Legolas woke to a warm fire, and rough hands applying a wet cloth over his brow. He fought to open his eyes. His vision swam as he remembered what happened. Once his vision cleared, he saw he was laying next to a crackling fire and saw a figure kneeling next to him with the cloth.

"You're lucky you know, that arrow could have killed you."

"Lan? How did you escape? Where are the others? How long have I been asleep?" Legolas struggled to sit up, but Lan placed her hand on his shoulder, gently pushing him back down.

"Shhh, lie still. You've been out for three days."

"Three days?" Legolas groaned. "But where are the others? And how DID you escape?"

"Oscar, the younger brother, he has them in captivity. I escaped by slipping away right after he shot you."

Legolas's eyes narrowed, he felt the distrust for her rising again. "You deserted them! At the first sign of danger, you left them!"

"Legolas, listen! I did it to help! If he found me, knew I was alive, then I wouldn't be able to track him and attack him by surprise! I also slipped away so I could help you! I knew he wouldn't waste his time on you; he only wanted Aragorn. Legolas please, you have to believe me!"

"Why should I? You abandoned my friends-your 'friend' Aragorn, just to make sure you could get away! If you really are Aragorn's friend, you would have helped him, not abandon him." Legolas's words bit into her like the cold and unforgiving wind of Caradharas. She already had doubts of this being the right choice and worried for Aragorn. She felt responsible for his well-being, and felt like she wasn't doing her job about keeping him safe.

A deafening silence filled the air. Lan broke the silence, but her voice didn't contain any of the kindness it had before. Instead it was emotionless, like how it was when she told Aragorn of Megiltura's death. "If you will not believe me, at least cooperate with me. I have a plan to help them, but we'll have to work together to do it." Legolas's blue, ice- cold stare of distrust and betrayal met her gray fierce and determined one.

"Hurry up!" Oscar's cold voice almost matched his harsh actions as he shoved Aragorn forward.

Gandalf and Gimli looked back sorrowfully at their once proud and strong leader. There he was, the man who commanded an army of men and elves against the dark army of Saruman's Uruk-hai, the man who is to be king of Gondor. He was on his knees, hands tied behind his back, as he leaned over, desperately trying to catch his breath, his face mere inches from the dusty road they traveled on. His once regal face was covered in bruises and cuts. His ribs ached from the kicks he received when he stumbled or fell and made it hard for him to breathe. But not once did he utter a sound. That was the one thing that remained the same about him. That was one thing that infuriated Oscar more than anything. He wanted Aragorn to feel the pain that he felt the night his parents died. He wanted justice. And he wanted it now.

()()()()()()()()()()

AN: Sorry this took so long to post. I have been busy, but we won our soccer tournament last weekend!! Okay, I'm going out of town now, so I'll try to get the next chapter posted as soon as I can. Sorry again for the delay!!!

REPLIES: Gemimi969: Lol, Legolas is the most unluckiest (I know that's not proper English, but I graduated from school on the 20, so I DON'T CARE!!! Lol. Yeah, tired of English class. Sry) character in LOTR, probably in all of ff.net... lol. Don't really have a ton of insults planned, but I'll try to add them in with his 'dry' sense of humor... but this is my first REAL ff story, so, I can't get the characters all right... lol. Thanks, glad u liked it!!! (Hands a dr pepper or any high-caffeinated (SP) soda of reviewer's choice to reviewer) thanks for bearing with me and sticking to this story!!!!

Gozilla: thanks! Glad u liked it. Haven't' heard from u in a while... oh well! Thanks for coming back!! (Smiles REALLY big)