To start off, I want to apologize to all my faithful readers for letting
you guys to your own for so long. I have several reasons for not updating
for a while though. First of all I had exams last week and since they were
the first ones I had at University I wanted to be prepared extra well. (Not
that it made a difference, I have no idea how I did on them) Second, I had
a major writer's block. I never planned for Elladan to come back so soon
and I had no idea what to do next. I didn't realize it had been so long
since the last time I updated, time really flies! Anyway once again really
really sorry and I'll try to make this a super long chapter.
White-Witch-Sakura: Thanks for reviewing and I'm happy you liked it.
Melia: I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging. . . forgive me?
Haldir lover: I know it's been a while and thanks for the compliments, it helped me come out off my little dip.
Soul: I know, but I'm updating now aren't I?
Elrohir lover: Put Elrond with the Wargs??? Now there's an idea. . . nah I still need him in the story. Good idea though.
Yuki: I never could resist sugar, lol, just kidding.
PrincessCebera: This update isn't soon but I hope you'll like the chapter nonetheless.
The Story Weaver: You had to wait for a while but I hope this chapter will be worth the wait.
Mikos: I'm happy you like the story and hope you keep on reading even if I did take a while to update.
The Great One: I hope you'll forgive me for leaving you hanging like I did and all, anyway just read the chapter.
Latin4ever93: I'm sorry I made you giddy and I feel honored that I'm the one you wrote your longest review for. I hope this chapter will live up to your expectations.
Blahblah: I hate the spiders too. . . even their little tiny relatives that turn up in my room sometimes, I kill them all. DEATH TO THE SPIDERS!!!!! Lol. Uhm, should I fear for my life, cause I didn't update soon like you asked, do I want to know what the 'or else' forebodes?
JAL Williams: Made you cry? It wasn't that sad was it? A trilogy? Nah, I'm making it one big fic, don't know how much longer it's going to be though, I planned it to be 20 chapters or so but I went way beyond that.
Palacescribe: Thanks for your comments, I'll make sure to watch out like you told me to. I know Rita was well liked by almost everyone but she's just one of those people. That's a little based on one of my best friends, she just sends out this vibe that calls 'like me, like me'.
Dara Maeko: Hope this new chapter will excite you as much as last one did.
Katalina15: Sweet reunion indeed, but just you wait what I have in store for them. *evil cackle*
Aquitaineq: Elladan or travelling, that is the question. I hope I'll be able to combine the two but you never know what my muse tells me to do.
Mrs. Ekeena Greenleaf: Happy you liked the update and hope you'll like this one as well.
Prophetic Fire: I take it you're happy with the latest development?
Aislin2: Long review *squeals*, you know I love those. You ride horses? I used to as well. I never saw Eight legged Freaks, spiders creep me out. I think Araniel would wash her hair if she wanted to, they have the bonding thing going on (lessons, talking, etc.) and Arwen would help her with everything and she is noble. Rita should follow her own advice shouldn't she? I like angst and no worries, the reconciliation is far from over.
Mademoisel madeline: Ok, I'll try to stop putting myself down, I'm just really insecure about my writing you know. I'm happy you liked the chapter though. Monsoon season? Good luck with that. See you in a while crocodile.
D-Chan4: Sorry, hope you like this chapter. I'll try to make it a little less confusing for you.
Kat: I updated, I hope you like.
Haldir's Heart and Soul: Love the name, and I'm very happy you liked the chapter.
Leitheindel: Elladan's not so bad, he really is sweet when you think about it. Please forgive him. . . for me?
Lady Healer: I hate spiders as well so we definitely have that in common. I'm happy you liked the scene with Anglas, it was the favorite of mine last chapter. Good luck hunting down Elrond, just don't hurt him too bad.
Rangishran: Angst can get annoying, I agree but it can also be an author's best friend. So expect to see more soon.
Nenuial aka Cheese Monkey: *blushes a deep shade of red* Too many compliments, must cool down. Thank you for saying what you did, it was really sweet. I hope you like next chapter.
The Elfen Archer of Rivendale: It took some time but here's the new chapter.
Darlene5: Thank you for your review, it made me happy when I read it and I hope you will read this chapter though it took me so long to write it. I don't think Elrond and Rita will meet each other again, at least, not sometime soon.
Kimmaree: I'll try to remember that my writing doesn't suck, thanks for telling me that though, it boosts my confidence. Hope you like this chapter.
Serpent of Light: They're together again yes. . . but for how long? *whuahahahaha*
Mellon1: Sorry that you had to wait so long for the update, hope you like it though.
Siren6: You had me laughing my ass off when I read your review, I love your humor. Poor Elrond, can't wait to see what you have in store for him.
Lady Eleclya: Unexpected guests are the best aren't they? Unless they are evil psycho killers who hunt you with a big knife. . . . sorry I watched Scream last night so I'm still on an adrenaline high.
Youkai Ryuu: More fighting? I'll try to do that but I'm not promising anything.
LalaithoftheBruinen: Thanks for reviewing once again and when I need the lyrics I'll mail you. I hope you didn't die waiting for this chapter since you said you'd be waiting breathlessly.
Kate: Your room sounds cool the way you described it, purple huh? I love painting, I did my room a year or so ago, though I didn't sponge paint a thing.
Tapdancing Hobbit: Happy you liked the chapter, enjoy this one as well.
Mornie Utule: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I know I left you waiting for an update but I hope you'll forgive me.
Elvenflower: I'm glad you like Elladan and Rita together, though their troubles aren't over yet.
Faenen: Thanks.
Arwen-evenstar2: It is just like Rita to find the spider isn't it? Of course there will be scenes of the (remainder of the) Fellowship. I'm going to fill the gap Tolkien left between Legolas and Gimli disappearing in the forest and them sailing again.
Dragonfly: Happy you didn't think the chapter sucked, hope this chapter will be what you want it to be.
Aurumlupi: I'm torn as well, I want to keep them together but the adventured are calling for me so I guess I'll have to clean this mess this chapter.
Shinigami29: I love to torture people as well, or so you'll see this chapter. I agree with you though, absence does make the heart fonder.
DISCLAIMER: Still not mine, though I am trying to but Tolkien's estate so I can change the name Tolkien to Tara. Nah, just one of my crazy ramblings.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For seemingly hours did the two kiss, touch and hold one another until Rita regained her senses and pushed Elladan away from her. She was panting a little as she massaged her head.
"We can't do this Elladan. We can't just pick up where we left off. That wouldn't be fair, not to you and not to me. A lot has happened and said between us and even though I wish they could, kissing isn't making those things go away."
Elladan frowned. "You confuse me melamin. Even though you are right about the fact that many a thing has happened and many words of pain and anger were spoken, I would like to put that behind us and focus on our future."
"That's exactly what I'm hinting at Elladan. What will happen to us once we go our own paths? I mean I'll be off to explore and you'll be in Rivendell, what kind of relationship would that be? I mean we did the long distance thing already and it hurt more then it helped, I just missed you so much."
"And I you, but what are you trying to say Rita? Do you want to end what we have yet again?" He was hurt just saying this.
"Do I want to end it? No, I don't want that at all. Do I think we need to slow things down drastically to spare the both of us a lot of pain? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
Elladan pinched the bridge of his nose as if to stop an incoming headache. "And how do you suppose we do that? Should we go back to ignoring each other again?"
"No, God I never want to do that again or go through that again at that. Just start over and take it from there. Right now we are continuing where we left and we still have a lot to resolve."
"Start over? You mean from the very beginning, you want us to become just friends after all we shared? I won't be able to do that, I'm sorry but I won't."
Rita took his hand in her own. "We'll never be 'just friends' Elladan, that would be impossible, but I'd like for us to become close friends again. Like we were before we became lovers." She pressed her lips against his palm and looked deep in his eyes. "I will always love you, but I have to find out who I am before we can walk on the lovers path again."
At her last statement Elladan closed his eyes to block out the pain. He didn't like it but he knew she was right about some points. They were rushing back towards the familiar. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
Without saying a word he got up and pulled Rita up as well. She looked at him with fear in her eyes because he hadn't responded to her words besides of the closing of his eyes.
"Elladan, don't lock me out again, please say something." She nearly begged.
He opened his eyes again and Rita was comforted by what she found in them. Pain, yes and also misunderstanding, but the love, so much love were to be found in them.
"I did not mean to shut you out Rita, I just have to cope with what you said. It is a lot to take and even though it won't be easy I'll accept what you offer to me. I'd rather have your friendship then nothing at all."
"Thank you Elladan, this means a lot to me."
"I do have a request though." He looked a little shy and it took a few moments before he continued. "Kiss me, one more time."
*How could I say no to that?* Rita wondered and she raised her head and waited for their lips to connect. At first their lips touched very lightly and Rita closed her eyes as she felt his fingertips running over her face.
When he ran his tongue over her lips time and again she slowly parted them and sighed as he gently took control of the kiss.
The kiss lacked the passion and desperation of their kisses just minutes before, but they were sweet and slow.
Time seemed to stand still as they stood in that hidden grove but finally Elladan released her and he rested his head against hers.
"Thank you for that Rita." He mumbled and then he let her go altogether. "You should go, the sun is starting to rise already and you will be missed. I'll have to meet Elrohir as well, we'll be meeting the king today again."
Rita put her hand on his cheek and he did the same to her automatically. "Be safe and may the Valar be with you Elladan."
"And to you Rita, and to you."
Then she took a deep breath and left the clearing and rushed back to her room. She was happy that most of the elves were still asleep and she didn't meet anyone on her way there.
Once she reached her rooms she let herself fall on the bed and closed her eyes for a while. She forced herself to get active and changed into a dark green pair of leggings and put a shirt that was a lighter shade of green over it.
She inspected herself in the mirror and saw that her hair was a mess and started to brush all the knots out. Once this task was accomplished she bound it together and after washing her face with the water out of the basin next to her bed she was ready.
Just when she was about to gather her weapons to go training there was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal Legolas who had his bow slung over his shoulder.
"Hey you." Rita said "I was almost ready, just let me get my weapons and we can be off." She fastened her belt from which her sword and dagger hung and as an afterthought she also grabbed her bow and quiver.
"There I'm ready to go." She walked down the hall and Legolas followed her. It took a few moments for her to realize that Legolas was extremely quiet that morning.
"You ok Legolas, you're never this quiet."
"I should ask you that question Rita." Legolas commented.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm not the one being all quiet."
"I was worried about you, you disappeared from the dining table and you weren't in your room after that. I was unable to find you anywhere."
"You were worried about me? You didn't have to be, as you can see I'm still in one piece."
