Chapter Thirteen
The pain in his body was, at the moment, more than he felt he could bear.
He felt water rushing round his legs and cleaning out the severely wounded leg as well as numbing it.
The icy water lapped at his chest and head, trying to collapse the log that he was riding on.
It was pure chance that he, Aragorn son of Arathorn, had found that log. Well, maybe it was a gift from Eru, but right now he could hardly keep his mind on that.
"Oh, God," he moaned; he was not cursing. He was calling out in agony. "Let me go now, let me escape to the blissful halls of Mandos. Bless me with that last request?" he begged, not even having the strength to lift his head from the safety of the log.
He was hungry and tired; his head hurt horribly and his leg felt worse, not to mention the fact that his body felt as if it had been smashed into millions of pieces, though it had not.
Coughing and gasping, Estel rid the water from his lungs as well as the rest of the food from his stomach. It had not been much, but it had been enough to keep him in the realm of conscious thought.
As his mind wandered over the past few days his memories came back, he remembered Legolas and Arwen. He remembered the look on Legolas's face when they had ridden off without him that fateful night.
He had not truly seen the elf's face, but he knew what it looked like. He could remember how a face full of sorrow looked. He remembered from the years before he had gone blind. He remembered his mother's face as she had watched the orcs carry him away/
He had never noticed before, but the face in his mind's eye held tears and disbelief. He felt the sorrow that shook the young elf's shoulders.
Oh Eru! Had he really done this? Had he really forsaken his best friend? And instead spent his time with an unobtainable lover?
He moaned and coughed as the liquid he had swallowed before exited his weary lungs.
"I am sorry, Legolas," he whispered to the wind as it whipped his raven hair and stung his cold, pale cheeks. "I am sorry, mellon nin."
The raw wound to his side burned and he felt blood drip slowly into the freezing water.
Finally, the fuzziness in his brain lulled him to sleep and he was pulled back into unconsciousness. He did not feel the harsh brush as the sand on the bank scraped his wounds. The water splashed against his shivering frame.
Reflexively, the man's body curled up on himself and whatever of his mind was left in the waking world was lost as the pain of wounds and the freezing cold finally sent him sprawling into the world of unproblematic sleep.
Throwing caution to the wind was one thing. Not knowing what to do and accidentally stepping into it is quite another.
Well, in Legolas's position, he was normally the one who stepped accidentally.
It was not that he was afraid or feared death; he just did not often find the danger and excitement he was seeking.
But this time, he found it! And that made his blood turn hot and his face break into a huge smile.
'Oh, yes!' he mentally shouted as he came upon a flurry of wolf tracks. Letting his horse run around by itself, the prince quickly scoped out the most important of the prints.
A horse had been here, one in quite a hurry and from the added weight in the prints, it had borne a rider. The wolf tracks surrounded the horse, blood mingled with the dirt in the ground, and it seemed a scuffle had broke out.
The beast had reared and as the prince lightly ran around, the next thing he saw frightened him.
The rider, a young man by the size of the marks, had fallen, gotten up and began to run. He had run to the edge and to make a long story short, a wolf had jumped him and both had fallen.
Someone had clung to the edge, but in the end, both had plummeted to their deaths. Or had they?
He saw blood, plenty of blood! And that sent him to a new level of anxiety.
Running to the edge, he looked over. He saw a very faint outline a ways below, and he could easily see the fur that wafted in the breeze. However, he could not see his friend.
"ARAGORN!!!" his uneasy voice ran down the canyon and echoed across the horizon. But no answer came.
"N-no! Ppppplea-se! E-ru! No!" he stuttered, his body collapsing to the ground and tears falling from his eyes.
'No, no, no, no! This could not be happening! PLEASE ERU!' He opened his mouth to cry out, but all that came was a sharp gasp.
Biting his lip, Legolas let the bitter tears slide down his pale cheeks. He hugged his knees and sobbed into his leggings.
He had failed him. He, Legolas of Mirkwood had not been there when his one and only friend had needed his help.
We all fail,
Sometimes,
We all
Let someone down,
Sometimes there's nothing left than to promise to ourselves,
That next time we won't be the ones to fail,
I want to tell you, you can go on,
That beginnings come from ends,
I still believe in you
And so does God,
He's the one who still believes in those who fail.
Superchic[k]
Legolas could almost hear Aragorn's voice and he sighed as the wind brushed his hair away and tickled his face.
The prince did not notice the soft hoof beats approaching him until a warm muzzle nudged his shoulder.
Looking up, he saw the black against the bright moon. His tears ceased and he grabbed the beast's nose and patted him on the face.
"H-Harfin?" he whispered, setting his eyes on the torn back leg, the scratch marks on his belly, the sorrow in the horse's big black eyes.
"D-does it hhhhurt?" the prince asked, rubbing the black horse's neck as he slowly stood up.
Harfin weaved his head from side to side and pawed the ground with his front hoof.
Amon trotted up after Harfin. He reared up and snorted, then landed hard on his front two hooves, shaking the ground.
"W-what Ammmon?!" Legolas queried; his voice was a little angry in the shakiness of it as he shouted, and the white horse backed away slowly, shying away from his annoyed master. "H-Harfin isss hurt!"
As if to say 'I know!' his horse reared again and bucked his back legs, snorting and whinnying all the time.
Swaying to the side, Amon trotted towards the path down the ravine. He swished his tail and stopped at the path, as if waiting.
As Legolas began to walk, he pulled Harfin's muzzle as if to bring him with them.
Amon leapt down the broad pathway, his tail flying behind him and his strong snorts carrying down the canyon.
TBC
Ok, you guys. Next chapter will be around soon. Hopefully!!!!
Responses to your questions and interesting reviews
Yes, Elven Kitten! LOL! He is drawn to them!!! It's the force! LOL!
That would be quite a shame, Aranna Undomiel! Raises eyebrows Well just have to see! Really, you thought it was a weird moment? Huh? Well, glad it surprised you! J HEHE!
LOL, Chris!!!! "Find the hottie"! laughs till she is almost sick Ok, thanks!!!! J
Maybe, Lady Laswen. Maybe. grins
I'm thinking you meant "yay!", marbienl, not "jay!" LOL! Haha! You sound just like me!!! Sheesh! You are an angst monger, aren't you?! Thanks for the info. winces WOW! I did not know that! That is amazing! Please, do tell me more info, about the water/blind thing. Hmmm… you'll just have to keep thinking. Does he heal? Does he live? Is this AU because of character death? Oh! I am sorry! Hope you have a good day/month/year anyway! J Thanks!!!!!
I think there are about 18 chapters, Helluin-trip. Thanks for asking! Oh, I would last 5 seconds, even if I were not blind.
Haha! I will not answer that, MSL, because if I did. It would give away whether Aragorn lived or not and if he lived whether he would be blind or not. Thanks though! Aww! That's sweet! Thanks!!!!!!! Is that ok if I call you 'MSL', Muscistarlover?
LOL, Koriaena! Yes, he does!!! Haha!
AWWWWW! Thanks, Linchi!!!! You make me feel so good!!! J
Ok guys! Review please! No flames!!! Thanks!!!
