-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

He's Gone

By Nefhiriel & Imbecamiel

Rating: T (PG-13)

Genres: Action/Adventure/Angst

A/N: We both have horrible colds, and nothing interesting to say. Oh, other than the fact that our beta wasn't able to go over this chapter, so I really, really, hope that there aren't too many horrible mistakes. Right then, on with the chapter.

For disclaimer and notes see chapter one. Reviewer responses at bottom of chapter.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-


Chapter 4

Though he was screaming inwardly, Aragorn's body followed instincts born of long habit, keeping his steps silent and his movements well screened by bushes as he ran to the cliff edge. Instinct also stopped him before he could follow his friend, tumbling over the edge - barely. He shouted Legolas' name, his eyes searching the water for any sign that he could possibly be alive.

Fortunately for him, the orcs were too involved in the brawl that had broken out when Legolas fell to hear his hoarse shout. At the moment, they were so absorbed by their own shouting that they might not have noticed if a hill troll had charged past at that moment. Aragorn, however, was just as oblivious to their actions as they were to his.

The morning sun was just appearing over the horizon, providing barely enough light to see the bottom of the canyon. He could not find the slightest trace of his friend. Strider ran downstream, so set on watching the river that he often missed obstacles in his path. Tripping, falling, rising again, he went on, oblivious to everything but the icy water that was stealing away the only thing in the world that mattered to him at that moment.

The further he went without catching sight of Legolas, the more fear drove its way into his heart. When he saw the rock-strewn rapids below him, despair began to overwhelm him. As much as he desperately wanted to hold on to the hope, however remote, that his friend might still be alive, he knew that no-one, not even an elf, could survive going through that long stretch of rapids, not in the condition Legolas had been in. And that was even assuming that the arrow had not killed him instantly. In truth, Aragorn hoped that the arrow had killed Legolas quickly. He hated to think of his last moments being filled with such terror.

Finally, he fell to the his knees and couldn't drive himself back to his feet. His mind was numb. This wasn't supposed to happen, not when he had finally caught up with him, not when rescue had been so close. After all that had happened these past few days, it was just too much.

As the reality of it sank in, his grief broke over him, and he sobbed. He had been to late, too weak to make a difference. He cried until his exhaustion overcame him. His last waking thought was I didn't even get to tell him that I'm still alive.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

The shock of landing in the icy water knocked all the breath out of him; yet at the same time, it seemed to shake his mind somewhat out of the stunned, frozen state it had been in since he had been shot. As he gasped to regain his breath, Legolas struggled to keep his had above water.

Almost immediately, he discovered that his left arm would be worse than useless. The slightest attempt to move it threatened to make him black out. His cry half choked with water, he pressed his left arm to his chest as he kicked hard and used his right to paddle.

Shaking his wet hair out of his eyes, he looked around, trying to find some place he could climb out of the water to gather his strength and figure out the best way to safety, but there was no place. As Aragorn had suspected, the river was indeed very swollen. Whatever banks there might have been,
were far underwater, the cliffs now rising straight up from the waves. No place to rest, then, and the icy water was sapping his strength.

At least, he thought with some detachment, the cold water may slow the bleeding. Or would it? Would the water make things better, or worse? He was becoming confused, his thoughts harder and harder to focus. Why was he even fighting so hard? What was the point? Why... His right hand brushed against something hard, and he reflexively grabbed on to it.

Dragging himself half on top of the log, Legolas lay there panting. Clinging to a branch for his very life, Legolas remembered. Remembered why it was so important that he keep fighting. Aragorn. His best friend was dead, yes, but he would not leave his body to be eaten by wolves, or to rot, with no sign to mark where the body of a great man lay. And he could not leave his friend's family to be forever uncertain of what had happened to him. Yes, he would keep on fighting, living, however much it hurt.

Raising his head, Legolas looked around again for a place to get out of the river. Still nothing, but as he looked ahead, what he did see caused his breath to catch. White water. Legolas groaned.

