Hi everyone! My gosh, the problems that ff has had for over a week! Here's chapter 27, finally! I hope that the website remains stable now, lol! Thanks for all your awesome reviews...over 1,000! (gasp!) Thanks so very much; I treasure each and every one! :)
Aragorn woke to the loud rustling of leaves. Opening his eyes, he found that he was still lying in the same position, clutching Legolas in a death grip. Blinking, he heard the rustling sound again, and stiffly turned his head to see the great pines doing some sort of odd dance.
Frowning, the human wondered if he was hallucinating before he suddenly noticed that the fire was out.
Shocked, Aragorn sat up, laying Legolas back down and attempting to get the flames going again. It took a few tries but he eventually managed, and suddenly noticed that the trees were motionless once more. Awed, he stared at them, realizing that they'd purposely made all that noise in an attempt to wake him so that he could restart the fire.
Amazed, Aragorn smiled, wishing that the trees acted this way everywhere he went. Looking at Legolas, he knew that they were doing it to help keep the elf alive. "Hannon le," he said to the trees.
A pinecone suddenly landed on his head, and his jaw dropped open.
The offending pine suddenly swayed, as if laughing.
Aragorn couldn't resist chuckling, but he stopped abruptly when he heard a soft groan behind him. "Legolas?!"
The elf was motionless, his eyebrows furrowing as his brain fought for consciousness.
Aragorn took his friend's arm, squeezing it gently. "Legolas! Please wake! Legolas?"
The elf tried to roll onto his back, but his body was too stiff and numb. Aragorn helped him, and the elf finally opened his eyes, blinking up at his friend.
"Legolas?" Aragorn repeated, worriedly.
"Estel?" said Legolas, frowning. "Where are we?"
Aragorn closed his eyes with a relieved sigh. "Ai, Legolas!" he said. "Do not ever frighten me like that again!"
Legolas blinked, taking in their surroundings. "I do not understand…"
"The frozen lake," said Aragorn. "Remember? You slipped, and your arm went through the ice; into enchanted water."
Legolas' eyes opened wide with shock. "How long was I out?"
"Nearly a full day," Aragorn said. "How do you feel? Did it leave you with any lasting effects?"
Legolas was silent for a minute, as he assessed himself. "I do not believe so," he said, trying to sit up.
Aragorn helped him, and the elf immediately began coughing. The human grabbed the pot of juniper oil that he'd left at the edge of the fire, made ready for this moment.
The elf's coughing fit was long and harsh, and it took a while for Legolas to recover from it.
"My father's thicket," he eventually realized, glancing around.
Aragorn nodded, placing the pot of juniper oil in his friend's lap. "It wasn't too far from the lake, thankfully. The trees lead me to it."
Legolas looked up, giving him a puzzled look. "The trees lead you? How?"
Aragorn told him, and the elf was amazed.
"I know of no other situations where a tree aided a human," Legolas said. "That is not to say that they never have—"
"They did it for you," said Aragorn, smiling.
Legolas returned the smile.
"Do you feel able to continue on?" Aragorn asked, knowing that the elf would reply in the affirmative even if it wasn't true.
"Aye," said Legolas, attempting to get to his feet.
"Wait, how is your shoulder?" Aragorn asked, taking his friend's good arm. "I re-tended the wound while you slept, and found no sign of infection."
Legolas was relieved to hear that. "It does not pain me much."
"Good," said Aragorn. "And your arm?"
"It feels fine," said Legolas, frowning. "Should it not?"
Aragorn sighed with relief. "The ice-cold water rendered the skin blue, mellon-nin…I feared some type of damage."
Legolas looked down at his arm, realizing that it felt heavy from within the sleeve. He remembered Aragorn wrapping a blanket around it, and his eyes opened wider when he realized that he wasn't wearing his own coat. "Estel!"
"I could not leave you in this!" Aragorn exclaimed, gesturing to the elf's coat on his own body. "It was wet, and so were you!"
"Did you not fear the enchanted water's effect on yourself?" Legolas asked.
Aragorn shook his head. "The water in the material froze. Besides, even if it melted, I did not think that enough would soak through my many-layered shirts to have much of an affect on me."
