"The Wanderers"
By: Tsuki no Lomelinde
Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews!!!!! I loved them!!!! Personal messages are at the bottom!!!
And a special thanks to my wonderful Beta, Deana, for without her my grammar and punctuation would be horrible.
Disclaimer: As everyone should know, I don't own any of the characters of "Lord of the Rings" *sigh* if only I did… Anyway, I'm only borrowing them for a time; I'll give them all back in relatively good condition. However, the characters that I create are my own, they belong to me.
Summary: Something horrible is happening in Mirkwood… Can it be saved? And what has happened to Legolas?
Chapter 4: Memories Revealed
Elrond made his way to the main hall, where he knew that Estel, Elladan, Elrohir and Gimli would be. He was correct; they were seated at a long table, sitting silently, not speaking. He could see the pained expressions on Elladan's and Elrohir's faces…he felt the same pain; it came from the trees, who took no rest from their mourning.
His sons looked up when they heard him enter, as did Estel and Gimli, not having the advantage of elven hearing.
"Ada?" Estel said.
"I do not know the cause of this illness," Elrond said. "It is like nothing that I have ever seen before."
"Is there nothing that you can do?" Elrohir asked, quietly.
"I must first speak with Shoran, mayhap he can tell me more; I need to know when Legolas' symptoms first began," Elrond said.
Elladan stood up. "I will go look for him, Ada."
Elrond nodded, too tired to argue with his son, who left as soon as he had his father's approval.
Only a few minutes passed until Elladan returned with Legolas' brother.
"Lord Elrond, Elladan has told me of what you wish to know," Shoran said. "I will tell you all that I can. Six days ago, my sister and I noticed a tiredness about Legolas. He insisted that it was nothing, but we could see that he was also in pain. I decided to confront him…"
*Two days before a healer was summoned to the palace of Mirkwood*
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"Legolas?" Shoran said to his youngest brother, who sat underneath a tree in the garden.
Legolas turned towards Shoran.
"I can see that you are ill my brother, will you not tells me what ails you?" Shoran said. "Shyla and I are worried for you, for elves do not easily succumb to illness."
"Nothing ails me Shoran; do not worry so much, I am merely a bit tired," Legolas replied, and with that he stood. Shoran almost grabbed for the younger elf when he swayed on his feet, but Legolas grabbed a tree branch and righted himself before walking away.
Shoran sighed. Something seemed wrong with Legolas since he'd returned from his latest patrol two days ago…
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"The pain he suffered from came from his chest, but he did not complain of it even when he was bedridden," Shoran said, quietly. "This continued for the next few days. Then the orcs attacked…it was night when they stole upon the woods. I will tell you of what happened to the best of my ability, for I did not see everything, and can only speculate as to what exactly happened…"
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Legolas sat up in his bed, clutching his chest. Shyla, who had remained by his side after the healer had left, woke up.
"Legolas?" she inquired, reaching out to him, but he shook his head and batted her hands away.
They both jumped slightly when they heard yells outside the window. Shyla quickly went over to investigate and gasped at the sight that met her eyes; there was fire raging in the trees. With her keen eyes she could see many orcs, and there were elves bravely battling them.
She turned back to Legolas, but paused when she heard footsteps. Running to where Legolas kept his weapons, she took out his twin knives and held them up, ready to defend her brother should harm come their way.
The door opened as Shoran slipped into the room. Shyla sighed in relief at seeing her twin.
"Shyla, I am sorry to ask this of you, but you must ride to Lothlorien!" Shoran said. "The orcs are great in number, and we must send the maidens and elflings away from this place! Mirkwood is in flames, you must lead them to safety!"
"What of Legolas? He can not stay here, he is too ill to be fighting!" Shyla said.
Shoran turned to his youngest brother, who had stood up when he'd entered the room.
"Go and prepare to ride, Legolas shall go with you. Ready the horses; I will lock the door until your return. You must take him and ride as hard and fast as you can."
"Nay, Shoran, I can fight!" Legolas exclaimed. "I will not be sent away like a child! This is my home and my people too!"
"You shall go, Adar wishes it so. Do not argue," Shoran said, seeing that Legolas was about to protest.
Already weary from his argument, Legolas sat down on the bed.
Shoran took this as an agreement and he and Shyla left. Legolas heard the door lock behind them.
As soon as their footsteps could no longer be heard, Legolas stood up and grabbed his bow, quiver, and a dagger, for Shyla had taken his knives.
He also took a slight piece of metal, a lock pick, given to him by Elladan and Elrohir many years ago. He made little task of the lock and the door was soon open. Legolas strode down the hallway, bow notched with an arrow, hearing the sounds of battle and quickly coming to its source.
Thruin battled with many foes. Legolas could see that his brother was losing the fight, so he loosed his arrow at the orc who was preparing to attack him.