As if the whole situation wasn't bad enough. Did we really have to add rocks into the equation now?

He gripped the branch until his knuckles turned white, readying himself for the struggle ahead. What more could he do? He did not know which channels might be safest. Even if he had, he didn't have the strength to do much about it.

Another moment, and he was swept into the swirling, foaming water. He struggled to hold on to the log as currents tossed him back and forth, as if the river itself were consciously trying to tear him away from it.

As he was slammed forward into the log, the shaft of the arrow caught on it, snapping. Opening his mouth to cry out, he choked on a mouthful of water. Burning pulses of agony pounded in his shoulder. It was growing increasingly difficult to maintain his grip, both on the log, and on consciousness, though he was trying hard to do both. He knew well that should he lose the log, or give in to the darkness that was trying to pull him away from painful awareness, his chances of surviving would quickly plummet from slim, to nothing.

Just then, the log rammed full-force into one of the many rocks jutting out of the water. Thrown forcefully away, Legolas barely had time to gasp in a breath of air before he was sucked under the water. As he was rushed along under the surface, he was slammed against several rocks. Bright flashes of light flickered before his eyes, and his body screamed its need for air to his increasingly unresponsive mind.

Finally, the churning water allowed his head to break the surface for a few seconds. He sucked the fresh air in greedily before being driven under again.

The currents had pulled him over to one side of the river, and now it threw him against the cliff wall, scraping his already abused back along the rough stone. Once more he was thrown against it, and as he was pulled towards the wall a third time, he stiffened, dreading the impending impact. But it never
came.

From Legolas' rather confused perspective, it seemed that he was sucked straight through the wall. But of course, that was ridiculous. Stone walls didn't simply disappear, or become soft at his convenience.

Or do they now? Maybe nature has finally decided to revise some of its more inconvenient laws. Or perhaps the Valar have decided to have some mercy on me.

The combination of overwhelming pain and lack of oxygen was turning his thoughts to rather illogical, disjointed paths. Though, indeed, his last idea was not so very far off. The Valar had truly had mercy. Ironically enough for Legolas, that mercy came in the form of a small cave.

Feeling solid ground under himself at last, Legolas weakly dragged himself out of the water, then simply lay there limply, coughing and gasping. He gazed at his surroundings dully, barely grasping the significance of the nearly absolute blackness surrounding him.

A cave. How wonderful. And then he gave in to his exhaustion at last, and passed out.


Reviewer responses:

HarryEstelYes, I'm afraid, for dramatic effect, we just had to take advantage of the situation and dump Legolas off the cliff, LOL. As for getting things straightened out…well, you're right, that might take a bit of time ; ) Thank you so much for the review, mellon-nin! Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

Ainu LaireROTFL! I got a few funny visuals of you sitting in the PP with a laptop… Heh, yup, you were right: Aragorn was…sleeping…er…unconscious (close enough -g-). He's definitely too cool to die. And right again! -hands award- Of course the stubborn elf can't die! LOL. Glad you liked the part about the rain. I giggle a little myself every time I think about him sitting in a mud puddle. -sigh- Poor ranger, I'm so cruel to him, and then I laugh at his misery… Yup, you sure have to hand it to the guy, he's defiantly a tough one! Maybe it's a tad unrealistic that he'd still be able to walk (much less proceed coherently) after all he's been through. Still, you never can underestimate the power of their friendship (and the ranger's pig-headedness, LOL). They don't have cappuccino's? What kind of a restaurant is this, and how on earth do they expect to compete with Starbucks? LOL. Oh…all this talk of coffee is giving me a craving for a good latte : P Thank you so much for the review! Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

EvergreeneLOL, hey, that's not a bad idea: kill off a few orcs! Hmm…but who'd want to read orc-angst? Heh, yeah, I laugh at the poor ranger too, even while I feel terribly sorry for him (got to just love their "luck", LOL). Well, Legolas did reappear in this chapter – but definitely not unhurt. -g- Thanks so much for the review (I'm really glad you're liking it)! Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

sielge: I know, I know, that truly was evil of us to do… And we are so sorry -looks completely unrepentant- As for what they're going to do now… I'm afraid I'm going to have to continue in the tradition of all good authors and say "Wait and see" : ) Hope you like the new chapter!

