Woah, loooong chapter! 4 pages! Teehee.

So, in the last chapter, everyone was crying. In this chapter…they're crying again! Aww. Yeah, I know it's a bit OCC for people like Legolas to cry, but as it's my story, I don't care! My story, my rules. Heh heh…

Thanks for your reviews, and as always, replies are below.

Faerlain

Lindele – Yeah he was! Teehee, sorry! I think a good plot is a perfect reason to murder someone! Thanks for reviewing.

Rayame325 – Yeah, poor everyone! I'm so mean aren't I? Oh well, its all part and parcel of being…me. Great life. Thanks for reviewing.

Elerrina – You liked Dinnu? Oops…

SORRY!

But he had to go. Shall I keep Elladan and Elrohir safe? I'm thinking about it. Ah well, two reviews are better than 1! Thanks for reviewing, no mater how many times!

Chapter 11: Mourning your Losses.

Glorfindel sighed, rubbing his hands over his face in a tired fashion. He had just giving the Lord of Rivendell a sleeping draught, disguised in tea, and Elrond had been so worried about his family that he hadn't even realised. He had drunk it all, and then fallen asleep straight away. Glorfindel had easily carried him to his room, laid him down on the bed, and was now sat at Elrond's' desk, waiting for news from the scouts that had been sent out to the Pass.

Now even Glorfindel was worrying about the safety of his Queen and Princess. Elrond was so worked-up himself, that he was beginning to have doubts. What if they were really hurt? He knew what Elrond had been talking about when he had described the pains in his chest. He had suffered them himself, back during the Fall of Gondolin…

No, don't let your memory wander back to then, he scolded himself. Not a good idea.

He sat up straight and turned his attention to letter in front of him. The reply to Thranduil. It had been completely deserted since Elrond had felt the pain. Glorfindel decided to read it, and finish it for his Lord. It had to be sent; else Thranduil would think it rude.

Thranduil,

I perfectly understand your need for asking me to keep an eye on Prince Legolas and Princess Celeblaith. I know all about the Legolas/Dolenmíl situation, and will most certainly keep my eyes and ears open.

As for this Rilma…I know him. Not personally, but I do know that he travelled to Mirkwood. I shall have a word with him, and see what he says about it all.

I am certain

And that was where it ended. That was clearly where the chest pains had decided to make their appearance. Glorfindel wrote down what Elrond had already said on a new piece of parchment, and completed the letter.

I am certain that Legolas and Celeblaith will have a comfortable and enjoyable stay here. If there are any problems, I shall let you know immediately. Though I doubt there shall be.

Elrond.

"That'll do," Glorfindel muttered. He tied it in a spare piece of ribbon, and called for his own kestrel, Huore. He tied the parchment to his leg, gave him instructions, and the bird took off, flying out towards the West.

He sat back down in his chair. He took a letter off a pile on one corner of the desk, and quickly read it. He knew it hadn't been replied to, and so he set about writing one.

And so the day wore on. The piles of letters decreased, and more and more replies were sent out. Some with messengers riding to the destination, some by bird.

By the time evening had arrived, Glorfindel's' hand was aching with all the writing. He threw his quill down on the desk, screwed the lid back on the inkpot, and stood, stretching. He would go and check on Elrond, then grab some food from the kitchens.

Elrond was still sleeping peacefully, and so he left him alone. He then made his way down to the kitchens, and managed to charm the cooks enough to make them give him some food. He decided to go for a walk, just a quick stroll around the gardens.

As he walked down the steps, he heard horse's hooves galloping into Rivendell at an extremely fast pace. He looked over to the archway, waiting to see who it was.

Rédethuil came thundering into the courtyard, literally fell off his horse, and hurried over to him. "My Lord…Glorfindel," he wheezed, trying to get his breath back.

"Wait Rédethuil, slow down. Get your breath back before you try to speak."

"You must…send out…Elves to the Pass. Orcs…attacked Lady Celebrían and…her group. Everything's in…chaos."

"Where is Lady Celebrían?" Glorfindel asked.

"Gone, taken. The twins have gone…after her."

Glorfindel cursed. "He was right," he muttered to himself. He looked back at the exhausted Elf. "You have obviously ridden hard and fast. Get inside and have the nearest room you come to. I'll see to it that your horse is stabled. Didn't you meet any Rivendell scouts on your way here?"

"I did see some Elves, but bypassed them to get here as quickly as I could. Prince Legolas sent me."

"Ok. Go and get some rest then." Rédethuil nodded and made his way wearily inside.

Glorfindel told a stable hand to see to Rédethuil's worn out horse, and then hurried to find Erestor.

