*boot's self to the head** falls to floor and stays there to hide from various other heavy and sharp objects being flung at her face* Okay, so it's been a while...too long. I haven't had much time on my hands, and when I have had time, my sister (FireValkyrie)was on the computer writing *her* fanfic. *Boromir proceeds to boot sister in the head**sister is not moving* Good work, Boromir! On another note, my team won our waterpolo game against Buena Park today! *does happy dance; notices hobbits mimicking her dance and stops* Stop it! Back in the woods you go! *Hobbits scamper back into my story* Now stay there until I'm done with you! *hobbits yell no acknowledgment of order back* Bloody halflings...

To those of you with enough patience to tolerate my attention span and help me break 100 reviews on this story:

********

Barbara Kennedy: A stubborn, good-natured Pippin is the best kind of Pippin to have!

Leah: Don't you want to sink *your* teeth into Legolas? I know I do! *Legolas appears mortified* We all know it's the fan-girls who do the real damage:)

Starlit Hope: I look into my Palantir, and...wait I don't have one! You shouldn't either!

Ancalimawen: I had to read through it like 5 times just to make sure I had it written down properly.

Lembas Pot: I was thinking about the whole tree's passing him to the Fellowship, and it would have worked, but it would have taken the whole dream sequence out, and that's a major point in my story. I made it impossible by making Legolas emerge from the water on the other side of the river. Good advice tho!:)

Marauderluver4-ever: Well I wouldn't say 'not insane'. We all get a little crazy from time to time...*Legolas is terribly worried about his fate*

elfmage: Well, thanks for taking all of 10 seconds to review:) In response to your response, THANKS! AT SOME POINT! ABSOLUTELY! YOU KNOW IT! AWWW, REALLY? COOL! LOVERLY LONG! I CAN SEE THAT! NO REASON! THANKS FOR HELPING ME REACH 100 REVIEWS! I FEEL SO SPECIAL! THANX A LOT!

Beguile: SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP! *quickly sets up defense system around house, complete with axe wielding Naugrim, and Elvish archers on the roof**hides under blankets with computer*

Sparrow Greenleaf: Eager are we?

FireValkyrie: You Trollop! No one from the Fellowship wants you...save Gollum, but hey, he's gotta have his precious!

********

Problems Along The Way

Chapter 12

You Walk a Lonely Road

********

Legolas woke with a start. He almost attempted to sit up, but thought better of it as his senses came back to him. Fire was in every intake of breath. He let loose a moan of pain, and slowly propped himself up on his elbows. His chest was still bound tightly, if not a little too painfully so. He glanced down at his throbbing leg and sighed in exasperation. The bindings hung loose around the torn flesh, and the whole thing was a bloody mess.

He laid back down flat on the ground, and tried to breathe a little less painfully for a while. A chill breeze was blowing in the near-by trees, but he couldn't hear it over the sound of the falls. The sky was a deep purply-orange mix as the sun descended into the west. Nightfall was fast approaching.

The Pride of Mirkwood was getting irritated. //If I had to black out again, couldn't I just wake up in the morning?! At least that way I wouldn't have to think about finding a safe place to sleep...// He stopped himself there. Instead of irritation, he now felt shame. He was letting the situation get the best of him, and his emotions take hold.

He took a moment to compose himself, and a few deep, painful breaths of air. The world here smelled fresh, but it seemed to him that the wind was missing something...//The sea air!// The salt he had smelled was still fresh in his mind. His odd experience at the shore came back to him.

"Pippin!" he said aloud in realization. He had spoken with the young hobbit, but how? Mortals did not travel to the dreams worlds the way that elves did, why should Pippin be any different? He thought back fondly on the way the hobbit looked when he realized that Legolas was alive.

"He seemed so happy..." Legolas suddenly felt immensely warm and happy inside, and the chill wind no longer troubled him. He almost felt himself again. He frowned. //Estel will not be so quick to believe, the little one is very excitable after all...// Legolas thought, the shadow of a smile on his face.

Legolas knew that he had to try and find his way to the Fellowship. What if Pippin started thinking it was a dream and nothing more? Or the others brushed it off as such?

