~*~Chapter 15~*~
Aragorn's heart sped along with his breathing. He was blind.
"Strider?" Legolas asked worriedly.
Aragorn's eyes shot towards him, "Legolas?"
"Yes… are you okay?" the elf asked worriedly.
Aragorn forced his breathing to calm, "Aye… I'm fine…"
Legolas frowned, "Are you sure… you don't look fine…"
"Nightmare," he answered, he couldn't have him worrying over him. After all… it would only be temporary right? He kept his emotions inside. This would be much to embarrassing a thing to tell anyone.
The archer looked at him sceptically but nodded slowly, "Alright…"
Aragorn smiled at him.
"Come then. You should eat something."
Aragorn just nodded and stood slowly and followed right behind the elf, listening intently to his footsteps to judge distance and placement. He held back a sigh. His foot hit a deep rock and he stumbled.
Legolas caught the man as he tripped, "Ai! Are you okay?"
"I'm fine!" he growled with more hotness than intended.
Legolas frowned, "It's not like you to be so clumsy…"
Aragorn held back another sigh, "I'm just a little woozy from the smoke inhalation."
Legolas sighed, "Okay… maybe you should tell your father…"
"No!" he said, a bit louder than he meant to, "no I'm okay…"
Legolas shook his head, "If it gets worse talk to him."
Aragorn relented, "Okay, alright if it gets worse I'll talk to him."
Legolas nodded, "It would ease my mind greatly my friend."
Aragorn gave him a small smile, refusing to look at him though.
Legolas noted that with a bit of concern and decided to keep it in mind. While the man ate, Legolas realized that, although the movements themselves weren't clumsy, he could not seem to be able to judge where things were.
The elf glanced towards where Gandalf and Elrond sat, talking quietly. They did not seem to notice anything was wrong.
In reality they both knew and it was, in fact, what they were talking about.
"Something is wrong…" Elrond said quietly.
"That much is obvious…" the grey wizard frowned when he thought of something, "I have seen something like this before. In Gondor…"
Elrond glanced over at him and noted the worry in his face with a slight fear, "What is it…"
"It is quite possible there is something wrong with his eyes… after all he was in that thick smoke for much to long."
Elrond's eyes shot over to his son and examined his face closely and he hissed under his breath, "Is there nothing we can do about it?" he sounded extremely worried, this could affect everyone in Middle Earth's future.
"That would depend on whether it's temporary or not."
Elrond felt someone's eyes on him and turned to see Legolas watching him. The younger elf blushed slightly when he realized he'd been caught and made to turn away.
"Legolas," Elrond called, he knew the elf would want to know what was wrong with the man, he could tell the prince already suspected something, "we need to talk to you."
Legolas frowned and stood before making his way towards the two, "Yes?"
"It is about Estel…"
"There is something wrong," Legolas interrupted quickly, "he is not himself but he will not tell me what is wrong!"
"That is what I called you over to say. Legolas, we believe there is something wrong with his eyes."
Legolas hissed and mumbled, "I should have known… he said he was just woozy from the smoke…"
Elrond sighed and glanced at his son.
"Is there anything you can do? Anything I can help with?"
"There is nothing you can do young one," Gandalf said quietly, "we must wait and see if it is only temporary."
"We must not let on that we know," Elrond said hesitantly, "it will only hurt his pride."
"If anything comes of it though…"
"If anything comes of it Legolas, we will help him. Keeping him safe is much more important than his pride."
"Even if he does find out," Legolas said quietly in way of jest, though he was not really in it, "he has enough pride to overcome that…"
Elrond smiled slightly, "This is a major thing though… this… if it is permanent… will affect everything he does… this will not be a good thing for him in the future…"
Gandalf watched the elf for a moment, the sure way he spoke told the wizard that the elven lord of Rivendell had seen something and he stored that bit of information away to talk about later.
Aragorn listened as well as he could, he caught a few things and knew they were talking about him and it made him uneasy, did they know? He shuddered, sighed and stood up slowly, carefully. He listened carefully and heard the voices of the other three and made his way towards them, forcing his aura to seem calm even though he was truly quite jittery and freaked out. He moved carefully but at a normal pace, trying his best to hide his disability.
Elrond glanced up when his son sat beside him. He looked into his eyes and sighed slightly, they were right.
Aragorn heard the slight sigh and tossed the elf a quick look before turning away again.
"We should head to Imladris," Elrond said, standing.
Aragorn nodded and stood, Legolas and Gandalf did so as well.
Elrond spared him a look and motioned the other two forward. Once they were headed towards the cart and Aragorn was following, he trailed the human silently.
Aragorn sighed and stopped, listening intently, two pairs of footsteps… he sighed, one no doubt was Gandalf because of the heaviness of them the other was… well he couldn't really tell… he was guessing the one trailing him was his father.
"You don't need to follow me like that," he stated hotly, turning to face the one following him.
Elrond sighed, "Estel…"
"Adar…"
Elrond gave him a look that said he'd better quite it, even though he knew the man couldn't see it.
Aragorn hissed under his breath, "What?"
Elrond sighed, "Nothing."
