*stumbles into the room with equally stumbling Mithfalas and Legolas* Wow, that was a good New Years party! You Elves really get crazy! *a window shade flaps open, letting sunlight in* Gahhh! Damn you Mirkwood wine! How long are these hangovers supposed to last anyways?

Legolas: Well, you are human, so...

Mithfalas: Lets put it this way, Legolas was raised with Mirkwood wine, and he can be out of it for days.

Legolas: Hey! *phone rings, all drop writhing to the floor from the unearthly loud noise*

Force Of Hobbit: The machine can get it *gets up, but Elves stay on the floor* Fine then.

Before I get to reviews, I'd like to assess something. Some of you seemed to have thought that Legolas was dead, which is not at all true. I said that he was unconscious...maybe that's why I lost reviewers. Anyways, hope you all like this chapter, it's mainly Legolas *cheering is heard from the floor*. We're nearing a turning point in the story...let's see if you can all guess what's going to happen after this chapter, shall we?

Ahh! All reviews will be answered in the next chapter, because I had no time to in this one. Sorry!

********

Problems Along The Way

Chapter11

White Shores Are Calling

********

He was freezing. Icy morning air invaded his lungs as he struggled to wake. He heard it whip through the leaves above him, wash over the damp ground below him.

//Wait a moment, that isn't right.// Piercing blue eyes snapped open, and Legolas instantly regretted doing so. Yellow light filled his sensitive eyes and he clenched them shut again. After a moment of gradual easing, Legolas opened his eyes fully and began to take in his surroundings.

It was morning for one thing, that he could be sure of, which meant that he was unconscious for nearly twenty-four hours. He could see leaves and branches in the trees above him, but they didn't look nearly as tall as they had the day before. Dew drops shined on them and a few drips fell on his pale face.

Legolas made to sit up and wipe off his face, but found that he could not do so. He painfully turned his aching head to the side to see what he was laying on. He would have done a double-take if his head hadn't protested it.

It seemed that he was laying in a nest of sorts. Vines intertwined with tree branches to form a comfortable cradle-like bed.

//But how high up am I them?//

Legolas could not see over the wind barriers that the vines created for him. It was like a cocoon that was missing its top. The wood elf looked down the length of his body to see vines wrapped over various places in his body.

//That's why I couldn't sit up.//

There were vines wrapped around his chest, his upper arms, and around each of his legs. They were tight, but not uncomfortably so. To Legolas they felt...secure. He moved his fingers over deep green surface of the vines and felt the life coursing through them. They seemed to tremble under his touch, the way one would after stepping barefoot onto a cold stone floor.

Legolas looked with love and admiration at the protecting vines that surrounded him, and he felt those same feelings reflected back to him. It made him feel calm and safe, almost like he was at home. He made to get up once more. He heard the wind but did not feel it. They were speaking once more.

"Rest..." said the whispy voice, and this time it seemed to be all around him.

"Mel galadh, hennaid evyr," he said in a tired, somewhat raspy tone for an Elf, but still he tried to sit up. Seeming to sense Legolas' intentions, the vines loosened their hold on his weary body. Legolas noticed that he was no longer wearing his leather hunting tunic, but spotted it hanging over head in the branches. He didn't see his soft leather shoes anywhere.

Bracing his arms against the bed of vines, he slowly started to push himself into a sitting position. It was torture to his broken ribs, and he was sure he would have fallen back if not for the vines silently supporting him from behind.

He peeked his golden, though somewhat covered in mud and dried blood, head up over the cradle of vines and peered down to the ground below. The first thing he noticed was that he could not spot the trail of blood on the ground below, and concluded that the vines had carried him away to a safe location during the night. He estimated that he was at least one hundred feet off the ground, and laid back down as soon as he was satisfied.

It appeared as though his chest and leg had stopped bleeding, but they didn't look in good shape and needed to be tended to.

"Mellonîn, I must ask something of you," he said staring up at the leaves. He felt an answering sigh travel trough the trees. "I need to find water. I must tend to my wounds, lest they overcome me." All was silent for a moment. Then strong vines began to wrap themselves around Legolas' body. He at first thought them to be holding him down again so he couldn't go off and hurt himself, but they proved his assumptions false.

