I realised that the story so far had been entirely Aragorn at the moment, so here's a bit of Legolas angst to tide you over for a bit. The next chapter is really nearly finished and its three pages, my longest yet. Enjoy!

disclaimer: (applies for all chapters of Green Leafed Hope) I do not own any part of Tolkien's universe or any of his characters. I'm merely borrowing them for a while I am not making any money from this story.

Chapter 7 - Broken

Overhead, the entwining branches caught the silver stars in nets of leaves. From where he lay on the crushed grass, he could still catch a glimmer of the gems of Gilthoniel out of his good eye. The velvet blackness was sprinkled with the Starkindler's jewels like the cloak of a queen draped across the heavens, Ithil, the new moon, a diamond orb in it's centre.

The blood on his cheek was slippery against the cold grass.

Strange, that the stars should still dare shine on this place of horror. Through the waves of pain, the young elf could still feel the echo of the Starsong calming his soul, while his life's blood dripped onto the grass. Dully he wondered how much blood he had left to lose. Some of his earlier wounds had closed, but everyday there were new gashes on top of old, and he knew these would not heal. He was dying. The cool darkness of death would mean peace, an end to pain. His spirit was already broken long before the orc's torture. He just hadn't known it then.

In the darkness to his right, an orc lookout hawked and spat onto the ground; a charred, dead leaf, stirred up by a last breath of wind drifted to the ground and lay still. The Elf tried in vain to shift his weight off from his broken ribs and arm, but just ended up jabbing the pain further down his side. He lay still.

There was no fear. He had never feared death. All things must come to an end sometime, yes, even Elves. But this was different. Now, he welcomed death, waited for his last breath. No-one would come. Why should they? He had never been enough; his people deserved better. His ada hadn't even…

But there was pain there too. A deeper pain that could not be ignored. He tried, just as he had tried for so many years, but the guilt rose in his chest and he felt as if it would smother him. So many years. No-one to blame but himself.

The coldness was creeping into the depths of his bones. He had never been cold before.

The trees sang a lament for their fallen prince in their own secret tongues, and it wove with the voice of the stars to create part of that timeless rhythm that flowed through all life. Was this what the Song of the Valar was like? Once it would have strengthened him, reminded him what was at stake, to keep fighting, no matter what. But now? Hope was dead. Darkness was falling on the world as inexorably as black night, and death would come to all before long.

It hurt to breathe.

No-one would come. They would fight and fail. He would die alone, like all others, in timeless history before him. Like his Naneth, dying aloneHe wondered if the stars shone for her that night.

I'm aware this chapter's a bit bitty, but the intention was to make it sound a bit less smooth. Hope it worked, it's a new technique for me. I'm trying to stick to canon as much as possible so if I make any glaringly obvious mistakes, please let me know

translations: ada father

naneth mother

Gilthoniel Another name for the Valier Queen Elbereth

Isil The moon

Thanks for the reviews, LalaithoftheBruinen, sielge, Gissela and Reion. I'm really glad you're enjoying it!

To HarryEstel, Alatariel Narmolanya, lolly pop3 and grumpy; yeah, the flashback was fun to write as well, I'm glad it turned out ok.

Thanks for the suggestions Koriaena and orlandochick05. Nice idea about Celusse, I was kinda hinting at that near the beginning, but turns out hes just a regular guy ;) And here's a chapter about Legolas for you orlandochick05

Some more twins coming up in the next chapter apsenniel and kel. Hope you like this one in the meantime!

Thanks for the kind words Kitkat. Yeah, this really is my first ever fic, tho I've been thinking of writing a few for ages. Glad I'm not doing too badly so far

Thanks Snaitf and Dagg-Dag! It's really brilliant getting such wonderful reviews, thanks a lot for them, and I'm glad you're all enjoying it! Here's your update :)

…and thanks to everyone else who reviewed! I'm sorry I can't reply to you all individually, but time is ticking on. Suffice to say that I'm really grateful for all the wonderful reviews I've had for this story. It's really encouraged me to stick with the writing, I probably would have given up a long time ago if it wasn't for you all.

So hannon le, mellon nin , keep reading, keep reviewing and if I don't see you before, have a great Christmas

namárië ar sérë, híninya

nienna xx