Legolas nodded, relieved. "That is likely true." Looking around the campsite, he sighed. "Do we leave now?"
"If you are truly able," said Aragorn.
"I am," the elf said, and a few minutes later, they were once again on their way.
Aragorn kept all of his attention on his friend, alert for any sign of distress from the elf. Having never been affected by enchanted water himself, he wondered if it was truly possible for Legolas to suffer no lingering effects. He'd heard of incidents where victims had suffered memory loss, but Legolas was obviously fine in that area. Aragorn supposed that Legolas had escaped unmarred due to the fact that only one limb had been wet, but he decided to keep an eye on his friend anyway.
They walked for quite a while through the thicket, both of them wondering what they would find when they left it.
A few hours later, they finally reached the end, and were relieved to find that the snow was falling very lightly. Much had piled up though, and there looked to be about a foot of it.
"We should keep a fast pace," said Legolas. "To get as far as possible in case the snow gets heavier."
Aragorn nodded. "If you tire or have difficulty breathing, tell me."
Legolas nodded in reply.
The day passed slowly as they walked, holding onto each other tightly. They took frequent short breaks, hoping to keep their strength up, but the increasing cold continued to sap their stamina. It seemed that the closer they got to the Mirkwood Palace, the lower the temperature fell.
By late afternoon, Legolas could take no more. "Estel," he gasped, breathlessly.
Aragorn looked at his friend, realizing that he'd been half-dragging the elf for who knew how long.
Legolas started coughing, and Aragorn halted, carefully lowering his friend to sit in the snow. Digging out the bottle of juniper oil, he opened it and handed it to the elf, standing to search out firewood.
"No," Legolas said, gratefully inhaling the oil fumes. "W-we n-need not s-stop," he said, his teeth chattering. "I'm f-fine."
Aragorn turned to study his friend, breathing heavily himself after the long walk.
The elf coughed again, turning his face from the biting wind.
Aragorn noticed with dismay that the snow had abruptly become heavier. Frowning, he sighed, placing a frozen hand against his mouth. What to do?! he thought. Legolas was obviously unable to continue, but they couldn't afford to stop now; if the snowstorm grew worse, they would be stranded too far from the palace.
"They will f-find us," Legolas suddenly said.
Aragorn's eyes widened at the elf's words. Of course! They would eventually come across one of Mirkwood's patrols! They would have food, more blankets, and most importantly: horses.
Aragorn crossed to his friend, kneeling beside him in the snow. "H-How…" he swallowed, trying to stop his own teeth from chattering. "How is your s-shoulder?" he asked, having not checked the wound yet that day.
"Numb," Legolas said, smiling slightly. That's one thing the cold is good for.
They sat silently for a few minutes, resting and regaining their breath.
"Our f-fathers w-will lock us a-away," said Legolas, smiling through his shivers. "A-after this."
Aragorn mentally sighed with relief to see that Legolas was breathing easier. "Aye," he agreed.
They stayed put for a few more minutes, before rising and continuing on their way.
That night, Aragorn again constructed a lean-to for them to sleep in, dismayed that they hadn't yet found any of Mirkwood's soldiers.
Legolas was also distressed of that fact, as he realized that the patrols would be closer to the palace now that the snow had come. The night was so cold that the elf was secretly afraid that he would not wake the next day.
Aragorn had the same fear for his friend. He knew that the elf's body temperature—as well as his own—had dropped, and it was only a matter of time before it fell too low. He didn't fear so much for himself, as he was used to cold weather, but he knew that Legolas' body didn't know how to handle it. "Sleep well," he said, cheerfully, hoping to abate some of the elf's anxiety.
"You also," Legolas said. He fell asleep praying that they would both survive the night.
When Aragorn woke the next day, he felt so sluggish that he didn't realize where he was. He just lay there, shivering, his body stiff from cold. It took him a few minutes to realize that his arms encircled something…no, someone.
"Legolas!" he exclaimed, opening his eyes and forcing his frozen body to move.
The elf lay motionless, not awakened by his friend's voice.
