Here I am with chapter six! ^_^ I really enjoy reading all of your reviews; please keep 'em coming!!! ^_~
Terreis; Yeah, Elladan was a bit harsh, but he's worried and (as you'll see in a later fic in this series) he feels responsible for Estel, Legolas and Elrohir, so naturally he'd be feeling a little stressed at the moment. Thanks for reviewing though!!!
Elfobsession2931; Ah, that is going by movie verse that he's 2931. However, if you copy and paste this URL into your web browser...
...it tells you a LOT about the book verse of Legolas, and it picks up every clue about his age. It's also a very good read; I recommend it! Thanks for your review though, it makes me smile when people tell me things that can improve my writing! ^_^
leggylover03; ^_^ Ok, here's a quick update for you! I'm glad you like the Estel angst... my conscience is battling with itself to see whether I should make him worse or not... decisions decisions...
galadriel evenstar; Don't go out there!!! *pulls evenstar back through the door* You'll freeze!!! Here; *hands over steaming cup of tea* Drink that and sit down... I'll show you what happens... ^_^
Deana; Its ok! ^_^ Yeah, I do have anti-virus stuff, but it's also everything... you know, this being the Internet and all... Woah; I'm glad you were alright!!! Though maybe it affected your writing and that's what makes you write such great stories!!! Erm, do you mind if I use that whole freezing-water-bed-causing-hypothermia thing for this story? I could only find what to do in the event of hypothermia in my book and how to treat it, not the symptoms... though how they expect you to treat hypothermia when they don't give a list of how to actually RECOGNISE it I don't know... ^_^ Lol!
Astievia; That's a LOT of cool stuff!!! Ok, round 2... if I owned LOTR, I would buy... a private jet, a large yacht, Jupiter, and I'd but 4 horses, called Merry, Pippin, Aragorn (or Estel, not sure yet!) and of course, Legolas... OH YES!!! PLEASE LET ME BE IN THE NEXT CHAPTER OF WILDFIRE, PLEEEEEAAAAASSSSSSEEEEEE?!?!?! Hang on... I don't like the sound of that evil laughter... but I still wanna be in it!!! Ooh, your brother... I'm scared!
Mysterious Jedi; Evil is my middle name... apart from Sadist, Weirdo, Hobbit-Girl, Elf-Wannabe, Queen of Nastiness and various other names that make me sound like a female (and nastier) version of Aragorn... ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!
Sparrow Greenleaf; Yes. Yes I do. =) *shudders at thought of bad puns* I'm gonna write something on the evilness of bad puns... one day... someday... when I can be bothered to that is...
Anarya; I must say... that story? IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! I really enjoyed it; you ought to write more stuff!!! ^_^ Well I'm hoping to find a way of getting him out of this... if not, it's bye bye Leggy and the end of the Nilmé Series!!! =) MWUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Thanks for reviewing mellonamin!
eruve tinwen; I believe that not getting hurt a single time during the LOTR Trilogy was what he did to deserve this... yup...
elfmage; ^_^ YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!! THE SADIST'S CODE IS UP!!! I was wondering; can I put this on my website? Please?!?! So... my full name is now Star; Queen of Drama, President of the Sadist's Code, Official Nutter of the CBBC LOTR Books Boards, The OTHER Mistress of Evil, Queen of Incredibly Evil and Frequent Cliffies, Ruler of Imaginative New Tortures for Elves, and Writer of Brilliant Character Development... whoo! That is one loooooooonnnnnngggggg name... strange how the word 'evil' popped up in there so many times... =) I know I am...
Yavie Aelinel; I love that song!!! ^_^ It's so cool! I can play it on my guitar (yes; I play guitar! I'm a girl of very few, but highly honed in on talents...) I know!!! Poor Legolas; all this to entertain us all... how does he keep up with it all?! =)
Stoneage Woman; Hmmm, I think that was a compliment... =P ... LOL, I'm joking, I'm joking! ^_^ I'm hoping the scanner works too! I actually have a drawing for this fic (it's Legolas about to go into the water; the ice is just cracking under his feet!) plus loads for the ones I'll be writing in the future for this series... some of my faves are for a fic involving Aragorn, Legolas, and Ringwraiths... I'll say no more... =) Oh, and no; I'm not an artist but people have said I ought to be one... ^_^
Lainfaer; I'm glad you like drawings! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!!! ^_~
Woah, that was about a page and a half of review replies!!! ^_^ I LOVE YOU PEOPLE!!! ^_^
Now, on with chapter number 6...