The vines wrapped themselves about his shoulders and around under his arms and Legolas was lifted into the air. It was an odd thing, and it happened slowly. He was passed along through the vines in the trees, to what destination, he knew not. The motion and the height was beginning to make Legolas dizzy, and vertigo was taking over his senses.

The vines slowed down and Legolas was suspended in mid air. Once he had again determined which way was up, the vines resumed their progress, but slower than before. For that, Legolas was grateful.

"Hannad," he whispered as he tried to stop the pounding in his head.

Soon enough, he was being lowered slowly to the forest floor. He opened his eyes and saw a small stream running its course next to him on the ground. He looked up, but he saw no movement in the trees other than the wind.

The vines had left him in a sitting position next to the stream, so he didn't have to further discomfort his ribs trying to get up.

//First things first// he thought to himself. He took as deep a breath as he could manage, then reached up and began to undo the matted, knotted braids in his hair. He could feel the dried blood and mud that made his hair stick in clumps on his head. He attempted to give his once golden locks a little shake, but it hurt his head to much, and they were so matted down it didn't do any good.

He carefully undid the loops on his now torn, stained tunic and slipped his arms out. It was bad seeing the amount of blood on the tunic, but now seeing the puncture wounds from the wargs teeth, the blood that covered his entire front, and the purple and green bruises that marred his normally creamy smooth flesh.

He sighed at seeing the true amount of damage done and started stripping off his leggings. His calf was an absolute mess. The blood and mud mixture was so caked on that he couldn't even see the wound. He eased himself slowly into the cool water of the stream. It had been raised by the rain and was waist deep on Legolas.

He just let himself float for a moment before he submerged himself in the clear water. It was a lot easier on his chest and calf without gravity weighing him down. He let the water wash the filth away from his broken body. He ran his slender fingers through his hair, gingerly touching the wound on his temple.

He smoothed out his hair until he could run his hand through it without any snags. Once this was done, and he could see his natural gold, he re-did his warrior's braids quickly with his nimble fingers. He felt more in place with his hair done up all neat like usual.

He pulled his soiled tunic and leggings into the water and did his best to wash then out. He laid his mostly clean leggings out to dry on a smooth rock and, with a little dismay, began to shred his tunic into long, thin strips. With as much care as he could manage, he started to bind his broken ribs. It hurt more than he thought it would, and he bit his lip so hard that it bled.

He bound his torso as tight as was possible with him still breathing, and did the same to his calf. It was horribly uncomfortable, but it couldn't be helped. He slid out of the water and pulled on his leggings with such speed and agility that the fangirls couldn't see anything. (A/N: couldn't help it!)

He used a tree to pull himself up off the ground and tested his weight on his wounded calf. It was still terribly painful, but he thought he could stand it.

//Now which way was that tree?// Legolas was suddenly very uncomfortable. He had the creeping feeling that he was being watched and it unnerved him to no end. His eyes became a steely blue and he searched the surrounding woods for any sign of movement. There was no normal forest noise; no birds, no squirrels scurrying through the leaves, nothing.

Then he heard a twig snap.

His eyes shot to the place where the noise came from. It was a large bush about ten yards away. Legolas concentrated on it so hard his eyes hurt. The bush lurched and Legolas instinctively crouched down, to his immediate regret. The tight bindings on his chest did not accommodate for that kind of movement, and his ribs sent renewed waves of fire through his chest. He clutched at his chest and gasped, falling on his free hand and knees.

The warg chose that moment to spring. It jumped from the bushes just feet from where Legolas was crouched. Despair took over Legolas' mind when he realized it was the very same warg that dragged him into the river. Two arrows protruded from its side, and the stick Legolas had used to stab it still stuck out from its neck.

It growled and bristled as it took a step foreword.

"Aye, Elbereth..." and he sprung away. Agony and anguish were in every step, but Legolas couldn't stop running. He could hear the warg in close pursuit, but he didn't look back. The ground started to go uphill. He ran and ran until he felt that his heart would burst. He realized that he started to recognize the terrain.

He soon heard the familiar noise and it was like golden harp songs to his ears. Just before he reached the edge, he jumped into one of the overhead tree branches. From his perch, he watched as the warg ran past, tried to stop, skidded, the sailed over the edge of the waterfall.

