When Will the Sun Shine Again?
Chapter 15/2- Battle
A.N: Yeah, I know I am a despicable human being for leaving y'all so long, but my writers block was so bad and if I posted anything of what I had written before you would've crucified me, anyhoo, I'll stop making excuses and get on with the story as I know y'all came to see that! You'll be rather peed at the end of this chappy too methinks, but have mercy, I'm writing this at 4am, literally, so spelling mistakes, grammar, total crap alert, just blame it on the time, it'll make me feel better at least. And I really wanted to get this up now so not to pee y'all off even more, the next chap will be up really soon, I promise, and I'm gonna keep it this time! Oh and please review, I need to know how bad it is, especially after such a long writers block period.
*
Legolas had no stomach for breakfast on the morning of the fight, he simply stood bathing himself in nature in the glade where the competition was to be held. It was eerily reminiscent of his dream, but the elven prince pushed those thoughts from his mind and concentrated on the sounds of the forest to calm him.
Elladan and Elrohir arrived next, having finished their morning meal quickly to check on their friend. Elladan was in a way relieved that Legolas had been absent from breakfast as Astalder had been asserting his authority, proclaiming Legolas too fearful to face him that morning. At any other time the twins would have been quick to arrange a wager as to whom the victor would be, but with such a personal factor in the proceedings, they didn't much feel like betting this morning.
"Mellonin, Lle tyava quel? (My friend, do you feel well?)"Elrohir called softly, not wanting to disturb Legolas if he was preoccupied.
"As can be expected." Legolas sighed, turning to look at them. "Care teli? (Does he come?)"
"Aye, soon enough. You were absent at breakfast." Elladan commented.
"Yes, I doubt I could have kept it down. I assume my humble opponent took his chance to revile me in public?"
"You should have been there, you could have fought back." Elrohir reasoned.
"Man i ecthel? (What's the point?)" Legolas sighed listlessly.
Elladan shook his head. "Lle wethrine lle, carú wethrine ammen (You deceive yourself (but you) do not deceive us.)"
"Kela. (Go away.)" Legolas said quietly, and turned back to the forest. The twins sighed and turned, going to find a seat in the stands that were already beginning to get crowded.
The Prince of Mirkwood had a bad feeling about the mornings proceedings, his heart felt heavy and his soul was wearied. It was very unusual for an elf not to be joyous, but Legolas could not lift his spirits this day. Astalder arrived last of course, fashionably late and with Arwen in tow. The elves were chattering excitedly about the groundbreaking event, this sort of competition was certainly not commonplace among elfkind and those whose interests were not so personal were having a slight wager on the dealings.
The next half hour flew by in a blur, waiting for everyone to assemble, an outline of the rules and regulations, and soon it came to the noble Mirkwood elf standing face to face if Astalder inside a large circle where the contest was to take place. For most spectators- in other words those who did not know better- this was of course a 'contest', but for those with vested interest this was for all intents and purpose a plain fight, with much riding on its outcome.
"Are you prepared to lose Thranduilion?" Astalder whispered.
"Lle naa haran e' nausalle, lhûg. (You are king in your imagination, snake.)" Legolas retorted, a great passion in his soul.
The two bowed their heads ever so slightly, never taking their eyes off the other, then took a few steps backwards ready to begin.
Astalder saw the hand move towards the bell signalling the beginning of the fight. Before Legolas even knew what happened he was kicked squarely in the chest and flung backwards with all the grace of a dwarf riding a Warg.
"Twas before the bell." The adjudicating elf chimed out. "Discount the fall, a mark against Astalder of Eryn Vorn." Legolas glared angrily at the smug look on his opponents face, if the other elf did that again he would be disqualified, this they both knew. But it seemed like Astalder didn't care if it was an opportunity to humiliate the Mirkwood elf. He pushed himself back up with surprising speed and grace, his composure remained though his cerulean eyes crackled with rage.
Haldir cursed Astalder in rather unelven tongues and Elrohir feigned shock at his friend's colourful language. "Dear Haldir, such talk is most unbefitting for an elf of such a high standing as yours."
"He wishes to devalue Legolas in front of his kin, a treacherous and devious ploy."
"It is the way of the coward mellon." Elladan commented airily. "He knows he cannot best Legolas with skill, so plays on his strengths, he will come undone as soon as the contest really begins."
The other two nodded and concentrated very hard on Astalder, hoping if they tried hard enough his head might implode through the power of their minds. To no avail.
Legolas stared unwaveringly at the Eryn Vorn elf, and when he heard the faint ting of the bell he rushed forward, dodging easily under Astalder's high swing and delivering a swift deluge of blows to his opponents midsection, causing the treacherous elf to stagger backwards, momentarily winded. Legolas pressed his advantage delivering a sharp open fisted blow to Astalder's face, then sweeping his long leg behind his opponent's and toppling the Eryn Vorn elf right off his graceful elven feet. He crashed to the ground in a most ungainly heap.
Legolas stood back proudly, resisting the urge to kick the elf when he was down, his manners getting the better of him. He turned to step further backwards and give the elf a chance to stand fairly, but as soon as his back was turned he felt a sharp kick to his ankle and another to the inside of his knee and he fell forward inescapably. Astalder had used his even-handedness against him, and Legolas was furious. He should have known never to trust such an underhanded rat. As he rolled onto his back he saw Astalder standing once more, a smirk of triumph adorning his features.
