~*~Chapter 10~*~
Halbarad sighed as Anarion nodded and the other two seemed not to notice.
Aragorn shot a look at Halbarad; he was obviously not thrilled about the other two being seemingly unaware of their surroundings.
A quick glance at Anarion told the man they were planning something and the other grinned.
Aragorn glanced to the trees with a face and slipped into the shadows soundlessly, the other two following right behind him.
The three climbed into the trees nearest the three and aimed their bows. As soon as they were ready they all shot simultaneously and the arrows flew only a few inches past each of them. They all froze and the two rangers turned to get their weapons but by that time, the other three had jumped out of the tree and had another arrow pointed at each of the three.
Aragorn dropped his bow first, "I'm disappointed in you two. You would all three be dead by now if we were the enemy. Especially you Tyryn."
Tyryn bowed his head, "I am sorry."
Aragorn sighed, "You must keep aware."
"I know. I will work on it."
Aragorn smiled and clasped his shoulder, "Good. But remember, no matter how good you get, you can always improve."
"Wise words coming from one who only recently died my hair pink."
Aragorn winced, he'd heard the cart coming but had hoped Tyryn or Benneron would say something first, "Hello Legolas…"
He motioned over to Benneron, "Legolas, Gandalf, this is Benneron, he is in training."
The ranger nodded to the two beings entering the clearing, leading two horses and a cart through the trees.
Aragorn went over and un-harnessed his horse who tossed her head and looked around snorted and nickering a welcome to Halbarad, Anarion and Tyryn. Aragorn smiled, the horse had taken a liking to rangers.
He then grabbed his bedroll and spread it out, Legolas unrolling his for the hobbit.
Aragorn crept through the trees, though he was worried, just before falling asleep last night he started feeling odd for a while. He knew it wasn't a cold; it came out of nowhere and was horrible for a while before fading into nothing. He was almost positive his father had been poisoned.
When they reached the clearing they split up and circled the clearing the slavers were in. Aragorn choked up for a minute when he saw Elrond tied up to a tree. The men had managed to get him high enough so his feet barely touched the ground. His feet were also tied to the tree; Aragorn guessed the men learned to do that the hard way. He couldn't help but wonder how many escape attempts the elf had made.
He made the call, sounded much like a jay, and waited for the reply. One, he sighed; wishing the others to hurry up… two and three… there's four. He waited for the last and sighed with relief when he heard it. He waited a moment and called back to them and they all jumped from the trees.
They fought for what seemed like forever although in reality it was only fifteen minutes when Aragorn keeled forward with a gasp. Once the pain had subsided enough he turned to see one of the men, their leader he figured, with his hand on the hilt of a blade, which was buried in the elf-lords stomach.
The man jerked the blade out of the elf and Aragorn bit back a gasp, then he held the edge to the elf's neck.
Aragorn caught sight of Legolas behind the man and a plan started forming. No one dared shoot the man for fear he would slip and kill the elf.
Aragorn finished his plan when he glanced at Tyryn who was standing next to the elf. With an odd grin that he managed to force onto his face he took a couple steps forward, the way he was acting almost making him look drunk.
"Ya' know… this reminds me of somethin'."
The leader gave him an odd look, clearly thinking he was crazy. Elrond's eyes were closing slowly though he fought to keep them open.
"'member that time in Bree Hal? We were 'bout ta leave an' we wen' to tha' meat shop for provisions. Took one look at us 'e did befo' threatening us with his knife…"
Halbarad nodded , slowly catching on, "Aye, canna' rememba' how we got there… bu' we ended up in an archery shop…"
"Ye broke yur bow."
"Ah yeah, that's how…"
"Guy took one look at us before liftin' 'is bow," here the ranger lifted his arms to imitate someone holding a bow, "nex' thin' we know," he sent a look to Legolas who notched an arrow, Aragorn's distraction had everyone looking at him.
"We had an arrow flyin' at us."
Legolas let the arrow fly and Tyryn jumped forward and pushed the man and blade away just as the arrow hit him.
Aragorn nodded at Gandalf and the wizard immediately looked to the men.
Halbarad turned to them, "Enough blood has been spilt on your behalf, drop your weapons and go, next time you wont be so lucky."
They immediately complied and left while Aragorn was cutting the elf's bonds.
Once they were gone, the three rangers dragged the dead into a pile and set it on fire.
Legolas went up and slit the ropes holding the elven lord and Aragorn caught him as he fell.
Gandalf took the elf and, knowing the man would want to do this himself, handed the limp figure back to the man in a position that the man could carry him easily in.
Aragorn smiled and glanced around the clearing, "Halbarad!"
The ranger spun around and gave him a questioning look.
"Could you, Anarion and Tyryn finish up here?"
Halbarad nodded, "Aye, we can do that. You had better get back to camp."
Aragorn smiled his thanks and turned around, walking quickly in the direction of their camp.
Benneron was sitting, staring into the woods and he glanced around when he heard the normally light steps of the man approaching. His eyes widened and he immediately laid down an extra bedroll.
