The Passing

The opposite of fear

People justify preparations for war as security measures because they are anxious in the face

of oppression and danger. They fear injustice and the loss of freedom. Yet these very

preparations bring nothing but injustice and slavery. Those who fear do not have perfect love.

-Eberhard Arnold

Legolas pushed Kohana to the ground and had an arrow notched in one swift movement.

"Do not move an inch, witch. I will kill you myself before I let them take you." He seethed.

Kohana was coiled on the ground shaking. Was this elf crazy?

"Do you THINK I want to go with them!" She screamed.

Legolas wasn't listening to Kohana, though. He was more interested in figuring out how to fight and survive all of the Nazgul by himself. At this moment they appeared to be waiting for him to move. Their swords were drawn and they hissed in the most unnatural speech.

"Give us the girl."

There voices made Kohana's skin crawl.

Legolas raised his bow.

"You will have to kill me first."

Kohana watched everything in slow motion. The first thing on her mind was to run and hide. She could not let the Nazgul take her to Mordor. Sauron would torture her until she told them the future, and thus she would destroy an entire world.

Suddenly her heart raced at a new revelation.

There was more to this than just not being taken by the Nazgul! Legolas is a part of the Fellowship! I can not let him die!

Kohana thought she was going to be sick. She knew what she had to do. She would rather die than be taken by these evil things, . . .but she had to make sure Legolas would live. His life was ten times more important than her own.

Legolas launched a few arrows at his enemy, but they did not even injure the cloaked ghosts. He proceeded to whip out his long knives and prepared to fight to the death. The Witch King approached the prince with his sword crossing his face. The two quickly began swordplay as the other Black Riders quickly surrounded the two in a circle.

Kohana, meanwhile, ran to the nearest campsite and, trying to find anything to set on fire, begun to chunk things at the Wraiths. Two of the Wraiths turned to stop Kohana, but were met with flame being thrown at them.

"Stupid Ghosts!" she screamed while throwing more random objects.

Legolas did not know what was going on around him. While he was battling a Ringwraith, flames seemed to be dancing in the corners of his vision. Suddenly, a burst of flame sent Legolas and the Ringwraith flying.

"Opps! Sorry Legolas!" Kohana yelled. Maybe her aim wasn't as good as she thought.

Legolas looked up to see Kohana running to him with a torch in hand.

"Use this . . . They hate fire!" She yelled as she chunked the torch to him. Legolas continued to fight with the Witch King until Kohana chunked another torch in their direction.

Their swords fell to the wayside as hissing filled the air and Kohana threw more torches at the remaining Black Riders.

Legolas picked up a fallen sword, and reolized he had the Witch King's Dagger. He looked up to see one very pissed Witch King.

Swords clanked, the prince was pushed to the ground, and suddenly Legolas found himself without a weapon.

The Witch King raised his sword above the fallen prince.

Horrible hissing screams irrupted as Kohana threw fire at the Nazgul. The Black Riders were fleeing all around her, but as she looked to the distance.

"Noooooo!" she screamed.

Adrenaline must have kicked in, because the next thing she knew, Kohana was charging the Witch King with a torch in hand.

Kohana didn't know what happened next. Flying through the air with flame in hand, she ended up rolling with the Prince a few yards as the enflamed Witch King hissed in agony.

She saw the last Black Rider flee on his steed but still she lay motionless in the brush. She listened until the hoof beats and hissing died off and picked her head up.

She kept hearing moaning in her own ears, until she realized it was Legolas. She looked down to see blood covering his chest, and after falling on top of him, blood covered her own.

"Oh, God . . . Oh, God! Legolas! Can you hear me!" She quickly flipped him over.

She cradled his head with her hands and locked eyes with him. His face was contorted with pain.

"Heal me, witch!" He gasped as his hand came to his wound. "Please!"

Kohana shoke her head violently.

"Prince. I am not a witch! I can't heal you . . ." Kohana looked into his confused eyes. "but I can help you. What do you need me to do?"

"YOUR NOT A WITCH?" Legolas screamed.

