100 reviews! I'm in triple digits now! Eleventy-one reviews! Great happiness! Thank you all so much, you have no idea how cool it was to see 100 on the screen! Talk about your christmas presents...
And to thank all of you for the happy reviews, I have good news for you too! Finally, an update! Rejoice and sing in happiness! Or at least dance little ewok jigs of joy! I know it's been a while, and I want to apologize, especially as the next part will likely not be up anytime soon. Sorry, everyone! I promise, I really am doing my best! I appreciate all of you sticking with the story, and hopefully I won't kill anyone with cliff-hanger-inspired-withdrawal. I don't have any cliff-hangers in the rest. Really I don't! …you don't believe me? I'm hurt… Anyway, here's chapter lucky thirteen! Heh heh heh…
Chapter Thirteen: Partings
There was a deep grinding sound, as if the very bones of the earth were shifting. It was broken by a muffled cry in a much lighter, softer tone. Suddenly the scraping ceased, and there was a sound of a flurry of movement as elf and dwarf threw themselves down next to the small human prince.
"Ai, Eldarion! What is the hurt?"
"Lad! Are you all right?"
Their voices, trembling with fear, fell over each other as they echoed in the dark cave.
"Yes," the boy said after a moment. "But now it's pinching me. It's really heavy," he added with slightly strained tone. The atmosphere in the cave abruptly tensed, and there was a fearful silence for a long moment.
"We need light," Gimli at last said gruffly.
Legolas nodded, although the motion could not be seen. "The torches should still be in the main chamber. Think you that the higher level is still reachable?"
"Ay," the dwarf replied. "I piled the rubble in a staircase while I was digging for you two."
"And have you still your flint and tinder?"
"Of course I do!" Gimli responded, offended.
"I suggest you bring a few of the torches. Four, perhaps."
"Well of course I'm not going to just bring one. I, at least, have more sense than an El—wait." Gimli's mocking tone abruptly fell to that of suspicion. "And why, exactly, would you need to tell me this now, and instruct me in it? Will you not be there to carry your share?"
"Nay," Legolas said quietly, dimly glowing eyes locking sharply on Gimli invisible in the darkness in front of him. "Obviously, as any creature save a dwarf would see instantly," he continued in a forcefully light tone, "we need the torches to extricate Eldarion. As such, I shall be staying with him until you return."
"In the—alone? But—you—" Gimli stuttered.
"Nay," Legolas said sternly, "with Eldarion."
"You don't need to wait with me, Uncle Legolas," the child piped up. "I'm not scared."
"I know you are not," the Elf said softly. "But I have no desire to go traipsing through these tunnels needlessly. Even our Master Dwarf can manage to find his way back to the point of collapse and return with light, I am sure. It is, after all, not a difficult task, and should not be, shall we say, above his reach."
Eldarion tried unsuccessfully to stifle a giggle, but Gimli could not manage to summon a suitable glare or growl to turn on his friend. "Will you be all right?" he asked quietly.
"Of course!"Legolas replied brightly. "Eldarion has already said that he is not afraid, Gimli. Did you not hear him?"
Gimli sat for a long moment, staring at the faint points of light that marked where the elf's eyes were. Then his shoulders slumped in resignation, and he levered himself to his feet. "Very well," the dwarf whispered through a tight throat. He waited, as if for an answer, but the princes were silent. Gimli sighed heavily and turned away. "Eldarion, lad, may I borrow your uncle for a moment? He will return shortly."
"Of course," the boy answered quickly. "I'm not scared."
"Good lad," Gimli said with a smile.
"Gimli, I really don't see—" Legolas began, but the dwarf cut him off.
"Nor do the rest of us, but that is because there is no light. Now come, I just want a word." Gimli groped in the darkness a moment before catching hold of his friend's arm. He dragged the protesting elf to his feet and pulled him away from the child.
"What do you think you are doing?" he hissed as soon as they were out of hearing.
