**** Chapter 3! Sorry I didn't put in replies to reviews, * hits self on
head * I was in a hurry to get the chapter up! I promise I'll do it this
time! * forgets * Duh... *****
Boromir scratched his head a bit while running. How did Aragorn know which direction to go? That man was just so unreal. Yes, he was a ranger, Chief of the Rangers at that, and Yes, he was the heir of Isildur, but still.
"Aragorn," Boromir said warily, jumping over "Where are we going?"
The ranger paused for a moment, and for the first time thought about that. He sheathed his sword with a thoughtful expression. "Boromir," He said, halting to a stop, "I do not know." And all of a sudden he started running again, towards the West.
Well great, thought Boromir, he was very informative. Now he was just more intimidated by Aragorn's character.
"Why has Legolas run off?" Boromir wondered out loud, jumping over a rather large stone covered in moss.
"This is not Legolas you or I speak of," The ranger answered, still running and looking ahead. "This Legolas is a fraction of Legolas, a part of him. Legolas never would have run off like so, knowing it would endanger us. This is no Legolas. He is Legolas's kind, sincere, feeble side that I never even knew he had."
Aragorn stopped suddenly, by a rather tall and out-of-place tree growing at the top of a knoll. He jumped, grabbed a brown, withered bough, and succeeded in climbing on top of it. There were little leaves on the tree, which gave Boromir the assumption of winter or else the tree was dead or dying.
Boromir strained his neck and looked up at the man now climbing hastily to the top of tree. It wasn't a long way to go, for rarely did trees grow in this valley, let alone grow tall.
Aragorn reached the highest branch, wrapping an arm around the trunk of the wobbling, rather short tree, and looked out. "Valar," He breathed. "No!"
"What is it, Aragorn?" Boromir shouted up to him. "What do your eyes see?"
Aragorn leaped down from the bows with little grace or care. He swung down from the lowest bough and unsheathed his sword. "Orcs from Moria," He said, a falter in his voice.
"We have to warn the Fellowship!" Boromir cried, unsheathing his own weapon, just in case. "How far are they?"
"Two or three leagues. That may well be where Legolas is," Aragorn rubbed his temples. "This side of Legolas will not fare well among orcs."
"Then what are we to do?" Boromir asked.
"Legolas, with him his entire kind self, or the Fellowship, with them the quest to save Middle Earth," The ranger was troubled. "And we do not even know if Legolas is really with them. What an ill situation we have been placed in."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"And thirsty," Said Pippin. "I'm thirsty and hungry."
Gimli wondered if Aggressive Legolas would say anything about the tea party. He said nothing. Legolas was standing, a weird smirk on his face. He wasn't regarding any of the others, merely standing and thinking with a frightening expression.
"Is that all you can think about, Pippin?" Merry asked skeptically.
"Well, I haven't eaten in days! Barely any water, either," He grumbled back. "Not to mention traveling so far! I've never worked so hard in my life!"
Frodo and Sam chuckled to them selves quietly. "Wait till Strider comes back," Said Sam. "He'll give you something."
"Where *is* Strider?" Merry asked Gimli. "And where is the other Legolas? Or have I been dreaming this entire time?"
"Nay, lad, you are not dreaming," Said the dwarf. "Or else this would be a nightmare, indeed! Strider is out looking for our missing Legolas."
"A nightmare with no food," Pippin mumbled, now huddling on the ground.
Legolas fidgeted, moving at last. He had finally thought of his plan. It would work; he knew it would work. The only thing was... how could he get all of these worthless short people to make it work?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas staggered back a foot, eyeing the orc archers with fear still clutching at his heart. Would they shoot him anyways? The largest, lead orc began to shout orders again. He spoke in a language that Legolas could understand, though it was an evil language to know.
"Come forward Biknah," Said the orc with a snarl. "Yes, that's right, you have something to do rather than slacking all day long! Bind the thing's hands."
So maybe they wouldn't kill him, at least not right away. But Legolas's common sense was not part of his kindness and sincerity. Nice Legolas would have no idea what orcs would really do to him, which was worse than any death.
The orcs had stopped moving now, and some of the torches that the beasts held flickered out at the abrupt stop. They were all watching the elf. Why hadn't the boss, the only sense of leadership they had, merely captured the elf? They were hungry. They hadn't had good meat in a while.
Biknah walked forward, wondering what elf meat tasted like. Holwar, a chief, had said he had tasted elf meat once. Said it was nice. Tasted like chicken.
