"HALDIR! HALDIR!" Legolas ran, screaming and crying, up to Haldir. It was their first night and Haldir could not have a moment's peace.
"What's the matter this time, Legolas? A wolf howled? A tree's leaf fell and landed on your forehead? The trees are talking to you? You saw a ghost? You need to go?"
"No… Haldir… I did something very, very bad and I think you will hate me now." Legolas said. Haldir sat up. Legolas probably peed in his pants again…
"I killed…" Legolas said softly, lowering his head.
"You killed? What could you possibly kill? I heard nothing approach!" Haldir exclaimed.
"Come… I have the body. You hafta help me bury it… Haldir, promise me you wont let my ada find out? If ada finds out I could be banished!" Legolas said, taking Haldir's wrist and dragging him through the woods.
"Here he is. Dead. It's my entire fault; I'm such a bad boy! I'm sorry! It's okay if you punish me, I deserve to have a smacking." Legolas said, pointing to his bed, where the body lay.
"Legolas, I don't see anything." Haldir stated. Legolas picked up the body and sighed.
"Here he is, dead." Legolas said, holding the body up. Haldir laughed and Legolas backed away.
"Legolas! You killed a fly!" Haldir laughed. Legolas did not understand, so came over to Haldir who by now was sitting on the floor laughing hysterically at the elflings fret at killing a little fly. Legolas plopped himself down on Haldir's laugh, ready to be slapped, still thinking Haldir was very upset with him for killing the fly.
"Ai Legolas, get up, it's only a fly, no harm done!"
"But it has feelings, too! What will his ada think when he does not get home for dinner? They will be worried for him and his nana and ada fly will be crying when they find out he's dead!" Legolas said.
"Legolas, hush now, there is nothing to worry over. Tell me, how did you kill this fly?" Haldir asked. Legolas sighed, sitting up.
"It landed on my nose and I got scared, so I tried to flicker it away… But it got squished!" Legolas said sadly, glad to receive a hug from him.
"Ah, elfling, it's okay. It's not a bad thing to kill a fly, there is plenty of flies and elves kill them all the time because they are annoying." Haldir tried to explain.
"But there is plenty of elves and if someone killed an elf they would be punished very badly." Legolas pouted even though he did not mean to.
"It's… Different… Well, it's hard to explain, especially for me since I don't have children and I don't know how to explain it… But it's not that bad Legolas, don't worry… Do you still want to bury the fly?"
"No."
"Oh, that's good-
"I want to cremate him first."
"Do you know what cremating is?"
"No, but my ada said he wanted to be cremated if ever something where to happen to him, he said so to Tonus. Haldir, once we cremate Mr.Fly, can I cremate you? Then can you tell me what cremating is?"
"Legolas, you cremate dead people, or… flies… Not living people. It's when you burn the remains of the dead…" Haldir said. Legolas giggled.
"Well then lets do that with the fly, but I guess we cant cremate YOU. Not yet anyways, I'll have to wait for you to die, if you die." Legolas said.
"I don't know if cremating the fly is a good idea, I don't want you to burn yourself."
"Don't worry Haldir, I wont get burned because you will be cremating Mr.Fly… I just watch!" Legolas said, handing Haldir the remains of the fly. Haldir sighed and dropped the fly's remains into the fire he had made half an hour ago.
"Okay, now I get his ashes." Legolas walked forwards and stuck his hand in the fire.
"Elfling! Don't do that, you know fire burns!" Haldir said and Legolas screamed and yanked his enflamed hand away. Haldir put Legolas hand onto the ground and pured the water they had over his hand until the flames left. Legolas was breathing heavily and when the fire was gone he went into panic.
"Legolas, calm, calm… It's okay…" Haldir cooed. Legolas crawled into Haldir's open arms and cried.
"Haldir, my hand hurts… I'm sorry, I was stupid." Legolas whispered. Haldir took the elfling's hand carefully and observed it. The burns where not too serious, some more water could lessen the elfling's pain.
"Here, pour some water on your arm, it will feel better." Haldir helped the child treat the wound.
"Haldir, can I sleep beside you tonight? My arm hurts…" Legolas said. Haldir nodded.
"Certainly. Here, bring your blankets and pillow closer to mine, so we have room for both of us." Haldir said. Legolas noticed how close Haldir's blankets where to the fire.
"Can we sleep further from the fire?" Legolas asked. Haldir nodded, though he did not want to move from the warm spot he had chosen to sleep at.
Haldir lay down and Legolas lay down after him, curling up into a little ball and clutching Haldir's arm.
"Haldir… one day will you have a wife?"
"I hope to, but I cannot guarantee anything elfling. Why does this matter?" Haldir asked, curious to know why the child was so interested in his personal life.
"Well, if you get a wife, then you wont have time to come to Mirkwood to play with me because you will have to spend time with your wife, and then you'll have elflings, and then you'll have to spend time with your elflings." Legolas said.
"Yes, that's true, if I had a wife I would need to spend time with her and if we where to have children they would need just as much if not more attention… But I think I could still see you every now and again, after all, your father manages to care for his four elflings and see other elves, and when your Naneth was around he gave her attention as well." Haldir said.
"Okay…" Legolas said, slowly his gaze slowly loosing focus. Haldir smiled as the child fell fast asleep.
Looking around, Haldir made sure nothing was preparing to attack them. He had his knife nearby, and he felt safe. Slowly Haldir's gaze, like Legolas', became unfocused.
