Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. Lucky all of you because I
put aside my other two work in process stories to add this chapter!! I
like it quite a bit, so I hope you do too. Thank you so much for all the
glowing reviews, I really appreciate them. It definitely keeps me writing!
I am trying hard to continue this and am sure there will be plenty more
chapters, and soon! But now I have a whole lot of homework for my college
classes that have to be gotten to. Next time I'll hopefully be responding
to more of your reviews, so thanks. Tell me what you think!
Legolas was caught off guard when the young man crashed forcefully into him. The elf and the man tumbled away from Aragorn down a slight incline in a mass of tangled arms and legs. In the midst of the chaos, Legolas felt his dagger slip from his grip, falling some place in the dirt and leaves. Legolas managed to get his bearings as they came to a rolling stop and grabbed the arm of his assailant, trying to hold him back from getting the upper position. From the corner of his eye, he saw his father's archers drop form the trees. Suddenly afraid that something was about to go terribly wrong because of an understandable misunderstanding, the elf prince attempted to get a hold on the Ranger who was attacking him. Legolas had to be very careful no to hurt the man, knowing that he had clearly heard the Ranger yell in defense of his captain, Aragorn.
Legolas' superior elven eyesight was quick to puck up on the raising of bows, all aimed at the tenacious Ranger who was no a top of Legolas' chest`, poised to strike if need be. Those long seconds seemed to stretch into a season's passing as Legolas heard Aragorn yell.
"For the love of Elbereth, no!" This caught all of the Rangers' attentions and everyone turned to watch as Aragorn dragged himself off the ground. Legolas could hear the wind whistle as the first arrows sang through the air and time seemed to become motionless. Moments later, Legolas was free of the attacking Ranger as the arrows whipped overhead. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could, he was in time to hear Aragorn's plaintive cry that the Ranger meant the elves no harm. Legolas took in the situation quickly. A dozen of his father's finest archers were spread in the immediate area, half of them having leveled their bows against the other Rangers who had just barely finished fighting off the wargs, and half of them having turned on Aragorn and the other Ranger. Havad, Methil, Lancen, and Resiran had been joined by three other Rangers, all a bit younger than Methil, Havad and Resiran, but obviously older than Aragorn. Their bodies were now taunt and tense, eyes locked onto Aragorn in concern and fury. Observing his friend, Legolas found Aragorn sheltering a much younger Ranger. Aragorn's left arm hung uselessly at his side, blood soaking through his dark tunic. Blood, in a stark diagonal line was also beginning to seep though his tunic on the chest where his stitches had obviously been ripped by the warg attack.
The archers seemed almost as concerned with Aragorn as they were with the young Ranger. He peered out from beneath Aragorn's protective arm and Legolas observed that the Ranger, a mere boy of perhaps sixteen or seventeen year, had black hair, as dark as the mines of Moria, cut short and ragged, close to his head, unlike any of the other Rangers who allowed their hair to grow freely. Legolas was also surprised by the intensity of the deep blue eyes, nearly as intense as Aragorn's nearly elven great eyes. The boy's face was slightly marred by a vivid red scratch, obviously from a clash with a warg, bleeding freely down his cheek.
Legolas' mind was moving quicker than he would have liked. Clearly, the young Ranger that had attacked him had been only defending Aragorn, whom he obviously thought had been in danger, most likely because of the way Legolas had been holding his dagger. Now, his fellow elves, friends since childhood thought they were protecting their Prince, but were unknowingly threatening not only a precarious balance between elves and men, but the entire future of Middle Earth. Six arrows were trained on the future King of Gondor.
The delicate balance that existed in those few seconds where every creature represented there was confused was soon broken when Lancen took a step forward, anger and worry passing over his young face. A bow twanged and Legolas mentally cursed while his heart nearly stopped, crying out for mercy.