Legolas recoiled in fear at the look of nastiness on the orc's approaching face. He watched as a length of rope was retrieved from the goblin's makeshift leather belt. "Knock him cold, Biknah, we don't need him struggling," Said the leader, cleaning off a bloody, yellow knife.
'Maybe I will be able to escape', thought Nice Legolas. Unfortunately, rather stupid optimism existed very strongly in this kind elf's personality.
Biknah retrieved a sword from his hilt, a notched and wretched thing barely worthy for combat. "Move and I'll watch your head roll on the ground. Understand?"
Fear was also very strong in Nice Legolas. He wouldn't have moved anyways. He was frozen with extreme fear. He was afraid. He was very afraid.
The orc arrived to where Legolas was and pressed the sword against his neck. The orc archers lowered their bows and merely watched. Then he raised a free fist to Legolas's head and smashed it hard into the immortal's temple.
Legolas saw little red and black dots cover his vision as unconciousness began to come into effect. His vision dimmed from a shady grey to a final, dark black, and he saw no more. His unconscious body fell forward unto the knife, nicking his neck, but Biknah retrieved the sword before it could decapitate the creature. Without a support, the elven body fell to the ground with a light thud.
Biknah bound the elf's hands, disgusted by the elf. Then, he dragged Legolas by his golden hair toward the orcs.
"Now what?" Biknah snarled.
"Carry 'im," The leader said with a mouth full of missing teeth. The ones that were still there were yellow and black with decay.
Biknah would rather do anything in the world than carry the unconscious body. "Why are we keeping him, anyways?"
"I'm bored," Said the leader with a subtle grin.
Well, thought Biknah, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas thought some more. His plan was intricate, circuitous, and puzzling, but it would work, if fortune bore with him. But would it? He sighed and looked around at the hungry companions. Why had Legolas actually accepted to go on this quest?! It must have been part of the weak Legolas's mind.
"Aragorn and Boromir may not come back," Said Legolas.
"What do you mean?" Said Frodo.
"They may not come back, and we can not wait for orcs to capture us. We will go to Lothlorien. We will be both safe there and Aragorn and Boromir will know that is where we have gone."
Gimli glared suspiciously at the Aggressive Legolas. What was running through his mind?
"I am in charge here," Said Legolas. "And I say that we go to Lothlorien."
"Aye, you are," Said Gimli. "But so am I!"
Legolas unsheathed the small dagger that had been pressed against Gimli's throat not long ago. "I am in charge here," He said acidly. "Do you have any objections?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aragorn and Boromir stood, staring at each other for what seemed a long time, but was actually only a few moments. "Aragorn, I know that I do not know Legolas as well as you, but we cannot risk this entire quest on him."
"Well we cannot just leave him here!" Aragorn hissed. "He is not even whole! He is half of a person that no longer exists without him!"
"I am sorry, Aragorn," Boromir said slowly, picking his words wisely. "But what do you propose we do, then?"
"I do not know!" He shouted, not at Boromir, but at the air... anything that could have caused this. He shouted at the air, the wind, the world.
"Aragorn, there have been orcs following us from Moria. They know that we are going to Lothlorien. If Legolas still is alive, then they will have him captive and will take him with them," Boromir said, realizing that his solution may just succeed.
"What are you implying?" Aragorn said, gritting his teeth with fury.
"We must find the elves of Lothlorien; you know them best. They will help us. Legolas and the orcs will enter the forest. If we ambush them, or at least send in a spy, we can get him out." Boromir tried to sum up his jumble of thoughts in this simple of a sentence.
Aragorn took a moment to comprehend the man's actually wise words. He nodded, slower and then quicker. Everything in his mind screamed no, but there was no other choice.
Aragorn nodded once more, then turned and began running in the direction of the camp.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
End of chapter 3! Okay! As I promised, a reply to reviews! I am sincerely sorry that I did not do it before.
Replies to Reviews: (Really):
Deana: Nice Legolas is so clueless! I want him out of their clutches now, but then the story would be rather short, huh? Thanks for reviewing! New chapters of The Cage and this story will be up soon!
Star-Stallion: Let's fit this puzzle together! I like Nice Legolas too. Who knew Legolas had such a rude side?
Glaiver grl: Well, I always have to stick some humor in somewhere: it's my nature. I won't put too much angst in, but...
Meisalliam: Thanks! That's what I thought too.
Cheysuli: I love my lil' nice Legolas too! Mine! * hiss *
Reverspots: Thanks much! I like being original!
Lyn: Thanks so much for the corrections and not being rude about it! I'll try to fix any mistakes that you find.Thanks for reviewing!
Artex: Thanks! I'm glad you're looking forward to more!
