Hi all!
And here´s chapter 5 -
Please enjoy and review!
Alina
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: Far away from being mine...
Awakenings
Aragorn´s senses slowly registered the sound. It was one he had not really been prepared for, and his mind half decided he was still asleep. Part of him remembered the last time he had awoken to find that things were not as good as he had first expected them to be, and he heeded his won mental advice to stay where he was, somewhere between the sleeping and the waking world, and simply enjoy.
The bird continued to sing. Its sweet music brought images to his mind, images of home, of opening his eyes in Imladris, his adopted brothers shouting at him to wake and join them in a hunt.
Of Lord Elrond, full of warm love for this human he had accepted as his own, as he pulled a tiny Estel from his bed in a sweeping motion to greet the sun with him. Arwen, her smile gleaming as she all but floated by his room, sneaking in a glance at the young man who felt his world light up as her eyes touched his.
Comforted, Aragorn drew strength from what he saw and slowly allowed his thoughts to approach a much darker place. Last night. Tired and confused as he had been, the memory of an unnatural wave of dark evil sweeping the landscape had firmly burned itself into his mind. He wondered at the phenomenon. Never before had he heard about anything like this, let alone experienced it. Still, the numb dread he had felt was no more than a shadow now , replaced by fierce determination. Every evil had its cause. Every cause could be fought, given the right time, the right place, the right warrior.
A new sound suddenly pulled the ranger out of his musings, and before he had even registered it clearly, he was already out of bed and at Legolas´ side. The elf had moaned in his sleep, his slight movements straining his tender shoulder and side, but he quickly settled down again into peaceful slumber. Aragorn was more than relieved to find his friend´s eyes open, glazed over by nothing but elven dreams. He gently retrieved the long dry cloth from Legolas´ forehead and pulled the light blanked down to the elf´s waist. No blood stained the bandages. He placed one hand on his patient´s brow, the other over his heart, and sat silently for several moments, longer than he would have needed. He allowed himself the luxury of revelling in the steady drum of an even heartbeat and the cool, dry skin under his palm. Feeling himself relax, he finally decided the danger for his friend´s life had passed.
"Dacil, mellon-nin" //[You are the] victor, my friend.// , he whispered silently, pulling the blanket back up, and chuckled at the faint smile the comment earned him from his still soundly sleeping friend. It never ceased to amaze him how far into an elf´s mind an elvish word could travel. With an evil little smirk he added: "Albertho teli ed-haust, thalion daer, egor im tanc-gwedi le." //Don´t dare to leave the bed or I´ll tie you down.// Thoroughly satisfied with the irritated frown that crossed the elf´s face, a sure sign he was truly on the mend, Aragorn allowed himself to let his charge rest unattended for a while.
He stretched, turning his attention to his own hurts. His knee still felt stiff, but the swelling had gone down. He would walk with a limp for a few days, nothing more. Other than that, he felt surprisingly well - safe for one fact. He still could not remember anything clearly beyond waking in the wood. The brief images he had now and again caught of fog, a horse, a wounded Legolas made no sense to him at all. Frowning at his inability, Aragorn stepped to the small window and looked outside.
The gentle, hilly landscape he had gotten a glimpse at the previous night rolled away from the mill, bathed in golden sunlight. It was almost noon, he realized with a start, and his stomach seemed to take offence at the fact. It rumbled so loudly the ranger was puzzled it didn´t wake the elf. With one more glance at his resting friend, Aragorn decided to let his troubles be for the moment and search for something to eat. He would surely think much better with some food inside of him.
Carefully, he clambered down the steep staircase. He had barely registered the fact that the chamber seemed much bigger now, in daylight, when a shadow dashed out from under the table that occupied the middle of the room and made for the door. The ranger didn´t even call his reflexes into action, they did so all by themselves. He reached the door in a few strides and managed to catch his prey by the collar before the little boy could escape.
Two huge brown eyes stared up at him. "Going anywhere, little one?" he asked lightly. He silently berated himself for acting so hasty, but recent events had left him on edge. Fearing he had scared the child, he gave him an encouraging smile. He couldn´t have been more wrong.
