A/N: Hello to all you extremely kind folks - thankyou so very *very* much
for reviewing this story so much and so appreciatively... I can't believe
the response it's gotten! Chuffed am I! You'll be glad to know, I am less
ill now than I was (I bet I kept you up all night worrying, eh? lol)... but
the fates still seem to be against me as the other day I lost my floppy
disk with ALL my stories on... new chapters for the three fics I am doing
right now, the beginnings of stories and chapters upon chapters of the
story I was going to bring out after this one set in Mirkwood after the War
of the Ring... am not a happy bunny, but there's nowt I can do about it,
so...
I am now going to use this space for a bit of blatent advertising, both for myself and for something very close to my heart. First, myself: all of you here who adore Aragorn/Legolas banter and friendship such as the stuff you are finding in this story, can I suggest (if you haven't already) to read my fic called 'Vignettes of the Fellowship'... though it has all the fellowship in it, I did unintentionally focus on Legolas and Aragorn by accident, and you'll see a lot of best friendmanship... if you want to get straight to it, skip chap 1 and go straight for chap 2, 'Aragorn: Lord of Impeccable Timing or Legolas: Ranger-Killer.' I have very little doubt that you will like it if you like this. And don't forget to review!
Secondly, and this might not apply to anyone at all (it may be possible they've only been heard of in England), but I'm saying it anyway as am still excited... the other night I went to see this band called The Electric Soft Parade, expecting it to be a good but fairly average gig, but OH MY WORD was it amazing! *Seriously*, seek out this band, they are a stunningly talented pair of brothers and they completely blew me away. I was a row from the front of the stage in a basement which held only about 150 people - it was an extremely intimate gig - and I got pointed out by one of them who I am going to marry just as soon as I meet him properly! It was absolutely unforgetable and possibly the best gig I have been to, and not only because one of them kept leaping from the stage to the railing right in front of me and my mates - I touched them! Make it your challenge to find some music by them and listen good! I can guarentee you will be impressed.
Right, now that's out my system, here's another little explosion. Personal replies to come with next chapter, sorry. Hope you enjoy
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Aragorn was finally at peace - his bones no longer ached to their cores, no cold could touch him and his body was able to begin repairing itself. He drifted happily, mind blank and pain absent. Consequently, he was more than a little annoyed when he recieved a swift jab in the ribs from his best friend, quickly dragging him back into a world of freezing temperatures and the most undesirable company.
"*What is your problem*?!" he snarled, whirling about in Legolas' arms to face the elf, a viscious scowl taking over his numb face.
The golden-haired prince just looked at him, large green eyes cool and calm, though a little dazed, "We have been through this, Estel... more than once. You cannot be allowed to sleep." Legolas was not in the least bit intimidated by Aragorn's irate glare - he always managed to stare the human down when it came to times like this, and even when the young ranger was at his most aggravated, the Greenleaf could not be made to back down by a mere facial expression, however unhappy it was. "It is far too cold anyway - even if you hadn't managed to fall into an iced-over lake, I wouldn't be letting you sleep right now." And it was true, the breath that left Legolas' pale lips could be plainly seen hanging in the air about them - the snow was still falling heavily in the pitch blackness outside their shelter, piling up at the cave's entrance. Mirkwood was notorious for many things, and the sub-zero temperatures in winter was just one of them.
Aragorn did see the logic behind his best friend's annoying actions, but it didn't mean he had to like them. He snorted and turned back again, pulling Legolas' left arm further around his shoulder, trying to draw as much heat from the elf who held him as possible. He shivered and concentrated on keeping his eyes open. He was leaning back against Legolas' chest, who was in turn leaning back against the hard stone wall of their shelter, both sets of eyes fixed on the sleeting snow beyond the cave mouth, only able to see it in the soft glow of golden light that Legolas emitted naturally. "You're a pain, you know that?" he remarked casually after a time, already his foul mood beginning to fade of it's own accord.
Legolas snorted gently. "Aye, well," he returned. "Takes one to know one."
His best friend laughed aloud at that - he could not see Greenleaf's face, but he could bet his boots that Legolas' grin was a baiting, expectant one. "Honest to the Valar, Legolas, you are such a child sometimes! I can give no reason why the lovely Evylenn seems to be attatched to you, especially when she could quite easily have any other elf she wanted..." The young ranger was feeling mischevious, and so was gladdened when he only had to wait a second or two for the predictable reaction.
