Jedi Gollum : I have some news for you—everyone like Leggy torture. LOL!
Lelaronde Err…you want Leggy? You need to wait in line, girl. Some of us have booked him two years before hand!
Szhismine Hi! Nice to hear from you again!
Nessa Thranduiliel Go on. Scream then. But I can't hear you!
Beginning-end-314 : Don't worry. Leggy has five different kinds of insurance. (The yearly premium is killing me!)
Kuriei137 Shakmi is now 'over well done' and 'crispy' dead. Worry no more.
Astalder27 Keep your gifts, mellon. The twins will go berserk when they see those candies and teddy bears.
Sesshyangel Comic relief, eh? Maybe in this chapter. Or maybe the one after this.
TaniaNZ Extended ROTK is out in your country on December 10th? Wow. That's fast. In Malaysia, it is on the 15th. That's five days delay. Grr!
Mellaithwen Nope. Thranduil won't be pleased at all.
Kitty It's about time Kel loses his control. Well, who wouldn't?
Sailor Elf : Yikes! You're getting pretty close there, mate!
BitterLee LOL! Thank goodness you've finished eating. I hate to spoil your appetite with those gruesome scenes. Are you having lunch now? Keep eating. Nothing gross will pop up on the screen.
Keluin Lossehilin I once burned my fingers while ironing a dress. Eek! It burns! It burns usss!
Gina Two updates? He he he…No comment.
Kalayna You want to sue me too?
Delano I know how that feels. When my computer crashed several months ago, I almost banged my head against the wall!
Acacia59601 Oh, I just love to send the angst-o-meter through the roof!
Tbiris It's okay, mellon. It's okay.
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Legolas slept fitfully for the rest of the night, burning with fever and weak from pain.
Both his legs had been wrapped in bandages from toe to thigh after the twins had applied some salve made of aloeragelonto the burns. They had found the plant growing wild and abundant on the bank of a nearby creek. Some people called the plant 'Goblin's Tongue' because of its shape. The thick and rounded black leaves indeed looked like goblin's tongue and it had cold, gel-like filling which was a soothing balm for burns and blisters.
Keldarion glanced down when Legolas moaned. A lone mosquito had landed on his younger brother's cheek so Keldarion shooed it away, tugging the cloak more securely under Legolas' chin. The mosquitoes had been running wild within their camp because the elves were reluctant to build a fire, knowing that the sight of it would only upset Legolas more after the harrowing experience he had just gone through.
"The king is probably wondering where we are," Elladan, who sat on Legolas' other side, suddenly spoke. He was staring at the rising sun across the horizon.
"Yes, he definitely is." Keldarion nodded, cringing inside as he thought about his father's fury when he discovered their latest escapade. "And I think he is sharpening his sword right about now."
"What is he sharpening his sword for?" Elrohir asked with a frown.
"Why, to make sure it's sharp when he cuts our heads off with it," Keldarion jokingly responded with a small smile, staring at his bandaged hands. "That way, we won't be able to come out with any more harebrained ideas."
The three companions chuckled, and then grew quiet again, each deep in his own thought, wondering how a simple prank had turned into a complete disaster.
The early morning breeze was gently blowing. Singing in chirpy tones, the birds were already out of their nests to look for worms and grubs. There was dew on the blades of grass, blinking like diamonds under the sun. All in all, it was the start of another beautiful day. But the elves knew that their day was far from beautiful. Not even close.
Legolas' injuries were so grave he could do nothing but just lie there helplessly, wallowing in his agony. He was in no condition to sit, let alone to mount. The ride to Mirkwood would be cruel to his legs, making his already bad wounds worse.
Keldarion and the twins knew they had no other choice but to wait until Legolas was a little better, or for one of them to rush back home and ask for a carriage. Elrohir had volunteered to do so, but the other two were not really keen on the idea of letting him go alone. Elladan could not leave for he was diligently monitoring Legolas' fever, and Keldarion refused to have his brother out of his sight even for a second. So they were stuck there, clustering together under the tree like a pack of vagabonds, cut off from their luck.
"Ah!" Legolas suddenly cried out, his eyes flying open. He looked frantically around him in fear.
Keldarion was leaning over his brother in an instant. "Hey, it's all right. You are safe," he soothed, stroking Legolas' damp forehead.
"Safe. Right. Of course." The younger prince nodded, sighing in relief. He closed his eyes briefly, gulped some air, and broke into soft chuckles. "Silly dream. Scared the devil out of me!"
"Oh? What did you dream of?" Elrohir wanted to know.
"I dreamed that father forced me to eat the entire cauldron of 'Fire Breathing' mushroom soup before he chased me with a sword, saying that he wanted to pick the brain out of my head because I rarely use it."
For a full second, the other three elves stared at one another before they burst into gales of laughter, finding it amusing that Legolas was also having nightmares about Thranduil at the same time they were discussing the king of Mirkwood.
They all stopped laughing when Legolas broke into a coughing fit. Elladan gave Keldarion the water skin. "He needs to drink."
