AUTHOR'S NOTE: I just wanted to let everybody know that I am in the middle
of (another!) move, so if I do not update for a while, I swear I have not
abandoned it. Packing is taking a lot of time, and getting the computer
reconnected at the new house may take some time. I am also trying to write
an admissions essay to this high school I am applying for, so between all
that, updates may slow down a bit. I will try to keep up as much as I can,
though! (Just a hint: the more reviews I get, the quicker I update!! *wink
wink*)
A Daring Rescue:
"No, Aira!" I grunted in frustration as Legolas's spoilt dog ran ahead on the path. Legolas laughed from behind. "Well I am glad you are amused," I grumbled. "Your good-for-nothing dog just got mud all over me." Legolas was walking me back to the village from the palace. I had kept to my word, to a certain degree. I had come to the palace once a month, but only on the condition that Aldeon went once a month, too. I was returning from my fifth visit when Legolas's overly-friendly dog showed me a rambunctious display of affection.
"Oh, she is just showing you how much she loves you," Legolas explained. I snorted.
"You would think she would have learned what 'No' means by now, though. You have had her for what, now, four months?" Legolas grinned.
"She knows what it means, but that doesn't mean she automatically obeys whatever she is told."
"Ah, so she has a selective hearing problem?" I asked wryly.
"Exactly!" he affirmed as Aira came barreling back down the path at us. She halted in front of us and began barking loudly.
"Oh!" I cried as I clamped my hands over my ears. "Aira, hush!" Instead of stopping, however, she only ran back down the path a few feet before turning back to face us and barking again. Legolas frowned.
"What is it, Aira?" he said as he kneeled to pet her. She whined and looked back down the path. I uncovered my ears since she had stopped barking, but she had commenced whining in its place.
"I know this dog is crazy, but she really seems scared," I said as we hurried down the path. We slowed as we rounded a curve. "Do you smell smoke?" I looked at Legolas and knew immediately that he was thinking the same thing as me. "Aldeon!" I screamed as loud as I could, and we both began running. As we came closer to my home, the acrid smell of smoke became stronger and my apprehension grew greater. As we burst through the trees into the clearing where my house sat, I gasped at what I saw, only to swallow a mouthful of smoke. Coughing, I began running towards the house. "Aldeon! Mother!" I never got there, though, because Legolas grabbed me from behind.
"No! Mara, you must wait here," Legolas said as he ran past me.
"But -" I began.
"Stay!" He yelled again. The look in his eyes was all it took to convince me.
"Be careful!" I cried as he entered the house, but my words must have been lost to him amidst the roar of the flames.
He seemed to be inside for an eternity. I paced nervously outside, several times making up my mind to go inside only to change my mind at the memory of his ferocious protest of my going in. the flames shooting out of the windows and door were not helping me stay positive. All I could think was that Legolas, Aldeon, and my mother were all going to die in there. Some elves who lived nearby were beginning to show up. But nobody was going inside to try to help. I had begun coughing harshly from breathing the smoke, but when a neighbor tried to pull me farther away from the house, I refused to go. I had just made up my mind again to enter the house when I saw a silhouette in the doorway. I rushed to help Legolas, who was practically carrying my brother out of the inferno. Legolas was coughing even more than I was, and Aldeon was not coughing as much, but his breathing was raspy and he was passed out, and to my confusion, his arm was bleeding.
"Mother?" I asked. Legolas shook his head, which told me all I needed to know. "Are you both alright?"
"I will be fine," Legolas said hoarsely. "But I think Aldeon may need a healer. We need to get him to the palace."
A nearby elf carried Aldeon to the palace as Legolas was coughing so hard it was all he could do to walk there himself. The guards at the gate was going to send the healers out to us instead of letting us in, but they saw Legolas and finally let us in. Fortunately, someone inside had heard the commotion and there was a room and healers waiting for him when we got inside. Two healers went with Aldeon, two with Legolas, and I saw one heading for me as I sank to the floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When I awoke I was in the room I usually stayed in when I was visiting. There was someone in the corner, pouring a drink. As I sat up, she turned around and I saw that it was Mastien.
"Oh! You are awake!" she said. She held out a steaming mug. "Here, this will help your throat." I began to ask what was wrong with my throat, but it only came out as a croak that transformed into a series of coughs. I gratefully accepted the cup and drank the hot lemon-honey tasting drink. After sever swallows, I tried again.
