When Aragorn woke, dawn had long since risen. Slightly confused, he sat up, looking around for Legolas. He spotted his friend sitting against a tree, but the elf's slumped, unmoving posture alarmed him and he jumped to his feet. "Legolas!" he exclaimed, rushing over.

Legolas' eyes were closed as he slept against the tree, a blanket wrapped around his cold form.

Aragorn grabbed his friend by the arms, and Legolas' eyes fluttered, but did not open.

Nervously placing his fingers against the pulse in the elf's neck, Aragorn found it beating steadily. Feeling his friend's forehead next, he found it cold rather than warm, and realized that the elf had simply fallen asleep. But on his watch? Legolas fell asleep on his watch!

Sliding his arms under his friend, Aragorn carried him to his bedroll, gently laying him down and covering him with more blankets. Sitting back, he studied the elf, shocked at the events. I knew that I should have let him sleep! He is not even healthy enough to keep watch!

Legolas slept for another two hours, waking to find Aragorn's worried face above him.

"Are you all right?" the human asked.

Legolas blinked, unsure as to the reason for the question. "Aye," he said, pulling a hand out from the blankets to rub an eye. He suddenly remembered that he'd been sitting against the tree, and he frowned. "What happened?"

"That was my next question," Aragorn said. "I found you asleep on your watch!" It wasn't said accusingly, but worriedly.

Legolas sat up, pushing hair out of his face. "Forgive me!" he exclaimed, realizing that the human didn't know of the true events. "We weren't defenseless, mellon-nin," he said. "The trees protected us."

Aragorn's eyebrows rose. "The trees?"

Legolas nodded. "Aye. The one that I rested against sympathized with my plight, and told me that it would keep watch over us."

Aragorn was relieved at those words, and nodded.

Legolas studied him, unsure of the human's thoughts. "Estel, I would never forsake my watch, you know that…"

"Of course not, Legolas!" said Aragorn. "That is why I was so worried to find you sleeping. Worry not; you put your trust in the tree, and you have my trust in you."

Legolas smiled, relieved.

The day was just as cold as the previous one, and they packed up the campsite and continued on their journey.

Legolas felt physically better today, and his lungs didn't cause him any problems. The occasional coughing continued, but that was to be expected, as he was still recovering from a serious illness.

The day turned colder than they anticipated as night approached. It felt like mid-winter rather than late autumn. As they journeyed further and further, they found that the sky looked darker and darker.

Legolas was positively freezing. They'd both donned more of their clothes in layers, and Aragorn was wearing Legolas' cloak, leaving his own on the elf, as the made-for-a-human cloak was warmer then the elven one.

Legolas suddenly started coughing, and Aragorn turned to look at him. He watched as Legolas retrieved his waterskin of cherry-bark tea, drinking it almost greedily, coughing in between swallows.

The fit lasted longer than the previous ones, and the human stopped his horse, assuming that the elf had had enough for the day.

"What are you doing?" Legolas asked, his voice sounding scratchy until he cleared his throat. "We are almost at the end of the mountains."

"We're stopping," said Aragorn. "It's too cold; we need a fire. It won't do for you to suffer a setback in your recovery."

Legolas frowned, but said nothing. Truth be told, he felt frozen and tired, and made no further complaint as he dismounted from his mare.

Aragorn quickly started a fire, inwardly sighing with relief at the welcome heat. He looked up as Legolas sat beside him, still coughing a little.

The elf stretched out his hands to the fire, relishing in the sensation. "Is it I," he said. "Or is this weather abnormally cold for this time of year?"

"It is," Aragorn replied. "I'm rather shocked at just how cold it is. Hopefully, it will not last."

Legolas nodded.

The night proved uneventful, until shortly before dawn. Legolas was on watch, and he began to feel as if something wasn't right. He took his left arm out of the sling, and carefully unslung his bow. He sighed as he peered through the darkness, wishing that he still had his superior elven sight. He could not ascertain what was nearing them, if anything.