"Behold! We are even Legolas, but not for much longer." He murmured unpleasantly, and Legolas considered briefly if indeed Astalder was the sort of elf to kick another when he was down. He concluded yes, but not with a whole host of others bearing witness, which was lucky given his current position.
Legolas pushed himself up once more, determined not to make the same mistake twice. He hammered forth, almost dancing in an elegant trail of dodges and blows, striking with the precision of a snake. Astalder, to his credit was not so easy to fell when he was ready for an attack, and kicked Legolas hard in the leg, moving forward swift as lightning to grab the Mirkwood elf's hair and bring his knee up into his stomach. Legolas gasped in pain as the wind was forced from him, and he staggered slightly, sucking in as much life-giving air as he could muster. Astalder seemed revitalised witnessing Legolas' discomfort, and spun forth again, landing a solid punch on his opponent's fair cheek. Legolas winced but used the punch as an opening to drive his own fist hard into Astalder's stomach, then kicked him squarely in the kneecap with enough force to shatter it. Astalder cried out in pain and anger as he fell again, landing on the ground hard as he clutched his damaged knee.
Arwen was horrified by the brutality between the two elves, she had, since last night, felt slightly guilty for chasing Legolas away when in truth he was only concerned for her, but she cared so deeply for Astalder that her defensive side had overcome her. Only now did she see there was so much passionate hatred between the two, it was unlike anything she'd seen in elvenkind before.
"Can Astalder of Eryn Vorn continue? Or will he forfeit?" The dark haired elven judge enquired as Astalder struggled uneasily to his feet, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.
"I continue." He growled and without another word he barrelled straight into Legolas, powered only by sheer adrenaline and hatred. The Eryn Vorn elf could feel the bones in his ruined knee grate together and there were sharp stabs of pain shooting up his leg but his anger surged him onward.
Legolas was totally taken aback by this surprise attack, he had hoped the elf would surrender but he thought it highly unlikely he would. Still, he had been prepared to give him time to recover from the attack, instead the elf had just lunged at him like a charging bull.
As well as this unexpected spear, Astalder delivered a blow that was rather below the belt, as well as an elbow to the ribs, and this triple beating completely blindsided the Mirkwood elf, who had- for his part- been playing by the rules. The judge had not seemed to notice anything amiss, and Legolas fell once more, his body radiating with pain from head to toe.
He struggled to his feet, knowing that this was the deciding throw, the next one to fall would lose, and Legolas would not let that be himself.
With a growl he rushed forward, flowing like water, hitting Astalder in the knee, solar plexus, and finally in the nose. He felt bone snap underneath his raging fist, and he felt the blood explode onto his hand accompanied by a cry of pain and frustration from Astalder. He suddenly got an image of his earlier dream, of Astalder thrusting a dagger through him, and he looked up in distraction, his eyes meeting Arwen's for a brief moment. She smiled softly and he almost forgot what he was doing. Snapping himself out of his daze he turned round just in time to dodge a punch from a still bleeding Astalder, it was aimed right for his face but instead it just glanced off his chin, splitting his lower lip with the impact. Legolas tasted the coppery tang of his own blood but ignored it for the moment, knowing it was now or never. He took another punch to the stomach, but twisted around Astalder's kick and brought his knee up to his opponents stomach and smashed Astalder's already shattered nose with the heel of his right hand. With a gasp Astalder's feet gave out from under him and he toppled, rather resembling a tree falling in the forest. He hit the ground with a thud and his eyes closed in pain.
There was an explosion of cheering and the elves rushed onto the grounds, closing round to congratulate a weary and aching Legolas for a job well done and a very entertaining end to the competition. It was not in the elves' way to revel in violence, but when it was 'all in fun' and just to celebrate Sheelala they certainly saw no harm, especially when such large quantities of wine had been consumed during the festivities. Legolas noticed through his haze of exhaustion that Elladan, Elrohir and Haldir were very close to him, along with his trusty guard Beleger, and Hodoer was somewhere close by, as he could hear his usually reserved, quiet voice chattering excitedly about the intensity of the fight. He also noticed that Arwen was not there, and to his dismay he saw her by Astalder, along with others who had gone to congratulate him on a good tournament and commiserate him for his loss. Those who had wagered on him and lost were now avoiding him and Legolas too, not wanting to admit to betting against him. He saw Arwen put her arms around Astalder and help him up, leading him away from the joyous elven crowd.
"Legolas! You won, congratulations mellon, we knew that you would!" the voices were all blurred together and Legolas could only smile weakly through the exhaustion.
I have won the contest, but what good is it to me, Astalder still has Arwen.
*
"Arwen." Astalder murmured as they reached the gardens of Elrond's house.
"Yes, Astalder what is it?" Arwen frowned, joining the weary elf on a bench.
"Since the moment I laid eyes on you, I knew you were special, the most exquisite elf on Middle Earth, perhaps even more beautiful than Luthien, I would stake my life on it."
"I care for you too Astalder." Arwen nodded and smiled, handing him a cloth to help clean his damaged nose. "I thought 'twas not possible to feel this way after my lord… but…"
Astalder moved swiftly and caught her lips in his own, leaving no room for argument. He pulled away and Arwen smiled.
"Is something on your mind?" She asked, seeing the hesitation in his grey eyes.
"Arwen, will you marry me?"
*
ARGH, CRAPPY, CRAPPY CHAPTER *bangs computer angrily* ah well, it's done now. Review please?!