"The Wanderers"
By: Tsuki no Lomelinde
The votes are in! There will be no slash in this story! Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews, I loved them!!
Nikki: When I get reviews I try to answer them, its fun!
Elfmage: Well, it's not slash, happy? What really got me to make it not slash were all of the cookies I've been offered * glances over at boxes upon boxes of cookies beside her chair* Yum!!!!!
Well, really the vote turned to slash, but since I had already wrote a lot of the story, I've decided to keep it as a friendship fic. Sorry to all those who voted slash! I'll write slash next time!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters of Lord of the Rings! They belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. However, the characters that I created are mine; they are from my own imagination, so there! *sticks out tongue*
Summary: Something horrible is happening in Mirkwood… Can it be saved? And what has happened to Legolas?
Chapter three: The madness of King Thranduil
The group came up to the palace steps and started to climb them, but stopped when Shoran did not follow.
"I can go with you no further," he said. "I am supposed to be out on patrol. I must go, the Orcs may return." He paused, and turned his head away from them. "Please, help my brother, I could not stand to lose another." And with that, the elven prince—the new heir to the throne—was gone.
It was Elrond who led the group in. He had not been to Mirkwood for many centuries, but he still knew his way around. He led them through the many twisting halls until they came to a set of doors.
The elven Lord of Imladris knocked, and paused, waiting for an answer. A few moments passed, and when no voice bade them enter, he raised his hand to try again but before a he could, they finally heard a voice.
"Be gone! I will not leave this place! No one will take my son away from me, he is all that I have left!" the voice yelled.
"Lord Thranduil! It is Lord Elrond of Imladris! Please open these doors! We only wish to help you!"
Elladan grabbed the door handle and turned it…and to everyone's surprise, it opened.
The group went into the room to find King Thranduil sitting by a window in a rocking chair, gently rocking in the sunlight; he had something cradled in his arms, presumably Legolas.
"Stay here," Elrond told the group, as he didn't want Thranduil to get nervous with everyone approaching him.
Elrond walked quietly, standing beside the elven king. "Thranduil?" he said gently. "Will you let me take a look at Legolas?"
Thranduil shifted slightly. Legolas was wrapped in a blanket, secure in his father's arms; the prince's eyes were vacant, his skin unusually pale, and (Elrond was relieved yet still worried to see) his breathing came in short gasps.
"Why don't we lie him on the bed, he will be more comfortable that way," Elrond coaxed.
Thranduil nodded wearily, so Elrond took the limp form from Thranduil and placed the young prince on the bed. Gently unwrapping the prince from the confines of the blanket, he began to check his body for injuries. He frowned at his findings; there was no physical mark on the prince but yet his body was burning with fever.
Aragorn came up beside him. "Ada?" Elrond could hear the fear in his foster son's voice; he could also feel the stares of the others, waiting for him to tell them what ailed their friend.
"He is not injured in any way that I can see, but he is burning with fever. I will do what I can, but I do not know what has caused this." He turned to the others. "There is nothing that you can do here right now, perhaps you should all go and rest, you all will need it."
"I will not leave the elf; we have traveled to long and hard to leave him now," Gimli said.
"I am not asking you go return to Rivendell, Master Gimli," Elrond said. "Only that you get some sleep or at least something to eat. Do not argue with me on that matter, when you are finished you may return here." Elrond turned to glare at his sons. "That includes the both of you," he said to the twins, who reluctantly obeyed, pulling Gimli out with them. Elrond turned to his remaining son. "Estel, don't try my patience."
The man looked at him. "Ada…"
"Estel; don't. You will do no one any good, especially Legolas."
Aragorn sighed. "Just…just take care of him Ada."
The elven Lord nodded. "I will do my best."
The man nodded sadly and left. Elrond turned to the king of Mirkwood, who looked at him warily.
"Can you tell me what happened?" Elrond asked, gently.
Thranduil nodded. "He's sick…"
/Flashback/
Shyla ran through the halls towards her fathers study, pulling open the door and running in.
Thruin was sitting at a desk reading some reports that scouts and sentries had turned in. "Father, it says here that Orcs were spotted by the border, we shall have to step up with the security."
Thranduil nodded.
"Father," Shyla interrupted. "Legolas is ill; we need to send for a healer!"
Thranduil looked up at his only daughter. "What is wrong with him?" he asked, alarmed.
"He is with fever, and very weary, Shoran is with him now."
"I will send for a healer," Thranduil said and stood up. "Return to Legolas, I will be there in a moment."
Shyla nodded and Thruin stood. "I will go with her, father."
The King nodded, and with that all three of them left the room.
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Shoran looked up as the door opened, and Shyla and Thruin walked in. Shyla stood beside the bed and Thruin went over and put his hand to Legolas' forehead. He frowned as he pulled his hand away.
"What could have caused this fever? Elves are not a race that can easily succumb to illness!"
Shoran shrugged. "Is a healer coming?" he asked.
Shyla was about to answer him when the door opened and Thranduil walked in followed closely by the aforementioned healer.
"Never mind," said Shoran.
The healer examined the young elf, who stirred restlessly under his hands, but did not wake.
After a while the healer looked up at the anxious family members who stood around him. "I can find no cause for this fever. It would be best if someone who is more adept then I be sent for. I recommend Lord Elrond of Rivendell." The healer trailed off upon seeing the stormy look on Thranduil's face. He had known that Lord Elrond and King Thranduil did not get along well, but he thought that maybe they could put their differences aside, if only for the sake of Legolas. Quickly the healer fled.
"Father, we must do something for Legolas! We can not allow this fever to ravage his body!" Thruin said, gently stroking Legolas' hair.
The siblings watched as their father stormed out of the room, without saying a word to any of them.
"Perhaps…" Shyla started.
But Thruin shook his head. "Not yet, you can not disobey Ada. If Legolas is not well in another day's time, then you will ride to Rivendell."
Shyla nodded, seeing the reason in what her eldest brother was saying, and sat down by Legolas' bed. "I will stay with him," she said.
Thruin and Shoran nodded, and left the room.
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"I was too stubborn," Thranduil said. "To see that my son was dying. I let old rivalries cloud my judgment."
Elrond placed his hand on the king's shoulder; there was nothing that he could think of to say.
And so ends another chapter!!!!! I hope everyone liked it!! I'll try to update again soon, but with exams this week… well you guys get the picture. MIDTERMS ARE STUPID, THEY SERVE NO PURPOSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Sorry just needed to vent! ^_^