"Legolas and Aldeon?"
"They are fine," Mastien assured me. "Your brother is sleeping, and Legolas woke up about an hour ago." My eyes widened.
"An hour? How long have I been asleep?" She smiled. "About seven hours." I was about to say that I had not realized it had been that long when there was a knock at the door before it opened. When I saw that it was Legolas, I immediately got out of bed and ran to hug him.
"You are okay!" I cried, stating the obvious. "I was so scared." Mastien tactfully slipped out the door.
"Are you alright?" he asked, worried.
"Yes, yes, I am fine," I said as I finally pulled away. We sat down on the bed as we were both still tired, despite the long hours of sleep. There were a few moments of silence before Legolas spoke.
"I just thought you should know that your mother did not die in the fire." The shock on my face showed that I had taken this the wrong way. "What I mean is that she died before the fire ever began. She died last night. That is why Aldeon did not run out as soon as the fire started. He was trying to get her body out so she could be buried." I felt as if I should cry, but I did not. I had known since our father did not return that she would not last long, and I had cried enough tears when all that was going on to last me a lifetime.
"At least she did not suffer," I said. I then remembered Aldeon's bleeding arm. "But why was Aldeon bleeding?"
"Orcs," Legolas replied.
"Orcs?!" I cried.
"He was attacked by orcs outside the house. While he was fighting one, another set the house on fire. That is what my father's guards can discern from the orc bodies behind the house, anyway. He killed three of them, but not before one cut his arm. The healers say that it will heal fine, though." He broke into a fit of coughing as he finished. I figured that the hot drink I had been given would do him as much good as it had me, so I passed it to him. He drank several gulps. "Thanks. They gave me really vile stuff to drink in my room before they let me out to come see you. This is much better, though."
"Yours was probably so vile because they had to come up with something stronger for you. You were in the house so long, I nearly went in after you!"
"I wish I had thought to tell you to wait further away from the house. If I had, you probably would not have such a sore throat." I grabbed his hand.
"Do not even say that! You did everything perfect! You saved Aldeon's life, and probably mine to, because if you had not stopped me, I would have went in after him. Besides, one of the neighbors tried to get me away from the house and I would not leave. I was so scared that you would not make it out and I would end up losing both you and Aldeon." Legolas squeezed my hand.
"You do not have to worry about that, though. We are both fine." There was a knock at the door. Legolas let go of my hand before calling ,"Yes?" Mastien stuck her head in the door.
"I just thought that I should tell you that Aldeon just awoke." Legolas and I hurried out the door.
When we reached my brother's room, the first thing I noticed was how dark it was. "His eyes were injured in the fire," a maid at the door informed us. "They will heal eventually, but for now they are very sensitive to light." We thanked her and went to the side of his bed.
"Aldeon?" I said softly. He had bandages over his eyes and around his arms. His breathing was still raspy, but not as much so as it had been before. I reached for his hand. "Aldeon, it's me and Legolas."
"Are you both alright?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes, we are all fine, thanks to Legolas," I responded. Aldeon turned his bandaged face to where Legolas stood. I suppose he had heard where his footsteps stopped when we had entered.
"Thank you. You were really great out there. I do not know what happened. I went back inside to try to bring mother's body out before the house burned down, but with the fire and smoke and everything, I got really disoriented, and then the smoke got to me and I could not breathe. I thought I was lost before you came in." Legolas was about to reply when there was another knock at the door. I stepped across the room to open it, and saw Thranduil waiting on the other side.
"Are all of you all alright?" he asked anxiously as he stepped into the room. A quick glance proved that Legolas and I were fine, but his gaze stopped on Aldeon. Both Aldeon and I had come to know him better during our visits to the palace, and he had come to fuss at and worry over the two of us just as he did Legolas. "Aldeon, are you okay?"
"Yes," replied Aldeon. "My eyes and arm hurt and my throat is a bit sore, but nothing serious; the healers say it will all mend with time." Thranduil sighed with relief.
"Can someone tell me how this all happened?" Aldeon began, telling how he had seen orcs from the window and had taken our father's sword to fight them. One cut him and one set the house ablaze, but in the end he killed three and a fourth ran away. He had run back inside to retrieve our mother's body and had gotten disoriented. I took over form here.