Legolas shook his head a little and a smile started to form on his face and he draped an arm over her shoulder. "I probably worried for nothing but I couldn't help it. The last time you saw Elladan. . . '
"Let's not go there Legolas, not yet." Rita interrupted.
Getting the message he changed the subject. "So what are we doing first today, archery or swordplay?"
"I was thinking about starting with archery so I'll be able to boost my deflated ego with swordplay. I'll never be good at archery, not like I am with swordplay."
The two chatted some more on their way to the training-grounds. They picked a target to practice on and Rita was the first to take her shot.
She closed one eye and intently gazed at the target like she was supposed to as she pulled back the bowstring and notched an arrow. After a few more seconds she released the arrow and with satisfaction she noticed that it hit the second ring from the bulls eye.
But then that satisfaction sunk again when Legolas's arrow hit the center and two more after that in a matter of seconds.
"Not fair, I'm trying to build a bit of ego here and you're ruining that with hitting the center every time." She stuck out her lip and pouted in order to accentuate her so called sadness.
Legolas laughed out loud at this and pulled her hair. "Your ego doesn't need more building does it?" he asked her innocently.
"Are you calling me cocky?" Rita exclaimed as she put her hands in her sides.
Turning his head Legolas gazed at her. "Hmmmm, now that you mention it I'd have to sa-aaaay!"
Not letting him finishing his sentence Rita tackled Legolas to the ground, knocking the air out of him momentarily, and the two started to wrestle.
Of course Rita was no match for Legolas and his elven strength so she resorted to a sneaky method. She tickled him.
Now she wasn't sure if it would work but when he started to squirm Rita knew she had hit the jackpot, or so to speak. She tickled him some more and as he tried to roll away she pinned him to the ground by sitting on his legs as she attacked his sides.
Legolas was by now laughing hysterically and the tears streamed down his face. "Stop" he managed to say between laughs. "I give, I give now stop that or I'll. . . " he had to stop talking again because Rita viscously attacked him once more.
"I'd say you were in no condition to make threats or demands mister, now repeat after me. . . Rita is not cocky."
"Rita is. . . hahaha. . . not cocky."
She giggled a little as an idea got into her head. "Now say. . . I'm secretly in love with Tári Minyatur."
"I'm secretly. . . " Legolas started to say until it registered in his mind what she wanted him to say. "WHAT!"
It was bad luck for Rita when Legolas regained enough strength to throw her off of him and he got up, still laughing though he now also wore a devilish grin.
Taking that as her cue to get the hell out of there she scrambled up and started to run away from Legolas as fast as she could.
Her sprint was quite good but there was no way she could outrun an elf and soon she was lifted from the ground and carried away. She tried to get free from his grip but failed to do so.
When she saw where Legolas was going she doubled her efforts as she squirmed, kicked and yelled. "Legolas Thranduillon, put me down this instant. I mean it you evil elf put me down!!!"
"Are you sure about that Rita" he asked her.
"Yes now put me. . . " she then realized where she was and changed her mind. "No don't. . . "
But it was too late since Legolas had already dropped her and it was that moment that Rita fell into the small lake with a large splash.
She resurfaced and glared at the cackling elf at the shore. Not bothering to ask him to help her up she climbed out of the water and she turned to yell at Legolas when she caught sight of his retreating figure.
"I'll get you back Princie, just you wait. . . my revenge will be sweet." She shouted after him. with a huff she marched towards the castle, the wheels in her head already working at full strength.
She was so lost in her thoughts about revenge that she didn't notice the flabbergasted elves she passed by. They were shocked at what had just happened between the lady Voronwer and their Prince.
As she entered the palace she bumped into someone with such a force that she fell flat on her back. "Oh great" Rita mumbled "My day is just getting better and better."
A chuckle sounded from above her and a hand was stretched out towards her. Taking it Rita was pulled to her feet and found herself staring at Narathan.
"What happened to you Voronwer, did you decide to bathe with your clothes on?" He joked.
"Oh very funny." Rita sneered "Your brother is what happened. The idiotic, evil, insane and silly elf decided it would be funny to dump me in a lake."
"And your plan to get back at him is. . . " Narathan fished.
She frowned. "It's still under construction."
"May I suggest. . . . " the plan he whispered in her was so nasty and funny Rita's eyes lit up.
"Give me like 10 minutes to change into dry clothes and then you and me are going to have a loooooong conversation Prince Narathan." Rita grinned and then she sped down the corridors towards her room.
True to her word Rita returned 10 minutes later and she dragged Narathan to the library, a place where the two would be able to plot without being disturbed.
The prank was complicated and there were several frustrating details to work out and by the time they had fine-tuned their plan dinner was only an hour away.
Narathan excused himself since he had somewhere to be and Rita was left on her own in the library to tidy up the papers they had used while planning.
When she finished that particular task she went to her room and lay down on the bed as tiredness overwhelmed her. She had missed a night and now her sleeping pattern was all weird.
She was so tired that she allowed her eyes to close and sleep overtook her. When he came to check on her, Legolas found her sleeping peacefully so he took off her shoes and put a blanket around her to keep her warm.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The following days Rita was calm and quiet. So calm and quiet in fact, that Legolas was afraid of what was going on in her head. For he knew that Rita would come up with a revenge as devious as she could think of.
And the fact that she and Narathan, his own brother for Elbereth's sake, were often found conversing softly, as if they were planning something, did not help to calm him.
He had played many tricks on his eldest brother in the past and though Narathan often got him back for this, Legolas had always beaten his brother in this aspect.
After five days he had to wait no longer. . .
It started early in the morning when he got dressed. When he pulled his shirt on he found that the sleeves were sown together so he couldn't get his hands through.
He gritted his teeth and grabbed another shirt annoyed with this childish trick. He looked for Rita at breakfast but couldn't find her.
Deciding to leave to practice archery he returned to his room to gather his bow and arrows, checking them both for some kind of sabotage.
Rita may not have thought of that as a prank but Narathan was another thing. Legolas had after all put fake arrows in his quiver when Narathan was trying to impress this girl.
Of course the girl was less then impressed when Narathan's arrows never even got near the target. It took 3 weeks of hiding before Legolas had dared to face him again.
But thankfully there was no sign of a prank near his weapons so a little relieved Legolas made his way to the archery field. He had no idea what was in store for him.
Rita was hiding in the bushes and could make out Narathan's form in some bushes on the other side. The reason they were lying on the ground was unknown to some surprised elves around them but Narathan swore them to secrecy and they knew better than to disobey the heir to the crown.
From the corner of her eye Rita could see Legolas approach and she stayed as still as she could, not wanting to catch his attention. If he were to notice her, the prank would be over before it could begin.
Narathan had noticed his brother as well and when he saw he took his usual spot for practice he grinned widely while he signaled for Rita to get ready. He could see that she nodded and prepared himself as well. The two waited until Legolas strung his bow and took aim.
The first arrow imbedded itself in the center of the target (as always) and Legolas grinned appreciatively, no matter how many times he did it, it always felt good to see that the arrow had done what he wanted to.
He strung a second arrow and fired. . . but this time it hit the outer ring!!! He blinked a few times and fired a third arrow. This time it hit the outer ring as well, this time on the left side.
Frowning he fired two more arrows and saw to his surprise that he once again hit the outer ring (on the right this time) and once he even missed the target.
He strung his bow again confused about what was wrong with him that morning and was about to release his arrow when he noticed the target moving.
Shaking his head a second later he thought he had imagined it, how would a target be able to move after all? But when he got ready to fore once more he saw it move again and this time his elven hearing picked up a suppressed giggle.
Realization hit him and he stormed towards the target and then his suspicion was confirmed. There was a rope tied to the target in such a way that one piece led to the bushes on his left and the other end to the bushes on his right.
Then he heard laughing again and with all his strength he pulled on the end of rope he held in his hands. From the bushes Narathan was now catapulted a few feet across the field while he chuckled all the while.
Legolas glared at his brother, but Narathan seemed immune to this as he laughed even louder. "You should have seen your face little brother. The confusion on it. . . priceless, absolutely priceless.'
Then Legolas jumped up and ran to the bushes on the other side realizing something else (imagine seeing a light bulb appearing over his head). But when he reached them he only found the other end of the rope.
Rita had been smart enough to flee while she could while she figured out that Narathan could hold his own against his brother's anger.
She now ran sniggering through the forest as she neared the castle. At the entrance she bumped into Gimli and she grabbed his shoulder.
"If you see Legolas and he asks you where I am, I was not here. You get that Gimli? You haven't seen me the entire day."
Then she disappeared again leaving a confused friend behind but that was solved when he met Legolas not a minute later.
Noticing his state of anger he stopped the elf. "Now, now lad. You have the face like a thundercloud, whatever happened?"
"Rita and Narathan joined forces and interrupted my training. Every time I fired an arrow they moved the target. And I fell for the stupid prank!" He ended with self-disgust.
Gimli chuckled loudly. "Perhaps you shouldn't have dropped her in the lake. The lass can have quite a temper and she has managed to prank you a few times already. Now come with me and help this dwarf find some adventure in this forest, it has been too long since I have been able to use my ax."
A calmer Legolas now shrugged and followed his friend, not knowing he was being observed from the entrance. Rita grinned as she watched Gimli manipulate his friend into coming with him.
Then she looked at her hands and sighed, there were several rope-burn marks on them and they stung as well. So she set out towards the healing room and was surprised to find one of the twins there.
After a quick inspection she recognized Elrohir and she knocked on the door to get his attention. "Hey Elrohir, do you have a minute for me."
"Of course Rita, are you injured or is this a social visit." He asked.
She held up her hands. "A little bit of both actually. I have neglected to say hello to you and I do feel a little guilty about it, but my hands are the motivation for coming here."
"Come here." Elrohir patted the cot and Rita sat down and held out her hands for inspection. He grabbed some sort of cream from one of the shelves and started to apply it.
There was a silence between them and eventually it was Rita who broke it. "I heard congratulations are in order, who would have though a year ago you would get married?"
"I would have deemed whoever brought me this news insane and would ignore it completely." Elrohir grinned but he quickly sobered. "I expected Elladan to marry first though."
Now Rita was serious as well and listened to Elrohir as he started to speak once more. "He loves you Rita, it's as simple as that. When you ran from him he was lost and he didn't know what to do to convince you to return."
"I had to leave Elrohir, I was afraid. Lord Elrond said things. . . things that make no sense now but words I took very serious at the time. I didn't mean to hurt Elladan."
Elrohir sighed. "I know Rita, yet you did. Now I'm aware that my brother is far from perfect and did some hurtful things as well but it pains me to see him like this. The light you brought to his eyes has dulled and he is no longer the Elladan I know."