The eyes still fixed on him held nothing but admiration. "You ARE quick!" the child breathed, " my Mum never gets me when I do that!" "Maybe I should show her some moves, then?" Aragorn countered and let go of the child who was shaking his head vigorously. "Please don´t", he pleaded, "I promise I only do this when I have to. Really have to, I mean!"
Obviously desperate to prove that he was not such a scoundrel after all, the boy remembered his manners. He held out his hand with a slight bow and said in a positively sweet voice: "Well met, Master Aragorn. My name is Telias. I have brought some breakfast for you and your friend." Aragorn couldn´t help but laugh out loud at the quick change in the child. He decided to reply in kind. He took the small hand in his. "Well met indeed, young Master Telias. I am truly grateful for your service, for I´m so hungry I could eat a boar!"
Telias grinned at that, his behaved sweetness vanishing in the blink of an eye. "I would have liked to hunt you a boar, but my mum won´t even let me go after deer! I´m sure you could show me how to hunt..." He let his words trail off meaningfully, but when he got no answer safe a smile, he continued, "I brought you some fruit and bread." "That´s just as fine", Aragorn replied truthfully, "let´s go sit outside and I shall share my breakfast with you."
Telias retrieved the basket with food he had placed on the table and soon they sat side by side in the sunshine, the mill in their backs, looking over the peaceful village. The boy was munching away happily. Aragorn judged him to be about six. He wore slightly threadbare clothes, but his shock of wild black hair was as neatly trimmed as could be. "Tell, me Telias", the ranger asked after a while, "why did you try to run from me?"
The child stopped chewing and tensed. He hesitated for a moment before he said: "I was not to disturb you." "Did your mother say so?" Aragorn frowned. The next answer was no more quick to come. "Yes." Telias glanced up hopefully at the man from beneath the hair that had fallen over his eyes. Aragorn wondered whether he had been that easy to read when he had been young. He had no intention of making the child uncomfortable, but an uneasy thought had formed in him and he needed to know. "I´m sure Daramus wouldn´t have minded, would he? He seems to be a gentle man."
Telias was clearly unsure how to react to this. "I guess not", he said finally, "Daramus cares for us well. He asked my mum to make some food for you." Aragorn nodded. "And she did a fine job, too. She even sent me the fastest possible messenger along with it. I shall have to thank her both for the food and the wonderful company to share it with."
As he had hoped, the child brightened at this, but then, just as quickly, the smile fell. Telias jumped up, dropping a half-eaten apple in the process, and clamped his hands over his mouth. "What!" Aragorn called in alarm. He feared that the child had swallowed a bite the wrong way and was choking, but Telias quickly convinced him otherwise.
"I shouldn´t have eaten anything", the little boy whispered, dismayed, "it was for your friend, too, and he´s sick mommy said and he needs strength and I don´t I had breakfast..." "Easy, slow down", Aragorn soothed, relieved. "I assure you that my friend will not starve. He was still sleeping and he needs his rest more than breakfast. And look, there is still something left. If you´ll wait for me here, I´ll go and check on him and then we´ll see." Telias nodded but still stood wide-eyed and clearly not convinced of his innocence.
Aragorn took the basket and quickly made his way back into the mill. The feeling of unease at the boy´s reaction to Daramus grew. Despite the fact that he and Legolas would have died if not for the man, his motives remained more than obscure. He didn´t feel like spending another night in this place. If possible at all, he would find lodgings in the village for the time Legolas needed to recover.
The ranger mounted the stairs two at a time, lost in thoughts, and was perplexed to enter the upstairs room and find the elf´s bed empty. A soft chuckle, clearly at the look on his face, drifted over from the window. "Ah, mellon-nin! Come to see to it that your prisoner does not escape?" The elf turned to face Aragorn, and despite his light words and the mirth glinting in his eyes, the man could sense deep relief in his friend.
"Aye, and not a minute too late! What are you doing up and about, you should be resting." The ranger placed the basket with the food next the Legolas´ bed and walked over to his friend, his critical look searching for blood on the bandages, for a sway, for any sign of weakness.