"Legolas was walking me home and Aira started barking. We hurried down the path and ran when we smelled the smoke. When we reached the house, Legolas made me stay outside and he ran in. He saved both my and Aldeon's life, because if he had not been there, I surely would have raced in and met my own death." There was a few moments of silence after I finished.
"All I can say to that is Legolas, I am very glad you were there. And Mara, Aldeon, I am sorry for the loss of your mother and home." Aldeon suddenly turned to me.
"Mara, I am sorry I could not stop them. Now Mother will not have a proper burial, and we have no home -"
"Nonsense!" Thranduil exclaimed. "You did everything you could to stop those creature, Aldeon, and did better than many of my own soldiers could have done. And of course you two have a home; you will both stay here at the palace, and no objections," he added as Aldeon began to say something. I was speechless. I knew the king was generous, but I had never expected this.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed. "I." I could not think of enough words to thank him, and on impulse, leapt forth and hugged him.
"Now I do not want any of you to do anything slightly exerting for a week at least, and that includes you Legolas," he said as his son began to protest. "I do not care of the healers declare you fit tomorrow. You have all three been through a lot and will get some well deserved rest," he declared before he left.
*~*~*~*~* When it rains it pours and opens doors
And floods the floors we thought would always keep us safe and dry
And in the midst of sailing ships we sink our lips into the ones we love
That have to say goodbye
And as I float along this ocean
I can feel you like a notion that won't seem to let me go
Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here
And every word I didn't say that caught up in some busy day
And every dance on the kitchen floor we didn't dance before
And every sunset that we'll miss I'll wrap them all up in a kiss
And pick you up in all of this when I sail away
Whether I am up or down or in or out or just plain overhead
Instead it just feels like it is impossible to fly
But with you I can spread my wings
to see me over everything that life may send me
When I am hoping it won't pass me by
And when I feel like there is no one that will ever know me
there you are to show me *~*~*~*~*
A/N: That song (which obviously does not belong to me) is 'When I Look To The Sky' , sung by Trane. I was unsure about adding songs, but I have found it to add a certain 'oomph' to some fics I am reading, so I decided to give it a try! Please Review!!!
A Daring Rescue:
"No, Aira!" I grunted in frustration as Legolas's spoilt dog ran ahead on the path. Legolas laughed from behind. "Well I am glad you are amused," I grumbled. "Your good-for-nothing dog just got mud all over me." Legolas was walking me back to the village from the palace. I had kept to my word, to a certain degree. I had come to the palace once a month, but only on the condition that Aldeon went once a month, too. I was returning from my fifth visit when Legolas's overly-friendly dog showed me a rambunctious display of affection.
"Oh, she is just showing you how much she loves you," Legolas explained. I snorted.
"You would think she would have learned what 'No' means by now, though. You have had her for what, now, four months?" Legolas grinned.
"She knows what it means, but that doesn't mean she automatically obeys whatever she is told."
"Ah, so she has a selective hearing problem?" I asked wryly.
"Exactly!" he affirmed as Aira came barreling back down the path at us. She halted in front of us and began barking loudly.
"Oh!" I cried as I clamped my hands over my ears. "Aira, hush!" Instead of stopping, however, she only ran back down the path a few feet before turning back to face us and barking again. Legolas frowned.
"What is it, Aira?" he said as he kneeled to pet her. She whined and looked back down the path. I uncovered my ears since she had stopped barking, but she had commenced whining in its place.
"I know this dog is crazy, but she really seems scared," I said as we hurried down the path. We slowed as we rounded a curve. "Do you smell smoke?" I looked at Legolas and knew immediately that he was thinking the same thing as me. "Aldeon!" I screamed as loud as I could, and we both began running. As we came closer to my home, the acrid smell of smoke became stronger and my apprehension grew greater. As we burst through the trees into the clearing where my house sat, I gasped at what I saw, only to swallow a mouthful of smoke. Coughing, I began running towards the house. "Aldeon! Mother!" I never got there, though, because Legolas grabbed me from behind.
"No! Mara, you must wait here," Legolas said as he ran past me.
"But -" I began.
"Stay!" He yelled again. The look in his eyes was all it took to convince me.