Relief washed over him, but at the same time, his injury caught up with him, and he fell unconscious to very same spot where he, along with the rest of the Fellowship, had stood just three days prior.

********

Gandalf had allowed the Fellowship to sleep until well after the sun had risen. He said it was because he was gradually trying to get back to the sleep during the day routine, but Pippin thought it was because of him.

While the rest of the Fellowship had gone back to sleep after Pippin's episode the previous night, Pippin could not. He wanted to, but for some reason he just couldn't. He kept thinking about the light, and while he knew he'd have to sleep to find it again, his body wouldn't let him. Now he was absolutely exhausted as the Fellowship set out again.

Aragorn said that they would reach Hollin in three days or less if they kept up with the new pace Gandalf was setting. The morning was bright and clear, and the world was fresh and crisp. But it was still cold. It made Pippin want to crawl back into the blanket pile and go to sleep.

He tightened his scarf and tried to keep in place behind Merry. The pace wasn't all that hard, but when ones legs are half the size of those setting the pace, and the one, being Pippin, is seriously lacking in sleep, any pace is a tough one.

After about an hour, when Pippin's legs felt like lead and he no longer saw anything but ground before him, Gandalf called a halt. Pippin just dropped to the ground where he was and laid down. Merry plopped down beside him and gave him some water. Pippin looked up and realized that everyone was staring at him.

//So that's why we stopped,// Pippin thought to himself, but he didn't really care, so long as he could rest.

Merry got up and walked over to were Gandalf was leaning on his staff.

"I don't think he slept at all after last night," he said in a quiet voice.

"He didn't," Aragorn said walking up, "He was awake all through my watch."

There was silence for a moment.

"What do you think he meant?" Merry asked at last, "He said that he *almost* found what was making the light...what do you think it was?"

"Only Peregrin could know," Gandalf replied. They looked over to where Pippin was lying motionless on the ground.

"We must get moving," Aragorn said loud enough for the rest of the Fellowship to hear. Pippin didn't move. The remaining three hobbits, who were standing with the rest of the company, looked up at Aragorn. He cocked his head to the side with a bemused look on his face.

Pippin was vaguely aware of being lifted up off the ground into someone's arms. He nuzzled into the neck off the man who picked him up and recognized him as Boromir by the thick, black-fur cloak he was wearing to keep out the chill.

Boromir pulled his cloak around both he and Pippin once the little hobbit had settled and looked up to Aragorn and Gandalf. With a little smile, Aragorn turn and started off on the path. Pippin was gently rocked into his dream world...

~*~*~

It was light all around him now, but it was warm sunlight. White sand squished between his furry little toes. Then he saw it...

~*~*~

********

~*~*~

Legolas opened his eyes. He knew he was dreaming, but it still felt odd to him. He wasn't in his forest home where he usually spent him dreams. This was somewhere he had never been before. There was a vast expanse of water before him, and he could hear the roar of the waves as they broke upon the sand.

"It is the sea..." he said to himself, then he heard a gasp from behind him. He turned.

It was Pippin.

"Master Peregrin?" He asked at a loss for words.

"Legolas? It was you? You were the light the whole time?" he rushed, shock apparent in his voice.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, Gandalf was right, I've cracked," Pippin said plopping down on the ground.

Legolas cocked his head to the side and sat down cross-legged in front of Pippin. It hurt his calf to sit like that, but he knew it would hurt more to crouch down. He did a double take at his own injuries.

//I've never been injured in my own dreams before...//

"What are you doing here?" Legolas asked, disturbing Pippin from his thoughts.

"I'm dreaming," Pippin answered matter-of-factly, looking Legolas straight in the eye.

"Well, I gathered that," Legolas answered with a little smile. Then he started laughing, his voice ringing out across the shore. It hurt his ribs, but it felt so good to see the little hobbit again, with his odd hobbit ways.

Pippin looked at him as though he was mad, but then smiled and started laughing too. He didn't care if this was a dream, it was good to see the Elf Prince smile. Then, just as suddenly as he had started, Pippin stopped laughing and tears rolled down his cheeks. Legolas stopped laughing as well.