I WOULD LIKE TO INFORM YOU THAT, AS I AM ONLY 14, I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO MEDICAL EXPERIENCE... UNLESS YOU COUNT BEING ABLE TO a) PUT SOMEONE IN THE RECOVERY POSITION, b) BEING ABLE TO DO THE HEIMLICH, AND c) KNOWING THE NUMBER FOR AMBULANCES, MEDICAL EXPERIENCE THAT IS... THANK YOU!!!
.: Chapter Six :.
The horse's hooves pressed into the thick snow heavily. The rider pulled their cloak around them tighter, bowing their head so their hood would block somewhat against the whipping snow. The person had heard a cry, distant and muffled in the wind as they were out riding to get home as fast as possible, but the goodness inside their heart reached out for the other who's pitiful yet terrified cry moved it.
A small gasp issued from the rider's mouth, pale wispy mist curling like frosty ribbons from inside, as their eyes caught sight of a young Elf, lying unconscious in the snow.
Tiliath jumped down from the tall horse. "Stay here," he said softly to it. The horse, out of great love for its master, obeyed. The man walked cautiously down the hill, wary of ice patches and other concealed dangers.
He approached the little Elf. It had long blonde hair and wore a dark green tunic. Its lips were tinged with a slight blue colour, and Tiliath was sure that even Elves were not meant to be that pale. It seemed to be a boy, and he was absolutely sodden with freezing cold water. He would have to get into dry clothes.
Tiliath, thankfully, knew what was wrong and why the Elf was unconscious. He was a Ranger, coming home for the winter to see his family. It was simply cursed luck that had brought the snowstorm down on his head as he neared so close to home. The young Elf was almost certainly beginning to develop hypothermia. Tiliath pulled out some spare blankets from his pack and dug the youngster out of the snow that was beginning to cover him.
It suddenly occurred to the Ranger that this was no Elf of Rivendell. The blonde hair; that was what gave it away. Very few Rivendell Elves had blonde hair, and this one was dressed in woodland attire. At this point in time though, it did not matter; what mattered was warming him up as well and as safely as possible.
Tiliath knew of a small cave not far from their current position. Wrapping the Elf tightly in the blankets, which had been warmed from being at the part of his pack closest to his back, he carried him back up to the top of the hill.
The horse whinnied and nodded his head as he saw his master returning with a limp bundle in his arms.
"Kneel please Ferdilon," he said. "I need your help to mount now." Ferdilon bent his legs, lowering himself to the ground where Tiliath could place the cold Elf on the horse with ease...
~*~*~*~
Elladan stayed silent for a moment, before turning back to his little brother. He noticed that Estel was shivering again.
"Get back in bed Estel," he said, using the healer's tone that Lord Elrond had taught him over the years. Estel shook his head.
"Please let me go out and help you," he pleaded. Legolas was out there looking for him... this was his fault. "I'm fine, really!"
He suddenly erupted into more hacking coughs. The Elf looked down on the teenager with pity, suddenly feeling guilty for shouting at him. It wasn't his fault, not really...
"You're not," he sighed. "Go on; go back to sleep." He ushered Estel to his bed, sitting him down on it and pulling the covers over him. He grasped the still steaming cup of tea in his lithe fingers. "Drink that," he said firmly, handing it to Estel. "You'll feel much better."
Estel obediently took the little pottery mug from Elladan's hand. He coughed a couple more times before regaining his breath. He wrinkled his nose at the tea, which was a slight mossy-green colour and smelled of a strange smell he couldn't quite place... it was disgusting though...
He swallowed some, before pulling back, spluttering. "That is horrible!" he half-cried, half-coughed.
Elladan smiled briefly. "Of course it is; it's tea Estel. Come along, drink it all up, there's a good boy."
Estel eyed him suspiciously. Elladan crossed his fingers out of sight; if Estel figured out that this was a sleeping draught...
"Don't call me that Dan," said Estel. Elladan breathed a tiny sigh of relief.
"Alright Estel..."
The youngster drained the cup. "There; I drank it, just like you asked!" He grinned slightly. "Would you like me to dance next?"
Elladan shook his head, laughing. "Just go to sleep!"
Estel's eyes began to drift shut. He fought against it. "But... I'm not... tired..." His head rested softly on the pillow, and he drifted into sleep.