"But," he continued "I have seen a change in this a few days ago. The light has returned, not as bright as before, but it's there. I know not what happened between you and him but I wish to thank you for it."
Rita swallowed to get rid of a nasty lump in her throat. "Nothing happened Elrohir, we just cleared up all this mess between us. We talked it all out and we came. . . no I came to the conclusion that before we can return to what we had, we should be friends again."
"It's a start." Elrohir said as he finished tying the bandage around her hands.
Gathering her courage Rita asked him something. "Elladan told me that he has had words with Lord Elrond, but surely he was exaggerating when he told me he no longer was his son."
A pained look crossed over his face and Rita felt bad for asking. Finally Elrohir spoke. "I wish he was Rita, for it is worse then you can imagine."
"How do you mean?"
"When Elladan found out what Ada had said to you he became livid and harsh words were spoken. Ada tried to defend himself by saying he only had Elladan's best interest at heart as a father should. On this Elladan yelled that he was no longer his son and stormed out."
"But Elladan loves your father, I know this, they'll make up eventually won't they?" Rita asked hopefully.
Elrohir shook his head. "I'm afraid that it will take quite some time before things can go back to the way they were before their arguments. The only Elladan stays in Imladris is because I am there as well and he does not wish to part with me."
Biting her lip Rita looked as Elrohir tiredly rubbed his forehead. "They do not speak, well Ada sometimes tries to speak with Elladan but he quickly gives up. The gap between them will not be mended before Ada will sail to Valinor I'm afraid."
"Sail to. . . when is that happening?"
"In a few months. Many elves will depart for grandmother will finally cross the sea as well. Many of the Galadhrim will follow her and even more will come a few years after she has left, for the power of the rings is gone and Lothlorien is fading."
Rita was shocked, even though she knew the elves would leave Middle Earth, she didn't expected it to happen so soon.
"It's the reason you're here isn't it?" she asked Elrohir "To discuss this with Thranduil."
"Aye, Ada sent me and Elladan, well Elladan came with me, to ask the king what his plans were. He will announce of the leave taking in a few days and then those who want to come are free to do as they please. Though I doubt there will be many at first."
"Why?"
Elrohir smiled at her eagerness to understand. "The elves of Mirk. . . I should say Greenwood now, are Silvan elves. They are attached to the woods and I doubt they will want to leave just yet. But once they hear the sea- calling, then it is strong and powerful."
"Does it hurt to resist the calling?" Rita asked with a slight amount of fear in her voice.
"It depends on the elf. Though it can be painful to resist it all relies on the strength of the elf in question. Why do you ask?"
"Legolas heard it, the call. But now we made this pact to stay until Aragorn dies, but I didn't know it would hurt him." Rita spoke softly. "I may play tricks on him but I care about him a lot and I'd hate to see him in pain."
Elrohir wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it a little. "Legolas is strong, if there's one elf who will be able to resist the call it will be him. And if he has troubles he will have your friendship to help him won't he?"
"Of course I'll help him, what else do you expect?" Rita said and then something clicked in her head. "You said Lady Galadriel will leave, but what of Lord Celeborn?"
"He will remain here for a while longer, though it is feared he will never leave these shores at all. Grandfather is from the old days and he has been born here unlike grandmother who comes from Valinor itself."
"Oh." Rita couldn't say a lot more. This conversation was so very serious and her giddiness about the prank had disappeared almost entirely.
She stood up and straightened her clothes before she gave Elrohir a hug. "Thanks for the explaining and the bandages and all. Are you at dinner tonight?"
"Yes, why?"
A glint came in her eyes and she smiled. "Lets just say that it'll be a show to remember. Legolas won't know what hit him." With a wink she left Elrohir behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas was in a bad mood. Hunting with Gimli had calmed him down and afterwards the two each went their own way. But his newfound serenity was disturbed when he opened a door only to be covered in goo.
This had 'Rita' written all over it and Legolas decided not to react, it would only make Rita gloat if he became angry with her. No he would bathe and wash his hair and pretend nothing had happened.
He asked a maid, who was close to giggling, to prepare a bath for him. Before she left he called her back and with his most charming smile he addressed her.
"Would you please keep quiet about this, I'd be most embarrassed if this, " he motioned to his hair. "came out." The blushing maid agreed of course and hurried to fulfill his request.
It took an entire bottle of hair-soap to get all the goo out and Legolas realized he had to hurry if he wanted to be at dinner in time.
He quickly grabbed a towel and dried himself off and he put a nice outfit on before he started to brush his hair. When he looked in the mirror he was shocked at his image.
"RITA!!!!!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile Rita was already in the dining hall and the queen was surprised to see her wear pants and a shirt. They were very nice and feminine, but still she usually wore a dress at dinner. When she asked Rita about this she got the strangest answer.
"I'd rather be mobile today."
There was just the buzz of conversation as it always was in the dining hall when an enraged bellow came from one of corridors.
"RITA!!!!!"
She immediately glanced at Narathan who was already chuckling and got up. Legolas sounded pissed off and she wanted to run while she could. Only one problem, which way would he come from, then she'd be able to run in the opposite direction.
Then the backdoor Rita had used to slip out only days before slammed open and Rita yelped before she went to stand on the other side of the table to keep a barrier between her and Legolas.
Around her laughter exploded at his appearance but she kept her gaze onto his face. Legolas walked towards her with long strides and then he smiled sweetly. This scared her more then a scowl could.
"Rita, would you care to explain the exact reason my hair is now blue?" he asked.
She bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from laughing and tried to look thoughtful. "Why Legolas, how on earth did you manage to do that. Blue does suit you though, it matches your eyes."
"Wrong answer, I'll ask again. What did you do to my hair?" he took a few steps in her direction as he said this.
Backing up a few steps Rita's lips began to tremble a little from the suppressed laughter but she was able to keep it down.
"Well I did nothing to your hair, you did that yourself. All I did was put blueberry juice in your hair-soap, well, replaced nearly all of the hair soap with the hair-soap actually. It's not my fault you failed to see this."
Seeing the flickering in his eyes she suddenly pointed at Narathan and yelled. "It was his idea!" Then she ran away. . . fast.
Legolas now turned to his brother who was getting a little nervous. "I'll get you for this." Was all Legolas said before he rushed after Rita.
After he left Narathan couldn't keep it in any more and started to laugh so loud that he totally missed his chair as he tried to sit down. Instead he landed on the ground where he didn't even take the trouble of trying to get up.
He wasn't the only one in such a state however, Gimli was nearly peeing in his pants from mirth and even Thranduil was chuckling.
"To think you are all grown." Araniel said, but even she could not hide the smile that had crept on her face.
The rest of the meal was cheery and full with laughter, something that had been missing in a long while because of the dark days.
"Poor Voronwer." Narathan said. "I daresay that she's unable to outrun him for long."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rita was indeed not able to outrun Legolas for a long time. She had been running for five minutes or so and was about to whistle for Asfaloth when she was tackled from behind.
She laughed loudly when Legolas picked her up and started to walk even further away from the palace, while muttering under his breath about revenge.
Finally her laughter subsided and she tried to look up at Legolas, which was a hard task as she was hanging upside down.
"Legolas, are you really mad with me? Could you please put me down? I'm not sorry about the prank and even you'll have to admit it was a good one."
She felt him take a deep breath and then he sighed as he put her down. She looked at his face and was relieved to see him smile a little.
"Forgive me?" she asked with a pout.
He shook his head and then hugged her. "Remind me to never, ever, prank you again while you are near my brother. The two of you planning pranks together is a man's worst nightmare."
"You have to admit they were good though."
Legolas grinned. "Yes, they were good pranks, a little too. . . " his voice drifted off as he started to listen intently for something.
Feeling a wave of seriousness take over Rita looked as he did this. The only time she had seen Legolas so alert was when he heard danger approach and he had never been wrong once.
He moved his head towards the trees and Rita walked as quietly as she could towards them. When he was next to her she softly whispered to him.
"What's wrong, what did you hear?"
"Orcs, a small group, ten at most."
Rita looked at him incredulous. "What happened to the 'our woods are cleansed from evil' thing we were told so many times?"
"Apparently my kin has been as wrong about the orcs as they have been about the spiders." Legolas said with a serious face and then he swore softly.
'What?"
"Father has given the patrol a free day and we have no weapons with us." He explained.
Rita grimaced. "Crap! Well that sucks, what are we going to do? We can't just leave them running around like this."
"I know, I am concerned about how they were able to get so close to the palace." He was silent for a few seconds and then he explained the plan he had come up with to Rita.
"The orcs are too close for us to get reinforcements so that's out. But the armory is not far from here, a minute if I'm quick. I know I left my old bow there and there will be enough arrows for me to fire. I'll grab some weapons for you as well."
She nodded. "You want me to stay put?" she asked.
"Climb this tree, so you won't be spotted." When he saw she was going to protest he held up his hand. "I know you can fight but even I would not be able to face orcs unarmed."
He lifted her so she could grab a branch and instructed her to climb to the second limb. "When you see me return you can come down again, stay still."
"Legolas" Rita whispered loudly and she winced at the volume. "Be careful." But he was gone already.
Now Rita couldn't hear the orcs approach yet but she trusted Legolas on his judgement, it had saved her life more then once the past months.
Though it was evening the sun had not completely gone down yet, something Rita was grateful for since she would be of no use in the dark. Then she realized something else, orcs hated sunlight. Why would day come out while the sun was still out.
It seemed as if time slowed down as she sat on the branch and Rita stared in the direction from where the growls even se now heard were coming from. She didn't notice Legolas return until he sat next to her on the branch. She nearly toppled out of the tree from the scare but Legolas was able to steady her.
"Here, I have a sword for you and also a bow. We'll try to shoot them from here before we go for hand-to-hand combat. We have the advantage of surprise." He quickly whispered.
Rita accepted the sword. It was longer then her own but it would fit its use. She put it against the trunk, where it would be easy to access before she took the bow from Legolas.
"I won't be of a lot of use with archery, I'm not as good as you."
"Nonsense, just take your time with aiming. We only have 15 arrows though, I had no time for a thorough search."
By the time they had gotten everything arranged the orcs had come closer and the setting sun gave the land a golden/reddish glow.
Legolas strung his bow and Rita followed his example, playing every instruction she had through her mind. As soon as Legolas fired the first arrow the orcs started to make their annoying screechy cries.
Like she was told Rita took her time with her aim she pulled back the bowstring and aimed for a particularly big and ugly orc and released the arrow.