polinglyDon't apologize, mellon-nín. Life (and "dear" Neville) can be VERY frustrating – and boy do I know it. A person can only do half a million things a week -huggles- Torture the characters? No way! It's the readers I enjoy making squirm, LOL. I'm finding that killing (or faking the death) of characters is quite effective. Heh, I really had a lot of fun writing that scene with Aragorn. Glad you liked it. Hmm…well, I'm not 100 sure how long this is going to be (it's the only thing I've ever tried to post without being completely prepared -gulp-). Imbecamiel and I approximate only about ten chapters. Our trip went really, really well. Very relaxing. Of course, after a few days of being back, I feel like I need another one already…LOL. Thanks so much for the review, mellon-nín! You know how much it means to both of us : ) (btw…Imbecamiel's been so nervous during this…I believe we won over a new member! –SNWCG group hug-)(quick note from Imbecamiel: I really am trying to write back to you about your story! Unfortunately, in addition to my cold and all sorts of stuff to catch up on from vacation, the cord to my laptop just broke… -sigh- THIS IS INFURIATING!)

goddesscal: LOL, yes, falling of the cliff is usually Aragorn's "job" (very observant!). I guess we just decided to stir things up a bit ; ) Yup, it's the elf's turn now -eg- Hehee, not only is it amazing the trouble those two get when they encounter orcs – it's amazing how often they encounter them. They're guaranteed orc magnets/bait, LOL. Ah, so have you seen Kingdom of Heaven now? I don't usually go to see R rated movies, but since it's mostly for violence (plus, Orlando is in it, and it happens to be about my favorite time period…), I just had to see it : ) It was pretty good, too. I'm glad it came so opportunely to tide you over the cliffy ; )

crazyAZN kid: Yes, once again I do see what you mean… Aragorn's miraculous survival wasn't very well explained : P I know it's not terribly convincing (but could have been with more work), and takes a little leap of imagination in order for it to work. -sigh- Sorry it came out so cliché and vague : P Some of the logic in the beginning has been sort of…cut short. Aragorn's "death" seems to have been our bane. Oh well, I suppose I can always just blame that part on Imbecamiel… One of the many benefits of co-authorship (and a very forgiving sister) –g- Anyways, I can only hope that once the plot picks up (now that the melodrama is over) things will start looking a little more believable. Btw, beautiful comparison to Gandalf and the way Tolkien did it. One of the things I love most about Tolkien (and C.S. Lewis too) is the allegorical/symbolic elements of their stories. Yes, my stories on here are mostly for fun – but I never want to loose a chance to better myself in my writing/plot. Thanks so much for the constructive criticism (calm, rational tips are few and far between nowadays)! And thanks for the review. Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

Slayer3LOL, I take it you don't relish the though of Legolas dying? -g- Well, fortunantly for you, I couldn't quite bring myself to do it either… Thank you very much for reviewing – it means so much to both of us! Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

spazzyrisu: -blushes- Wow, thank you so much! I'm glad you think we write well. We worked hard on it, so it's really, really encouraging to hear you say that. Thanks so much for the review – it means a lot to both of us! Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

jacquelinestelROTFL! An Estelagon…Heh, that was great. I have to agree with you though, geometry―and math in general―is the root of all evil. –shudders- Hate that stuff. Hmm, Estel and Legolas certainly do have a not-so-hidden cruel streak, don't they? LOL, so Aragorn finally got a case for Narsil? Good for him -g- Eating the p-photo album! I mean, Cami's been know to enjoy snacking on paper, but even she's never tried to eat a photo album… Hehe, hope you liked the new chappie!