"And you should know better than to threaten me." Legolas raised an eyebrow and allowed the unavoidable scrutiny with a shrug, closely followed by a suppressed wince as his shoulder protested. "You must have wanted me to leave my bed first thing, else you should not have tempted me so. Besides, you forgot to bring some rope. You are losing your bite, Estel. There once was a time when your threats were not empty."
"Don´t consider yourself too safe just yet, you arrogant elf. From the look of it, I could still outrun you to the next pile of rope in no time." Although he had not missed the wince, or the unnaturally paleness, Aragorn gladly entered the casual banter with his friend. Having had this conversation countless times, more often than he cared to admit with roles reversed, they both drew comfort from going through the motions. "Should there be a lack of rope around here, I could still brew some of my father´s tea for you and spare myself any trouble for the next, say, week."
Legolas managed to look truly hurt at this. Lord Elrond´s sleeping tea was notorious and had more than once been used on either of them when they had put up too much of a resistance to the master healer´s commands. "I was mistaken, ranger. You haven´t lost your bite, but your ability to play fair, making the punishment so much worse than your threat. Must be your human blood breaking though."
Aragorn laughed but also noticed that his friend´s face was beginning to lose what little color it had. "Enough of this", he said, putting on his healer´s look, "you go back to bed now or I´ll carry you." Legolas´ annoyed grumble was easily detected for the show it was, for he followed his friend´s order without any argument. His movements were more unsteady than Aragorn would have hoped. And he was ready to catch him should he fall, but the elf made it back to the bed without stumbling.
His exhaustion was more than obvious, however, when he closed his eyes and did not open them for several minutes. The man did not comment but gently replaced the bandages. Both the shoulder wound and the bite were slow to heal, but heal they did, and the bump on the head had proved less dangerous than he had feared. If Legolas didn´t insist on pushing himself too much, he should be fine in a few days.
Aragorn had played with the thought of taking Legolas with him to the village to get him out of Daramus´ way, but he dismissed that thought now. He was sure to harm his friend by dragging him out of bed so early, and the old man had not yet attempted to hurt him, on the contrary. It was a reasonable decision to leave the elf here at least for a few more hours.
"Can you remember, mellon-nin?" Legolas suddenly asked, his eyes open again but with a faraway look in them.
"Hm? No, I´m afraid nothing of the fight that hurt you so." He quickly told the elf of the events he could recall.
"There was fog", Legolas said after a while, "and a brave horse that was lost to an evil predator. There were voices in the fog, calling ... Before that - I´m not sure myself, Estel, but I keep seeing your father´s face. I have dreamt of him. He is urgently trying to tell me something, but I cannot hear him." The same frustration Aragorn himself felt at his loss of memory flitted over the elf´s fair features. "There is a shadow here, my friend, and a cold that I can feel even in the sun´s rays."
He was silent for a moment, then weakly gestured to a leather pouch still attached to Aragorn´s belt that lay at the foot of his bed. "I don´t remember...you...carrying that. - What is... in it?" The elf was clearly battling his exhaustion, and Aragorn frowned disapprovingly at this, but he too was intrigued.
He had all but forgotten the mysterious pouch and had not spared any thought on it since checking its contents the day before. "I´m not sure what to make of it", he answered truthfully, "why don´t you look at it when you wake and try to remember what it´s all about? You wouldn´t even have to leave the bed, you could safely sit here, eat something, and use your sharp wit on this riddle. And when I return to you, you´ll not have fallen down the steps or done anything else to damage your health, and you could impress me with your wisdom."
The elf smiled at this, although faintly. "Using flattery and bribes now ... instead of ... threats?"
He paused, his eyes momentarily glazing over, but he fought his way back from sleep. "Tirio le, Estel" ,he murmered, "tirio ..." //Watch yourself, Estel.//
"Aye, im bor" //I am steadfst//, Aragorn reassured his friend as he drifted off.
He sat beside Legolas for a while, watching dreams mingle in his blue eyes. He
was reluctant to leave his friend, especially after his last warning, but remaining here would get him no closer to solving the riddles that still threw shadows over both of their lives. "Im bor" he promised again before he left to find Telias.