To her satisfaction it actually hit the orc and it fell down. She grabbed a second arrow and then saw that Legolas had taken four down while she just shot one. She shot the second quickly and saw another big orc go down.
Then an arrow sailed right passed her head and out of instinct she leaped backwards. . . and fell out of the tree.
She got up as fast as she could and yelled to Legolas. "Throw down my sword!" A second later she held the sword. Just in time too, because she was just able to block a vicious strike from an orc.
Rita did a quick head-count and realized there were more then ten, she believed the numbers to be double but had no time to worry.
As she killed one orc with a stroke to the heart she had to duck a blow aimed towards her belly, she missed her dagger.
It was easy to notice when Legolas ran out of arrows, since the orcs focussed more on her. Legolas jumped out of the tree like an agile cat and stood back to back with Rita but he only had a small dagger for his defense and Rita had to work twice as hard to keep the both of them safe.
The two had in their time of the Fellowship become quite accustomed to the other's fighting style and Rita had no illusions as to whether she would have survived had she been in the company of anyone else beside Legolas.
So when the flood of orcs suddenly stopped the two circled back and forth, still back to back. Rita was panting a little, battle had never been so intense.
She had become used to being in greater company and suddenly she had to face the fact that two people fighting together, no matter how skilled they are, is far more dangerous then a group.
"Well," she finally said "ten huh? Unless I have lost the ability to count, this is not ten. These are 22, no 23 orcs."
Legolas looked a little sheepish. "I guess those ten brought some friends."
"Sure they did. What do we do with them anyway? I'm used to the kill and run but something tells me that's not an option."
Legolas slung the bow over his shoulder and wiped the dagger clean on his pants. "We'll go to report this to my father and then we'll come back to arrange this."
"Sounds like a plan." Rita said and the two started to jog back to the palace. This took around 10 minutes and when they reached the entrance the sun had completely gone under.
They walked through the corridors when they bumped into the twins, whose eyes widened at the state of the two. "What in the name of Eru happened to the two of you." exclaimed Elrohir.
"Orc-attack." Legolas said curtly. "I need to see father." He started to walk again and Rita and the twins followed behind him.
Dinner had finished and the only ones who were still there were the people at the high table. With every step he took Legolas was getting angrier, Rita could tell by the way he clenched and unclenched his fists. He threw the door open and stormed to where his father was sitting and Rita was a few feet behind him.
"Maybe you would like to tell me, father, why there were no guards to protect our borders. Or better yet, guards to protect the palace."
"It hasn't been necessary since the woods are now cleansed. . . "
Legolas banged his fist on the table. "Take one look at me and then tell me the woods are cleansed from all things evil. You should know better father."
The king took on his youngest son's appearance and noticed the messy (and still blue) hair, the black blood stains on his clothes and a few slight scrapes on his arms.
Then Rita walked towards Legolas and put her hand on his shoulder and this seemed to calm him a little and he began to speak again.
"23 orcs were able to breach the borders in such a way that they were a mere ten minutes from this palace's entrance. If Rita and I had not stumbled across them by chance, they would have reached this castle and caused mayhem."
Thranduil seemed astonished. "23, are you sure about this number. Surely you can't be serious, how could there be so many orcs still remaining in the woods after we cleansed them?"
Now it was Rita's turn to bang her fist on the table. "No you're completely right, we made this all up. It's just a silly prank. We were nearly shish kebab but hey, the woods are cleansed so those orcs we killed must have been ghosts."
"It was fortunate we were so close to the armory when we detected them." Legolas picked up where Rita had left off. "Or we wouldn't have faired very well."
Then Gimli jumped up and shook his fist at the two. "You two are the worst friends a dwarf could ask for, having an adventure all on your own while you know I miss chopping off orc-necks. You didn't even save me one did you?"
This eased the tension that had begun to build in the room and Legolas grinned. "I humbly apologize master Gimli, next time we walk into a almost ambush, I'll be sure to gather you first from your meal."
"Where did you find them Legolas?" asked Narathan who had slipped out to gather some soldiers. "Lead us to them."
Legolas nodded and went off, Rita close behind him. In the end the small patrol of 6, Narathan, Gimli and the twins followed them.
A few feet before they exited Rita grabbed a torch from the wall, when one of the elves gave her a strange look she raised her eyebrows.
"What? I'm no elf, all I see out there is black. I'll put it back later."
After his outburst the elves made sure they steered clear from Legolas and Gimli was softly discussing something with the twins.
While they made their way to where they had left the corpses Rita walked next to Legolas and nudged his shoulder with her own.
"You ok again Legolas, quite a display of temper, it appears to run in the family." She spoke softly, in order not to attract too much attention.
He sighed. "I'm merely angry with the laxness I have seen displayed the last few months. Guards who leave their posts unmanned, healers who are more and more away from their station and my father's sudden idea that there is no longer evil in this world, it annoys me."
"You know what you need?" she asked. Legolas looked at her questioningly.
She smiled. "You need a change of scenery, you've been annoying yourself more and more these past few weeks. We talked about that in Gondor remember, the feeling of being trapped. We need to get away from here, even though it is a lovely place to stay."
"I think you're right, we'll need to make some plans with Gimli." Legolas said before they reached the place where the battle took place.
One of the group whistled when they saw the corpses littering the ground. "This must have been quite the battle, these are quite a number."
As Legolas explained what had happened Rita felt something was off and wandered a bit from the group. Then she noticed what was wrong and swore.
"22" she said in a tight voice "There are only 22 corpses, we're missing one."
"Perhaps you counted wrong." Mellas, who was one of the patrol, suggested.
Now Legolas was alarmed as well. "Impossible, we both counted twice."
Suddenly Elladan cried "Rita get down!" before he tackled her to the ground. An arrow sailed just over his head as he fell on top of her body and the orc was quickly found in some bushes and then killed.
"You hurt?" Elladan asked Rita as he sat up.
She grabbed his out-stretched hand and pulled herself up as well. "I won't be able to breathe for the next week cause you landed on top of my lungs, but yeah I'm fine. Thanks for the save, that could've ended nasty."
"What else are friends for?" he asked quietly and Rita smiled.
Then she turned to Legolas and Narathan who were discussing how to get rid of the bodies. "So have you figured out what you want to do yet. And if it's a choice between burning and burying, I'm all for burning. I am in no mood to dig a hole."
"Yet the smell will linger if we burn the bodies and we are quite close to the palace." Narathan interjected.
Rita raised her eyebrow. "Really? I hadn't noticed that. Hmm, learn something new every day."
"Lady Voronwer is right though." One of the elves whose name Rita didn't know said. "Burying them will take time and it is rather late."
In the end they decided to burn the bodies and the small company began to work in silence. They dragged all the bodies onto a pile and set fire to them with the torch Rita had brought.
It was nearly morning when they set back again and Rita was beat. She had cleaned the sword she had used that night since the men had unanimously decided that she should not have to stack corpses.
For once Rita hadn't complained about being treated differently from the men. She wasn't very keen on dragging dead bodies from one place to the other. She had done that once, during the final battle, and she was still a little freaked out about it. And those were the bodies of the good guys!
Araniel has stayed up and once she noted the group's return she ordered a few maids who had the morning shift to prepare the baths.
Each of the group trudged to their own room and just before Legolas went into his Rita called after him. "Just wash your hair with the yellow liquid that's on your desk, the blue will come out like that." Legolas chuckled and thanked her before he disappeared into his room.
When Rita reached her room there were two maids waiting to take care of her but Rita sent them away, after thanking them for the bath.
She stripped once they had left the room and first she scrubbed the blood and dirt from her hands in a separate basin before she stepped into the hot bath prepared for her.
Her muscles instantly relaxed after such a taxing day and she rinsed her hair with the water before putting some liquid Elmère had given her before she had departed from Lothlorien.
After drying herself off when she had finished Rita put on a silky nightgown and fell into her bed, drifting off at once.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
The following week was a busy one. King Thranduil had announced the message from Lord Elrond and he had also reinstated guard duty.
Elves were constantly discussing what they wanted to do and how the years of the elves were slowly dwindling down. Then Legolas made an announcement which surprised all, even Rita.
"I have heard many of you discussing the option of leaving for Valinor and I know that the opinions on going or staying are now divided so I wish to give you a third option. Fair woods, woods that have been untouched by shadow, yet have not been tended to, surround Ithilien. I promised King Elessar that I would return with some of my kin to dwell there and found a small city, in order to tend these trees as only elves can."
He took a pause to let his comment sink in before he continued. "Those who feel restless yet are unwilling to leave these shores yet may, if they are willing, join me to fulfill this particular task. I do not want you to decide now, for I will first accompany my friend Gimli to his home as I vowed. But when I return I will set out to Ithilien with those willing."
Then he left and was nowhere to be found. After searching for an hour Rita climbed a tree and jumped her way to Legolas's special place. And sure enough, he was laying in his hammock with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You created quite the chaos just now. I don't think your father saw this coming, heck, I didn't see it coming. When did you come up with the idea?"
He moved over in the hammock and patted the now empty spot and Rita got the idea and climbed in, though she nearly tipped them over.
When she was all comfortable Legolas started to explain about he and Aragorn had discussed the option of Legolas founding his own city and about the plan seeming better and better to him.
"I notice things about the palace and think 'I would do that differently, I would change that'. I will never be able to change it here, I doubt my father will leave for quite some time, so why should I not start anew?"
Rita smiled at him. "Why not? You do realize I will help you wherever I can right?"
"I actually hoped you would." He said.
"Maybe there will be some of the Galadhrim or elves from Rivendell who want to come as well. Mirkwood isn't the only place with a dwindling population."
Legolas turned towards Rita. "I never even thought of that but you are right. It would be a logical option. What do you think about. . . " The two spent the rest of the day speculating and dreaming about the future.
The following day the three travelers were all ready for the trip to the Lonely Mountain. They had already said their good-byes and were eager for experiencing new things.
Elladan and Elrohir left at the same time as Legolas, Rita and Gimli did and the five of them walked to the stables together.
Once they had grabbed the horses they went outside. Elladan wanted to pull Rita in a wild embrace and hold her until she would be flattened against his body, but refrained himself to putting his hand on her cheek and muttering a blessing of good luck over her.
To his surprise she copied his movement and after giving Elrohir a brief hug she jumped on top of Asfaloth and rode off, Legolas following her closely on Arod.
Elladan watched until he could no longer see them and Elrohir put an arm around his shoulder. "You will see her again brother." He comforted.
"I know Ro, I feel it in my heart. One day we will be together again, one day."
Then the twins were on their way as well, on their way back to Rivendell.