"We cannot leave the boy here alone! Gimli, are you mad?" the elf whispered back sharply.
"Nay, but you could well be! Sitting here alone in the cave—"
"I will not be alone," the elf interrupted. "Eldarion is here. Which, need I remind you, must be remedied soon. We have no idea how injured he is, and we must get him free as soon as possible. To do that, we need light, which you must fetch. You know the way to the surface, and can navigate these tunnels. I cannot. Were I to go, I would soon become hopelessly lost. Therefore, it must be you. And not only would it slow you down to watch over me were I to accompany you, but far worse, the child would be here alone.
"Alone, Gimli." Legolas's voice fell so quiet that the dwarf had to strain to hear it, although they stood so close they were touching. "Can you imagine what it must have been like for the child? Lost, unable to move, alone and trapped—" he choked and fell silent. Getting a hold of himself, the elf continued. "Nay, Gimli, we cannot leave him back to solitude. I shall stay with him, and you shall go."
"Legolas," Gimli said huskily, then stopped. He could think of no words. Reaching up, he squeezed his friend's uninjured shoulder. "You are very brave."
The elf gave a short laugh, somewhat bitter. "Nay, Gimli, I am terrified. But that does not mean that I shall give in to my fear. We must hold on. I know that you will find us again, elvellon. Do not fear, for either me or the boy. But do hurry," he said, changing the subject. "I like not leaving him pinned so long."
"Nor do I," the dwarf agreed. "My heart misgives me, and I can feel only fear for him—and you."
"I shall be fine," Legolas whispered softly. "Go. Please."
Gimli nodded, throat too tight to speak, and gave his friend's shoulder a last, hopefully reassuring grip. Clearing his throat, he spoke loudly enough that Eldarion too could hear his words. "I shall return with speed enough to put the chase of the Three Hunters to shame," he vowed before turning and—with a few forced grumbles and insults traded with the elf as Legolas helped shove him through the small hole—departed, leaving his friends alone in the darkness.
Legolas watched the sightless blackness until Gimli's hurried footsteps had faded from his sharp ears. Then, with a sigh and a slight shiver, he walked back to Eldarion and knelt beside the boy. "How do you fare?" he asked softly, gently smoothing sweaty hair on a chill brow. The boy winced, then relaxed into the soothing touch.
"I'm fine," he said defiantly, proudly. "Are you all right?"
Legolas smiled. So like his father, this little one. Always trying to be strong, always concerned for those around him. "Yes, mellon nin, I am fine," he replied. "And you are very brave."
"Truly, Uncle?" the child asked, voice lighting up almost enough to drive back the darkness.
"Truly, Eldarion."
A small hand found his and held tightly. "Hannon le," the boy whispered happily.
It was almost enough…
Almost.
Reviewer Responses:
Alma – I am so not a tease! ;P Anyway, I've always pictured Gimli as a big, gruff softie (just like Logan and Chewie—must be the hair…lol) and I'm so glad you like my softer dwarf. I can't wait to see your latest spin on him! "Daughter?!!?" Update please! :)
Jebb – applause for the dance! It was brilliant! Babbling fun. But oh gods, why did I mention spandex? whacks herself on the head with a carrot.
Deana – noooooo, Legolas would never underestimate an injury. Never! Seriously! Well, there was that one time…and then when they were…and of course that once…hmm. Okay, well, maybe he has once or twice, but I'm sure he was totally honest with Gimli this time. Trust me!
Aranna – too bad Legolas didn't have a camera with which to capture Gimli's undignified entrance… I like happy/sadness. Blame Thundera Tiger; she started it… Good luck on those results! Valar (and the Force) by with you! And Rambling equals good; friends equal scared. Is fun! ;) And I'm glad you're alive!