"I know you know what's wrong," Aragorn growled, his temper had been foul as soon as he found what was wrong and the fact that he'd had so much time to think on it didn't help.
Elrond started slightly, "I know not what you speak of."
Aragorn managed a glare, though it was not half of what it usually was, it was still fierce, "You do know and you're just denying it."
Elrond sighed but said nothing.
"See?" the human growled, his voice harsher than any elf could make it.
Elrond's mind raced, "Is there anything we can do to make this easier for you?"
Aragorn just shook his head and turned, moving in the direction he knew the cart was.
~*~*~*~*~*~
They were halfway to Rivendell now. Aragorn's bad mood had faded though now he was simply depressed.
Legolas watched his friend and shifted slightly, startled when the human's vacant eyes shot up to him.
Aragorn sighed sadly and just stared at the elf with a questioning look.
"How did you hear that?" was all the elf managed, "a human should not have been able to hear that…"
Aragorn gave him a slight smile, "I am one of the Numenor remember. That and all my other senses have been heightening since…" he stopped there and sighed.
"When one of your senses cannot do its job, the others will adapt to help the person," Elrond said softly.
"The people in Gondor would find ways of making up for these losses. I had seen a blind one there before; their other senses were very high. Hearing, smell; touch… the others all made up for it. The deaf would learn how to lip read. The mute learned something they call sign language, with their hands. They all have ways to make up for it," Gandalf added quietly.
"That may be true Mithrandir," Aragorn mumbled looking slightly annoyed again, "but those people were born like that… or at least most were… this is different. My other senses may be able to fill the gap, but that does not change the fact that I know what I'm missing. They don't so it can't bother them as much. I know what the sun and stars look like and I may not ever see them again. My family. The human memory cannot remember details very well for very long."
Everyone was silent at this.
Aragorn turned away angrily. Hiding his face from family and friends.
Legolas sighed and leaned against the edge of the cart, staring into the sky.
Elrond continued to gaze at his youngest before inching forward and putting a comforting hand on his shoulder. He alone knew the anger was to cover up the anguish.
Aragorn spared him a slight glance which was all the elf needed to see the tears in his eyes.
Seeing that, he wasted no time in pulling his son into a hug, "All memories will fade. But the heart never forgets."
Aragorn gave a small smile, though it only lasted a second, "I know ada… I know."
A/N
Elven Kitten: Hello everyone!!!! I'm going straight to reviews so I can hide for a while! Lol
Lady of Nimrodel- Yes… mmmmmmmmmmm lol.
tychen- Cliff edges? Well I haven't the slightest clue what you mean! Lol. We might get the story behind the scar… I'll think about that! And oh yes! It's going to drive him crazy all right! I'll see to that… *evil grin*
Jadesaber- As much as possible?!?!?! You think this is the worst I can do?!?!?! I'll have to prove you wrong in my next story! Muahahaha!!!!!! Lol. And I can't tell you that! It would give it all away! ^_^
Kandice- HAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Your review nearly made me fall off my chair! ^_^ and no, I don't intend to argue any more… though you'd be surprised at how good I can be at it! I think it was my first story I went into a whole thing about how you 'can't punch air'… lol.
elvendancer- Yup! You can only try! I get to choose! ^_^
Silcawen Uvanimor-dreamingfifi- I know it is… -.-0… when I started writing it I had seen it spelt the other way and now I keep forgetting… pitiful I know… lol. Thank you though! I'm glad I'm doing well with it! *Looks happy*
grumpy- He's a mess alright! Now he can't run away from me! ^_^ lol.
mascara freak- Glad I made you happy! ^_^ and no… turns out it's gonna be a bit longer than I figured! Yay! ^_^
leggylover03- Oh dear… did I make you die? Lol. Yes I did! I'M EVIL!!!!!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!! Lol. ^_^
Viresse0- Yes! I remembered you! And now I've remembered you again! *Laughs* Make him better?!?!?! Now why would I wanna do that? *Window is heard smashing* Curses! He has got to stop going through my window!!!!!!! Well… I guess that's why I want him better… lol. ^_^
macilwen- Oh yes! Only when I started writing did I realize why everyone is going on about who fun it is to torture them! ^_^ lol. ^_^ … "My friend has made him
radioactive, and I've made him evil. Fun!!" Radioactive?!?!?! LOL!!!!!!!!! ^_^ And evil is aaaaaaaaaaaaalways good!!!!!! ^_^ We'll see if we can get the Elrond story. Promise! I'll look into it… ^_^
Elf Side: There! *Hides as well*
All: *Hide*
E.K.: Don't hurt me! *Puts up protective shield* Please don't! *Squeaks* ^_^ lol… but no… I mean it… please don't kill me…
Hobbit Side: Sorry for taking so long to update! … really
Gollum Side: Yesss yesss… *Shifty eyes* Don't kill themss…
E.S.: If we die… so do you…
G.S.: *Curses*
E.K.: ^_^ Keep reviewing! And sorry again!
E.S.: Don't bother not telling her not to be sorry… she won't listen…
E.K.: Well! That's all!
E.K. & E.S.: Namarie!
G.S & H.S.: Bye!
~*~Elenmeoi~*~