A/N: Phew, long chapter like I promised. I spent almost my entire Sunday on it so I hope you all like it. It is a rather complicated chapter with the drama and romance and pranks. . . let me know what you think and please review!!!!!!
White-Witch-Sakura: Thanks for reviewing and I'm happy you liked it.
Melia: I'm so sorry for leaving you hanging. . . forgive me?
Haldir lover: I know it's been a while and thanks for the compliments, it helped me come out off my little dip.
Soul: I know, but I'm updating now aren't I?
Elrohir lover: Put Elrond with the Wargs??? Now there's an idea. . . nah I still need him in the story. Good idea though.
Yuki: I never could resist sugar, lol, just kidding.
PrincessCebera: This update isn't soon but I hope you'll like the chapter nonetheless.
The Story Weaver: You had to wait for a while but I hope this chapter will be worth the wait.
Mikos: I'm happy you like the story and hope you keep on reading even if I did take a while to update.
The Great One: I hope you'll forgive me for leaving you hanging like I did and all, anyway just read the chapter.
Latin4ever93: I'm sorry I made you giddy and I feel honored that I'm the one you wrote your longest review for. I hope this chapter will live up to your expectations.
Blahblah: I hate the spiders too. . . even their little tiny relatives that turn up in my room sometimes, I kill them all. DEATH TO THE SPIDERS!!!!! Lol. Uhm, should I fear for my life, cause I didn't update soon like you asked, do I want to know what the 'or else' forebodes?
JAL Williams: Made you cry? It wasn't that sad was it? A trilogy? Nah, I'm making it one big fic, don't know how much longer it's going to be though, I planned it to be 20 chapters or so but I went way beyond that.
Palacescribe: Thanks for your comments, I'll make sure to watch out like you told me to. I know Rita was well liked by almost everyone but she's just one of those people. That's a little based on one of my best friends, she just sends out this vibe that calls 'like me, like me'.
Dara Maeko: Hope this new chapter will excite you as much as last one did.
Katalina15: Sweet reunion indeed, but just you wait what I have in store for them. *evil cackle*
Aquitaineq: Elladan or travelling, that is the question. I hope I'll be able to combine the two but you never know what my muse tells me to do.
Mrs. Ekeena Greenleaf: Happy you liked the update and hope you'll like this one as well.
Prophetic Fire: I take it you're happy with the latest development?
Aislin2: Long review *squeals*, you know I love those. You ride horses? I used to as well. I never saw Eight legged Freaks, spiders creep me out. I think Araniel would wash her hair if she wanted to, they have the bonding thing going on (lessons, talking, etc.) and Arwen would help her with everything and she is noble. Rita should follow her own advice shouldn't she? I like angst and no worries, the reconciliation is far from over.
Mademoisel madeline: Ok, I'll try to stop putting myself down, I'm just really insecure about my writing you know. I'm happy you liked the chapter though. Monsoon season? Good luck with that. See you in a while crocodile.
D-Chan4: Sorry, hope you like this chapter. I'll try to make it a little less confusing for you.
Kat: I updated, I hope you like.
Haldir's Heart and Soul: Love the name, and I'm very happy you liked the chapter.
Leitheindel: Elladan's not so bad, he really is sweet when you think about it. Please forgive him. . . for me?
Lady Healer: I hate spiders as well so we definitely have that in common. I'm happy you liked the scene with Anglas, it was the favorite of mine last chapter. Good luck hunting down Elrond, just don't hurt him too bad.
Rangishran: Angst can get annoying, I agree but it can also be an author's best friend. So expect to see more soon.
Nenuial aka Cheese Monkey: *blushes a deep shade of red* Too many compliments, must cool down. Thank you for saying what you did, it was really sweet. I hope you like next chapter.
The Elfen Archer of Rivendale: It took some time but here's the new chapter.
Darlene5: Thank you for your review, it made me happy when I read it and I hope you will read this chapter though it took me so long to write it. I don't think Elrond and Rita will meet each other again, at least, not sometime soon.
Kimmaree: I'll try to remember that my writing doesn't suck, thanks for telling me that though, it boosts my confidence. Hope you like this chapter.
Serpent of Light: They're together again yes. . . but for how long? *whuahahahaha*
Mellon1: Sorry that you had to wait so long for the update, hope you like it though.
Siren6: You had me laughing my ass off when I read your review, I love your humor. Poor Elrond, can't wait to see what you have in store for him.
Lady Eleclya: Unexpected guests are the best aren't they? Unless they are evil psycho killers who hunt you with a big knife. . . . sorry I watched Scream last night so I'm still on an adrenaline high.
Youkai Ryuu: More fighting? I'll try to do that but I'm not promising anything.
LalaithoftheBruinen: Thanks for reviewing once again and when I need the lyrics I'll mail you. I hope you didn't die waiting for this chapter since you said you'd be waiting breathlessly.
Kate: Your room sounds cool the way you described it, purple huh? I love painting, I did my room a year or so ago, though I didn't sponge paint a thing.
Tapdancing Hobbit: Happy you liked the chapter, enjoy this one as well.
Mornie Utule: Sorry, sorry, sorry, I know I left you waiting for an update but I hope you'll forgive me.
Elvenflower: I'm glad you like Elladan and Rita together, though their troubles aren't over yet.
Faenen: Thanks.
Arwen-evenstar2: It is just like Rita to find the spider isn't it? Of course there will be scenes of the (remainder of the) Fellowship. I'm going to fill the gap Tolkien left between Legolas and Gimli disappearing in the forest and them sailing again.
Dragonfly: Happy you didn't think the chapter sucked, hope this chapter will be what you want it to be.
Aurumlupi: I'm torn as well, I want to keep them together but the adventured are calling for me so I guess I'll have to clean this mess this chapter.
Shinigami29: I love to torture people as well, or so you'll see this chapter. I agree with you though, absence does make the heart fonder.
DISCLAIMER: Still not mine, though I am trying to but Tolkien's estate so I can change the name Tolkien to Tara. Nah, just one of my crazy ramblings.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For seemingly hours did the two kiss, touch and hold one another until Rita regained her senses and pushed Elladan away from her. She was panting a little as she massaged her head.
"We can't do this Elladan. We can't just pick up where we left off. That wouldn't be fair, not to you and not to me. A lot has happened and said between us and even though I wish they could, kissing isn't making those things go away."
Elladan frowned. "You confuse me melamin. Even though you are right about the fact that many a thing has happened and many words of pain and anger were spoken, I would like to put that behind us and focus on our future."
"That's exactly what I'm hinting at Elladan. What will happen to us once we go our own paths? I mean I'll be off to explore and you'll be in Rivendell, what kind of relationship would that be? I mean we did the long distance thing already and it hurt more then it helped, I just missed you so much."
"And I you, but what are you trying to say Rita? Do you want to end what we have yet again?" He was hurt just saying this.
"Do I want to end it? No, I don't want that at all. Do I think we need to slow things down drastically to spare the both of us a lot of pain? Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
Elladan pinched the bridge of his nose as if to stop an incoming headache. "And how do you suppose we do that? Should we go back to ignoring each other again?"
"No, God I never want to do that again or go through that again at that. Just start over and take it from there. Right now we are continuing where we left and we still have a lot to resolve."
"Start over? You mean from the very beginning, you want us to become just friends after all we shared? I won't be able to do that, I'm sorry but I won't."
Rita took his hand in her own. "We'll never be 'just friends' Elladan, that would be impossible, but I'd like for us to become close friends again. Like we were before we became lovers." She pressed her lips against his palm and looked deep in his eyes. "I will always love you, but I have to find out who I am before we can walk on the lovers path again."
At her last statement Elladan closed his eyes to block out the pain. He didn't like it but he knew she was right about some points. They were rushing back towards the familiar. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.
Without saying a word he got up and pulled Rita up as well. She looked at him with fear in her eyes because he hadn't responded to her words besides of the closing of his eyes.
"Elladan, don't lock me out again, please say something." She nearly begged.
He opened his eyes again and Rita was comforted by what she found in them. Pain, yes and also misunderstanding, but the love, so much love were to be found in them.
"I did not mean to shut you out Rita, I just have to cope with what you said. It is a lot to take and even though it won't be easy I'll accept what you offer to me. I'd rather have your friendship then nothing at all."
"Thank you Elladan, this means a lot to me."
"I do have a request though." He looked a little shy and it took a few moments before he continued. "Kiss me, one more time."
*How could I say no to that?* Rita wondered and she raised her head and waited for their lips to connect. At first their lips touched very lightly and Rita closed her eyes as she felt his fingertips running over her face.
When he ran his tongue over her lips time and again she slowly parted them and sighed as he gently took control of the kiss.
The kiss lacked the passion and desperation of their kisses just minutes before, but they were sweet and slow.
Time seemed to stand still as they stood in that hidden grove but finally Elladan released her and he rested his head against hers.
"Thank you for that Rita." He mumbled and then he let her go altogether. "You should go, the sun is starting to rise already and you will be missed. I'll have to meet Elrohir as well, we'll be meeting the king today again."
Rita put her hand on his cheek and he did the same to her automatically. "Be safe and may the Valar be with you Elladan."
"And to you Rita, and to you."
Then she took a deep breath and left the clearing and rushed back to her room. She was happy that most of the elves were still asleep and she didn't meet anyone on her way there.
Once she reached her rooms she let herself fall on the bed and closed her eyes for a while. She forced herself to get active and changed into a dark green pair of leggings and put a shirt that was a lighter shade of green over it.
She inspected herself in the mirror and saw that her hair was a mess and started to brush all the knots out. Once this task was accomplished she bound it together and after washing her face with the water out of the basin next to her bed she was ready.
Just when she was about to gather her weapons to go training there was a knock on her door. She opened it to reveal Legolas who had his bow slung over his shoulder.
"Hey you." Rita said "I was almost ready, just let me get my weapons and we can be off." She fastened her belt from which her sword and dagger hung and as an afterthought she also grabbed her bow and quiver.
"There I'm ready to go." She walked down the hall and Legolas followed her. It took a few moments for her to realize that Legolas was extremely quiet that morning.
"You ok Legolas, you're never this quiet."
"I should ask you that question Rita." Legolas commented.
She raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm not the one being all quiet."
"I was worried about you, you disappeared from the dining table and you weren't in your room after that. I was unable to find you anywhere."
"You were worried about me? You didn't have to be, as you can see I'm still in one piece."
Legolas shook his head a little and a smile started to form on his face and he draped an arm over her shoulder. "I probably worried for nothing but I couldn't help it. The last time you saw Elladan. . . '
"Let's not go there Legolas, not yet." Rita interrupted.
Getting the message he changed the subject. "So what are we doing first today, archery or swordplay?"