//No, I cannot only rely on the hobbit. He may try to help me, but I must help myself.//

He slowly pulled himself into a sitting position. With much effort, he was able to re-wrap his calf so that it no longer bled. It was tight, but he was no longer expecting to do any running. All of his muscles ached from his flight from the warg, //But at least I'm clean and no longer have to worry about being pursued by it// he thought blandly.

He painfully pulled himself up into a standing position, trying to put all of his weight on his good leg. The earth was moist and cool beneath his feat, and spray from the falls collected in little beads on his chest. He recalled with dismay that both his soft leather shoes and his hunting tunic were off in some unknown location in the forest.

The sky grew darker, for no stars had yet come out, and Legolas resigned to the fact that he must go on without his outerwear. Being carried through the trees left no tracks nor trail to follow, and he didn't really know where he started out from anyway.

With a strong will, and newfound resolution, he began to pick a path down the side of the steep ravine to cross the water below. Little did he know, it was the same path Aragorn had chosen only three days prior.

********

The Fellowship walked until a few hours before dawn the next morning, at which time they were all thoroughly exhausted. It felt to Pippin as though the ground had a steadily growing incline. Gandalf said that they were getting closer to the mountains, and the ground would rise and fall as they went. Pippin couldn't see any change in incline, especially one going down, but the area was densely wooded and he couldn't see far into the distance.

Ancient trees with dark green glossy leaves populated the area, and it was under these trees that the Fellowship stopped for the day. Pippin plopped immediately to the ground and sucked air through clenched teeth at the pain in his leg. Aragorn had bandaged it before they left, but the wounds the warg from the cave left there were not quick to heal.

Aragorn noted this display from the little Hobbit and came to his side. He knelt down on the ground where Pippin sat clutching his leg.

"Does it pain you much?" he asked with concern in his voice.

"Not so much as before, but we have been walking for quite some time. I suppose my legs would hurt from that either way though..." he trailed off.

"Here let me see," Aragorn said, taking his short leg in hand and beginning to unwrap the bandages he had put there the previous evening. Aragorn was being so kind to him, Pippin almost felt guilty for what he was going to do. //But it's for his own good. For all of us...//

The wounds on Pippin's leg looked just as bad as they had when Aragorn first bandaged them, only now they weren't bleeding and the three red stripes were inflamed from sweat getting into them on the days hike. Pippin cringed at the sight. Merry sat on his knees next to Pippin as Aragorn dabbed Pippin's leg with a damp cloth.

"That doesn't look at all good, Pippin," he said, sounding very much like Pippins father, Paladin.

"Well, it's not as if I intended to be hurt," Pippin said with a frown.

"The wounds are none too deep, but even a small scratch from such a dark creature would be slow to heal," the Ranger said without looking up, "if they give you too much discomfort on the road, be sure to let me know," he said, now meeting Pippin's gaze.

He set about re-wrapping Pippin's leg with fresh bandages, but stopped and seemed to be deciding something. He stood and walked over to where he had lain his pack down by a tree. From inside that, he pulled out Legolas' smaller leather one and slowly began to rummage through it. He realized that the rest of the Fellowship was pretending not to watch him, so he pretended not to notice. After a moment or so, he seemed to find what he was looking for and walked back over to where Pippin and Merry were seated.

He knelt down on the ground and in his hand was a small jar, no bigger than a sun-ripened strawberry. Pippin thought that he could have closed his hand around it. It looked plain enough at first glance, cylindrical in shape, made of clear shining glass. At closer look, Pippin saw that all around the rim there was something engraved in elegant flowing Elvish that he couldn't read. The lid of the small jar bore a single intricately designed green leaf.

Pippin looked at it in wonder as Aragorn removed the lid. Boromir, whom Aragorn's back was currently turned to, was looking over at the Ranger trying to get a clear view of what it was Aragorn had removed from the pack. The contents of the jar smelled to Pippin like wild flowers, but resembled them in no way. It was a pallid yellow gel, that was not clear, but foggy.

Aragorn watched Pippin examine the little jar with wrapped attention, thought a moment, then gave Pippin the little lid to hold. Pippin took it, eyes wide in wonder, and turned it over in his little fingers. Merry bent in for a closer look, his eyes wide as Pippin's.