Thruin looked up for a moment, surprised to see Legolas standing there, but he could pay no more thought to it as the orcs came at him in a steady stream. Because of this, he did not see Legolas suddenly sway on his feet and nearly fall to the floor, before grabbing onto the wall for support. He let go only to shoot more orcs.
Suddenly the archer's vision grayed and he fell to his knees. Thruin saw his brother fall and rushed over to help; all of the orcs had finally fallen so he paid them no heed and knelt before Legolas.
"Brother?" he inquired, softly.
Legolas shook his head. His bow fell to the ground as he clutched his chest and struggled to breathe.
Neither of them noticed an orc slowly get to its feet, clutching a dagger. With a swift yet clumsy motion, the orc suddenly thrust the dagger into Thruin's back.
The crown prince gave a soft cry before falling forward, knocking both himself and Legolas to the ground.
The orc, feeling complete and utter ecstasy at his success in killing the heir to Mirkwood's throne, fell to the ground and did not move again.
Legolas, still struggling to breathe, pulled his brother into his arms. "Thruin?" he gasped.
"You must flee Legolas; I can no longer protect you," said Thruin, gasping with pain. "I am so sorry to leave you, my brother…" Thruin's eyes suddenly became vacant, and the valiant prince would never awaken again.
Legolas' eyes filled with tears, but he could not bring himself to heed his brother's command; he did not have the strength, so he sat there cradling the still body of his brother before darkness claimed him.
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Shyla ran back to Legolas' room; the horses were ready, and she knew that time was of the essence. She came to an abrupt halt when she reached Legolas' door and found that it was open. She quickly ran in, but saw no sign of her ailing brother.
"Legolas?" she called warily, holding the twin knives in her grasp, all sorts of possible scenarios running though her mind. 'Could he have been captured? Is he lying hurt somewhere, or even…? No! I will not let myself think of such things!' By chance, her gaze caught the empty place where Legolas' bow and quiver usually lay, and she reached the only obvious conclusion; her brother had gone to fight.
The princess was torn between wanting to search for Legolas, and knowing that she needed haste to reach Lothlorien, their closest ally. In the end she knew that she had to do her duty, and she turned and ran back towards the stables.
"Please, Elbereth, let him be safe…" she whispered, and rode out of Mirkwood.
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Thranduil warily walked down the halls of his palace. He had killed many orcs, and now he frantically searched for his children. There was a darkness in his heart; he knew that something terrible had happened, and it terrified him.
He almost dropped his sword when he turned down a hall; many orcs lay slain about, but that was not what broke his heart. In the midst of the dead creatures lay two elven figures, one slumped over the other. Thranduil could plainly see the silver and crimson blood that flowed in the veins of the royal family of Mirkwood.
The King ran forward, his heart pounding with fear. He found the figure on top to be Legolas, and the other was Thruin. His heart shattered as he reached over and took Thruin into his arms, putting a hand to his neck and finding no pulse. As he laid the body of his eldest son upon the ground, his face went blank, emotionless, for a darkness had fallen over his mind, clouding his eyes until all he could see were the bodies of his two sons. He reached out to his other son and something flickered on the King's face. Legolas had a pulse; it was weak, but it fluttered beneath his fingertips.
Thranduil's face was still frighteningly blank as he scooped up Legolas' fragile form and carried him down the hall, heedless of the battle that continued to rage outside the palace, and heedless of the body of his eldest son, which still lay as he left it, arms across his chest and his sword by his side, his eyes open in death with the bodies of his slain foes around him…
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Shoran finished speaking and the Company just stared at him, shocked and saddened at the story.
Elrond nodded. "So you say that the symptoms were noticed after Legolas returned from a patrol?"
"Aye," Shoran said, sighing.
"Did he encounter any trouble that day?" Elrond continued to probe.
"No. In his report, he said that nothing had happened, that he encountered no enemies. Do you suspect something Lord Elrond?" Shoran asked, his gaze hopeful.
"Perhaps, but if he encountered no enemies, then I may be wrong. I have a suspicion that he was poisoned somehow…that is the only explanation that I can come up with. As we all know, elves do not easily become ill…" He trailed off, realizing that he was rambling.
"Someone should sit with him at all times," Elrond continued. "Thranduil is there now, but he is exhausted and I will not willingly leave Legolas alone, his condition is very fragile.".
Aragorn prepared to open his mouth as the first volunteer, but someone beat him to it.
"I will sit with the elf for a time, for Aragorn is still weary from the journey, and you, Lord Elrond, and your sons are suffering from the mourning of the trees," Gimli said, gruffly.
Elrond nodded. "As you wish, Master Dwarf. The rest of us shall retire, but if you see any change in him, I will be in the next room."
"I should like to at least see Legolas before I am shuffled off to bed like a child," Aragorn said.
Elladan and Elrohir nodded, agreeing.
"I too should like to see my brother before I sleep," Shoran said.
Elrond sighed, but did not argue. He led them to the bedroom so they could see for themselves that Legolas was still alive.
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