"Be careful!" I cried as he entered the house, but my words must have been lost to him amidst the roar of the flames.
He seemed to be inside for an eternity. I paced nervously outside, several times making up my mind to go inside only to change my mind at the memory of his ferocious protest of my going in. the flames shooting out of the windows and door were not helping me stay positive. All I could think was that Legolas, Aldeon, and my mother were all going to die in there. Some elves who lived nearby were beginning to show up. But nobody was going inside to try to help. I had begun coughing harshly from breathing the smoke, but when a neighbor tried to pull me farther away from the house, I refused to go. I had just made up my mind again to enter the house when I saw a silhouette in the doorway. I rushed to help Legolas, who was practically carrying my brother out of the inferno. Legolas was coughing even more than I was, and Aldeon was not coughing as much, but his breathing was raspy and he was passed out, and to my confusion, his arm was bleeding.
"Mother?" I asked. Legolas shook his head, which told me all I needed to know. "Are you both alright?"
"I will be fine," Legolas said hoarsely. "But I think Aldeon may need a healer. We need to get him to the palace."
A nearby elf carried Aldeon to the palace as Legolas was coughing so hard it was all he could do to walk there himself. The guards at the gate was going to send the healers out to us instead of letting us in, but they saw Legolas and finally let us in. Fortunately, someone inside had heard the commotion and there was a room and healers waiting for him when we got inside. Two healers went with Aldeon, two with Legolas, and I saw one heading for me as I sank to the floor.
~*~*~*~*~*~
When I awoke I was in the room I usually stayed in when I was visiting. There was someone in the corner, pouring a drink. As I sat up, she turned around and I saw that it was Mastien.
"Oh! You are awake!" she said. She held out a steaming mug. "Here, this will help your throat." I began to ask what was wrong with my throat, but it only came out as a croak that transformed into a series of coughs. I gratefully accepted the cup and drank the hot lemon-honey tasting drink. After sever swallows, I tried again.
"Legolas and Aldeon?"
"They are fine," Mastien assured me. "Your brother is sleeping, and Legolas woke up about an hour ago." My eyes widened.
"An hour? How long have I been asleep?" She smiled. "About seven hours." I was about to say that I had not realized it had been that long when there was a knock at the door before it opened. When I saw that it was Legolas, I immediately got out of bed and ran to hug him.
"You are okay!" I cried, stating the obvious. "I was so scared." Mastien tactfully slipped out the door.
"Are you alright?" he asked, worried.
"Yes, yes, I am fine," I said as I finally pulled away. We sat down on the bed as we were both still tired, despite the long hours of sleep. There were a few moments of silence before Legolas spoke.
"I just thought you should know that your mother did not die in the fire." The shock on my face showed that I had taken this the wrong way. "What I mean is that she died before the fire ever began. She died last night. That is why Aldeon did not run out as soon as the fire started. He was trying to get her body out so she could be buried." I felt as if I should cry, but I did not. I had known since our father did not return that she would not last long, and I had cried enough tears when all that was going on to last me a lifetime.
"At least she did not suffer," I said. I then remembered Aldeon's bleeding arm. "But why was Aldeon bleeding?"
"Orcs," Legolas replied.
"Orcs?!" I cried.
"He was attacked by orcs outside the house. While he was fighting one, another set the house on fire. That is what my father's guards can discern from the orc bodies behind the house, anyway. He killed three of them, but not before one cut his arm. The healers say that it will heal fine, though." He broke into a fit of coughing as he finished. I figured that the hot drink I had been given would do him as much good as it had me, so I passed it to him. He drank several gulps. "Thanks. They gave me really vile stuff to drink in my room before they let me out to come see you. This is much better, though."
"Yours was probably so vile because they had to come up with something stronger for you. You were in the house so long, I nearly went in after you!"
"I wish I had thought to tell you to wait further away from the house. If I had, you probably would not have such a sore throat." I grabbed his hand.
"Do not even say that! You did everything perfect! You saved Aldeon's life, and probably mine to, because if you had not stopped me, I would have went in after him. Besides, one of the neighbors tried to get me away from the house and I would not leave. I was so scared that you would not make it out and I would end up losing both you and Aldeon." Legolas squeezed my hand.