"Whatever is the matter, little one?"

"You're dead," Pippin answered in a sob.

Legolas was more than a little taken aback.

"What?" Legolas asked, leaning foreword and placing a hand on Pippin's shaking little shoulder.

"You're dead and it's my fault," Pippin wept openly now, and he pulled his little knees up to his chest.

Legolas considered his words carefully.

"I'm not dead," he said trying to get Pippin to look at his eyes, "I'm just dreaming."

"The warg carried you off from the cave and...and--" Pippin's voice hitched in his throat.

"The warg carried me off, yes, but I did not perish," at this Pippin looked up at him, " I was only wounded, see?" he leaned back and indicated his chest and calf. Pippin looked at them but didn't seem convinced.

"You couldn't have survived..." Pippin said looking down.

"You've never fought one of the Firstborn, have you?" Legolas asked with a little smile. Pippin looked up. Legolas leaned foreword and locked eyes with Pippin. "I yet live."

Pippin looked at him with uncertain eyes.

"How can that be?" Legolas cocked his head to the side as Pippin spoke, "If that's true, how can any of this be happening?"

"True, it is odd that I can speak with you here. I've never known of any but the Elves that are able to enter the dream world of the Eldar..."

This time Pippin looked confused.

"You see little one, when we Elves sleep, we do not dream the way that you do. We enter a world of rest and recuperation, but we are able to have conscious thought. It is why we are able to sleep with our eyes open, and even while we walk or run in the waking world."

Pippin looked at Legolas in awe. He had stopped crying.

"So...you're not dead?" he asked, absolute wonder in his voice. Legolas smiled and slowly shook his head no.

Pippin gave a few weak little "ha's" of laugher, and then practically leapt onto Legolas with joy. He wrapped his little arms around Legolas neck and hugged him tightly. Legolas gritted his teeth against the pain that the little hobbit caused him, but gladly returned the hug.

"I can't believe it! This is wonderful! Where are you? What happened to the warg? Where did that pretty shirt go? Why--" but Legolas cut in.

"Slow down, little one. I can only listen to so many things at once. In answer to your first question, I believe I am right at the spot where I first *fell* into the water," he said releasing Pippin from the embrace.

"Good, all I have to do is tell Strider where you are, and he can come find you and everything will be alright!" Pippin said excitedly.

"If everyone believes me to have perished, it will be more difficult to convince him than it sounds."

"I'll tell him everything that you said and...I mean, he was so sad that we lost you in the first place..." Pippin said sadly.

"Was he?" Legolas asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, when we stopped the first night after...after it happened, he climbed a tree and wouldn't come down."

Legolas smiled at that. "Hmm, it's not like him to pout."

"If that's what you'd call it," Pippin said with a weak smile.

"My heart is gladdened to see you again my friend," Legolas paused, "but you need to wake up now." Pippin's eyes lost all sense of amusement.

"Will you be here still if I go back to sleep?" he asked hopefully.

"I will be here when I sleep, but I know not if you will come back here when you sleep," Legolas said looking off into the waves.

"How do I leave here?" Pippin asked uncertainly looking around.

"Just will yourself to wake up," Legolas said with a smile.

"That's it?"

"That's all."

Pippin closed his eyes and concentrated. After a moment, the form of Pippin began to waver and grow hazy. He suddenly became solid again.

"What happened?" Legolas asked raising an eyebrow. Pippin stood up and wrapped his arms around Legolas neck tightly. Legolas smiled and returned the embrace.

"I'm glad you're alright," Pippin said quietly. Legolas hugged him tighter and closed his eyes. Legolas suddenly fell his arms go loose. He opened his eyes and Pippin was gone.

~*~*~

Pippin opened his eyes and he was laying on the ground. The rest of the Fellowship was on the ground next to and around him also resting. Most actually were sleeping. Pippin looked up and saw that it was around dusk. Aragorn was sitting on a rock near the edge of their little camp.

Pippin got up and ran over to Strider. He whipped his head around, surprised.

"Pippin!" Pippin noticed that he had his hand on his sword, "What's wrong?"