Aragorn laid the elf lord on bedroll and smiled at Benneron, "Thank you, could you bring me my pack please?"
The ranger complied with a slight smile.
Aragorn turned to Legolas, "Could you heat some water please?"
Legoals nodded and lifted a pail, filling it with the remains of the water in their flasks. He sighed and stirred up the nearly dead fire, placing a couple pieces of wood in it.
Gandalf glanced at the weak elf lord and sighed, with a flick of his staff, the fire burst into flame.
The surprised elf jumped back and yelped loud enough to wake up the sleeping hobbit.
Terrian leapt up wide-eyed, "What happened?!"
Aragorn glanced over at him, "Come here Terr."
The hobbit walked over, slightly unsteady since he only just woke up.
"This, my friend, is my father."
"Lord Elrond? What happen' to'm?"
"He was very badly beaten," Aragorn said sadly.
"He looks worse than my parents did…"
Aragorn nodded, "Aye, he would. But he should be okay. He has his elven healing abilities and a true healer."
The hobbit sniffed.
Aragorn could have sworn his heart melted when he glanced over at the hobbit, "Are you okay?" He mentally slapped himself, - Okay?! I am so stupid… -
The hobbit just glanced at the ground, "'M alri'…"
"No you're not… it has something to do with you parents?"
Terrian sighed and nodded, "It's only been four months…"
"You're doing quite well then," he couldn't help the slight smile, "When I first went to Rivendell I didn't say anything for a year."
The hobbit's eyes grew, "A year?!"
Aragorn nodded, "A year, though you can't imagine the surprise on their faces when the first thing I said was 'What took you so long?' after the twins came home late from a hunting trip."
Aragorn glared at the snickering elf behind him and took the bucket from him and dumped a handful of crushed Athelas into it. He took the offered cloth and soaked it.
He glanced at Legolas and handed him a small box, "I need you to sterilize the needle in there."
Legolas nodded and went to do so.
Aragorn carefully washed out the wound in his stomach, deciding to wash out the welts on his back after the stomach wound was stitched up. By the time he finished that Legolas was back with the needle.
Aragorn took a deep breath and glanced up at the elf, "I'm not used to doing this with people I know well… I know now what he goes through each time I came back with some kind of injury…"
Terrian hesitated a moment before putting his hand on the mans shoulder, "You can do it."
Aragorn smiled at him, quite like something a young child would say and yet… he shook his head slightly and turned back to the elf, took a deep breath and began.
Legolas sat next to the man and carefully dabbed up the blood that oozed slowly from the small pierced holes in the skin.
The elf jerked each time after he was pierced and Aragorn paused for a moment before taking another deep breath and continuing, slightly glad the bond they had had worn off.
Each time, though, the man could tell the elf was coming closer and closer to waking, despite the poison.
During the last stitch the elf's eyes fluttered open. Aragorn had only just cut the thread when he pulled back.
Though he surprised everyone when he grabbed Aragorn's bow and shot at him.
A/NElven Kitten: Okay… I'm just gonna go straight to replies…
Kandice- I know! Sorry!!! But… oh well… too late to go back now! ^_^ My poor hobbit…
SilverKnight7- ^_^ *Sigh* of course… lol.
Macilwen- *Gasp* I'm so very lucky!!!!!! Yay! *Dances in circles* I'm honoured. Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!! ^_^ ah yes… very fun… lol, I think I'm coming close to living off em too. ^_^. *Pause* yes… I believe nessa is Quenyan… meh. W/e… ^_^
Jadesaber- They all wanna see it! Although… I'm not sure which way they all want this to swing… lol. Glad u liked!
mascara freak- Uh… yeah… and AI!!! The dentists!!!!!! What person under 20 years of age isn't terrified of those evil people?! Lol. And sorry 'bout the dragon. She'll be in it soon… maybe… she'll be in it. That's all I'll say. And in a couple stories I might be having one based on her… well… along with Aragorn and Legolas of course. ^_^
anon- I don't think I have anything to say. Pointing this out to another writer is one thing but… doing that and not saying anything good about the story is something completely different.
Elven Kitten: I'm going to keep this authors note relatively short as I am now in a depressed mood. Although. I want all my reviewers to tell me; am I making Legolas out to be a 'right idiot' I realize that I'm using an awful lot of modern day language but, come on, give me a break right? Okay. I'm trying to put in more of Legolas. When I read over this chapter I realized that I have kinda been ignoring him so expect to see more of him from now on. I feel I must give all my reviewers a HUGE thanx for sticking with this.
Elf Side: We will post next likely on the weekend.
Gollum Side: *Nods*
Hobbit Side: My first chapter is mighty depressing… I'm going to bed…
E.S.: You do that… hope you liked this chapter. We'll see you all later. Namaarie.
E.K.: Namaarie mellynamin. Maybe I can cheer myself up by watching That 70's Show reruns… than I'll watch The Mask four times over and go to bed to face another day of evil school… that sure as heck wont help… *Trudges off muttering to herself*
H.S.: Farewell.
G.S.: Byess…
~*~Elenmeoi~*~