Gilraen Felagund: Well, Legolas's "weak" personality is always covered up by the aggressiveness, I guess. Thanks!
Boromir scratched his head a bit while running. How did Aragorn know which direction to go? That man was just so unreal. Yes, he was a ranger, Chief of the Rangers at that, and Yes, he was the heir of Isildur, but still.
"Aragorn," Boromir said warily, jumping over "Where are we going?"
The ranger paused for a moment, and for the first time thought about that. He sheathed his sword with a thoughtful expression. "Boromir," He said, halting to a stop, "I do not know." And all of a sudden he started running again, towards the West.
Well great, thought Boromir, he was very informative. Now he was just more intimidated by Aragorn's character.
"Why has Legolas run off?" Boromir wondered out loud, jumping over a rather large stone covered in moss.
"This is not Legolas you or I speak of," The ranger answered, still running and looking ahead. "This Legolas is a fraction of Legolas, a part of him. Legolas never would have run off like so, knowing it would endanger us. This is no Legolas. He is Legolas's kind, sincere, feeble side that I never even knew he had."
Aragorn stopped suddenly, by a rather tall and out-of-place tree growing at the top of a knoll. He jumped, grabbed a brown, withered bough, and succeeded in climbing on top of it. There were little leaves on the tree, which gave Boromir the assumption of winter or else the tree was dead or dying.
Boromir strained his neck and looked up at the man now climbing hastily to the top of tree. It wasn't a long way to go, for rarely did trees grow in this valley, let alone grow tall.
Aragorn reached the highest branch, wrapping an arm around the trunk of the wobbling, rather short tree, and looked out. "Valar," He breathed. "No!"
"What is it, Aragorn?" Boromir shouted up to him. "What do your eyes see?"
Aragorn leaped down from the bows with little grace or care. He swung down from the lowest bough and unsheathed his sword. "Orcs from Moria," He said, a falter in his voice.
"We have to warn the Fellowship!" Boromir cried, unsheathing his own weapon, just in case. "How far are they?"
"Two or three leagues. That may well be where Legolas is," Aragorn rubbed his temples. "This side of Legolas will not fare well among orcs."
"Then what are we to do?" Boromir asked.
"Legolas, with him his entire kind self, or the Fellowship, with them the quest to save Middle Earth," The ranger was troubled. "And we do not even know if Legolas is really with them. What an ill situation we have been placed in."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"And thirsty," Said Pippin. "I'm thirsty and hungry."
Gimli wondered if Aggressive Legolas would say anything about the tea party. He said nothing. Legolas was standing, a weird smirk on his face. He wasn't regarding any of the others, merely standing and thinking with a frightening expression.
"Is that all you can think about, Pippin?" Merry asked skeptically.
"Well, I haven't eaten in days! Barely any water, either," He grumbled back. "Not to mention traveling so far! I've never worked so hard in my life!"
Frodo and Sam chuckled to them selves quietly. "Wait till Strider comes back," Said Sam. "He'll give you something."
"Where *is* Strider?" Merry asked Gimli. "And where is the other Legolas? Or have I been dreaming this entire time?"
"Nay, lad, you are not dreaming," Said the dwarf. "Or else this would be a nightmare, indeed! Strider is out looking for our missing Legolas."
"A nightmare with no food," Pippin mumbled, now huddling on the ground.
Legolas fidgeted, moving at last. He had finally thought of his plan. It would work; he knew it would work. The only thing was... how could he get all of these worthless short people to make it work?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas staggered back a foot, eyeing the orc archers with fear still clutching at his heart. Would they shoot him anyways? The largest, lead orc began to shout orders again. He spoke in a language that Legolas could understand, though it was an evil language to know.
"Come forward Biknah," Said the orc with a snarl. "Yes, that's right, you have something to do rather than slacking all day long! Bind the thing's hands."
So maybe they wouldn't kill him, at least not right away. But Legolas's common sense was not part of his kindness and sincerity. Nice Legolas would have no idea what orcs would really do to him, which was worse than any death.
The orcs had stopped moving now, and some of the torches that the beasts held flickered out at the abrupt stop. They were all watching the elf. Why hadn't the boss, the only sense of leadership they had, merely captured the elf? They were hungry. They hadn't had good meat in a while.
Biknah walked forward, wondering what elf meat tasted like. Holwar, a chief, had said he had tasted elf meat once. Said it was nice. Tasted like chicken.
Legolas recoiled in fear at the look of nastiness on the orc's approaching face. He watched as a length of rope was retrieved from the goblin's makeshift leather belt. "Knock him cold, Biknah, we don't need him struggling," Said the leader, cleaning off a bloody, yellow knife.