"Are you seriously *still* going on about that, Estel?" Legolas cried faintly. He emphasised his point with another quick prod in the ranger's ribs. "I keep telling you, Evy cares no more for me than she does for... for you!"
The young elf-maiden they were speaking of was someone very dear to the last prince of Eryn Lasgalen. The two had known one another since being youngest elflings, growing ever closer as their years lengthened. Now, to everyone else who knew the pair, it was undeniably clear they were destined to become life-mates as they so obviously held one another's heart, but both Legolas and Evylenn seemed determined to ignore the notion that danced right in front of their faces, and had stayed best friends for many a millenia already. Aragorn had recently taken it upon himself to push the two together - for he could be no happier if two of his greatest friends finally realised their feelings for one another, as he and Arwen Evenstar had.
"Ah *ha*!" Aragorn shouted in triumph, grinning as he raised a shaking finger. "Then you know she must love you more than life itself - for no beautiful maiden can resist my rougish charms... all wish to marry me, if not only for my stunningly handsome features." He upturned his chin in mock- pride, damp dark hair falling away from his shoulders.
Legolas' laughter was most amused, though a little weak, "Take it easy, there, stud," he teased and rolled his eyes. "You have only one elven lady to contend with, and she is more than enough on her own to keep anyone occupied." At this, Aragorn flushed and held his tongue, looking away from the mouth of the cave, making Legolas laugh all the more mirthfully. He was the only person who knew about the elf and the man's secret love for one another, and he would die before letting anyone else learn of it... but that didn't mean he didn't tease Aragorn whenever possible about it, and Arwen, too, when he got the chance, but he was a lot more frightened by her than he was of his best friend, and so did it less.
They could not know that as they were keeping one another's spirits up, keeping each other awake, their laughter and the warm, golden light Legolas let off was drawing danger closer and closer to them.
"Did you hear that?" Legolas asked suddenly, smile fading at once from his ashen face. He shivered a little and turned his head to listen to the sounds of the Mirkwood night better.
Aragorn seemed to have learnt his lesson from the encounter with the Wargs and immediately stilled, not moving a muscle other than those he could not help, for he still shuddered miserably from the cold. He held his breath as Legolas did, both listening with all their might. A heavy breathing could be heard from outside the cave, the sort of hot, slobbery breath that one imagined in nightmares when the monster in question was beneath your bed. Then, the thing making the awful noise came forward into their line of vision.
It was a vast, black bear - it's shoulder were huge and bristling with ebony fur, it's eyes were silver and gleamed with a terrible light. But the thing the two companions were fixated most on at that exact point in time were the bear's teeth... or rather, fangs. These sharp, long, shining, fangs dripping with saliva as the creature turned it's large head to one side and trained them with one of it's silver orbs.
Aragorn and Legolas could not move an inch. Even had they wanted to, they were so petrified they did not even breathe. Legolas simply drew his best friend closer to him, holding on to him so tight he thought *he* was the reason Aragorn was not breathing. The ranger's dazed grey eyes were unnaturally wide as he stared at the hulking great beast, pawing at the entrance to the cave. Surely to Valar they were not going to be put through anymore? Could they even handle it if the bear decided he might like to chew on one of them? So they sat, completely motionless, gripping onto one another tightly and hoping the bugger went away. Legolas had actually screwed up his eyes against the danger, but he would never *ever* be able to admit that he, a warrior of the very highest standard, *shut his eyes in the face of danger*. Still, at that moment he did not care.
The bear looked at the creature curiously. He couldn't figure this animal out... surely it was a single being, and yet it had two opposing sides to it, one fair and one dark. It was shivering, and he could just smell the fear on it. He could also smell that it was appetising, and would be more than a bit pleasant to eat... but there seemed to be some wretchedness hanging in the air about the creature, and one of it's sides was greiviously injured. The bear paused for a moment or so, undecisive, then made up his simple mind, and backed away from the bright hollow, lumbering off into the dark to search for a more fair meal.