TBC
And here´s chapter 5 -
Please enjoy and review!
Alina
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: Far away from being mine...
Awakenings
Aragorn´s senses slowly registered the sound. It was one he had not really been prepared for, and his mind half decided he was still asleep. Part of him remembered the last time he had awoken to find that things were not as good as he had first expected them to be, and he heeded his won mental advice to stay where he was, somewhere between the sleeping and the waking world, and simply enjoy.
The bird continued to sing. Its sweet music brought images to his mind, images of home, of opening his eyes in Imladris, his adopted brothers shouting at him to wake and join them in a hunt.
Of Lord Elrond, full of warm love for this human he had accepted as his own, as he pulled a tiny Estel from his bed in a sweeping motion to greet the sun with him. Arwen, her smile gleaming as she all but floated by his room, sneaking in a glance at the young man who felt his world light up as her eyes touched his.
Comforted, Aragorn drew strength from what he saw and slowly allowed his thoughts to approach a much darker place. Last night. Tired and confused as he had been, the memory of an unnatural wave of dark evil sweeping the landscape had firmly burned itself into his mind. He wondered at the phenomenon. Never before had he heard about anything like this, let alone experienced it. Still, the numb dread he had felt was no more than a shadow now , replaced by fierce determination. Every evil had its cause. Every cause could be fought, given the right time, the right place, the right warrior.
A new sound suddenly pulled the ranger out of his musings, and before he had even registered it clearly, he was already out of bed and at Legolas´ side. The elf had moaned in his sleep, his slight movements straining his tender shoulder and side, but he quickly settled down again into peaceful slumber. Aragorn was more than relieved to find his friend´s eyes open, glazed over by nothing but elven dreams. He gently retrieved the long dry cloth from Legolas´ forehead and pulled the light blanked down to the elf´s waist. No blood stained the bandages. He placed one hand on his patient´s brow, the other over his heart, and sat silently for several moments, longer than he would have needed. He allowed himself the luxury of revelling in the steady drum of an even heartbeat and the cool, dry skin under his palm. Feeling himself relax, he finally decided the danger for his friend´s life had passed.
"Dacil, mellon-nin" //[You are the] victor, my friend.// , he whispered silently, pulling the blanket back up, and chuckled at the faint smile the comment earned him from his still soundly sleeping friend. It never ceased to amaze him how far into an elf´s mind an elvish word could travel. With an evil little smirk he added: "Albertho teli ed-haust, thalion daer, egor im tanc-gwedi le." //Don´t dare to leave the bed or I´ll tie you down.// Thoroughly satisfied with the irritated frown that crossed the elf´s face, a sure sign he was truly on the mend, Aragorn allowed himself to let his charge rest unattended for a while.
He stretched, turning his attention to his own hurts. His knee still felt stiff, but the swelling had gone down. He would walk with a limp for a few days, nothing more. Other than that, he felt surprisingly well - safe for one fact. He still could not remember anything clearly beyond waking in the wood. The brief images he had now and again caught of fog, a horse, a wounded Legolas made no sense to him at all. Frowning at his inability, Aragorn stepped to the small window and looked outside.
The gentle, hilly landscape he had gotten a glimpse at the previous night rolled away from the mill, bathed in golden sunlight. It was almost noon, he realized with a start, and his stomach seemed to take offence at the fact. It rumbled so loudly the ranger was puzzled it didn´t wake the elf. With one more glance at his resting friend, Aragorn decided to let his troubles be for the moment and search for something to eat. He would surely think much better with some food inside of him.
Carefully, he clambered down the steep staircase. He had barely registered the fact that the chamber seemed much bigger now, in daylight, when a shadow dashed out from under the table that occupied the middle of the room and made for the door. The ranger didn´t even call his reflexes into action, they did so all by themselves. He reached the door in a few strides and managed to catch his prey by the collar before the little boy could escape.
Two huge brown eyes stared up at him. "Going anywhere, little one?" he asked lightly. He silently berated himself for acting so hasty, but recent events had left him on edge. Fearing he had scared the child, he gave him an encouraging smile. He couldn´t have been more wrong.