Aragorn turned over in his sleep, and Legolas chose that moment to wake him.

"Estel."

The human jumped, bolting to a sitting position. "What is it?" he asked, recognizing his friend's wary tone.

"I am not sure," the elf whispered. "But something nears us."

Aragorn stood, grasping his sword as they looked around themselves for the threat.

"Orcs!" Legolas suddenly said, sounding slightly nervous.

Alarm for the elf filled Aragorn, as he realized that Legolas would have to fight with his bad arm and weakened body. He felt a jolt of fear shoot through him at the thought of Legolas' lungs' reaction to the exertion, but before he was able to say anything, their foes suddenly appeared.

Legolas pulled up his bow and quickly fired two shots, pain marring his fair features as he continued to shoot despite it. When an arrow missed, he unsheathed his knives, holding one in his left hand, though not involving the arm in the fight if he didn't have to.

Aragorn was relieved that his friend had been able to shoot down some of their enemies, but as he slashed at the orcs with his sword, he wondered what it had cost the elf.

Legolas kept his left arm immobile as much as he could, using it only for quick stabs. The pain was excruciating as he fought, and his breath came faster and faster until he was unable to take in deep breaths. His lungs felt like they were being squeezed and he faltered.

Legolas heard an orc creep up behind him and he swung around to prevent the blow, but the creature had already begun his swing, knocking the knives from the elf's hands, sending them flying.

Legolas lost his balance when his shoulder protested the strike, and he gasped when the orc grabbed him and pulled him away.

Another of the foul creatures grabbed him from behind, and Legolas suddenly found himself being pushed down to the ground. He struggled and fought, but his strength was waning, the little breath that he was taking in greatly hindering him.

"Tasty elf!" one of the orcs exclaimed, sending a chill down Legolas' spine as he was forced down to his stomach.

His arms were suddenly extended out in front of him, and he gave a loud cry as his left arm was forced into a position where it was unable to go, due to his shoulder. Pain shot through him and he struggled, trying to pull his arm to his body.

The orc holding his arms down to the ground let go with one hand, whacking the elf on the head to stop his movement.

Legolas' chin smacked into the ground, and he narrowly missed biting his tongue. His breath became more labored as he struggled, and he found that a third orc was holding his legs.

"Tasty elf!" the second orc said again.

Trying to twist his head around to see what the creature was doing, his eyes widened in fear as the orc lowered his head, to bite him.

Legolas wasn't surprised at all when the evil monster chose his injured shoulder.

Aragorn whipped around at the sound of his friend's sudden scream. His heart began to race, as he knew what it took to force such a sound from the elf.

What he saw nearly made his heart stop.

Killing the last two orcs that fought him, Aragorn rushed to his friend, picking up Legolas' dropped knives along the way, throwing them at the two orcs that held his friend down.

The creatures toppled over, and the last orc turned, jumping to his feet and giving Aragorn a bloody smile, lifting his sword to plunge it into the elf's back.

Aragorn knew that he wouldn't reach Legolas in time to prevent the blow, so he used all of his energy in a desperate lunge, throwing himself into the orc and knocking it back.

The orc's sword fell on top of Legolas, and the creature tripped backwards over the elf's legs.

Landing on top of their foe, Aragorn grabbed the orc's sword and stabbed it with its own blade, before turning to assess his friend. "Legolas?!"

The elf had turned onto his right side, carefully grasping his left arm and slowly pulling it towards himself, hugging it to his chest as he gasped for air.

Aragorn scrambled to his feet, quickly lifting his friend and running back towards the fire. Sitting the elf against his pack, Aragorn grabbed the pot of juniper oil and held it before his face.

Legolas gasped and coughed, grimacing from the agony that enveloped his shoulder.

Aragorn scanned his friend's body for wounds, relieved to find none besides the bite mark that he knew was on the back of Legolas' bad shoulder. Glancing to where they'd done battle, he was relieved that the orc party had been small, or the ailing elf would not have escaped with only one injury.