"I was thinking about starting with archery so I'll be able to boost my deflated ego with swordplay. I'll never be good at archery, not like I am with swordplay."
The two chatted some more on their way to the training-grounds. They picked a target to practice on and Rita was the first to take her shot.
She closed one eye and intently gazed at the target like she was supposed to as she pulled back the bowstring and notched an arrow. After a few more seconds she released the arrow and with satisfaction she noticed that it hit the second ring from the bulls eye.
But then that satisfaction sunk again when Legolas's arrow hit the center and two more after that in a matter of seconds.
"Not fair, I'm trying to build a bit of ego here and you're ruining that with hitting the center every time." She stuck out her lip and pouted in order to accentuate her so called sadness.
Legolas laughed out loud at this and pulled her hair. "Your ego doesn't need more building does it?" he asked her innocently.
"Are you calling me cocky?" Rita exclaimed as she put her hands in her sides.
Turning his head Legolas gazed at her. "Hmmmm, now that you mention it I'd have to sa-aaaay!"
Not letting him finishing his sentence Rita tackled Legolas to the ground, knocking the air out of him momentarily, and the two started to wrestle.
Of course Rita was no match for Legolas and his elven strength so she resorted to a sneaky method. She tickled him.
Now she wasn't sure if it would work but when he started to squirm Rita knew she had hit the jackpot, or so to speak. She tickled him some more and as he tried to roll away she pinned him to the ground by sitting on his legs as she attacked his sides.
Legolas was by now laughing hysterically and the tears streamed down his face. "Stop" he managed to say between laughs. "I give, I give now stop that or I'll. . . " he had to stop talking again because Rita viscously attacked him once more.
"I'd say you were in no condition to make threats or demands mister, now repeat after me. . . Rita is not cocky."
"Rita is. . . hahaha. . . not cocky."
She giggled a little as an idea got into her head. "Now say. . . I'm secretly in love with Tári Minyatur."
"I'm secretly. . . " Legolas started to say until it registered in his mind what she wanted him to say. "WHAT!"
It was bad luck for Rita when Legolas regained enough strength to throw her off of him and he got up, still laughing though he now also wore a devilish grin.
Taking that as her cue to get the hell out of there she scrambled up and started to run away from Legolas as fast as she could.
Her sprint was quite good but there was no way she could outrun an elf and soon she was lifted from the ground and carried away. She tried to get free from his grip but failed to do so.
When she saw where Legolas was going she doubled her efforts as she squirmed, kicked and yelled. "Legolas Thranduillon, put me down this instant. I mean it you evil elf put me down!!!"
"Are you sure about that Rita" he asked her.
"Yes now put me. . . " she then realized where she was and changed her mind. "No don't. . . "
But it was too late since Legolas had already dropped her and it was that moment that Rita fell into the small lake with a large splash.
She resurfaced and glared at the cackling elf at the shore. Not bothering to ask him to help her up she climbed out of the water and she turned to yell at Legolas when she caught sight of his retreating figure.
"I'll get you back Princie, just you wait. . . my revenge will be sweet." She shouted after him. with a huff she marched towards the castle, the wheels in her head already working at full strength.
She was so lost in her thoughts about revenge that she didn't notice the flabbergasted elves she passed by. They were shocked at what had just happened between the lady Voronwer and their Prince.
As she entered the palace she bumped into someone with such a force that she fell flat on her back. "Oh great" Rita mumbled "My day is just getting better and better."
A chuckle sounded from above her and a hand was stretched out towards her. Taking it Rita was pulled to her feet and found herself staring at Narathan.
"What happened to you Voronwer, did you decide to bathe with your clothes on?" He joked.
"Oh very funny." Rita sneered "Your brother is what happened. The idiotic, evil, insane and silly elf decided it would be funny to dump me in a lake."
"And your plan to get back at him is. . . " Narathan fished.
She frowned. "It's still under construction."
"May I suggest. . . . " the plan he whispered in her was so nasty and funny Rita's eyes lit up.
"Give me like 10 minutes to change into dry clothes and then you and me are going to have a loooooong conversation Prince Narathan." Rita grinned and then she sped down the corridors towards her room.
True to her word Rita returned 10 minutes later and she dragged Narathan to the library, a place where the two would be able to plot without being disturbed.
The prank was complicated and there were several frustrating details to work out and by the time they had fine-tuned their plan dinner was only an hour away.
Narathan excused himself since he had somewhere to be and Rita was left on her own in the library to tidy up the papers they had used while planning.
When she finished that particular task she went to her room and lay down on the bed as tiredness overwhelmed her. She had missed a night and now her sleeping pattern was all weird.
She was so tired that she allowed her eyes to close and sleep overtook her. When he came to check on her, Legolas found her sleeping peacefully so he took off her shoes and put a blanket around her to keep her warm.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The following days Rita was calm and quiet. So calm and quiet in fact, that Legolas was afraid of what was going on in her head. For he knew that Rita would come up with a revenge as devious as she could think of.
And the fact that she and Narathan, his own brother for Elbereth's sake, were often found conversing softly, as if they were planning something, did not help to calm him.
He had played many tricks on his eldest brother in the past and though Narathan often got him back for this, Legolas had always beaten his brother in this aspect.
After five days he had to wait no longer. . .
It started early in the morning when he got dressed. When he pulled his shirt on he found that the sleeves were sown together so he couldn't get his hands through.
He gritted his teeth and grabbed another shirt annoyed with this childish trick. He looked for Rita at breakfast but couldn't find her.
Deciding to leave to practice archery he returned to his room to gather his bow and arrows, checking them both for some kind of sabotage.
Rita may not have thought of that as a prank but Narathan was another thing. Legolas had after all put fake arrows in his quiver when Narathan was trying to impress this girl.
Of course the girl was less then impressed when Narathan's arrows never even got near the target. It took 3 weeks of hiding before Legolas had dared to face him again.
But thankfully there was no sign of a prank near his weapons so a little relieved Legolas made his way to the archery field. He had no idea what was in store for him.
Rita was hiding in the bushes and could make out Narathan's form in some bushes on the other side. The reason they were lying on the ground was unknown to some surprised elves around them but Narathan swore them to secrecy and they knew better than to disobey the heir to the crown.
From the corner of her eye Rita could see Legolas approach and she stayed as still as she could, not wanting to catch his attention. If he were to notice her, the prank would be over before it could begin.
Narathan had noticed his brother as well and when he saw he took his usual spot for practice he grinned widely while he signaled for Rita to get ready. He could see that she nodded and prepared himself as well. The two waited until Legolas strung his bow and took aim.
The first arrow imbedded itself in the center of the target (as always) and Legolas grinned appreciatively, no matter how many times he did it, it always felt good to see that the arrow had done what he wanted to.
He strung a second arrow and fired. . . but this time it hit the outer ring!!! He blinked a few times and fired a third arrow. This time it hit the outer ring as well, this time on the left side.
Frowning he fired two more arrows and saw to his surprise that he once again hit the outer ring (on the right this time) and once he even missed the target.
He strung his bow again confused about what was wrong with him that morning and was about to release his arrow when he noticed the target moving.
Shaking his head a second later he thought he had imagined it, how would a target be able to move after all? But when he got ready to fore once more he saw it move again and this time his elven hearing picked up a suppressed giggle.
Realization hit him and he stormed towards the target and then his suspicion was confirmed. There was a rope tied to the target in such a way that one piece led to the bushes on his left and the other end to the bushes on his right.
Then he heard laughing again and with all his strength he pulled on the end of rope he held in his hands. From the bushes Narathan was now catapulted a few feet across the field while he chuckled all the while.
Legolas glared at his brother, but Narathan seemed immune to this as he laughed even louder. "You should have seen your face little brother. The confusion on it. . . priceless, absolutely priceless.'
Then Legolas jumped up and ran to the bushes on the other side realizing something else (imagine seeing a light bulb appearing over his head). But when he reached them he only found the other end of the rope.
Rita had been smart enough to flee while she could while she figured out that Narathan could hold his own against his brother's anger.
She now ran sniggering through the forest as she neared the castle. At the entrance she bumped into Gimli and she grabbed his shoulder.
"If you see Legolas and he asks you where I am, I was not here. You get that Gimli? You haven't seen me the entire day."
Then she disappeared again leaving a confused friend behind but that was solved when he met Legolas not a minute later.
Noticing his state of anger he stopped the elf. "Now, now lad. You have the face like a thundercloud, whatever happened?"
"Rita and Narathan joined forces and interrupted my training. Every time I fired an arrow they moved the target. And I fell for the stupid prank!" He ended with self-disgust.
Gimli chuckled loudly. "Perhaps you shouldn't have dropped her in the lake. The lass can have quite a temper and she has managed to prank you a few times already. Now come with me and help this dwarf find some adventure in this forest, it has been too long since I have been able to use my ax."
A calmer Legolas now shrugged and followed his friend, not knowing he was being observed from the entrance. Rita grinned as she watched Gimli manipulate his friend into coming with him.
Then she looked at her hands and sighed, there were several rope-burn marks on them and they stung as well. So she set out towards the healing room and was surprised to find one of the twins there.
After a quick inspection she recognized Elrohir and she knocked on the door to get his attention. "Hey Elrohir, do you have a minute for me."
"Of course Rita, are you injured or is this a social visit." He asked.
She held up her hands. "A little bit of both actually. I have neglected to say hello to you and I do feel a little guilty about it, but my hands are the motivation for coming here."
"Come here." Elrohir patted the cot and Rita sat down and held out her hands for inspection. He grabbed some sort of cream from one of the shelves and started to apply it.
There was a silence between them and eventually it was Rita who broke it. "I heard congratulations are in order, who would have though a year ago you would get married?"
"I would have deemed whoever brought me this news insane and would ignore it completely." Elrohir grinned but he quickly sobered. "I expected Elladan to marry first though."
Now Rita was serious as well and listened to Elrohir as he started to speak once more. "He loves you Rita, it's as simple as that. When you ran from him he was lost and he didn't know what to do to convince you to return."
"I had to leave Elrohir, I was afraid. Lord Elrond said things. . . things that make no sense now but words I took very serious at the time. I didn't mean to hurt Elladan."
Elrohir sighed. "I know Rita, yet you did. Now I'm aware that my brother is far from perfect and did some hurtful things as well but it pains me to see him like this. The light you brought to his eyes has dulled and he is no longer the Elladan I know."
"But," he continued "I have seen a change in this a few days ago. The light has returned, not as bright as before, but it's there. I know not what happened between you and him but I wish to thank you for it."