'Maybe I will be able to escape', thought Nice Legolas. Unfortunately, rather stupid optimism existed very strongly in this kind elf's personality.
Biknah retrieved a sword from his hilt, a notched and wretched thing barely worthy for combat. "Move and I'll watch your head roll on the ground. Understand?"
Fear was also very strong in Nice Legolas. He wouldn't have moved anyways. He was frozen with extreme fear. He was afraid. He was very afraid.
The orc arrived to where Legolas was and pressed the sword against his neck. The orc archers lowered their bows and merely watched. Then he raised a free fist to Legolas's head and smashed it hard into the immortal's temple.
Legolas saw little red and black dots cover his vision as unconciousness began to come into effect. His vision dimmed from a shady grey to a final, dark black, and he saw no more. His unconscious body fell forward unto the knife, nicking his neck, but Biknah retrieved the sword before it could decapitate the creature. Without a support, the elven body fell to the ground with a light thud.
Biknah bound the elf's hands, disgusted by the elf. Then, he dragged Legolas by his golden hair toward the orcs.
"Now what?" Biknah snarled.
"Carry 'im," The leader said with a mouth full of missing teeth. The ones that were still there were yellow and black with decay.
Biknah would rather do anything in the world than carry the unconscious body. "Why are we keeping him, anyways?"
"I'm bored," Said the leader with a subtle grin.
Well, thought Biknah, maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas thought some more. His plan was intricate, circuitous, and puzzling, but it would work, if fortune bore with him. But would it? He sighed and looked around at the hungry companions. Why had Legolas actually accepted to go on this quest?! It must have been part of the weak Legolas's mind.
"Aragorn and Boromir may not come back," Said Legolas.
"What do you mean?" Said Frodo.
"They may not come back, and we can not wait for orcs to capture us. We will go to Lothlorien. We will be both safe there and Aragorn and Boromir will know that is where we have gone."
Gimli glared suspiciously at the Aggressive Legolas. What was running through his mind?
"I am in charge here," Said Legolas. "And I say that we go to Lothlorien."
"Aye, you are," Said Gimli. "But so am I!"
Legolas unsheathed the small dagger that had been pressed against Gimli's throat not long ago. "I am in charge here," He said acidly. "Do you have any objections?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Aragorn and Boromir stood, staring at each other for what seemed a long time, but was actually only a few moments. "Aragorn, I know that I do not know Legolas as well as you, but we cannot risk this entire quest on him."
"Well we cannot just leave him here!" Aragorn hissed. "He is not even whole! He is half of a person that no longer exists without him!"
"I am sorry, Aragorn," Boromir said slowly, picking his words wisely. "But what do you propose we do, then?"
"I do not know!" He shouted, not at Boromir, but at the air... anything that could have caused this. He shouted at the air, the wind, the world.
"Aragorn, there have been orcs following us from Moria. They know that we are going to Lothlorien. If Legolas still is alive, then they will have him captive and will take him with them," Boromir said, realizing that his solution may just succeed.
"What are you implying?" Aragorn said, gritting his teeth with fury.
"We must find the elves of Lothlorien; you know them best. They will help us. Legolas and the orcs will enter the forest. If we ambush them, or at least send in a spy, we can get him out." Boromir tried to sum up his jumble of thoughts in this simple of a sentence.
Aragorn took a moment to comprehend the man's actually wise words. He nodded, slower and then quicker. Everything in his mind screamed no, but there was no other choice.
Aragorn nodded once more, then turned and began running in the direction of the camp.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
End of chapter 3! Okay! As I promised, a reply to reviews! I am sincerely sorry that I did not do it before.
Replies to Reviews: (Really):
Deana: Nice Legolas is so clueless! I want him out of their clutches now, but then the story would be rather short, huh? Thanks for reviewing! New chapters of The Cage and this story will be up soon!
Star-Stallion: Let's fit this puzzle together! I like Nice Legolas too. Who knew Legolas had such a rude side?
Glaiver grl: Well, I always have to stick some humor in somewhere: it's my nature. I won't put too much angst in, but...
Meisalliam: Thanks! That's what I thought too.
Cheysuli: I love my lil' nice Legolas too! Mine! * hiss *
Reverspots: Thanks much! I like being original!
Lyn: Thanks so much for the corrections and not being rude about it! I'll try to fix any mistakes that you find.Thanks for reviewing!
Artex: Thanks! I'm glad you're looking forward to more!
Gilraen Felagund: Well, Legolas's "weak" personality is always covered up by the aggressiveness, I guess. Thanks!