The two 'wretched' beings kept still for a moment longer, unbelieving, until they eventually sgged, finally able to draw breath adequately again. An exhaustion overcame Legolas suddenly, the constant pain from his arm, the coldness and now the sudden fright and tension battering down the weak barriers he had constructed to try and distance himself for a little bit more. He faltered, bright spots dancing in front of his eyes as his fair head fell forward onto Aragorn's shaking shoulder. Aragorn's heart promptly leapt again from the place in his chest where it had been jumping up and down, banging against his ribs.
"Legolas! Mellon nin, are you well?" again, he had not realised the stupidity of this statement until *after* the words had left his mouth. But Legolas was suddenly too far gone with pain and fatigue to even retort a jest, and this made Aragorn panick even further. He realised suddenly that he still hadn't given the elf any numbing herbs, the whole falling-into-the- ice-water-fiasco having driven it clean from his mind. No wonder his best friend was sagging now - the pain must be unbearable! "Oh, mellon nin," he murmured, twisting where he sat and stroking the prince's silken locks with one hand, while searching in the pack around his waist for his herbs with his other shaking one.
"S'okay, Estel," Legolas managed to force the slurred words out of his unresponsive lips, yet still unable to lift his fair head in his tiredness, but these half-hearted words did nothing to ease Aragorn's anxiousness.
"Hold on, Legolas," he muttered, still desperately seeking for the numbing herbs in his pack. He had only come across sleep-inducing ones, he held them up to the light, but no - they were the thin, chewy stems of Dragrod roots, all of them. He had to do something! There must be something he could do to ease his best friend's suffering. So he did the only thing he could, he gave Legolas the Dragrod roots.
The elven archer, the world around him too dull at that moment to fully comprehend what was happening to him, chewed and swallowed them without thinking - trusting Aragorn completely and believing them to be numbing herbs as promised. Within a moment or so, his brilliant green eyes had slipped shut in his exhaustion, and he fell away into a deep sleep.
Aragorn sighed, his heart beginning to beat at it's normal pace once more... there really had been nothing else for it, it had been his only choice to put his best friend to sleep. It was merely a pleasant upshot that he was now able to slumber without the prince jabbing him in the ribs to wake him up again. He knew the risks of sleeping in his frozen condition, but he was really too tired to care.
He laid Legolas down gently, ever careful of his injured arm, and brushed away a golden bang gently from the archer's face. Then laying down next to him in order to draw warmth from his companion, he curled in on himself and also drifted away into the dreamless night.
It was nearing dawn when the ranger faded quietly from his peaceful sleep into an unstable coma.
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Please review. I am the god at cliffhangers, no? Pure evil...
I am now going to use this space for a bit of blatent advertising, both for myself and for something very close to my heart. First, myself: all of you here who adore Aragorn/Legolas banter and friendship such as the stuff you are finding in this story, can I suggest (if you haven't already) to read my fic called 'Vignettes of the Fellowship'... though it has all the fellowship in it, I did unintentionally focus on Legolas and Aragorn by accident, and you'll see a lot of best friendmanship... if you want to get straight to it, skip chap 1 and go straight for chap 2, 'Aragorn: Lord of Impeccable Timing or Legolas: Ranger-Killer.' I have very little doubt that you will like it if you like this. And don't forget to review!
Secondly, and this might not apply to anyone at all (it may be possible they've only been heard of in England), but I'm saying it anyway as am still excited... the other night I went to see this band called The Electric Soft Parade, expecting it to be a good but fairly average gig, but OH MY WORD was it amazing! *Seriously*, seek out this band, they are a stunningly talented pair of brothers and they completely blew me away. I was a row from the front of the stage in a basement which held only about 150 people - it was an extremely intimate gig - and I got pointed out by one of them who I am going to marry just as soon as I meet him properly! It was absolutely unforgetable and possibly the best gig I have been to, and not only because one of them kept leaping from the stage to the railing right in front of me and my mates - I touched them! Make it your challenge to find some music by them and listen good! I can guarentee you will be impressed.
Right, now that's out my system, here's another little explosion. Personal replies to come with next chapter, sorry. Hope you enjoy
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Aragorn was finally at peace - his bones no longer ached to their cores, no cold could touch him and his body was able to begin repairing itself. He drifted happily, mind blank and pain absent. Consequently, he was more than a little annoyed when he recieved a swift jab in the ribs from his best friend, quickly dragging him back into a world of freezing temperatures and the most undesirable company.
