Chapter 12

When Legolas woke up, a tall man was sitting in a chair in a corner of the room. The man had
dark messy hair, blue eyes, and a rough beard. Legolas looked into his eyes as he stifled a yawn.

"Are you awake now, boy?" the man asked.
"Yes," Legolas answered slowly, taking in this new man.
"Good. It's hard to judge, with you sleeping with your eyes open," the man said for an explanation.
Legolas shrugged. He had never had a problem with that.

"I'm Artamir, one of the rangers of South-Ithilien. It was me who found you at the riverbank."
"Hmm..." Legolas said, taking in this new information.
"Biddy says you don't trust us."
"Biddy says a lot of things," Legolas answered with a small grin.
Artamir smiled a grin of his own at that comment. "She does, doesn't she?
Listen. You were found on the banks of the river Poros. Biddy tells me you were slaves in Mordor. That means you have been through a lot. I will not ask you to trust us, because it is probably no use anyway. But I want you to consider a few things," Artamir said.
"I don't know were you're from, And I don't think you will tell me,but I know one thing. You are in Osgiliath now, which is a long way from all the Elven terriories. It isn't an easy way either. "

Legolas nodded. He knew that, and it had been an increasing worry in his mind.

Artamir continued. "What I want you to consider, is to stay here for a while. Biddy and I love children. Unfortunatly we are not able to have any of our own, so it would be a win-win situation. We could take care of you for a while, and you could build up strength. You could even go take lessons, for there is a school nearby."

Legolas shook his head. "We will leave as soon as we're rested."
"Is that smart, boy?" Artamir asked. "Is that responsible? "
Legolas found that being called "boy" by someone you are at least a few years older than is very irritating. "We will make it."
Artamir shook his head. "You might. You're oldest sister might. Your little brother might. But what about the little one? Will she make it, as small as she is?"
"She survived Mordor! We all did!"
"You survived Mordor, so now you can't die? Is that it? Is that what you think?" Artamir was starting to look angry now. "Well that's not true, boy!
You can still die. And If you move too fast, you will!"

"What do you know!" Legolas shouted. "You don't know a thing about us! You don't know who we are! You don't know were we come from! You don't know what we have been through! What gives you the right to interfere with our business? You know nothing about us! NOTHING!"

"I know one thing about you," Artamir said, his voice quieter now. "I found you unconscious on a riverbank, wet, hurt, starved, and covered in blood. The lips of the little one were blue because of the cold. When I first saw you, I thought you were dead. If I hadn't found you, if I hadn't convinced the others to take you here, you would have been just that.
I can see that you care for your siblings. It was visible in the way you all lay together on the bank. Biddy said the others listen to you. You are their leader. I'm a leader too. And trust me, that if you make a wrong decision and let one of your men die, that decision will hunt you forever.
Trust me on this, Celeborn. Stay here for a while. What does a year matter when you're immortal?"

"I want to be home," Legolas said, his voice a desperate whisper. "As soon as possible. We are leaving as soon as we're rested."
"You are too stubborn for you're own good, boy," Artamir said.
"I'm a Thr…" Legolas swallowed what he was about to say. He had almost given away his identity. He had almost told Artamir he was a Thranduillion, the age-old response of all children of Thranduil to explain their stubbornness.

He got up from his bed and walked away from Artamir. He would have to find his siblings, wake them up and inform them they were leaving.

They couldn't afford near-misses like that. They couldn't afford to get caught again, for they had to make it home. Legolas' hearth longed for the forest of his father, his home.

In the other room his siblings were still asleep. Legolas sat down beside Limloeth and shook her gently. "Galadriel..." he said and continued whispering in Elvish. "Lim, we have to go. Wake up."

Limloeth blinked a couple of times, shaking herself into wakefulness.
"Legolas?"
"Yes Lim. Wake up. We have to move." Legolas was a little concered as he saw that the dark circles under Limloeth's eyes still hadn't disappeared.
"I can't move," Limloeth said.
"Sure you can. We have to go. We should leave for Greenwood tonight."
"I can't move," Limloeth repeated.
"What do you mean?" Legolas asked angrily. "We have to! We have to make it to Greenwood before winter falls."
"I can't move," Limloeth said once more, her voice now desperate.
"Please Legolas, I mean it! Please… Can't we just stay here for a while?"
"You have been talking to Artamir! He talked you into this! How can you listen to him! We will make it, Limloeth. We will."
Limloeth just shook her head. "I will not" she whispered. "I'm empty and drained, and I can't move. If you go now, I will not come with you."

Legolas stared at her. "How can you do this to me?" he whispered fiercely.
We survived Mordor! How can you give up now?"
"I'm not giving up!" Limloeth said sharply. "I just need to recover! You have no idea, brother! You have know idea how much strength I used these past few days!"
Legolas looked confused, but Limloeth didn't notice. She just continued, her eyes full of tears.
"To you it is all so easy! To you and Lanthir and even Lainfea. You just kill like it is nothing, like you don't care! I can not do that, Legolas. I feel them... I can feel their soul slip away. I can feel the effect their death has on me. I can feel its darkness in my soul, and I can't move.
I could feel the souls of the corsairs move in that cave, and I wasn't even the one that had killed them! They moved through me, weakening my abilities.
And then Lanthir was mortally wounded and I had to heal him, leaving me drained and weak. But we still had to save you.
You have no idea what we went through saving you."

Legolas wrapped him arms around his crying sister, rocking her back and forth.
"Then tell me," he said, his plans of leaving forgotten.
"Tell me, so I may understand."

TBC..

Rutu: Thank you so much.. review like that really make my day. "Highly recommandig this story to others? WOW.. I'm feeling very good about myself now..

Nessa Ar-Feiniel: LOL.. keeps her mouth shut not to spoil anything

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur : No sorry, I can't post twice in one day.. But I like the fact you like it so much.. Thank you.

Aly K: You flatter me. Thank you so much!

Karone Evertree: Well you got your wish: Interaction! And thank you so much for your kind words.

Moriarwen: I like Biddy too.BTW.. I really like you description of sheep.. clouds on legs..

As for the reviews of chapter 9.. I promised I would make up, but due to lack of time.. I'll only answer those who didn't review chap 10 as well.

Kel: Thanks, and poor Biddy. She was only trying to be nice.

moonshine44: Sheep.. Well they are adorible.. from a distance.. But they never look were they are going, tend to stand on your feet act, very stubborn and kind of stupid..

Sam611: hmmm keep kleenes in handy for following chapters..