Katatonia – what a great idea! Bwahahahaha! I hadn't thought of that before…heh heh heh. evil smirk! But okay, I'll tell you he isn't paralyzed. And I never lie. Nope, not me… And hey, you think Arwen would have to pay you in mithril for taking care of Eldarion? At the least, you better get a big honking present from those two for watching their Elf, Dwarf, and Twin-corrupted evil little half-monkey son. Don't you think? Even if he is the sweetest thing ever…
Quiet Infinity – Welcome back! Missed you! Mwah! And not only are you back, you gave me a review for every chapter you'd missed! HUG! You go ahead and geek out as much as you want; I was practically geeking out at your reviews. I'm so glad you love my Elf and Dwarf! But no, it probably isn't a good idea to have the Elf off on his own. Brave, but not necessarily good, as Gimli would say… And I'll take care of those bloody little typos as soon as I get extra time in which to do so. Probably in January, unfortunately, but thank you for the keen eye! Oh, oh, oh, and guess what? You were reviewer number 100! My first triple-digit review! Major applause for you! And big hugs from Elf, Dwarf, Child, and ME! And Glerfindle, too; although I'll be sure to have a fire extinguisher on hand when that happens. Mini-Balrogs are hot! And I don't mean in a wow-look-at-him kinda way, either. Painful. But YAY FOR YOU! major happy ewok dance!
Banbie – Oh yes; the Valar should be running in terror right about now. I mean, you saw what almost happened to Éomer in Return of the King with the whole "then I must go for my axe" situation. Good thing the horse-lord talked his way out of that one. We'll see if the Valar are as smooth-tongued… And you get to be Reviewer Number 105! Yays for you too! :D (if my computer is displaying them right, and I know how to count properly. Always debatable. There's a reason I avoided as many math classes in high school as I could, and it wasn't because I disliked the teachers…) Anyway, hugs for Banbie and congrats on getting fics up and published!
oAsho – yes; but take heart! 'Tis not yet! And when at last those fateful words "the end" are typed by me, 'twill not in truth be an ending, for—well, frankly, I have this giant collection of Nuzgûl hopping around here and nibbling on my ankles and…well…let's just say that Glerfindle is getting good at playing "sheep dog" Balrog style for the little plot-bunnies… ;)
SirNotAppearing (SNAITF) – yeah, I'm a moron. I'm gonna blame my lack of acronym-awareness upon the hour at which I was writing my review responses last time. Okay? Cool. Anyway, good luck with that. Remember, killing brothers is bad. It unleashes the "kindly ones" upon you, and that name really isn't fitting—but I don't want to piss them off by typing their other one! ;) Actually, have to admit that I never saw any of the Alien movies. I hear they're good, and I mean to get around to that but—well, when I was little I went to Disney World and I was on that Chinese Theater ride—the one where you go "inside" all these movies, with the tour guide and the hijacking and all that—and, to make a semi-long story short, the part where the Alien jumps down at you from the ceiling terrified me so badly I never ended up seeing the movie. Lame, huh? I'm working on correcting that, I really am. So, second one's good? Cool. I'll let you know! Namarië!
ElvenRanger13 – hannon le! And doing my best, promise! You're welcome!
Alatariel – heh. You thinking it's a pity neither of them are skilled healers? Can't promise anything; I've run out of work-ahead-of-time and am now making it up as I go! Yep, that's right, I caught up to what I had pre-written, so now it's all up for grabs! Be careful what you ask for, mates—you may end up getting it! It can be a bad thing to put ideas into my tiny evil little mind. Bwahahahaha…
Kawaii Elf Girl – terribly sorry to hear that! But cliffhangers? Nah…not from me… ;)
permetaform – So glad you found it and like it! Hope you enjoyed this latest addition, short although it was!
Oh, and I promise, I haven't stopped reading! I just haven't had much time, being home and thus busy (I have a quasi-social life at home, opposed to college), but I do make it a point to check out what you write, and I do mean to keep reading all the stories that I've reviewed the first couple parts of. Look for a return in January, if all goes well and my new professors don't turn out to be totally evil and demented! :) Cheers!