"Strider, something happened! You know how before when I was sleeping and I almost found the light?" Aragorn raised an eyebrow, "Well, IfellasleepandwentbacktothisbeachandwhenIlookedIsawsawLegolasandhe'salive!" Pippin said all at once.

Aragorn took a moment to process everything that Pippin had said.

"What? What do you mean?" Aragorn asked leaning down so he was at Pippin's height.

"He's alive! Legolas, he's alive!" Pippin said excitedly.

"Pippin..." Aragorn said sighing.

"No, he is! He was only hurt by the warg, it didn't kill him!" Some members of the Fellowship woke up and looked over in their direction.

"Pippin stop," Aragorn said quietly, looking away.

"He's right at the waterfall where we were standing when they fell!"

"Pippin, stop!" Aragorn yelled, and all eyes were on he and Pippin, "Legolas is dead, don't make it any worse."

"He's not dead," Pippin said quietly, his voice quavering, "he's alive, I know it."

Aragorn got up and walked over to the other side of the camp, only he didn't stop there, he continued off into the forest.

"It's the truth!" Pippin yelled after him. Aragorn didn't even turn around. Pippin jumped when a hand was laid on his shoulder. He turned and saw Gandalf looking down at him.

"I'm telling the truth Gandalf," he said quietly, his voice losing all strength.

"I believe," Gandalf started slowly, "that you believe you are telling the truth."

"What? No, it is the truth. He's alive!" Everyone was looking at him as though he had grown another head.

"Are you feeling at all well?" Gandalf asked placing a hand on Pippin's forehead. Pippin shook his hand off and stepped back.

"I'm fine! Listen Legolas needs help!" Pippin crossed his arms in front of him.

"Alright, alright," Gandalf said in a soothing voice, "Why don't you sit down for a moment and calm yourself."

Pippin dropped down to the ground cross-legged right where he was with his arms still crossed over his chest. He glared up at Gandalf. Gandalf turned and walked in the direction that Aragorn had left. Just before he went after him, he turned to Boromir:

"Stay here, and...keep an eye on the little ones."

"Yes Mithrandir," Boromir said looking over at Pippin.

It didn't take Gandalf long to find Aragorn. He was leaning against a tree with his arms crossed over his chest. His brows were drawn together, and he looked absolutely broody.

"Aragorn," Gandalf said as he walked up. Aragorn turned and looked Gandalf in the eye, "Don't be angry with Pippin, he's--"

"I'm not angry with him Gandalf," Aragorn said, throwing his arms down to his sides, "I just...is there any way he could be right?" Aragorn sounded desperate.

"I...I don't know," his eyes glassed over somewhat, "I cannot see how he would be able talk to Legolas. I think most likely he was having a dream." Aragorn looked disappointed. "I know he was feeling some guilt over Legolas and Gimli falling in the first place, this may be his way of dealing with it."

Aragorn rubbed his eyes with his hand.

"It's just..." he began.

"I know, Aragorn, it is hard to bear. Come, let us go. We must get a move on in any case," and with that he turned and left, the solemn ranger following.

When they arrived back, Gandalf announced that they would be taking up the path once more.

"So we're not going back then?" Pippin said, seeming a bit angry.

Gandalf considered his words carefully. "It would take two days, perhaps more, time we do not have," Pippin's eyebrows creased. "If Legolas is alive and well, as you say he is, then surely he will find us. If he is...if it was only a dream, then we will not lose any time looking for him."

It was a fair compromise, in Pippin's mind, but not one that he wanted to settle for.

"Come now, we must continue on."

After about half an hour of travel, Aragorn dropped to the rear of the company where Pippin was walking. He laid a hand on Pippin's shoulder to slow him and let the rest of the fellowship get a little ahead of them. After a moment he spoke.

"I would...like to apologize for yelling at you earlier, Pippin," he said in a quiet voice. Pippin looked up at him. "I know you were only trying to help. I just--"

"It's alright, I understand," Pippin said cutting him off. He smiled up at the weather beaten Ranger of the North.

"Good then. Come on let's catch up."

Pippin smiled and jogged to catch up with the Fellowship. To Aragorn, the matter was resolved, but to Pippin, it wasn't in the least. Legolas was alive, but well? Not at all. He needed help. Pippin silently began to form his plan.