"This is neither the time nor place for this discussion! We must get you help!" She placed his hand over his wound. "Apply pressure." Kohana quickly stood up and looked around.

"I'll be right back!" She yelled while running back to camp.

Her back ached from Legolas falling on top of her, and tears came to her eyes as panic swept in.

'If Legolas dies, I just killed one of the fellowship!' She thought. 'If he dies, the whole future of middle earth is changed.' Kohana looked around at the dark and creepy forest. "If he dies, I'm all alone!"

She sprinted to one of the fire circles. Suddenly Kohana heard a noise in the distance.

"Not again!" She screamed. However, to her relief, four horses emerged from the darkness.

Luckily, since the threat of evil had left the general area, a few of the Mirkwood horses had wondered back to camp. Kohana approached one, and after soothing it with kind words, she led it closer to a fire circle. Loading her knapsack, and scrounging around for other necessities, soon she had everything packed they would need.

Leading the animal to Legolas was not hard, either. Animals loved something about elves, because as soon as the horse picked up the Prince's scent, the animal was lick his face and nudging him.

Legolas quickly regained consciousness, and tried to sit himself up.

Bad idea.

The Price begun to moan in pain once more.

"Here, let me help you." Kohana soothed. "Put your arms around my neck." Legolas wrapped his arms around her, and rested his head on her back. She heard his winces and felt him shutter as he moved. Slowly the Prince was lifted to the standing position, and Kohana leaned him against the horse. Legolas struggled to whispered something in Elvish in the horses ear, and the animal replied by bended his front legs.

Kohana helped Legolas straddle the horse, and loaded blankets around him for comfort.

"Would it be easier if I rode with you?"

Legolas opened one eye and nodded solemnly. Kohana grabbed the Prince's quiver and bows, fastened them to her front, and straddled herself in front of Legolas. The Prince wrapped his arms around her middle for support, and rested his head against her back. Once everything was in place, the horse stood on his front legs, and awaited more orders. Kohana tapped the Prince's hands that were folded around her middle.

No response.

Kohana tapped again.

No response.

Kohana pinched.

Legolas let out a moan in her ear.

"Ummm, Legolas, I don't know where we are going . . . "Kohana looked around in a panic.

Legolas stirred for a moment, whispered something in elvish, and once again fell unconsciousness.

Luckily, the horse must have understood, because soon the pair was on there way through the depths of the forest.

Kohana prayed more than she ever had in her entire life that first night. Pain shot threw one of her arms, and she felt wetness and a dull ache. Later, she would realize wounds of her own. She must have been too panicked to notice before.

The two made their way threw thick forests of black. Kohana had never been more scared than her whole life. She would sooth the poor Prince by patting the hands that stayed at her stomach, and every time Legolas moaned she hushed him like a mother does her child. Kohana had never taken a first aid class, or had any knowledge of healing, but she knew the situation wasn't good.

Soon Kohana found herself in front of a big tree house. The horse had led the two injured causalities hours through the dark and spooky Mirkwood forest without much mayhem. However, as Kohana looked at the ladder that led up to the tent-ish looking treehouse she let out a mock snort.

'How am I going to get Legolas up there?'she thought.

Deciding not to waste any more time, she nudged the prince with her shoulder. Soon he regained conciousness and moan a bit before he lifted his head from her back.

Legolas looked up at the treehouse above them.

"This was an outpost for the Mirkwood elves once. In my childhood it was my hideaway and playhouse." Suddenly Kohana felt him clench his side and moan.

"It should keep us safe for now." She retorted.

Kohana slide off of their steed, and assessed the situation.

"How are we going to get you up there?"

Legolas winced and sheepishly looked up.

"I will climb."

Kohana put her hands on her hips and huffed.

"Are you crazy?" She walked closer to him. "I will carry you before I let that happen."

Legolas frowned and shook his head.

"You will help me climb, then. . ."

Kohana begrudgingly agreed and nodded slightly while brushing a fly away out of her face.

"Well, we best get started . . ." she whispered as Legolas hissed again from the pain of his wounds.