"*What is your problem*?!" he snarled, whirling about in Legolas' arms to face the elf, a viscious scowl taking over his numb face.
The golden-haired prince just looked at him, large green eyes cool and calm, though a little dazed, "We have been through this, Estel... more than once. You cannot be allowed to sleep." Legolas was not in the least bit intimidated by Aragorn's irate glare - he always managed to stare the human down when it came to times like this, and even when the young ranger was at his most aggravated, the Greenleaf could not be made to back down by a mere facial expression, however unhappy it was. "It is far too cold anyway - even if you hadn't managed to fall into an iced-over lake, I wouldn't be letting you sleep right now." And it was true, the breath that left Legolas' pale lips could be plainly seen hanging in the air about them - the snow was still falling heavily in the pitch blackness outside their shelter, piling up at the cave's entrance. Mirkwood was notorious for many things, and the sub-zero temperatures in winter was just one of them.
Aragorn did see the logic behind his best friend's annoying actions, but it didn't mean he had to like them. He snorted and turned back again, pulling Legolas' left arm further around his shoulder, trying to draw as much heat from the elf who held him as possible. He shivered and concentrated on keeping his eyes open. He was leaning back against Legolas' chest, who was in turn leaning back against the hard stone wall of their shelter, both sets of eyes fixed on the sleeting snow beyond the cave mouth, only able to see it in the soft glow of golden light that Legolas emitted naturally. "You're a pain, you know that?" he remarked casually after a time, already his foul mood beginning to fade of it's own accord.
Legolas snorted gently. "Aye, well," he returned. "Takes one to know one."
His best friend laughed aloud at that - he could not see Greenleaf's face, but he could bet his boots that Legolas' grin was a baiting, expectant one. "Honest to the Valar, Legolas, you are such a child sometimes! I can give no reason why the lovely Evylenn seems to be attatched to you, especially when she could quite easily have any other elf she wanted..." The young ranger was feeling mischevious, and so was gladdened when he only had to wait a second or two for the predictable reaction.
"Are you seriously *still* going on about that, Estel?" Legolas cried faintly. He emphasised his point with another quick prod in the ranger's ribs. "I keep telling you, Evy cares no more for me than she does for... for you!"
The young elf-maiden they were speaking of was someone very dear to the last prince of Eryn Lasgalen. The two had known one another since being youngest elflings, growing ever closer as their years lengthened. Now, to everyone else who knew the pair, it was undeniably clear they were destined to become life-mates as they so obviously held one another's heart, but both Legolas and Evylenn seemed determined to ignore the notion that danced right in front of their faces, and had stayed best friends for many a millenia already. Aragorn had recently taken it upon himself to push the two together - for he could be no happier if two of his greatest friends finally realised their feelings for one another, as he and Arwen Evenstar had.
"Ah *ha*!" Aragorn shouted in triumph, grinning as he raised a shaking finger. "Then you know she must love you more than life itself - for no beautiful maiden can resist my rougish charms... all wish to marry me, if not only for my stunningly handsome features." He upturned his chin in mock- pride, damp dark hair falling away from his shoulders.
Legolas' laughter was most amused, though a little weak, "Take it easy, there, stud," he teased and rolled his eyes. "You have only one elven lady to contend with, and she is more than enough on her own to keep anyone occupied." At this, Aragorn flushed and held his tongue, looking away from the mouth of the cave, making Legolas laugh all the more mirthfully. He was the only person who knew about the elf and the man's secret love for one another, and he would die before letting anyone else learn of it... but that didn't mean he didn't tease Aragorn whenever possible about it, and Arwen, too, when he got the chance, but he was a lot more frightened by her than he was of his best friend, and so did it less.
They could not know that as they were keeping one another's spirits up, keeping each other awake, their laughter and the warm, golden light Legolas let off was drawing danger closer and closer to them.
"Did you hear that?" Legolas asked suddenly, smile fading at once from his ashen face. He shivered a little and turned his head to listen to the sounds of the Mirkwood night better.
Aragorn seemed to have learnt his lesson from the encounter with the Wargs and immediately stilled, not moving a muscle other than those he could not help, for he still shuddered miserably from the cold. He held his breath as Legolas did, both listening with all their might. A heavy breathing could be heard from outside the cave, the sort of hot, slobbery breath that one imagined in nightmares when the monster in question was beneath your bed. Then, the thing making the awful noise came forward into their line of vision.