"No!" Aragorn's voice sounded empty and far away as he cried out in elvish and Legolas could feel the anguish of his friend. Fate was feeling particularly generous that day though, and Resiran was in time to pull Lancen back in one swift movement and the arrow passed by Lancen's face by inches, harmlessly flying by.
Legolas knew that he had to put a stop to the misunderstanding before someone really got hurt. He noted that the Rangers were all reaching for their swords and he pushed his shocked mind into action.
"Stop!" he cried, finally having found his voice. He brushed leaves and dirt off of his tunic as he stepped between his archers and where Aragorn still remained on the ground, still sheltering the other Ranger. Legolas was relieved as the confused archers lowered their bows and bowed low to the ground out of respect for him.
"My lord! Are you all right?" Thelian, a distant cousin of Legolas' approached the Prince, concern and confusion etched on his normally soft features. Legolas could tell that he was eyeing the Rangers with suspicion. Legolas was debating on how to answer in the least confusing way as he heard Aragorn's soft communication to his men to put their weapons away and keep them that way. The other elves obviously heard also and Legolas watched them tense up, marking Aragorn as the leader of the intruders.
"I am fine. There's been a misunderstanding. You have naught to fear from these men, they are Rangers of the North and I was traveling in their company," Legolas explained slowly, gesturing to where Aragorn still sat on the ground. The pale look of Aragorn's skin worried him, but he also noted that while Aragorn had ordered his men to put their weapons away, neither he nor the young boy with him had made any step to sheath their swords.
"That one attacked you! Should we put him down?" another of the elves asked, pointing at the Ranger with the dark hair. Legolas could literally see Aragorn's whole demeanor change from peaceful to angry as the elf spoke of one of his men like he was merely an animal. Legolas shuddered inside. Aragorn could not hate him now, it would ruin what friendship they had already formed.
"No! And you will not talk of these men in that manner again! They are as noble as any elf, and so speaking I give them free passage to our home," Legolas said pointedly, making sure they understood it was an order. He could see the confusion and disbelief that spread across the face of his friends. "Yes, that one did attack me, and he did mean harm, but it was a misunderstanding. He thought I was attacking his captain."
"Legolas," Thelian's voice was soft as he approached the Prince. "You hardly need to explain yourself to your subjects. I believe that these men have helped your father before. Is that not Strider?"
"Yes, it is, and he would benefit from seeing the healers," Legolas said slowly, nodding at the gentle reminder. Indeed, he was a Prince, but Legolas often forgot that with the title came certain privileges.
"Then we should escort you back to the palace. The King has been very worried about you since your disappearance. The messenger from Lord Elrond assured us that you were well, but it is not like your father to be understanding, and you know he is not always trusting of the Lord of Imladris," Thelian trailed off, suddenly looking uncertain. Legolas turned to find the young Ranger helping Aragorn to his feet. With the boy's help, Aragorn made his way over, trying to hide his discomfort. He stood stiffly in front of the elves, his Rangers slowly coming to stand behind him.
"Legolas, you should accompany your," here Aragorn paused glancing at the elves in an unreadable way, " - archers - back to your home. You have come far with me and until this time it had been pleasant. My men and I will be returning to our home, but we will take the outer road, so as not to pass through your wood any longer."
Legolas noted with growing dismay how it must have sounded to Aragorn as he and his men had been talking. Elves of all kinds were quick to jump to the conclusion that elves in all ways were superior to men and Legolas knew that Aragorn above all other men had to feel the sting of such a thought. Glancing at his men, Legolas found that they were surprised that the man spoke elvish and even more surprised, realizing that Aragorn could understand every word that they had already spoken.
"No.Strider, you promised me that you would accompany me as far as my home and you are wounded," Legolas gently touched Aragorn's arm and the man drew back with a slight hiss of pain. "Come, let your men rest and I also know that you have a message to deliver to my father." Legolas watched curiously as Aragorn thought things over. His men, though entirely in the dark about what was being said, stood behind Aragorn, looking very trusting. The young Ranger who had attacked him seemed to be listening carefully and looked at Aragorn as if he had understood and Legolas briefly wondered if the boy had been taught elvish. While he was waiting for Aragorn to speak, he noted that Lancen curiously reached out and touched the younger Ranger on the shoulder, as if to make sure he was ok. As the young Ranger turned to face Lancen, they both smiled and Legolas realized that they must have been brothers.