-
"Thanks, for everything. I feel much better." Eleyond said, standing up.
"You're leaving?" Elladan asked. Eleyond nodded.
"If I leave for too long my father thinks I got lost… Don't forget, my father and sister both claim I have brain damage. I don't know if I do, I cannot tell, but I grew up knowing that." Eleyond said. "They don't trust letting me out of our home alone." The elf added sadly.
"That is unfair. I will come with you and set things straight with your father, I will let him know how smart you actually are." Elrohir said, following Eleyond out of the palace.
"He is quite the nice elf, once you know him." Elladan pointed out to Illiendal.
"True, Elladan. He is very kind, I feel so bad for him, loosing Sernaer and never knowing his birthmother." Illiendal said. Elladan nodded in agreement.
"I love you Illiendal… I love you so much… I know this might be a… a random time to say this… But I have to let you know this and I'm getting tired, I wanted to tell you this before I retire to my chambers." Elladan said.
"I love you too, Elladan, and I knew you loved me… But it is very nice to actually hear you say it." Illiendal said, tucking her head beneath Elladan's chin.
"How did you know? I mean… I have felt love towards you for a while now, but how…?" Illiendal smiled at Elladan's question.
"The way you looked at me changed over the years. When we first met we where but elflings and Legolas a babe, and you always looked at me like I was an orc. When Legolas, you and I all grew a bit, you looked at me with more a friendly look, eventually you and Ro accepted me as your friend, and you had a friendly look always, both of you. Elrohir has always given me that friendly, caring look but as we grew even older, though Elrohir looked at me the same way, the look you gave me changed. Instead, you had… an attracted, tender look, I would say… I noticed it at once, and it felt… Strange, that I was glad that you looked at me in such a loving way, because I had always liked you, ever since I was an elfling. I told my father," Illiendal noticed the shocked look Elladan gave her, "And he said that it was time I took interest in a male elf, and he was happy with my choice."
"Mm, so your ada approves of me? That is good news." Elladan smiled.
"It's probably only because you are the son of lord Elrond, I know that he does not approve of you. He only approves of your looks, parentage and rank."
"Rank? You mean heir of Imladris, then." Elladan said.
"Exactly. Ada wont let me love anyone, and he is very finicky since I am the only daughter he has. Cield, he did not have much of a choice. As for Legolas, he might be picky once again since Legolas is his littlest baby, and Tonus is his firstborn and heir so that might also cause some havoc when Tonus wishes to wed." Illiendal said.
"I see… Illiendal, could you help me? I'm so… tired…" Elladan yawned and Illiendal smiled.
"I don't think I could carry you. You are too heavy." Illiendal said, smiling at the upset face Elladan gave her.
"I am not fat."
"No, your not, you are nice and thin. But still, you are tall and heavy, for me to carry at least."
"Does this mean we must wait for… Your father, or Elrohir?" Elladan asked.
"I can find a strong guard for you, if you wish. I don't want to keep you awake." Illiendal said.
"Where is your father, anyhow?" Elladan asked. Illiendal sighed.
"I don't know… I'm worried for him, I did not want to bother you with my fear." Illiendal said softly. Elladan exhaled deeply, pulling Illiendal closer.
"Remember Illiendal, I will always listen… You're my friend, one of the closest friends I have, and you're like… Like another Elrohir to me, you're that important in my life. You should see what the guards are doing about your father's disappearance, he has been gone for a while now." Elladan said. Illiendal smiled and wrapped her arms around Elladan.
"I will, but first I will see to it that you are brought to your chambers." Illiendal stood up, kissing Elladan on his brow before going off to find a guard. Later, Illiendal returned with Galion.
"Are you alright with me carrying you? The guards are busy right now… And as for your father, Illiendal, some of the patrol are trying to find him now, they have… I… I don't want to be the one to tell you this but… They have given up their search for Legolas, at least until your father returns. They say it is a hopeless hunt… I'm sorry." Galion could not look at Illiendal as she began to shake. Elladan pulled Illiendal closer to him, once again as she held in her tears.
"But they can't give up… He's only a child… He's die out there in the f-forest… W-what… We will… We will find his body… Ada will f-fall apart…" Illiendal let Elladan rock her in his arms and she began to sniffle.
"My lady… Legolas still has a chance of survival; do not grieve for any reason. Now, I am here to help master Elladan, and then we can speak of your brother, if you have the energy I will bring you into the forest to find him." Galion offered. Illiendal wiped her face and kissed Elladan on his cheek before Galion lifted him and brought him into his chambers. Fifteen minutes later, Galion returned.
"I am sorry my lady, that it took so long. I needed to help master Elladan change, and he made a fuss. Now, do you have the strength to enter the forest with me?" Galion asked. Illiendal nodded immediately.
"We have to find Adar, he will make the patrol continue search…" Illiendal said, nodding thanks as Galion put on her cloak. Galion threw on his own cloak, checked to make sure his knife was in his boot, and brought her outside.
"Stay close, I don't want you getting hurt." Galion took the princess's hand. Together, they explored Mirkwood forest, staying close to the palace.
"If something happened to ada, he could not have gotten far." Illiendal said.
"My lord! King Thranduil!" Galion called, nodding in agreement with the princess.
To be continued…
Ooo… Will they find Thranduil? Should they find Thranduil?