It was a vast, black bear - it's shoulder were huge and bristling with ebony fur, it's eyes were silver and gleamed with a terrible light. But the thing the two companions were fixated most on at that exact point in time were the bear's teeth... or rather, fangs. These sharp, long, shining, fangs dripping with saliva as the creature turned it's large head to one side and trained them with one of it's silver orbs.
Aragorn and Legolas could not move an inch. Even had they wanted to, they were so petrified they did not even breathe. Legolas simply drew his best friend closer to him, holding on to him so tight he thought *he* was the reason Aragorn was not breathing. The ranger's dazed grey eyes were unnaturally wide as he stared at the hulking great beast, pawing at the entrance to the cave. Surely to Valar they were not going to be put through anymore? Could they even handle it if the bear decided he might like to chew on one of them? So they sat, completely motionless, gripping onto one another tightly and hoping the bugger went away. Legolas had actually screwed up his eyes against the danger, but he would never *ever* be able to admit that he, a warrior of the very highest standard, *shut his eyes in the face of danger*. Still, at that moment he did not care.
The bear looked at the creature curiously. He couldn't figure this animal out... surely it was a single being, and yet it had two opposing sides to it, one fair and one dark. It was shivering, and he could just smell the fear on it. He could also smell that it was appetising, and would be more than a bit pleasant to eat... but there seemed to be some wretchedness hanging in the air about the creature, and one of it's sides was greiviously injured. The bear paused for a moment or so, undecisive, then made up his simple mind, and backed away from the bright hollow, lumbering off into the dark to search for a more fair meal.
The two 'wretched' beings kept still for a moment longer, unbelieving, until they eventually sgged, finally able to draw breath adequately again. An exhaustion overcame Legolas suddenly, the constant pain from his arm, the coldness and now the sudden fright and tension battering down the weak barriers he had constructed to try and distance himself for a little bit more. He faltered, bright spots dancing in front of his eyes as his fair head fell forward onto Aragorn's shaking shoulder. Aragorn's heart promptly leapt again from the place in his chest where it had been jumping up and down, banging against his ribs.
"Legolas! Mellon nin, are you well?" again, he had not realised the stupidity of this statement until *after* the words had left his mouth. But Legolas was suddenly too far gone with pain and fatigue to even retort a jest, and this made Aragorn panick even further. He realised suddenly that he still hadn't given the elf any numbing herbs, the whole falling-into-the- ice-water-fiasco having driven it clean from his mind. No wonder his best friend was sagging now - the pain must be unbearable! "Oh, mellon nin," he murmured, twisting where he sat and stroking the prince's silken locks with one hand, while searching in the pack around his waist for his herbs with his other shaking one.
"S'okay, Estel," Legolas managed to force the slurred words out of his unresponsive lips, yet still unable to lift his fair head in his tiredness, but these half-hearted words did nothing to ease Aragorn's anxiousness.
"Hold on, Legolas," he muttered, still desperately seeking for the numbing herbs in his pack. He had only come across sleep-inducing ones, he held them up to the light, but no - they were the thin, chewy stems of Dragrod roots, all of them. He had to do something! There must be something he could do to ease his best friend's suffering. So he did the only thing he could, he gave Legolas the Dragrod roots.
The elven archer, the world around him too dull at that moment to fully comprehend what was happening to him, chewed and swallowed them without thinking - trusting Aragorn completely and believing them to be numbing herbs as promised. Within a moment or so, his brilliant green eyes had slipped shut in his exhaustion, and he fell away into a deep sleep.
Aragorn sighed, his heart beginning to beat at it's normal pace once more... there really had been nothing else for it, it had been his only choice to put his best friend to sleep. It was merely a pleasant upshot that he was now able to slumber without the prince jabbing him in the ribs to wake him up again. He knew the risks of sleeping in his frozen condition, but he was really too tired to care.
He laid Legolas down gently, ever careful of his injured arm, and brushed away a golden bang gently from the archer's face. Then laying down next to him in order to draw warmth from his companion, he curled in on himself and also drifted away into the dreamless night.
It was nearing dawn when the ranger faded quietly from his peaceful sleep into an unstable coma.
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Please review. I am the god at cliffhangers, no? Pure evil...