"Legolas, I am not sure." Aragorn hesitated, glancing purposefully at the younger Ranger then back to Legolas. The elf understood immediately.
"You will be completely safe, I promise." Legolas held his breath. He hated for them to part this way, with Aragorn angry and their bond of trust and friendship frayed. If he could just talk to the stubborn Ranger alone, he could right things. Aragorn seemed to think some more and the young Ranger sighed impatiently.
"Strider, you are hurt and it will not wait. I will apologize for my behavior and all will be well," the boy spoke suddenly, in elvish and very softly directly to Aragorn. The older Ranger smiled at the boy then turned to Legolas.
"I assume you heard him?"
Legolas shook his head that he had indeed heard the young man and was about to speak when the boy stepped forward, causing all of the elves to reach for their bows. Paying no attention to them, the young Ranger bowed low to the ground, then straitened his thin body.
"My lord, Prince of Mirkwood, please forgive my trespass. 'Twas an honest mistake, m'lord and I would not fell well until you would understand such," the true honesty and simplicity of the words struck Legolas, surprised at how much the boy reminded him of Aragorn.
"You are quite forgiven, now let us return to the path before more wargs come upon us, it is not much farther to the path that will lead us to my home." Legolas patted the boy on the shoulder and hurried to get them moving. "Thelian, we will be all right. You and your scouts should return to your duty." Without question, the elves obeyed and instantly melted back into the wood, leaving only a lingering suspicious glance, directed at Aragorn and the young Ranger who was standing beside him. "Now, I beg to at least know your name."
"His name is Cressen," Aragorn said, switching from elvish to the common tongue for the sake of the other Rangers.
"Well met Cressen, I would not meet you in battle," Legolas said with a laugh.
"And I would also not meet you!" The boy said with a light laugh that brought even a smile to Aragorn's face.
Legolas was caught off guard when the young man crashed forcefully into him. The elf and the man tumbled away from Aragorn down a slight incline in a mass of tangled arms and legs. In the midst of the chaos, Legolas felt his dagger slip from his grip, falling some place in the dirt and leaves. Legolas managed to get his bearings as they came to a rolling stop and grabbed the arm of his assailant, trying to hold him back from getting the upper position. From the corner of his eye, he saw his father's archers drop form the trees. Suddenly afraid that something was about to go terribly wrong because of an understandable misunderstanding, the elf prince attempted to get a hold on the Ranger who was attacking him. Legolas had to be very careful no to hurt the man, knowing that he had clearly heard the Ranger yell in defense of his captain, Aragorn.
Legolas' superior elven eyesight was quick to puck up on the raising of bows, all aimed at the tenacious Ranger who was no a top of Legolas' chest`, poised to strike if need be. Those long seconds seemed to stretch into a season's passing as Legolas heard Aragorn yell.
"For the love of Elbereth, no!" This caught all of the Rangers' attentions and everyone turned to watch as Aragorn dragged himself off the ground. Legolas could hear the wind whistle as the first arrows sang through the air and time seemed to become motionless. Moments later, Legolas was free of the attacking Ranger as the arrows whipped overhead. Getting to his feet as quickly as he could, he was in time to hear Aragorn's plaintive cry that the Ranger meant the elves no harm. Legolas took in the situation quickly. A dozen of his father's finest archers were spread in the immediate area, half of them having leveled their bows against the other Rangers who had just barely finished fighting off the wargs, and half of them having turned on Aragorn and the other Ranger. Havad, Methil, Lancen, and Resiran had been joined by three other Rangers, all a bit younger than Methil, Havad and Resiran, but obviously older than Aragorn. Their bodies were now taunt and tense, eyes locked onto Aragorn in concern and fury. Observing his friend, Legolas found Aragorn sheltering a much younger Ranger. Aragorn's left arm hung uselessly at his side, blood soaking through his dark tunic. Blood, in a stark diagonal line was also beginning to seep though his tunic on the chest where his stitches had obviously been ripped by the warg attack.