"No!" Aragornexclaimed. "No!" He pulled his arms away from his friend, sticking his hand inside the elf's coat and searching his neck for a pulse. His hands were so frozen that he couldn't feel a beat, and he pulled the useless glove off his hand to try again. He still felt nothing, and his body shook from more than just the cold as he rolled his friend onto his back and placed an ear on Legolas' chest. It took an agonizing few seconds, but he finally heard it; Legolas' heart was still beating.
Aragorn closed his eyes with relief, not noticing the few tears that escaped his eyelids. Listening closely, he found that the elf's heartbeat was very, very slow; much too slow to be considered normal.
Raising his head, Aragorn placed his hand before the elf's face to feel for breath, and found his inhalations to be slow and shallow. He knew that Legolas' body temperature had fallen dangerously low overnight, and he was in imminent danger of losing his life.
Jumping to his feet, Aragorn quickly stoked their meager fire back to life, heating up the cherry-bark tea. When it was finished, he carefully fed it to his friend, following it with a cup of warmed miruvor.
Legolas was completely unresponsive, but his body reflexively swallowed without difficulty.
Aragorn drank a cup of miruvor himself, hoping that it would lend him enough strength to see Legolas to safety this day. Lifting his friend into his arms, he prayed that one of Mirkwood's patrols would find them soon.
"Legolas! Please open your eyes, mellon-nin!"
The words floated through Legolas' head, sounding very far away. The elf made no reply, enjoying the limbo that he hovered in. He was not cold there, and he felt no pain.
"Legolas!"
Something tapped his cheek, and Legolas realized that someone was calling him. He didn't recognize the voice, and wondered why they were bothering him.
"Legolas!"
The tapping grew harder, and it stung his frozen skin. Frowning, he opened his eyes slightly, wanting to know who dared to interrupt his peaceful rest.
"Legolas!" Aragorn exclaimed, happily. "Legolas, you are awake!"
"Because of you," the elf slurred, his eyes drifting shut again. "W-who are y-you?"
Aragorn's eyes widened in shock. "Legolas, it is I, Aragorn!"
"Let me s-sleep…" Legolas whispered. "Before the elflings come…"
Aragorn frowned, a chill going down his spine. His friend may be awake, but he was definitely not coherent. Elflings? he wondered, before remembering that Legolas had been teaching an archery class before his kidnapping. "No, Legolas," he said, shaking him. "Do not sleep! You might not wake again!"
Legolas made a protesting sound, eyes still closed.
Sighing loudly, Aragorn closed his own eyes for a minute, before re-opening them. He watched the falling snow as he held his friend on his lap.
Legolas was once more motionless, but the fact that he'd woken made Aragorn feel better. He'd stopped frequently to feed the elf hot tea, and it appeared to have helped him somewhat. He couldn't feel much of a change in the elf's temperature, but even a rise of one degree could make a positive difference in his condition.
Lifting the elf again, Aragorn walked on.
"Who goes there!"
Aragorn was startled at the sudden voice, and he stumbled to a stop. "I need help!" he shouted. Knowing where to look, he saw shadows through the snow, perched in the trees. "Legolas needs your help!" he shouted.
The shadows instantly dropped to the ground, and elves rushed towards them. Some of them kept their bows at the ready should it be a trick, but Aragorn's voice was recognized by some of them.
"What has happened?!" the leader exclaimed, reaching them first.
"He has been overcome by the weather," Aragorn said, his words causing some of the elves to gasp with shock. "His condition is serious, we need to get him to a healer or he may die!"
The elf tried to take their Prince from the human, but Aragorn wouldn't let go. Knowing that they had no time for delay, the elf took Aragorn's arm and hurried back towards the trees.
Aragorn felt another elf take his other arm, and he was relived like never before when he saw a group of horses.
The patrol captain gave the closest horse the command to kneel, and it did, allowing Aragorn to mount easily with Legolas in front of him.
"Escort them," the elf told a few of his soldiers. "Noro lim!"
The elves obeyed, and they quickly sped off.
'Noro lim' : Sindarin Elvish for 'Ride fast'