Chapter 17

Legolas looked back, scanning the horizon with his sharp elven eyes, looking for a sign that wasn't there. He had been travelling alone for a few days now, and Osgiliath was no longer visible. Just the same, he could still feel his responsiblility for his siblings pull at him. He unconsciously walked in a pace they could follow. He kept looking back, wondering what they were doing; how they were feeling.

Sometimes he looked back, and he could see one of them in the corner of his eye, but as he turned to get a closer look it always turned out to be a tree, or a cruel joke the light had played on his eyes. The road behind him was ever empty. He remained alone.

He tried to tell himself that he was not bothered by this. That it didn't matter to him. It had been his choice to go alone. He needed to get to Greenwood, and his siblings had needed to to stay. The choice was easy.

Nevertheless, he had not been prepared for how much he would miss the others. They had been together for such a long time. He thought about their years of slavery, and their journey through Mordor. He had no whining brother now to annoy him, no weight of a sister in his arms to hinder his
movements.

He should have been glad by that, yet he kept looking over his shoulder; staring at the empty road, but not seeing anything of the beauty of Northern Ithilien. His heart had closed itself off for everything except Greenwood, his father, and his siblings, for he knew that if he started to love just one more thing he had to let go of, he wouldn't make it.

Sometimes he would pretend his siblings were with him. "Are we there yet?" he would let Lanthir ask, before taking minutes to explain to his brother in his head that this was a very long and dangerous journey, that they would have to follow the river for a long time, and he had to stop whining. At night he would snuggle close to his backpack, pretentding it was Lainfea he held.

He wondered what his siblings must have done as they realized he was gone.

Lainfea would have woken up first, as she always did. Before she would get up and dressed, she could have tried to crawl into his bed, as she had done almost every day. But that day, she would have found no one there.

Legolas had to admit he had no idea what his sister would do. Would she climb in Limloeth's bed instead? Or would she realize something was wrong, and wake her brother and sister? Limloeth and Lanthir would understand. He knew that for sure. He would see his empty bed and realize he had gone home.

Would they hate him for leaving them alone? He didn't know. Limloeth must have picked up that he was not happy, and not healing in Osgiliath. Of all his siblings she would understand most. Lanthir would probably be angry for a while, and work it off by practicing swordsmanship. Lainfea most likely would not believe he was gone. She would get up and check his bed every morning until she couldn't remember why she did it, or who she was waiting for. He wasn't sure to hope that that would happen soon. His little sister would be hurt untill she had forgotten him, but the thought of Lainfea not remembering him shot a stab of pain through his heart.

He was suddenly disturbed out of his wonderings as his ears picked up a sound. The trees of Ithilien were whispering, reporting a disturbance.
Animals shot past him, towards their hiding places.

Though Legolas had not felt the beauty of Ithilien with his heart, he had seen it with his eyes, and it had made him forget how close it was to Mordor.

Suddenly he didn't feel so bad for leaving his siblings anymore. Suddenly he was very glad he had left them behind in a place they were safe.

The earth groaned. Heavy footsteps moved his way. Orcs.

He ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction, ignoring the urge to jump into the first tree he saw. "No," he thought, to convince himself. "Not this one. If they spot me in this tree I'll have nowhere to go." He moved to a spot were the trees were closer together, so he could move from tree to tree if needed.

As he climbed as high as he could he silently asked the tree to hide him well. The tree accepted him, and he could see it shift its leaves together slightly, hiding him from sight. "Hannon le," he whispered.The orcs got closer, and Legolas could feel the tree shudder, almost undiscernibly. Orcs
were feared and disgusted by all living creatures.

His elvish hearing picked up a few words the orcs spoke and they burned into his soul. They ripped his walls of self defense open, bringing back memories of times and places he'd tried to forget.

He could see his mother lying on the floor, still trying to smile at him and telling him nothing was his fault, and everything would be alright as she was beaten to death. He had seen it happening. He had seen how everything disappeared from her eyes, her joy, her intelligence, her love for life, her hope for the future, her faith in the Valar, and her trust that there was good in the world. With every sweep of an orc foot, with every crack of their whips, Legolas had watched a part of his mother disappear, until there was nothing but pain left in her eyes. He watched as her eyelids closed her beautiful brown eyes forever. She kept smiling as they beat her. She kept smiling at him, as the pain made her forget his name. She kept smiling, even in death.

The orcs beneath him were talking about prisoners. Prisoners like he had been.

He remembered the times they had beaten him. The countless times he had almost given up. The times he had sat in the middle of the room unable to lay down and sleep because his his skin was ripped to shreds. How many times he had just wanted to close his eyes and leave. But then Lanthir would have shifted in his sleep. Limloeth would have said something. Lainfea would have woken up and demanded water, and he would have remembered why he could never, ever give up.

He thanked the Valar that his siblings where not with him now. That they didnt have to hear the black speech again. That thay didn't have to sit here and resist the urge to shoot the repulsive beings. Legolas' fingers clutched his bow, but if he shot one, he would have to shoot them all, and there were just too many. So he waited for them to pass.

He waited until there was no orc in sight and even longer just to be safe, until he dropped out of the tree. He thanked it politely for offering him a hiding place, as his father had taught him a long time ago, and breathed in relief. He was safe.

Before he continued his journey, he looked back just one more time. The coming of the orcs had changed nothing. The road behind him was still empty, and he could still see one of his siblings moving in the corner of his eyes.

He knew the image would disappear the moment he turned his head, just as all the others had done. He knew he would be disappointed. It would just turn out to be a tree and so he refused to turn his head and blinked a couple of times. The light would not fool him this time.

The illusion did not go away. It came running towards him, at full speed. He had just enough time to open his arms and catch the sobbing, scared little creature.

"Lainfea?" he asked, still not quite believing it was real. "Lainfea? What are you doing here?"

TBC..

Aly K: LOL.. slave-driver.. Well I hope this chapter is in time..

Nessa Ar-Feiniel: Well, It isn't as easy for Legolas to leave his siblings as some people might have assumed.. grin

Karone Evertree: grin I will not answer your questions.. You will see..

moonshine44: Aw, you're too hard on the siblings..They are only children, It is not their fault If they act selfish sometimes.

Moriarwen : Its this soon enough for you?

CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: Thank you! Wow! You really made my day.

Roguish Smile: grin

Rutu : No he didn't leave a note..grin And that was all I can answer right now..

That was it.. See you tomorrow.

Liek