The archers seemed almost as concerned with Aragorn as they were with the young Ranger. He peered out from beneath Aragorn's protective arm and Legolas observed that the Ranger, a mere boy of perhaps sixteen or seventeen year, had black hair, as dark as the mines of Moria, cut short and ragged, close to his head, unlike any of the other Rangers who allowed their hair to grow freely. Legolas was also surprised by the intensity of the deep blue eyes, nearly as intense as Aragorn's nearly elven great eyes. The boy's face was slightly marred by a vivid red scratch, obviously from a clash with a warg, bleeding freely down his cheek.
Legolas' mind was moving quicker than he would have liked. Clearly, the young Ranger that had attacked him had been only defending Aragorn, whom he obviously thought had been in danger, most likely because of the way Legolas had been holding his dagger. Now, his fellow elves, friends since childhood thought they were protecting their Prince, but were unknowingly threatening not only a precarious balance between elves and men, but the entire future of Middle Earth. Six arrows were trained on the future King of Gondor.
The delicate balance that existed in those few seconds where every creature represented there was confused was soon broken when Lancen took a step forward, anger and worry passing over his young face. A bow twanged and Legolas mentally cursed while his heart nearly stopped, crying out for mercy.
"No!" Aragorn's voice sounded empty and far away as he cried out in elvish and Legolas could feel the anguish of his friend. Fate was feeling particularly generous that day though, and Resiran was in time to pull Lancen back in one swift movement and the arrow passed by Lancen's face by inches, harmlessly flying by.
Legolas knew that he had to put a stop to the misunderstanding before someone really got hurt. He noted that the Rangers were all reaching for their swords and he pushed his shocked mind into action.
"Stop!" he cried, finally having found his voice. He brushed leaves and dirt off of his tunic as he stepped between his archers and where Aragorn still remained on the ground, still sheltering the other Ranger. Legolas was relieved as the confused archers lowered their bows and bowed low to the ground out of respect for him.
"My lord! Are you all right?" Thelian, a distant cousin of Legolas' approached the Prince, concern and confusion etched on his normally soft features. Legolas could tell that he was eyeing the Rangers with suspicion. Legolas was debating on how to answer in the least confusing way as he heard Aragorn's soft communication to his men to put their weapons away and keep them that way. The other elves obviously heard also and Legolas watched them tense up, marking Aragorn as the leader of the intruders.
"I am fine. There's been a misunderstanding. You have naught to fear from these men, they are Rangers of the North and I was traveling in their company," Legolas explained slowly, gesturing to where Aragorn still sat on the ground. The pale look of Aragorn's skin worried him, but he also noted that while Aragorn had ordered his men to put their weapons away, neither he nor the young boy with him had made any step to sheath their swords.
"That one attacked you! Should we put him down?" another of the elves asked, pointing at the Ranger with the dark hair. Legolas could literally see Aragorn's whole demeanor change from peaceful to angry as the elf spoke of one of his men like he was merely an animal. Legolas shuddered inside. Aragorn could not hate him now, it would ruin what friendship they had already formed.
"No! And you will not talk of these men in that manner again! They are as noble as any elf, and so speaking I give them free passage to our home," Legolas said pointedly, making sure they understood it was an order. He could see the confusion and disbelief that spread across the face of his friends. "Yes, that one did attack me, and he did mean harm, but it was a misunderstanding. He thought I was attacking his captain."
"Legolas," Thelian's voice was soft as he approached the Prince. "You hardly need to explain yourself to your subjects. I believe that these men have helped your father before. Is that not Strider?"