Gods-girl2004: Ah, that's all right, mellon-nín – don't feel ashamed, LOL. –shocked- Cruel? Us? -naively- I really just don't understand! Why does everyone keep saying that? Heh, anyways… I'm feeling pretty "out of it" too. Errhos hugged me one too many times―while he had a cold. –sigh- But I'm almost over it now… I hope : P Well, thanks so much for the review, mellon-nín! Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

Tinorial Peredhil: ROTFL! I was giggling uncontrollably (as always) all the way through your review, mellon-nín… Heh, it would appear that all your collected personalities are having conflicts. My, but they are getting to be quite a collection, too! And all so loveable -huggles characters- Never―and I repeat NEVER―say you're sorry for commenting on nearly every line. I LOVE it! I don't think there's anything in the world quite so satisfactory to an author than to have her/his story commented on by a friend -g- Or in my case friends. -sighs contentedly- Yes, there's nothing like having the whole crew here to tell me what they think…And you're thinking about bringing LR, UR's brother, along too? Heh, wouldn't that be lovely: TWO little people screaming reminders at me : P Anyways, I had a ton of fun seeing how well Moldy, Guard, and UR are getting along. Be sure to send me a couple of pictures once you get to that photo-shoot : ) "Es-cop-ee" : D hehee, I loved that part in Finding Nemo : ) Well, I think this story will be about ten chapters long…Will they survive? Shame on you, you know I never give away any spoilers! Now chapter nine is all about their funerals, but ten will be a nice little epilogue, full of fluff, you know, the grieving families and all… LOL. Hehee, let's see, what was the funniest visual of this review… Ah yes, Guard "playing" with Fluffy! LOL. –blows nose- Well, I'm sitting here blowing my brains out, desperately wishing I hadn't hugged my cold-ridden brother so many times…Better go before I say something stupid – I mean REALLY stupid. Thank you so much for the review, mellon-nín, you know how much we both enjoy them. Hope you enjoyed the chapter : )

- Imbecamiel appears out of nowhere- Um, Hi… Since Nef is currently at chiropractor's appointment, I guess I'll just be finishing up the reviews while she's gone. And I've never done this before… - looks nervous-

viggomaniac: Ah yes, things can ALWAYS get worse. Makes me wonder if Murphy was a fanfiction writer… Or maybe just a fanfiction character : ) –giggles- Ah yes, isn't that just the sort of thing we would wind up saying if we met someone like that? Though, of course, Nef doesn't need to actually meet anyone, she says that sort of thing all the time on her own ; ) And I can't seem to remember what the syndrome is called… -sigh- I hate having colds : P Oh man –bangs head on wall- I fear I'm the one to blame for the "loosing"/"losing" problem. I suppose it's too late to claim that I actually DO know the difference? And here it always bugs me so much when other people mix things like that up. LOL, perhaps I should reconsider editing as a possible profession… Thanks for pointing that out, though : ) I'm so happy to hear that you're enjoying the story. Hope you like this chapter! –sits down to write "Editors do NOT mix up loosing and losing" 1000 times-

SmilingDragonGirl: Oh dear… I have an impression we need to work on our innocent looks a little more. Seems that for some inexplicable reason people aren't buying it… Could it possibly be the evil grins that keep slipping out? Ah yes, it is usually Aragorn that has the "problem" with cliffs. We just decided that the elf needed to understand better what it felt like ; ) Trying to harm our readers! Whatever would make you say that? –tries to look innocent while smothering evil laughter- Get them out of this mess? Oh, but we- I mean THEY seem to be having so much fun! Um, yeah, right. Only if by "they" I was referring to the orcs. Ah well, I suppose we'll have to get them out sometime. Either that, or kill them off permanently… -eg- Wow, you're not a native English speaker! I would never have guessed that. You write it incredibly well. LOL, FAR better than I'd do if I tried to write in any language other than English. Well, hopefully this update is soon enough for you! –looks nervously at sharp, pointy object- Nef did warn me that reviewers could be dangerous…

And I still haven't got anything interesting to say… Ah well, see you all next Friday : )

-Imbecamiel disappears back into the oblivion of lurkerdom-