Rita swallowed to get rid of a nasty lump in her throat. "Nothing happened Elrohir, we just cleared up all this mess between us. We talked it all out and we came. . . no I came to the conclusion that before we can return to what we had, we should be friends again."
"It's a start." Elrohir said as he finished tying the bandage around her hands.
Gathering her courage Rita asked him something. "Elladan told me that he has had words with Lord Elrond, but surely he was exaggerating when he told me he no longer was his son."
A pained look crossed over his face and Rita felt bad for asking. Finally Elrohir spoke. "I wish he was Rita, for it is worse then you can imagine."
"How do you mean?"
"When Elladan found out what Ada had said to you he became livid and harsh words were spoken. Ada tried to defend himself by saying he only had Elladan's best interest at heart as a father should. On this Elladan yelled that he was no longer his son and stormed out."
"But Elladan loves your father, I know this, they'll make up eventually won't they?" Rita asked hopefully.
Elrohir shook his head. "I'm afraid that it will take quite some time before things can go back to the way they were before their arguments. The only Elladan stays in Imladris is because I am there as well and he does not wish to part with me."
Biting her lip Rita looked as Elrohir tiredly rubbed his forehead. "They do not speak, well Ada sometimes tries to speak with Elladan but he quickly gives up. The gap between them will not be mended before Ada will sail to Valinor I'm afraid."
"Sail to. . . when is that happening?"
"In a few months. Many elves will depart for grandmother will finally cross the sea as well. Many of the Galadhrim will follow her and even more will come a few years after she has left, for the power of the rings is gone and Lothlorien is fading."
Rita was shocked, even though she knew the elves would leave Middle Earth, she didn't expected it to happen so soon.
"It's the reason you're here isn't it?" she asked Elrohir "To discuss this with Thranduil."
"Aye, Ada sent me and Elladan, well Elladan came with me, to ask the king what his plans were. He will announce of the leave taking in a few days and then those who want to come are free to do as they please. Though I doubt there will be many at first."
"Why?"
Elrohir smiled at her eagerness to understand. "The elves of Mirk. . . I should say Greenwood now, are Silvan elves. They are attached to the woods and I doubt they will want to leave just yet. But once they hear the sea- calling, then it is strong and powerful."
"Does it hurt to resist the calling?" Rita asked with a slight amount of fear in her voice.
"It depends on the elf. Though it can be painful to resist it all relies on the strength of the elf in question. Why do you ask?"
"Legolas heard it, the call. But now we made this pact to stay until Aragorn dies, but I didn't know it would hurt him." Rita spoke softly. "I may play tricks on him but I care about him a lot and I'd hate to see him in pain."
Elrohir wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed it a little. "Legolas is strong, if there's one elf who will be able to resist the call it will be him. And if he has troubles he will have your friendship to help him won't he?"
"Of course I'll help him, what else do you expect?" Rita said and then something clicked in her head. "You said Lady Galadriel will leave, but what of Lord Celeborn?"
"He will remain here for a while longer, though it is feared he will never leave these shores at all. Grandfather is from the old days and he has been born here unlike grandmother who comes from Valinor itself."
"Oh." Rita couldn't say a lot more. This conversation was so very serious and her giddiness about the prank had disappeared almost entirely.
She stood up and straightened her clothes before she gave Elrohir a hug. "Thanks for the explaining and the bandages and all. Are you at dinner tonight?"
"Yes, why?"
A glint came in her eyes and she smiled. "Lets just say that it'll be a show to remember. Legolas won't know what hit him." With a wink she left Elrohir behind.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Legolas was in a bad mood. Hunting with Gimli had calmed him down and afterwards the two each went their own way. But his newfound serenity was disturbed when he opened a door only to be covered in goo.
This had 'Rita' written all over it and Legolas decided not to react, it would only make Rita gloat if he became angry with her. No he would bathe and wash his hair and pretend nothing had happened.
He asked a maid, who was close to giggling, to prepare a bath for him. Before she left he called her back and with his most charming smile he addressed her.
"Would you please keep quiet about this, I'd be most embarrassed if this, " he motioned to his hair. "came out." The blushing maid agreed of course and hurried to fulfill his request.
It took an entire bottle of hair-soap to get all the goo out and Legolas realized he had to hurry if he wanted to be at dinner in time.
He quickly grabbed a towel and dried himself off and he put a nice outfit on before he started to brush his hair. When he looked in the mirror he was shocked at his image.
"RITA!!!!!"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Meanwhile Rita was already in the dining hall and the queen was surprised to see her wear pants and a shirt. They were very nice and feminine, but still she usually wore a dress at dinner. When she asked Rita about this she got the strangest answer.
"I'd rather be mobile today."
There was just the buzz of conversation as it always was in the dining hall when an enraged bellow came from one of corridors.
"RITA!!!!!"
She immediately glanced at Narathan who was already chuckling and got up. Legolas sounded pissed off and she wanted to run while she could. Only one problem, which way would he come from, then she'd be able to run in the opposite direction.
Then the backdoor Rita had used to slip out only days before slammed open and Rita yelped before she went to stand on the other side of the table to keep a barrier between her and Legolas.
Around her laughter exploded at his appearance but she kept her gaze onto his face. Legolas walked towards her with long strides and then he smiled sweetly. This scared her more then a scowl could.
"Rita, would you care to explain the exact reason my hair is now blue?" he asked.
She bit the inside of her lip to keep herself from laughing and tried to look thoughtful. "Why Legolas, how on earth did you manage to do that. Blue does suit you though, it matches your eyes."
"Wrong answer, I'll ask again. What did you do to my hair?" he took a few steps in her direction as he said this.
Backing up a few steps Rita's lips began to tremble a little from the suppressed laughter but she was able to keep it down.
"Well I did nothing to your hair, you did that yourself. All I did was put blueberry juice in your hair-soap, well, replaced nearly all of the hair soap with the hair-soap actually. It's not my fault you failed to see this."
Seeing the flickering in his eyes she suddenly pointed at Narathan and yelled. "It was his idea!" Then she ran away. . . fast.
Legolas now turned to his brother who was getting a little nervous. "I'll get you for this." Was all Legolas said before he rushed after Rita.
After he left Narathan couldn't keep it in any more and started to laugh so loud that he totally missed his chair as he tried to sit down. Instead he landed on the ground where he didn't even take the trouble of trying to get up.
He wasn't the only one in such a state however, Gimli was nearly peeing in his pants from mirth and even Thranduil was chuckling.
"To think you are all grown." Araniel said, but even she could not hide the smile that had crept on her face.
The rest of the meal was cheery and full with laughter, something that had been missing in a long while because of the dark days.
"Poor Voronwer." Narathan said. "I daresay that she's unable to outrun him for long."
~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rita was indeed not able to outrun Legolas for a long time. She had been running for five minutes or so and was about to whistle for Asfaloth when she was tackled from behind.
She laughed loudly when Legolas picked her up and started to walk even further away from the palace, while muttering under his breath about revenge.
Finally her laughter subsided and she tried to look up at Legolas, which was a hard task as she was hanging upside down.
"Legolas, are you really mad with me? Could you please put me down? I'm not sorry about the prank and even you'll have to admit it was a good one."
She felt him take a deep breath and then he sighed as he put her down. She looked at his face and was relieved to see him smile a little.
"Forgive me?" she asked with a pout.
He shook his head and then hugged her. "Remind me to never, ever, prank you again while you are near my brother. The two of you planning pranks together is a man's worst nightmare."
"You have to admit they were good though."
Legolas grinned. "Yes, they were good pranks, a little too. . . " his voice drifted off as he started to listen intently for something.
Feeling a wave of seriousness take over Rita looked as he did this. The only time she had seen Legolas so alert was when he heard danger approach and he had never been wrong once.
He moved his head towards the trees and Rita walked as quietly as she could towards them. When he was next to her she softly whispered to him.
"What's wrong, what did you hear?"
"Orcs, a small group, ten at most."
Rita looked at him incredulous. "What happened to the 'our woods are cleansed from evil' thing we were told so many times?"
"Apparently my kin has been as wrong about the orcs as they have been about the spiders." Legolas said with a serious face and then he swore softly.
'What?"
"Father has given the patrol a free day and we have no weapons with us." He explained.
Rita grimaced. "Crap! Well that sucks, what are we going to do? We can't just leave them running around like this."
"I know, I am concerned about how they were able to get so close to the palace." He was silent for a few seconds and then he explained the plan he had come up with to Rita.
"The orcs are too close for us to get reinforcements so that's out. But the armory is not far from here, a minute if I'm quick. I know I left my old bow there and there will be enough arrows for me to fire. I'll grab some weapons for you as well."
She nodded. "You want me to stay put?" she asked.
"Climb this tree, so you won't be spotted." When he saw she was going to protest he held up his hand. "I know you can fight but even I would not be able to face orcs unarmed."
He lifted her so she could grab a branch and instructed her to climb to the second limb. "When you see me return you can come down again, stay still."
"Legolas" Rita whispered loudly and she winced at the volume. "Be careful." But he was gone already.
Now Rita couldn't hear the orcs approach yet but she trusted Legolas on his judgement, it had saved her life more then once the past months.
Though it was evening the sun had not completely gone down yet, something Rita was grateful for since she would be of no use in the dark. Then she realized something else, orcs hated sunlight. Why would day come out while the sun was still out.
It seemed as if time slowed down as she sat on the branch and Rita stared in the direction from where the growls even se now heard were coming from. She didn't notice Legolas return until he sat next to her on the branch. She nearly toppled out of the tree from the scare but Legolas was able to steady her.
"Here, I have a sword for you and also a bow. We'll try to shoot them from here before we go for hand-to-hand combat. We have the advantage of surprise." He quickly whispered.
Rita accepted the sword. It was longer then her own but it would fit its use. She put it against the trunk, where it would be easy to access before she took the bow from Legolas.
"I won't be of a lot of use with archery, I'm not as good as you."
"Nonsense, just take your time with aiming. We only have 15 arrows though, I had no time for a thorough search."
By the time they had gotten everything arranged the orcs had come closer and the setting sun gave the land a golden/reddish glow.
Legolas strung his bow and Rita followed his example, playing every instruction she had through her mind. As soon as Legolas fired the first arrow the orcs started to make their annoying screechy cries.
Like she was told Rita took her time with her aim she pulled back the bowstring and aimed for a particularly big and ugly orc and released the arrow.
To her satisfaction it actually hit the orc and it fell down. She grabbed a second arrow and then saw that Legolas had taken four down while she just shot one. She shot the second quickly and saw another big orc go down.
Then an arrow sailed right passed her head and out of instinct she leaped backwards. . . and fell out of the tree.