Aragorn was momentarily afraid that the little beings might break it. He quickly dismissed the notion, and began to dab Pippin's wounds with the Elvish salve.

Pippin, who was currently consumed with the Elven glass, didn't even take notice of the salve until he realized that his gashes on his leg no longer burned. He looked up in wonder at Aragorn, who was currently wrapping Pippin's leg with fresh bandages. Pippin gave the small lid back to Aragorn, who took it gingerly and replaced on the jar before going back to work.

Without looking up from what he was doing, Aragorn said in a steady, yet concerned voice, "Boromir?"

Boromir, thinking himself to be found out, stiffened, then quickly turned his back to Aragorn, lest the Ranger turn to face him. Busying himself in his pack, he answered back, "Yes?"

Aragorn, fully aware of what Boromir was doing, had a ghost of a smile playing on his face as he tuned to face the man of Gondor. "Does your shoulder ail you much?"

Now, totally unaware that he had in fact been found out, and feeling very clever, Boromir turned to face Aragon, "Nay, it does not pain me," he said shortly, not wanting to lose any dignity in admitting a weakness. In actuality, Boromir felt as though dozens of knives of fire had been prodding into his shoulder all day.

Understanding the situation fully, Aragorn replied, "I should want to take a look at it in any case," trying to accommodate both of their wishes.

"Do not trouble yourself," Boromir said, his voice stiff and uncompromising.

"It should be re-wrapped, whether it pains you or not," Aragorn said, irritation clear in his voice. //Why does he have to be so stubborn?//

The rest of the Fellowship were 'not listening' to see who would win the match of wits as they went about their own tasks of setting up camp.

"True though that may be, I am fully capable of doing so myself," Boromir said, looking to Gandalf for support. For his part, Gandalf pretended not to notice Boromir's pleading gaze.

Aragorn shrugged his shoulders, sighed audibly, and said in a rather tired voice, "Would you humor me then?!"

Boromir's eyes searched around frantically for an excuse not to do so, and his gaze settled on a little Hobbit who was currently examining his own bandages. Pippin looked up at Boromir and raised his eyebrows expectantly with a little smile. Boromir sighed. He looked up at Aragorn at a loss for words, nodded slightly, and began to remove his heavy outer cloak.

Aragorn looked at Pippin for an explanation as to what he had done, and Pippin shrugged for and answer.

As for Boromir's shoulder, Aragorn had all the proof he needed to know that the man was in immense pain as soon as he saw the wound. As a rule, the Captain of Gondor kept his body in perfect physical condition, which made Aragorn all the more irritated that he would try to brush off a wound such as this.

His normally broad, muscular shoulders were in poor shape, and looked terribly painful to move. His left shoulder was inflamed and had a dozen or so puncture wounds from the wargs teeth on the front and back. Boromir sat in silence, trying to show no outward sign of his discomfort as Aragorn tended his shoulder. He studied the Elvish jar containing salve as the Ranger applied it to his wounds. He was amazed at how well it worked, and marveled at the skill of the Elves.

Aragorn bound the injured shoulder, tighter than Boromir would have liked or was comfortable with, and then sat down to eat the cold food that Sam offered him. Boromir quickly re-dressed and bundled himself up on his blanket to eat. The stars were high in the sky, and they shined brightly through the trees.

"We should set a watch," Gandalf said, taking his pipe from his mouth.

"I shall take first watch," Aragorn said standing up. Pippin was horrified, but tried not to let it show on his face. //If he's not asleep, it won't work!// Pippin thought in a panic. Unknowingly, Gandalf came to the rescue.

"Not you, Aragorn," at this, the Ranger looked highly affronted, "I want you to take some rest for once--"

"I will rest, Gandalf," he said matter of factly.

"--for the entire night...or day, as it will soon be," Aragorn frowned, "not once on this journey have you taken a full night's rest. Three others will watch in two hour shifts."

Pippin took his chance. "I'll take watch Gandalf. It would take me at least two hours to get to sleep, anyway, what with my leg and all, and the stars are so bright tonight," he looked up for emphasis. For a fleeting moment, Pippin feared that Gandalf would see through him.