"Elrond was right," he told him, pacing across his study. "Celebrían's been hurt, and the twins have gone after her in a mad dash to save her. Rédethuil didn't mention Arwen, but if anything had happened, he would have told me."

"The scouts have been sent out already Glorfindel. There is nothing else we can do except wait."

"Rédethuil said Legolas sent him," Glorfindel continued, ignoring Erestor. "That means he must be with them. And so is his sister, Celeblaith."

"Glorfindel…" Erestor said, folding his arms. "Listen to me."

"Sorry, what did you say?" He stopped pacing and looked at the other Elf Lord.

Erestor sighed. "All we can do is wait. We have sent out as many people as we can spare. They'll meet up with Legolas soon, and he'll tell them everything."

"So many must have died though," Glorfindel replied. "Think about it. They haven't made any move to come here. They sent a messenger. That must mean so many are injured or dead, they cannot travel."

"Just stop panicking Glorfindel, for goodness sake."

"I am not panicking. I am merely thinking aloud a lot."

"What are you going to tell Elrond?"

"I'll keep giving him sleeping draughts."

"You can't do that," Erestor laughed. "He'll get wise to your ways very quickly. You know what he's like. He knows every trick in the book. Seeing as he invented most of them."

"But he'll be heartbroken!"

"Celebrían isn't dead yet Glorfindel. She might not even be hurt."

"No, she is hurt. He knows that much. He can feel it."

"Through the bond?"

"Aye. He almost collapsed the pain was so bad." He sat down in a nearby chair. "I just hope Elladan and Elrohir can reach her in time. If not…" He left the sentence hanging, not wanting to think of what could happen to his Queen.

"She'll be fine. Do you know why they took her in the first place?"

"They knew she's Elrond's wife. Hold her captive for a bit; torture her maybe…I don't know. No one knows how an Orcs mind works. They may even hold her to ransom, but that is very unlikely. Orcs have no real need for money."

"No, it won't be for ransom." Erestor sat down in his own chair, opposite Glorfindel. "The twins must be so worked up. They'll be killing every Orc in sight."
"With no thought for their own safety. As usual. As soon as they have Celebrían though, they'll be out of there and back here."

"We must wake Elrond. Or keep him awake when they get here. He'll have to heal any wounds she suffers."

"True. We'll just have to work on keeping him calm and relaxed."

"Shouldn't be too difficult."

Glorfindel raised an eyebrow. "No, of course it won't be Erestor," he said sarcastically. He stood up. "I'm going to go and speak to Rédethuil. Find out exactly what happened."

"The poor Elf's shattered. Leave him be for a while Glorfindel. Let him sleep."

"We have to know Erestor. As soon as I know a bit more, he can sleep for a hundred years for all I care." He swept out the study.

Erestor sighed. This was not being a good day…

"Prince Legolas! Scouts are coming up the Pass!"

Legolas turned his head to face the Western End of the Pass. He breathed a sigh of relief at the sign of Elves. Had Rédethuil gotten to Rivendell already?

"Dolenmíl," he called. "Come with me." He mounted Galu, and they cantered towards the approaching party.

"Prince Legolas," the Elf at the very front called. He rode forward to meet him. "What on Earth has happened here?"

"It'll take too long to explain. Please say you have people with healing training amongst you."

"Of course. Why, are there many injured?"

"Many?" Dolenmíl answered, raising an eyebrow. "Captain, there are at least thirty dead and everyone has at least one injury. Didn't Rédethuil tell you?"

"We have not seen Rédethuil. Lord Elrond sent us to investigate."

"Where's Rédethuil then?" Legolas asked Dolenmíl, worry creasing his brow.

"He'll be fine," she assured him. She looked back to the Elves. "Come, this way."

They made their way back to the Elves spread out across the ground. The healers among the Rivendell group started tending to injuries immediately, and the Captain continued to talk with Legolas.

"Where are Prince Elladan and Prince Elrohir?"

"They have gone after the Orcs which took Lady Celebrían."

"Orcs took Lady Celebrían?"

"Yes. As soon as they realised what had happened, they grabbed a few willing Elves, and galloped away after them. There was nothing I could do to stop them. They have not been seen since."

"This is not good news. Lord Elrond says he can feel that something has happened to members of his family, if not all of them."

"Lady Arwen is perfectly ok. She is helping with the healing."

"Thank goodness for that. And yourself?"

"I am fine, as is my sister. Lady Dolenmíl is also ok. Everyone is just a bit shocked at what happened."
"Understandably. I think you had better tell me everything."