She got up as fast as she could and yelled to Legolas. "Throw down my sword!" A second later she held the sword. Just in time too, because she was just able to block a vicious strike from an orc.
Rita did a quick head-count and realized there were more then ten, she believed the numbers to be double but had no time to worry.
As she killed one orc with a stroke to the heart she had to duck a blow aimed towards her belly, she missed her dagger.
It was easy to notice when Legolas ran out of arrows, since the orcs focussed more on her. Legolas jumped out of the tree like an agile cat and stood back to back with Rita but he only had a small dagger for his defense and Rita had to work twice as hard to keep the both of them safe.
The two had in their time of the Fellowship become quite accustomed to the other's fighting style and Rita had no illusions as to whether she would have survived had she been in the company of anyone else beside Legolas.
So when the flood of orcs suddenly stopped the two circled back and forth, still back to back. Rita was panting a little, battle had never been so intense.
She had become used to being in greater company and suddenly she had to face the fact that two people fighting together, no matter how skilled they are, is far more dangerous then a group.
"Well," she finally said "ten huh? Unless I have lost the ability to count, this is not ten. These are 22, no 23 orcs."
Legolas looked a little sheepish. "I guess those ten brought some friends."
"Sure they did. What do we do with them anyway? I'm used to the kill and run but something tells me that's not an option."
Legolas slung the bow over his shoulder and wiped the dagger clean on his pants. "We'll go to report this to my father and then we'll come back to arrange this."
"Sounds like a plan." Rita said and the two started to jog back to the palace. This took around 10 minutes and when they reached the entrance the sun had completely gone under.
They walked through the corridors when they bumped into the twins, whose eyes widened at the state of the two. "What in the name of Eru happened to the two of you." exclaimed Elrohir.
"Orc-attack." Legolas said curtly. "I need to see father." He started to walk again and Rita and the twins followed behind him.
Dinner had finished and the only ones who were still there were the people at the high table. With every step he took Legolas was getting angrier, Rita could tell by the way he clenched and unclenched his fists. He threw the door open and stormed to where his father was sitting and Rita was a few feet behind him.
"Maybe you would like to tell me, father, why there were no guards to protect our borders. Or better yet, guards to protect the palace."
"It hasn't been necessary since the woods are now cleansed. . . "
Legolas banged his fist on the table. "Take one look at me and then tell me the woods are cleansed from all things evil. You should know better father."
The king took on his youngest son's appearance and noticed the messy (and still blue) hair, the black blood stains on his clothes and a few slight scrapes on his arms.
Then Rita walked towards Legolas and put her hand on his shoulder and this seemed to calm him a little and he began to speak again.
"23 orcs were able to breach the borders in such a way that they were a mere ten minutes from this palace's entrance. If Rita and I had not stumbled across them by chance, they would have reached this castle and caused mayhem."
Thranduil seemed astonished. "23, are you sure about this number. Surely you can't be serious, how could there be so many orcs still remaining in the woods after we cleansed them?"
Now it was Rita's turn to bang her fist on the table. "No you're completely right, we made this all up. It's just a silly prank. We were nearly shish kebab but hey, the woods are cleansed so those orcs we killed must have been ghosts."
"It was fortunate we were so close to the armory when we detected them." Legolas picked up where Rita had left off. "Or we wouldn't have faired very well."
Then Gimli jumped up and shook his fist at the two. "You two are the worst friends a dwarf could ask for, having an adventure all on your own while you know I miss chopping off orc-necks. You didn't even save me one did you?"
This eased the tension that had begun to build in the room and Legolas grinned. "I humbly apologize master Gimli, next time we walk into a almost ambush, I'll be sure to gather you first from your meal."
"Where did you find them Legolas?" asked Narathan who had slipped out to gather some soldiers. "Lead us to them."
Legolas nodded and went off, Rita close behind him. In the end the small patrol of 6, Narathan, Gimli and the twins followed them.
A few feet before they exited Rita grabbed a torch from the wall, when one of the elves gave her a strange look she raised her eyebrows.
"What? I'm no elf, all I see out there is black. I'll put it back later."
After his outburst the elves made sure they steered clear from Legolas and Gimli was softly discussing something with the twins.
While they made their way to where they had left the corpses Rita walked next to Legolas and nudged his shoulder with her own.
"You ok again Legolas, quite a display of temper, it appears to run in the family." She spoke softly, in order not to attract too much attention.
He sighed. "I'm merely angry with the laxness I have seen displayed the last few months. Guards who leave their posts unmanned, healers who are more and more away from their station and my father's sudden idea that there is no longer evil in this world, it annoys me."
"You know what you need?" she asked. Legolas looked at her questioningly.
She smiled. "You need a change of scenery, you've been annoying yourself more and more these past few weeks. We talked about that in Gondor remember, the feeling of being trapped. We need to get away from here, even though it is a lovely place to stay."
"I think you're right, we'll need to make some plans with Gimli." Legolas said before they reached the place where the battle took place.
One of the group whistled when they saw the corpses littering the ground. "This must have been quite the battle, these are quite a number."
As Legolas explained what had happened Rita felt something was off and wandered a bit from the group. Then she noticed what was wrong and swore.
"22" she said in a tight voice "There are only 22 corpses, we're missing one."
"Perhaps you counted wrong." Mellas, who was one of the patrol, suggested.
Now Legolas was alarmed as well. "Impossible, we both counted twice."
Suddenly Elladan cried "Rita get down!" before he tackled her to the ground. An arrow sailed just over his head as he fell on top of her body and the orc was quickly found in some bushes and then killed.
"You hurt?" Elladan asked Rita as he sat up.
She grabbed his out-stretched hand and pulled herself up as well. "I won't be able to breathe for the next week cause you landed on top of my lungs, but yeah I'm fine. Thanks for the save, that could've ended nasty."
"What else are friends for?" he asked quietly and Rita smiled.
Then she turned to Legolas and Narathan who were discussing how to get rid of the bodies. "So have you figured out what you want to do yet. And if it's a choice between burning and burying, I'm all for burning. I am in no mood to dig a hole."
"Yet the smell will linger if we burn the bodies and we are quite close to the palace." Narathan interjected.
Rita raised her eyebrow. "Really? I hadn't noticed that. Hmm, learn something new every day."
"Lady Voronwer is right though." One of the elves whose name Rita didn't know said. "Burying them will take time and it is rather late."
In the end they decided to burn the bodies and the small company began to work in silence. They dragged all the bodies onto a pile and set fire to them with the torch Rita had brought.
It was nearly morning when they set back again and Rita was beat. She had cleaned the sword she had used that night since the men had unanimously decided that she should not have to stack corpses.
For once Rita hadn't complained about being treated differently from the men. She wasn't very keen on dragging dead bodies from one place to the other. She had done that once, during the final battle, and she was still a little freaked out about it. And those were the bodies of the good guys!
Araniel has stayed up and once she noted the group's return she ordered a few maids who had the morning shift to prepare the baths.
Each of the group trudged to their own room and just before Legolas went into his Rita called after him. "Just wash your hair with the yellow liquid that's on your desk, the blue will come out like that." Legolas chuckled and thanked her before he disappeared into his room.
When Rita reached her room there were two maids waiting to take care of her but Rita sent them away, after thanking them for the bath.
She stripped once they had left the room and first she scrubbed the blood and dirt from her hands in a separate basin before she stepped into the hot bath prepared for her.
Her muscles instantly relaxed after such a taxing day and she rinsed her hair with the water before putting some liquid Elmère had given her before she had departed from Lothlorien.
After drying herself off when she had finished Rita put on a silky nightgown and fell into her bed, drifting off at once.
~*~*~*~*~*~*
The following week was a busy one. King Thranduil had announced the message from Lord Elrond and he had also reinstated guard duty.
Elves were constantly discussing what they wanted to do and how the years of the elves were slowly dwindling down. Then Legolas made an announcement which surprised all, even Rita.
"I have heard many of you discussing the option of leaving for Valinor and I know that the opinions on going or staying are now divided so I wish to give you a third option. Fair woods, woods that have been untouched by shadow, yet have not been tended to, surround Ithilien. I promised King Elessar that I would return with some of my kin to dwell there and found a small city, in order to tend these trees as only elves can."
He took a pause to let his comment sink in before he continued. "Those who feel restless yet are unwilling to leave these shores yet may, if they are willing, join me to fulfill this particular task. I do not want you to decide now, for I will first accompany my friend Gimli to his home as I vowed. But when I return I will set out to Ithilien with those willing."
Then he left and was nowhere to be found. After searching for an hour Rita climbed a tree and jumped her way to Legolas's special place. And sure enough, he was laying in his hammock with a thoughtful expression on his face.
"You created quite the chaos just now. I don't think your father saw this coming, heck, I didn't see it coming. When did you come up with the idea?"
He moved over in the hammock and patted the now empty spot and Rita got the idea and climbed in, though she nearly tipped them over.
When she was all comfortable Legolas started to explain about he and Aragorn had discussed the option of Legolas founding his own city and about the plan seeming better and better to him.
"I notice things about the palace and think 'I would do that differently, I would change that'. I will never be able to change it here, I doubt my father will leave for quite some time, so why should I not start anew?"
Rita smiled at him. "Why not? You do realize I will help you wherever I can right?"
"I actually hoped you would." He said.
"Maybe there will be some of the Galadhrim or elves from Rivendell who want to come as well. Mirkwood isn't the only place with a dwindling population."
Legolas turned towards Rita. "I never even thought of that but you are right. It would be a logical option. What do you think about. . . " The two spent the rest of the day speculating and dreaming about the future.
The following day the three travelers were all ready for the trip to the Lonely Mountain. They had already said their good-byes and were eager for experiencing new things.
Elladan and Elrohir left at the same time as Legolas, Rita and Gimli did and the five of them walked to the stables together.
Once they had grabbed the horses they went outside. Elladan wanted to pull Rita in a wild embrace and hold her until she would be flattened against his body, but refrained himself to putting his hand on her cheek and muttering a blessing of good luck over her.
To his surprise she copied his movement and after giving Elrohir a brief hug she jumped on top of Asfaloth and rode off, Legolas following her closely on Arod.
Elladan watched until he could no longer see them and Elrohir put an arm around his shoulder. "You will see her again brother." He comforted.
"I know Ro, I feel it in my heart. One day we will be together again, one day."
Then the twins were on their way as well, on their way back to Rivendell.
A/N: Phew, long chapter like I promised. I spent almost my entire Sunday on it so I hope you all like it. It is a rather complicated chapter with the drama and romance and pranks. . . let me know what you think and please review!!!!!!