But it appeared that he had the old Wizard fooled. "Very well, young Hobbit. You will take the first watch, Merry the second, and Boromir the third." Aragorn sat down in an irritated huff, and the rest of the Company laid down as well. Pippin made himself comfortable, bundled up on a log to take the first watch. Gandalf had suspected that the little hobbit had alterior motives for taking first watch, but didn't want to trouble Aragorn by saying so. He trusted in the fact that if anything were to happen, either he or the Ranger would wake in time, as Aragorn had a habit of doing.

Aragorn was a different story. He was certain that Pippin was planning something, but was curious as to what the Hobbit was actually going to do. Pippin was exhausted, Aragorn could see that, so why would he volunteer to lose sleep? The weary Ranger made up his mind to let Pippin do what he was going to do, then stop him if it seemed at all dangerous for the little one. He laid down on his blanket and feigned sleep.

Pippin sat on his log carefully going over where they had gone that evening in his head. He had paid special attention to his surroundings on this hike, and was trying to create a mental picture of a map. //Oh, if only I had Frodo's head for maps//, he thought to himself.

He sat on that log for a good hour-and-a-half, and when he was absolutely sure that each remaining member of the Fellowship was asleep, and the sky was beginning to lighten, he silently rose from his post. He crept across the camp to where he saw Aragorn sleeping peacefully, and crouched down by the Ranger.

Aragorn, who had also been waiting for nearly two hours, kept his breathing deep and even, mimicking the calm peacefulness of sleep. His back was to Pippin, but he felt the hobbit at his side. Perfectly silent, and with the utmost care, Pippin reached over Aragorn, and grasped what he was looking for. Aragorn cracked open an eye, unseen by Pippin, and watched as his little comrade wrapped his fingers around Legolas' full quiver, complete with white knives. Pippin held fast to the arrows to prevent them from sliding across one another. Once more, he reached over the 'sleeping' Ranger, and Aragorn watched as Pippin lifted Legolas bow over him as well.

For what it was worth, the Tracker admired the little Hobbit's stealth. Pippin made no noise whatsoever, and had Aragorn not known that he was going to try something, he doubted that he would have awoken when Pippin came near. After a moment, Aragorn felt Pippin leave his side. From the far side of the camp, barely audible over to sound of dew dropping from leaves, he heard tiny footfalls as their owner disappeared into the woods.

Aragorn rose from his bed on the floor. Light was slowly washing over the sky, and he could see that Pippin had gone back in the direction that the Fellowship had come. "Oh, Pippin..." he said under his breath. He looked at the rest of the Fellowship sleeping peacefully on the forest floor. He could not leave them unguarded. //But who to wake?//

He could not wake the any of the Hobbits, they would be far to excitable in such a matter. Gandalf...to Aragorn, he seemed like a last resort. That left Boromir and Gimli. He looked at the Man and the Dwarf and quickly made up his mind. He knelt down and spoke softly as he gently shook his companion awake.

"Boromir..." Boromir groaned softly, and Aragorn scolded himself for shaking the man's injured shoulder. Boromir's eyes fluttered open and he stared up at Aragorn, trying to focus.

"Is it time for my watch?" he said groggily.

"No...well, yes--sort of," Aragorn said quietly, looking off into the surrounding trees. Boromir sat up, more awake now and stared Aragorn in the face.

"What has happened?" he asked in a hushed voice.

"Pippin has run off, and taken Legolas' weapons with him," he said, his eyes in the direction that Pippin had left in.

Boromir was starting to stand. "Should we wake Mithrandir?" he asked with a nod in Gandalf's direction.

"No," Aragorn said after a moment, "I'm going after Pippin, and I need you to protect the others should anything happen." For reasons unbeknownst to Boromir, he felt a twinge of pride at being chosen over the Dwarf. "Say nothing to Gandalf unless he wakes and asks," Boromir nodded and walked with the Ranger to the edge of camp, "I shall try to return swiftly."

Aragorn turned and took a step away, but Boromir stopped him. "Aragorn?" Aragorn looked at him expectantly, "Be careful," he said at last. Aragorn smiled genuinely, and clasped Boromir's hand. With a nod, he turned and set about tracking Pippin.

********

Well, how do you like it? *Legolas nods in approval* For the record, the idea of Legolas carrying salve with him came from another story, though it's uses and description are all from me. Please R/R!