"You do not have to worry about that, though. We are both fine." There was a knock at the door. Legolas let go of my hand before calling ,"Yes?" Mastien stuck her head in the door.
"I just thought that I should tell you that Aldeon just awoke." Legolas and I hurried out the door.
When we reached my brother's room, the first thing I noticed was how dark it was. "His eyes were injured in the fire," a maid at the door informed us. "They will heal eventually, but for now they are very sensitive to light." We thanked her and went to the side of his bed.
"Aldeon?" I said softly. He had bandages over his eyes and around his arms. His breathing was still raspy, but not as much so as it had been before. I reached for his hand. "Aldeon, it's me and Legolas."
"Are you both alright?" he asked worriedly.
"Yes, we are all fine, thanks to Legolas," I responded. Aldeon turned his bandaged face to where Legolas stood. I suppose he had heard where his footsteps stopped when we had entered.
"Thank you. You were really great out there. I do not know what happened. I went back inside to try to bring mother's body out before the house burned down, but with the fire and smoke and everything, I got really disoriented, and then the smoke got to me and I could not breathe. I thought I was lost before you came in." Legolas was about to reply when there was another knock at the door. I stepped across the room to open it, and saw Thranduil waiting on the other side.
"Are all of you all alright?" he asked anxiously as he stepped into the room. A quick glance proved that Legolas and I were fine, but his gaze stopped on Aldeon. Both Aldeon and I had come to know him better during our visits to the palace, and he had come to fuss at and worry over the two of us just as he did Legolas. "Aldeon, are you okay?"
"Yes," replied Aldeon. "My eyes and arm hurt and my throat is a bit sore, but nothing serious; the healers say it will all mend with time." Thranduil sighed with relief.
"Can someone tell me how this all happened?" Aldeon began, telling how he had seen orcs from the window and had taken our father's sword to fight them. One cut him and one set the house ablaze, but in the end he killed three and a fourth ran away. He had run back inside to retrieve our mother's body and had gotten disoriented. I took over form here.
"Legolas was walking me home and Aira started barking. We hurried down the path and ran when we smelled the smoke. When we reached the house, Legolas made me stay outside and he ran in. He saved both my and Aldeon's life, because if he had not been there, I surely would have raced in and met my own death." There was a few moments of silence after I finished.
"All I can say to that is Legolas, I am very glad you were there. And Mara, Aldeon, I am sorry for the loss of your mother and home." Aldeon suddenly turned to me.
"Mara, I am sorry I could not stop them. Now Mother will not have a proper burial, and we have no home -"
"Nonsense!" Thranduil exclaimed. "You did everything you could to stop those creature, Aldeon, and did better than many of my own soldiers could have done. And of course you two have a home; you will both stay here at the palace, and no objections," he added as Aldeon began to say something. I was speechless. I knew the king was generous, but I had never expected this.
"Thank you!" I exclaimed. "I." I could not think of enough words to thank him, and on impulse, leapt forth and hugged him.
"Now I do not want any of you to do anything slightly exerting for a week at least, and that includes you Legolas," he said as his son began to protest. "I do not care of the healers declare you fit tomorrow. You have all three been through a lot and will get some well deserved rest," he declared before he left.
*~*~*~*~* When it rains it pours and opens doors
And floods the floors we thought would always keep us safe and dry
And in the midst of sailing ships we sink our lips into the ones we love
That have to say goodbye
And as I float along this ocean
I can feel you like a notion that won't seem to let me go
Cause when I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me
And you make everything alright
And when I feel like I'm lost something tells me you're here with me
And I can always find my way when you are here
And every word I didn't say that caught up in some busy day
And every dance on the kitchen floor we didn't dance before
And every sunset that we'll miss I'll wrap them all up in a kiss
And pick you up in all of this when I sail away
Whether I am up or down or in or out or just plain overhead
Instead it just feels like it is impossible to fly
But with you I can spread my wings
to see me over everything that life may send me
When I am hoping it won't pass me by
And when I feel like there is no one that will ever know me
there you are to show me *~*~*~*~*
A/N: That song (which obviously does not belong to me) is 'When I Look To The Sky' , sung by Trane. I was unsure about adding songs, but I have found it to add a certain 'oomph' to some fics I am reading, so I decided to give it a try! Please Review!!!