Kohana begun to gather their belongings bellow the rope ladder to bring up later. She turned from her work to see the Prince staring at her intensely from his perch on the horse. His eyes were puffy, and Kohana could honestly admit that he looked terrible at this moment, but she strained a smile to encourage him, anyway.

Legolas, in elvish, asked the horse to lower his front legs, and with Kohana's support, he weakly made it to the base of the treehouse while holding onto her shoulders. Kohana went around the outside of his body and put her hands around his. She counted to three, and the two started to slowly, segment by segment, to climb up the rope ladder that lead to the outpost.

As the two arrived at the top, Legolas keeled over on the outpost planked floor in ragged breaths, while Kohana looked around to see what to do next. The outpost was basically a big room with a cot in the right corner, two windows with shutters, some chairs, and a chest at the foot of the cot with linens laying on the lid. Along the left hand wall where shelves with boxes of supplies, which Kohana decided to go through later.

Kohana helped Legolas to the cot, and put a pillow under his head. The Prince quickly pasted out once more, and this left Kohana time to bring up the rest of there belongings.

She had come across a kettle in the corner and after a quick walk she had found a stream near by the outpost. Looking through the supplies that had been in the shelves on the far side of the room, Kohana found needles, thread, cooking pots, canisters for food, and even a warmth hearth in the corner that had been build into the outpost.

After starting a fire, she boiled water and sterilized a needle. She also took one of Legolas's daggers and put it under the fire until it became red. The prince obviously had not been stabbed with a morgul blade (thank God!) but his wound still needed to be sterilized with the dagger.

Legolas flinched as he felt someone touch his wounds. He opened his eyes to see the girl staring back at him.

"I need to tend you your wounds." She said softly. He nodded as he let her rip his tunic with a knife. She wrung a steaming rag over a bowl in her lap and begun to wash his chest and face. She looked at his stab wound as she cleaned, and sighed at the sight of it. The wound was on his left side, just below the belly button, and about five inches. Kohana had never liked medical shows, or dissecting frogs in science class, but she had to heal this poor elf even though she was very, and I mean VERY grossed out.

She turned her head, to look Legolas in the eyes.

"What I am going to do is going to hurt . . .very badly. Here is a stick to bite down on."

Legolas huffed. He had very high tolerance for pain. However, he had never been burnt with a hot dagger.

Kohana shook her head.

"Are you sure?"

The prince nodded. Kohana raised her eyebrows.

'Ok . . . . .' she though annoyingly.

Kohana walked over to the hearth and retrieved the dagger with a rag around her hand because of the heat it gave off. She walked back over to Legolas's bedside and looked him in the eye.

"Are you ready?"

He nodded.

Legolas watched as Kohana brought the dagger to his wound.

The Prince moaned out in pain, and grabbed the frame under him automatically. He would not show weakness in front of this girl.

Kohana let off after a few seconds, took the dagger off the wound, and the Prince was lift stammering and ragged in breathe.

Kohana then took out the sterilized needle, some thread, and more warm towels. She washed his wound again, and looked up to see him staring at her once more.

"Who are you?" He asked as she begun to thread the needle.

Legolas was so confused. What was going on? He observed her manner many times and he had thought she was some horrible creature all the while.

But it now he was not so sure. Was her defiance for his authority because of the malice that flowed through her veins, or merely just because she appeared headstrong.

Kohana looked at him.

"I am just a girl that knows to much." She replied. "I can not tell you how . . . . but I know the future, and that is a threat to Middle Earth." Kohana paused. "Lord Elrond and Gandalf decided to pass me off as an evil sorceress that needed to be exiled to Mirkwood.

One: because I needed to be hidden from Sauron; I could be used for evil, and,

Two: because the creature Gollum is also being held by your realm. Am I correct?"

Legolas nodded solemnly.

Kohana strained another grin.

"I will answer more later, Prince . . but now I must sew your wound."

Legolas relaxed, and let her continue to thread her needle.

Absentmindedly, Kohana begun to hum a tune as she sewed, and Legolas closed his eyes.

The two found rest in the silence as the world swarmed around them.

Hope you enjoyed!

Queenie