"Yes, it is, and he would benefit from seeing the healers," Legolas said slowly, nodding at the gentle reminder. Indeed, he was a Prince, but Legolas often forgot that with the title came certain privileges.
"Then we should escort you back to the palace. The King has been very worried about you since your disappearance. The messenger from Lord Elrond assured us that you were well, but it is not like your father to be understanding, and you know he is not always trusting of the Lord of Imladris," Thelian trailed off, suddenly looking uncertain. Legolas turned to find the young Ranger helping Aragorn to his feet. With the boy's help, Aragorn made his way over, trying to hide his discomfort. He stood stiffly in front of the elves, his Rangers slowly coming to stand behind him.
"Legolas, you should accompany your," here Aragorn paused glancing at the elves in an unreadable way, " - archers - back to your home. You have come far with me and until this time it had been pleasant. My men and I will be returning to our home, but we will take the outer road, so as not to pass through your wood any longer."
Legolas noted with growing dismay how it must have sounded to Aragorn as he and his men had been talking. Elves of all kinds were quick to jump to the conclusion that elves in all ways were superior to men and Legolas knew that Aragorn above all other men had to feel the sting of such a thought. Glancing at his men, Legolas found that they were surprised that the man spoke elvish and even more surprised, realizing that Aragorn could understand every word that they had already spoken.
"No.Strider, you promised me that you would accompany me as far as my home and you are wounded," Legolas gently touched Aragorn's arm and the man drew back with a slight hiss of pain. "Come, let your men rest and I also know that you have a message to deliver to my father." Legolas watched curiously as Aragorn thought things over. His men, though entirely in the dark about what was being said, stood behind Aragorn, looking very trusting. The young Ranger who had attacked him seemed to be listening carefully and looked at Aragorn as if he had understood and Legolas briefly wondered if the boy had been taught elvish. While he was waiting for Aragorn to speak, he noted that Lancen curiously reached out and touched the younger Ranger on the shoulder, as if to make sure he was ok. As the young Ranger turned to face Lancen, they both smiled and Legolas realized that they must have been brothers.
"Legolas, I am not sure." Aragorn hesitated, glancing purposefully at the younger Ranger then back to Legolas. The elf understood immediately.
"You will be completely safe, I promise." Legolas held his breath. He hated for them to part this way, with Aragorn angry and their bond of trust and friendship frayed. If he could just talk to the stubborn Ranger alone, he could right things. Aragorn seemed to think some more and the young Ranger sighed impatiently.
"Strider, you are hurt and it will not wait. I will apologize for my behavior and all will be well," the boy spoke suddenly, in elvish and very softly directly to Aragorn. The older Ranger smiled at the boy then turned to Legolas.
"I assume you heard him?"
Legolas shook his head that he had indeed heard the young man and was about to speak when the boy stepped forward, causing all of the elves to reach for their bows. Paying no attention to them, the young Ranger bowed low to the ground, then straitened his thin body.
"My lord, Prince of Mirkwood, please forgive my trespass. 'Twas an honest mistake, m'lord and I would not fell well until you would understand such," the true honesty and simplicity of the words struck Legolas, surprised at how much the boy reminded him of Aragorn.
"You are quite forgiven, now let us return to the path before more wargs come upon us, it is not much farther to the path that will lead us to my home." Legolas patted the boy on the shoulder and hurried to get them moving. "Thelian, we will be all right. You and your scouts should return to your duty." Without question, the elves obeyed and instantly melted back into the wood, leaving only a lingering suspicious glance, directed at Aragorn and the young Ranger who was standing beside him. "Now, I beg to at least know your name."
"His name is Cressen," Aragorn said, switching from elvish to the common tongue for the sake of the other Rangers.
"Well met Cressen, I would not meet you in battle," Legolas said with a laugh.
"And I would also not meet you!" The boy said with a light laugh that brought even a smile to Aragorn's face.