"We had split after meeting up. Lady Celebrían and the Princess continued on down that way, heading towards Lothlórien, and my group and I went in this direction, going towards Rivendell with Elladan and Elrohir. It had only been a couple of hours or so, and we could still see each other. It started to rain, and I was at the back of our group with Dolenmíl. Elladan was up the front with Celeblaith, and Elrohir was in the middle. I just happened to glance back over my shoulder, and saw hundreds of Orcs creeping down the mountainsides. I ordered for our group to gallop back to the others as fast as possible, but by the time we reached them, the fight was already well under way. I managed to find Arwen and her friend, and she told me her mother had already been taken. We fought for quite a while, then, when it had all subsided, I looked around for he twins. They had gone. Witnesses told me they had galloped off towards the East when they had discovered Lady Celebrían had gone, taking a few people with them. Since then, we have concentrated on healing the wounded, and keeping our eyes and ears open for any more signs of the enemy. So far, we have been lucky. But many have died. There has been great loss to both Mirkwood and Rivendell these past few days."

"This Pass is cursed," the Captain murmured, looking warily around him. "Nothing good ever comes of travelling through here."

"I know," Legolas agreed. "I hate it. I should've known something would happen."

"Do not blame yourself my Lord. It was no one's fault."

"I know, I know. But one can't help feeling that there was something else that could have been done. Something that could have kept Lady Celebrían safe, or to stop so many getting hurt and killed."

"I understand. But for now, we must focus on getting as many to Rivendell as soon as possible. You say you sent Rédethuil. He must have gotten there by now. He is an experienced rider."

"You know him well?"

"He is my cousin. Our fathers are brothers. My family moved to Rivendell many years ago."

"That is interesting. I never knew that. Anyway, yes, you are right. But what are we to do with the deceased? There are many."

"Some will just have to be buried out here. Unless we could get more Elves from Rivendell to take them back there."

"The trouble is, if we leave it too long…"

"I know, it won't be a pretty sight. Or smell."

"But some people are going to be really against burying them out here. After all, they are friends or relatives."

"Exactly. I feel that is going to be one of our main problems. You talk to the Mirkwood Elves; I'll talk to the Rivendell Elves. Just try and persuade them that it has to be done. And soon."

"Ok. Good luck."

"And to you."

They rode off in separate directions. Legolas knew that many of his people would refuse to have their loved ones buried out here in the Pass. They had had to do it before, and they would just have to do it again. A ceremony would be held for the dead in their honour, he would make sure of it.

"Dolenmíl," he said softly, riding up behind her.

She looked up at him. "What is it?" She had a bandage wrapped half way round an Elf's' arm.

"Once you've finished here, I need to talk to you. It's urgent."

"Ok." She tied the bandage tightly, gave the Elf a quick drink, then jumped up behind Legolas on Galu. "What is it then?" she asked as they walked off.

"The Captain says there is no way we'll be able to get everyone that has died back to Rivendell. It is an impossible task, and you know it. We're going to have to do what we did last time."

"Bury them out here? Legolas, you do realise that just about everyone will refuse to do that."

"Yes, and it is our job to persuade them otherwise."

"Oh no, Legolas, I can't…"

"Please Dolenmíl." He peered over his shoulder at her. "I need you to do this, for me." He took her hand. "Please?"

She sighed in defeat. "Very well."

"Thank you. You know this is the right thing to do."

"Of course. I'll start right away." She let go of his hand, and slid down off of Galu.

Legolas made his way over to where he knew his two other friends were. "Heledir, Thilio," he called.

"Yes Legolas?" they answered in unison.

"We've got work to do," he said grimly, walking right up to them. "Scouts from Rivendell have arrived. But we can't take all the people who have died with us. We've got to bury them here."

"Oh Legolas, you are joking!" Thilio said in astonishment. But when he saw Legolas' emotionless expression, his face fell. "We can't! What about Dinnu…?"

"I know, I know it's hard, but we have no other choice. If we don't hurry up and bury them, then they'll start to…you know…"

"Decompose?" Heledir tried.

"Yes, decompose. And it would be better if they were buried than rotting, don't you think? All this rain water isn't helping."

"But…but…"

"Thilio," Heledir comforted, putting an arm round his shoulders. "We have to be strong."

Legolas dismounted and stood beside his two friends. "He's right Thilio," he said in a tender voice. "It would be the kindest thing to do."

"But he's our friend," Thilio whispered, tears brimming. "Doesn't that mean anything to you two?"

"Of course it does," Heledir assured him. "Can you imagine the look on Dinnu's' face if we left him here to rot?"

Thilio laughed softly. "I suppose." He wiped his eyes. "Ok, let's do it."

Legolas took both his friends into a huge embrace. "I'm going to need your help on this," he told them.

They held him in return, having a big group hug. "We know you are," Heledir answered. "We'll stick by you."

"What do you want us to do?" Thilio asked as they broke apart.

"Tell everyone else what we have to do. Break it to them gently. Try and convince them that this is the best thing to do."