The eyes still fixed on him held nothing but admiration. "You ARE quick!" the child breathed, " my Mum never gets me when I do that!" "Maybe I should show her some moves, then?" Aragorn countered and let go of the child who was shaking his head vigorously. "Please don´t", he pleaded, "I promise I only do this when I have to. Really have to, I mean!"
Obviously desperate to prove that he was not such a scoundrel after all, the boy remembered his manners. He held out his hand with a slight bow and said in a positively sweet voice: "Well met, Master Aragorn. My name is Telias. I have brought some breakfast for you and your friend." Aragorn couldn´t help but laugh out loud at the quick change in the child. He decided to reply in kind. He took the small hand in his. "Well met indeed, young Master Telias. I am truly grateful for your service, for I´m so hungry I could eat a boar!"
Telias grinned at that, his behaved sweetness vanishing in the blink of an eye. "I would have liked to hunt you a boar, but my mum won´t even let me go after deer! I´m sure you could show me how to hunt..." He let his words trail off meaningfully, but when he got no answer safe a smile, he continued, "I brought you some fruit and bread." "That´s just as fine", Aragorn replied truthfully, "let´s go sit outside and I shall share my breakfast with you."
Telias retrieved the basket with food he had placed on the table and soon they sat side by side in the sunshine, the mill in their backs, looking over the peaceful village. The boy was munching away happily. Aragorn judged him to be about six. He wore slightly threadbare clothes, but his shock of wild black hair was as neatly trimmed as could be. "Tell, me Telias", the ranger asked after a while, "why did you try to run from me?"
The child stopped chewing and tensed. He hesitated for a moment before he said: "I was not to disturb you." "Did your mother say so?" Aragorn frowned. The next answer was no more quick to come. "Yes." Telias glanced up hopefully at the man from beneath the hair that had fallen over his eyes. Aragorn wondered whether he had been that easy to read when he had been young. He had no intention of making the child uncomfortable, but an uneasy thought had formed in him and he needed to know. "I´m sure Daramus wouldn´t have minded, would he? He seems to be a gentle man."
Telias was clearly unsure how to react to this. "I guess not", he said finally, "Daramus cares for us well. He asked my mum to make some food for you." Aragorn nodded. "And she did a fine job, too. She even sent me the fastest possible messenger along with it. I shall have to thank her both for the food and the wonderful company to share it with."
As he had hoped, the child brightened at this, but then, just as quickly, the smile fell. Telias jumped up, dropping a half-eaten apple in the process, and clamped his hands over his mouth. "What!" Aragorn called in alarm. He feared that the child had swallowed a bite the wrong way and was choking, but Telias quickly convinced him otherwise.
"I shouldn´t have eaten anything", the little boy whispered, dismayed, "it was for your friend, too, and he´s sick mommy said and he needs strength and I don´t I had breakfast..." "Easy, slow down", Aragorn soothed, relieved. "I assure you that my friend will not starve. He was still sleeping and he needs his rest more than breakfast. And look, there is still something left. If you´ll wait for me here, I´ll go and check on him and then we´ll see." Telias nodded but still stood wide-eyed and clearly not convinced of his innocence.
Aragorn took the basket and quickly made his way back into the mill. The feeling of unease at the boy´s reaction to Daramus grew. Despite the fact that he and Legolas would have died if not for the man, his motives remained more than obscure. He didn´t feel like spending another night in this place. If possible at all, he would find lodgings in the village for the time Legolas needed to recover.
The ranger mounted the stairs two at a time, lost in thoughts, and was perplexed to enter the upstairs room and find the elf´s bed empty. A soft chuckle, clearly at the look on his face, drifted over from the window. "Ah, mellon-nin! Come to see to it that your prisoner does not escape?" The elf turned to face Aragorn, and despite his light words and the mirth glinting in his eyes, the man could sense deep relief in his friend.
"Aye, and not a minute too late! What are you doing up and about, you should be resting." The ranger placed the basket with the food next the Legolas´ bed and walked over to his friend, his critical look searching for blood on the bandages, for a sway, for any sign of weakness.