Legolas continued to cough, his gasping abating slightly as he was able to take in more air. He blinked his eyes, looking around the camp.

"Be calm," Aragorn soothed. "The orcs are dead. Just breathe, mellon-nin."

Legolas re-closed his eyes, concentrating on inhaling the oil vapors.

When the elf had regained control over his breathing, Aragorn sat the pot of oil on his lap, moving around behind him to check his shoulder. He was both relieved and horrified at the sight.

The many layers of clothing had prevented the orc from taking a chunk out of Legolas' skin, but there were multiple bites, as if the orc had savagely chewed on the elf. He sighed as he went back around Legolas, opening the coat and gingerly easing the elf's arm out of the sleeve.

Legolas tried not to show the pain in his face as the human worked. "Bad?" he asked.

Aragorn glanced up at him. "Bad enough, but it could've been worse." His hands suddenly stilled as he seemed to realize something.

"What?" Legolas asked.

Aragorn started removing the elf's shirts, inwardly cursing the cold weather. "The orc's rotting teeth…" he said.

Legolas grimaced; realizing that with the health of a mortal, the wound would likely become infected thanks to whatever foul matter was on the orc's teeth.

Aragorn grabbed his bag of healing herbs, placing some in a cup and adding a little water, mashing it into a paste. He used it to clean the wounds, making sure that they were free of any foreign substance before bandaging the shoulder tightly. He dared not stitch them, not wanting to seal in any germs.

Legolas' eyes were tightly closed. He was freezing and the pain in his shoulder was enough to make him literally feel sick. He reopened his eyes when Aragorn knelt in front of him and replaced the tunics and coat.

Aragorn quickly made the elf some painkilling tea, loading it with infection-fighting herbs. He watched as Legolas drank it, hoping that the drugs would take effect quickly. "Lie back," he said, taking the cup.

Legolas shook his head. "Dawn has risen. We must move on."

Aragorn shook his head. "Rest for a while, regain some strength."

Legolas knew that he'd never win the argument, and so he complied, leaning against his pack, wincing when his shoulder made contact with it.

Aragorn turned to close his bag of herbs, but a sudden gasp from Legolas made him look up.

"Estel!" Legolas said, sounding alarmed. "Where are the horses?"

Aragorn jumped to his feet, seeing that dead orcs were the only creatures that surrounded their campsite.

Legolas was right; both horses were missing.

Walking away from the campfire, Aragorn called the horse's names, whistling loudly to draw their attention.

Legolas did the same, ignoring the massive pain in his shoulder as he walked in the other direction, looking down off the mountain.

Aragorn soon headed back, not wanting to leave Legolas alone. He found the campsite empty, and called the elf's name worriedly.

"Here, Aragorn!" he heard.

The human watched as his friend headed towards him, hugging his arm to his chest. He suddenly realized what else was missing. "Where is your sling?"

Legolas looked around, pointing.

Aragorn retrieved it from the ground, pushing the elf to sit down again as he draped it over Legolas' head, resting the arm in it.

Legolas sighed as he again leaned against his pack. "What happened to the horses?" he wondered, worried about his mare.

Aragorn sighed. "I did not see. The orcs must have driven them off." He shook his head. "Mayhap they will have returned by the time that you wake."

Wake? Legolas thought. Ai, what herbs did he give me? Sleep arrived to claim him before he had a chance to ask.

Aragorn covered his friend with all the blankets, looking up at the sky. It was cloudy, and with the temperature being as cold as it was, he knew that anything that fell would be in the form of snow.

Ai! he thought. It is much too early for snow! He sighed as he looked at Legolas. The elf was weak and injured, and now they had no horses…if it truly began to snow, they were in serious trouble.

Snow...what a coincidence...I got like 6 inches of it last night! LOL! We get snow showers in November, but never accumulating snow this early...wow...