"Ok, we're on the case." They mock saluted him, then walked off.

He smiled to himself, then re-mounted. Digging his heels into Galu's flanks, he set off at a gentle trot to start telling everyone else what they had to do.

It was hard. No one wanted to leave their friends and loved ones in the Pass, but they knew they didn't really have much of a choice. If they wanted to help the injured, they had to get to Rivendell as soon as possible. As more and more people agreed to bury the dead, hopes began to rise.

Deep graves were dug. The Elves had to improvise, as they had no spades or shovels. Some were resigned to using their hands, whilst others used weapons, and all sorts of various things they could find. Once they were buried, prayers were uttered, blessings given. Flowers were left upon the top, and a small rock, carved with the initials of the person that lay there.

Legolas, Thilio, and Heledir worked together to dig Dinnu's' grave. Using a knife to mark it out, they dug out the soil with hands, shields, anything they could lay their hands on. They had chosen a small, secluded spot under a grove of beech trees.

They wrapped Dinnu in a cloak, placed him gently in, and lay three white lilies atop his clasped hands. Each had said their own private good-bye, and then they began to fill the grave in.

Once it was full and the soil on top flattened, they carved Dinnu's' initials into a small rock, and used it to mark the place where he lay. Five white lilies were placed on top, one from each friend. Even though Flugo and Asar knew nothing of his death as of yet.

They stood silently beside the small grave for a few minutes, going over memories and thoughts in their heads. Heledir could feel Thilio trembling beside him, and he took his friends' hand in his own, squeezing it reassuringly. Thilio squeezed it back, and took a deep breath.

"Namárie mellonnen," he whispered. He bowed his head, then walked away.

Heledir looked at Legolas. The Prince was pale, silent tears streaming down his face. One hand was placed up against his chin, the other arm folded across his chest.

"Legolas?" he whispered.

Legolas looked at him, forcing a smile onto his face. "Yes Heledir?"

"Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine in a bit. It's just starting to really hit home, that's all."

Heledir smiled, placed a hand upon Legolas' shoulder, took one last look at Dinnu's' grave, then followed Thilio.

Legolas smiled back, then turned back to look at the ground. He sunk down onto his knees, and sat there, not moving, not talking. Just motionless, unable to move.

And this was how Dolenmíl found him, half an hour later. She walked silently up to him, and knelt down beside him. She took his hand and squeezed it, just to let him know she was there for him.

He lifted watery eyes to look at her. One tear trickled free and she wiped it away. "I'm so sorry Legolas," she whispered.

Another tear fell. "It's too late for apologies now Dolenmíl," he said. "He's dead, gone, forever."

"Don't talk like that," she begged, taking both his hands. "He'll never leave you, not in here." She placed her hand over his heart. "Or in here." She placed a finger against his golden head. "Just remember all the good times."

"But it was such an awful way to die."

"I know. I've been through it, remember. And I had no one to look after me."

He sighed. He had almost forgotten Dolenmíl had lost her parents all those years ago. She had been all alone, and she had pulled through. If only he could do the same…

"Look, I know, that when you lose someone this close to your heart, it hurts," she sympathised. "And you feel like the whole world has turned against you. You have no friends left, no one to look after you, or who understands how you feel. You feel completely alone, a stranger in this new world. But please Legolas, believe me. You will heal. Over time, your heart will begin to understand why Dinnu died, and how there was absolutely nothing you could have done. Gradually, you will feel better, I promise."

He smiled gratefully at her. "Thank you Dolenmíl."

"Well, it's about time I paid you back for all the times you helped me."

"What do you mean?"

"During the time we were fighting the Dagnir-o Lóre. Whenever I felt down or depressed, you were there. I cried on your shoulder, remember? Now I'm being a shoulder to cry on for you. Go on; cry. Get it all out of your system."

"I can't."

"Just because I'm female? Look, I promise I won't tell a soul."

"It's not that, it's just…"

"You'll feel embarrassed?"

"I guess. And…"

"Don't be. Cry, please? I'll cry with you. I haven't as yet, and I need to." She held out her arms to him, and he entered them, leaning his head on her shoulder. He could see her eyes were watery, and he could do with one more good crying session.

They sat there together for minutes on end, crying until they ran out of tears. Eventually, Legolas pulled away, wiping his eyes. "Better?" she asked.

He nodded. "Hannon lle."

"Just remember, I'm here for you too." She wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Come on. I think a few more people are going to need shoulders before this day is out." She smiled, stood, and reached down her hand to him.

He smiled back, and took her outstretched hand. They walked back to where other Elves were mourning the loss of their loved ones, and set about comforting them.

See, loooong chapter! At least help has finally arrived!

See y'all next week! Sometime…

Faerlain