Elladan stroked a stray piece of hair behind his younger brother's head. "Rest well Estel," he whispered softly. He rose from the side of the bed, and left the room...
And it was with that, after Elladan had mounted his faithful horse Windshadow, he, Elrohir, Elrond and Glorfindel set out to search for the missing Mirkwood Elf...
~*~*~*~
Tiliath walked into the cave, holding the Elf in his arms. He rested the unconscious one down on the floor, still wrapped tightly and warmly in the blankets, before pulling out some small pieces of spare firewood that he carried around with him. After al, it was basic Ranger training.
He pulled out two flints and rested them on the dry wood. He placed a little dry grass (also stored in his smaller kit; again, basic training) atop the rest, and began to strike the flints hard. Very soon, orangey sparks began to fly off of them.
"Come on..." he whispered, urging the sparks on. "Come on..."
Thank the Valar then that a small wisp of smoke began to rise. Soon, the whole clump of grass was alight with an orange-red glow, which spread to the wood. The fire was lit.
Tiliath closed his eyes for a few seconds, recalling how to make a makeshift cot for injured people. He placed to long pieces of wood parallel to each other, the some smaller pieces between them, making it look rather like a ladder. Then he placed more blankets along it, cushioning it. Once he was happy that it would not collapse, he walked over and picked up the Elf again, lying him down on the cot close to the fire.
Tiliath looked him over. Apart from the obvious malady of cold exposure, there were no other apparent injuries on him, save for the minor scratches on his face and hands. The Elf looked like an average human sixteen year old, save for the pointed ears and Elvish clothing.
"What on Middle-Earth were you doing out there lad?" thought the Ranger, shaking his head slightly. "Even Elves like you can't handle that kind of cold for long..."
Gradually, the Elf began to shiver, building up more and more until it was uncontrollable. Tiliath breathed a sigh of relief; that was actually good, for it meant that the young one's body was trying to compensate for the lost heat by generating some for itself.
They couldn't stay here for long though. What this Elf needed was proper shelter and warmth; a campfire couldn't provide as much as one in a fireplace could. Tiliath decided then and there that as soon as the snowstorm eased off, he would take him back to his own home, not far from here...
If it eased off, that was...
~*~*~*~
Estel woke up alone. His mind was slightly hazy, probably as he was still a little tired from the sleeping draught, but there was... something else... it was... something important...
Then it hit him.
"Legolas!!!" he breathed. Estel scrambled out of bed, pulling on another overcoat as he suddenly found himself abnormally cold. He put that down to just changing from the warmth of his bed to the less warm air.
He grabbed his sword from the side, noticing that his arms felt a little heavier than they should do. Again, he simply put that down to having just woken up.
He was about to leave the room when a figure appeared in front of him. "That's odd," he thought to himself. "I didn't even notice her coming..."
It was Tebridë, Arwen's old nanny. She looked upon the form of the boy in front of her, smiling slightly.
"And just where do you think you're going, hmm?!" she asked. She had been warned by Lord Elrond that when Estel woke up he may have tried to follow them; it was in his new-found stubborn nature. It was a good job she'd come to check in on him when she had...
She frowned a little when he began coughing badly again.
"I was just... I was... just..." began Estel between coughs. He couldn't continue though; something felt... wrong, almost, something wrong inside of him.
"Estel?" asked Tebridë. Her voice was thick with concern; she didn't like the glazed look the teenager's eyes had taken on. "Are you feeling alright?!" She placed a cool hand on his forehead, and found it much warmer than it should have been.
Her voice... it sounded so fuzzy... like he was underwater. Everything was echoing around him.
Are you, you, you... alright, feeling alright...? Estel? Alright? Estel... Estel... are you...?
He couldn't get in enough air because of coughing... lights; so many wonderful, pretty lights...
It was a welcome relief from all the echoing voices and strange, dizzying lights that whizzed around him when all faded to black and he hit the floor...
*starts whistling to self* Oh, helloooo there dear reader! ... Why the furious I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that look? Why the growling? Why the very sharp and dangerous looking knife? ... Oh dear...
LOOK, IF YOU JUST R&R I'LL UPDATE, HONEST!!! O_O' Jeez, some people... but please R&R! ^_~ And everyone go read Anarya's fic!!! IT'S FABBYLUSHIOUSO!!! --- And that is MY word... anyone who nicks it without my permission pays a fine... BE NICE!