looked up at him wearily. He stood up, and took a small baby bird out of his tunic.

Legolas turned, and faced the tree, pointing to a nest that was out of his reach. He gripped the trunk between his hands and tried to climb up again, but it was no use. He slid right back down again. Legolas sat on the ground again, and two tears spilled out of his eyes. They froze on his cheeks almost instantly.

Haldir looked at him in shock as he cried over the bird, shielding it from the wind and trying to keep it warm. Haldir gritted his teeth, and reached down. He picked Legolas up, much to the Elf's shock, and lifted him onto his shoulders. Now, he could reach the nest.

Legolas carefully placed the bird in the nest, underneath the wings of its mother and father. They cooed at him. He smiled, and jumped down off of the Marchwarden's shoulders.

He was crying again, but this time he was smiling. He looked up at Haldir and, impulsively, hugged him.

Haldir was touched. He looked down at the Prince, and then up at the bird. Legolas had given him a look of joy. But what was more important, he had had eyes that lived. They had not been lifeless, as they always were. They had been a deep, clear, crystal blue, and they shone like saphirre gems. Haldir wrapped his arms hesitantly about the prince, and carried him back up the ladder.

//Maybe there's something in him that's worth saving, after all.// Haldir smiled. He didn't really care whether or not anyone gave up on Legolas like his parents had, and like everyone else had. He knew he would never, not as long as there was a chance of seeing those eyes again.

Those eyes would haunt him forever.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Legolas rested wearily against Haldir's chest as he was carried up to the talan. He smiled softly to himself. The bird had been worth saving. It had been innocent, full of life, and it had not ever hurt a thing. Legolas was the same as the bird. He was innocent, and his soul was full of life. He, too, had never hurt anything. But the Dark One had told him how the others were trying to hurt him, betray him, and in the end, kill him.

Legolas looked up at Haldir. Maybe Haldir was worth trusting, too, and maybe he wasn't. But something deep inside of him was crying out for him, crying out for the trust and the touch of this strange Elf that would not stay out of his mind.

Content with that thought, he drifted to sleep in the Marchwarden's arms. He had no idea that they were being watched.

In the shadows, the Dark Man growled.

*****tbc*****
A/n: I really wish I could respond to reviews, but that would give away too much. Only, to Silvawen: YAY you reviewed!!!!!! I was waiting for you, but the next chapter was screaming to be put up! Oh, and to everyone? Thank you. *bows* You really made my day. I love you all!!!!!