"And you should know better than to threaten me." Legolas raised an eyebrow and allowed the unavoidable scrutiny with a shrug, closely followed by a suppressed wince as his shoulder protested. "You must have wanted me to leave my bed first thing, else you should not have tempted me so. Besides, you forgot to bring some rope. You are losing your bite, Estel. There once was a time when your threats were not empty."
"Don´t consider yourself too safe just yet, you arrogant elf. From the look of it, I could still outrun you to the next pile of rope in no time." Although he had not missed the wince, or the unnaturally paleness, Aragorn gladly entered the casual banter with his friend. Having had this conversation countless times, more often than he cared to admit with roles reversed, they both drew comfort from going through the motions. "Should there be a lack of rope around here, I could still brew some of my father´s tea for you and spare myself any trouble for the next, say, week."
Legolas managed to look truly hurt at this. Lord Elrond´s sleeping tea was notorious and had more than once been used on either of them when they had put up too much of a resistance to the master healer´s commands. "I was mistaken, ranger. You haven´t lost your bite, but your ability to play fair, making the punishment so much worse than your threat. Must be your human blood breaking though."
Aragorn laughed but also noticed that his friend´s face was beginning to lose what little color it had. "Enough of this", he said, putting on his healer´s look, "you go back to bed now or I´ll carry you." Legolas´ annoyed grumble was easily detected for the show it was, for he followed his friend´s order without any argument. His movements were more unsteady than Aragorn would have hoped. And he was ready to catch him should he fall, but the elf made it back to the bed without stumbling.
His exhaustion was more than obvious, however, when he closed his eyes and did not open them for several minutes. The man did not comment but gently replaced the bandages. Both the shoulder wound and the bite were slow to heal, but heal they did, and the bump on the head had proved less dangerous than he had feared. If Legolas didn´t insist on pushing himself too much, he should be fine in a few days.
Aragorn had played with the thought of taking Legolas with him to the village to get him out of Daramus´ way, but he dismissed that thought now. He was sure to harm his friend by dragging him out of bed so early, and the old man had not yet attempted to hurt him, on the contrary. It was a reasonable decision to leave the elf here at least for a few more hours.
"Can you remember, mellon-nin?" Legolas suddenly asked, his eyes open again but with a faraway look in them.
"Hm? No, I´m afraid nothing of the fight that hurt you so." He quickly told the elf of the events he could recall.
"There was fog", Legolas said after a while, "and a brave horse that was lost to an evil predator. There were voices in the fog, calling ... Before that - I´m not sure myself, Estel, but I keep seeing your father´s face. I have dreamt of him. He is urgently trying to tell me something, but I cannot hear him." The same frustration Aragorn himself felt at his loss of memory flitted over the elf´s fair features. "There is a shadow here, my friend, and a cold that I can feel even in the sun´s rays."
He was silent for a moment, then weakly gestured to a leather pouch still attached to Aragorn´s belt that lay at the foot of his bed. "I don´t remember...you...carrying that. - What is... in it?" The elf was clearly battling his exhaustion, and Aragorn frowned disapprovingly at this, but he too was intrigued.
He had all but forgotten the mysterious pouch and had not spared any thought on it since checking its contents the day before. "I´m not sure what to make of it", he answered truthfully, "why don´t you look at it when you wake and try to remember what it´s all about? You wouldn´t even have to leave the bed, you could safely sit here, eat something, and use your sharp wit on this riddle. And when I return to you, you´ll not have fallen down the steps or done anything else to damage your health, and you could impress me with your wisdom."
The elf smiled at this, although faintly. "Using flattery and bribes now ... instead of ... threats?"
He paused, his eyes momentarily glazing over, but he fought his way back from sleep. "Tirio le, Estel" ,he murmered, "tirio ..." //Watch yourself, Estel.//
"Aye, im bor" //I am steadfst//, Aragorn reassured his friend as he drifted off.
He sat beside Legolas for a while, watching dreams mingle in his blue eyes. He
was reluctant to leave his friend, especially after his last warning, but remaining here would get him no closer to solving the riddles that still threw shadows over both of their lives. "Im bor" he promised again before he left to find Telias.
TBC