"No, no. I can't drink anymore. My stomach feels like bloating," Legolas gasped with a grimace, pushing feebly at the water skin. "Since last night, you have kept feeding me water at every chance you get."
"We can't have you dehydrated, Legolas. The burns are taking a lot of your body fluid. Now, drink it. We don't want you to go dry and brittle," Elladan said, gazing admonishingly at his patient.
"But my bladder is about to burst!"
"Let us worry about that later." Keldarion placed the lid of the water skin on Legolas' lips. "Now, drink. You don't want me to force this down your throat, do you?"
Legolas wanted to loudly complain but found he had no strength. He took the drink in three gulps, almost choking when the water went the wrong way. Then, to his absolute horror, he felt something wet quickly spread under him.
"Uh…Kel?"
"Yes?" Keldarion put away the water skin and turned to his brother.
"I…I think I just…uh…" Legolas' face was already red with embarrassment. "I really couldn't hold it, I swear."
The elder prince froze. Glancing briefly at the equally dumbstruck twins, he reached down and peeled away the blanket that covered his brother.
Legolas had just wet himself.
"Oh. It's all right, Legolas. I'll clean you up," Keldarion said reassuringly.
"I'm sorry." Looking at anywhere but his companions, Legolas looked close to weeping. "I don't know what came over me. I…I'm so sorry…"
"Hey, hey. None of that, you hear?" Cupping his brother's cheeks, Keldarion looked straight into eyes that were filled with tears of shame. "The three of us understand. You are badly hurt and very ill. We will take care of you, all right?"
"I was so scared…" Legolas began sobbing in earnest, his body shaking. He suddenly saw himself back at the burning stake, securely tied and totally vulnerable, eaten by the flame.
"I know." Keldarion pulled his brother into his embrace. "I'm very sorry we were late. I wish we had arrived sooner so that you wouldn't have had to go through such atrocity."
"I'm sorry too, Legolas," said Elladan, stroking Legolas' head. "We should have known instantly that something was wrong when you took such a long time at the creek."
"And we are also sorry about the blasted mushroom soup," Elrohir added, scooting closer to grip Legolas' shoulder. "But you have to admit, you didn't have to finish the entire bowl. Now look what you have gotten yourself into."
Legolas looked up, and broke into a watery grin when he saw the deadpan expression on Elrohir's face. Obviously, the manyan prince was still traumatized by last night's burning experience. The horrific scenes kept playing at the back of his mind—over and over again—like a bad play. Still, it was nice to know that his brother and his friends were always there for him. They would never let him be alone, come hell or high water.
"So, let's clean you up before you develop nappy rash," Keldarion teased.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Kel. I'll die laughing," Legolas easily responded, wiping his tears away.
As Keldarion grabbed the water skin and a wash cloth, the twins began to scrape more gel from the aloera plant. After Legolas was cleaned and dressed in Keldarion's spare shirt, Elladan gently unwrapped the bandages from his legs. The aloera salve had done wonders because the burnt flesh was beginning to dry up, no longer sticking to the fabric.
Still, Legolas couldn't help but wince and hiss in agony when the twins reapplied more of the salve on his wounds. When it was over, he was so drained he promptly drifted back to sleep. He didn't even twitch when Keldarion lowered his head onto a folded cloak.
As Elrohir went to the creek to refill the water skins, Elladan put their supplies back into the pack while Keldarion stayed near his brother. Gazing down at Legolas' pale face, the elder prince sighed. "We shouldn't have come here."
Elladan glanced at him. "Yes, but we did come here. We can't change that fact. Things happen, Kel."
"Father will ground us for the rest of our lives."
"Better alive than dead," the other elf quipped, reaching over to feel Legolas' forehead. "The fever's gone. Now that leaves the burns."
"Will they heal?"
Elladan nodded. "It takes time, though. He also needs to go through some exercises to strengthen those affected muscles. It is going to be hard but Legolas can bear it. He is strong." Then he grinned. "Oops. Wrong word there. Actually, he is stubborn. A total hard- and pig-headed kind of stubborn."
That caused Keldarion to chuckle. "Aye. That he is."
Then he sobered, his eyes grew hard. "But those humans are…are…Elbereth! I don't even know what to call them! They are just so ungrateful! I mean, Legolas saved their lives and what did they do in return? They called him a witch and burnt him. Talk about freeing the beast from the snare!"
"That Shakmi person was a strong manipulator, Kel. And those humans are weak. They can't make up their own mind, always too quick to believe any spinning tales told by certain kinds of people."
Elrohir chose that moment to suddenly reappear. And he was looking quite frantic as he rushed back to camp.
Alarmed, Elladan quickly stood and frowned at his brother. "What? What's wrong, Ro?"
"The townspeople. Many of them," Elrohir explained, his expression a bit troubled. "They are heading this way."
TBC…
Note : Aloera plant. I got that name from the Aloe Vera, or what the Malaysian here called 'Crocodile Tongue'. Yep. Not very creative there.