Another month gone by, another chapter of story eeked out of my head...eww, mental picture. Legolas grimaces in response I'm very proud of a couple of you. You seem to be right on track with what I'm doing. I got deterred for a while by the third Harry Potter movie, but I've seen it twice now, and I've sworn off reading fanfic for a while (a sin, I know. I even had to give up my beta-ing duties!). Hopefully I'll be able to keep myself on track this summer. If I don't, feel free to harass me via e-mail. Legolas happily logs onto Yahoo to begin the assault
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Problems Along the Way
Chapter 17
Walking Wounded
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"And you are just a poncy Elf who wouldn't know a rock in his path from the flat ground!" Gimli yelled at the Elf in frustration. The yelling match had been going on for ten minutes at least. It began when Gandalf called for a rest around sundown. Legolas had lowered himself to the ground, placing his hand flat on a large stone and staring intently into it's face. Gimli had made a remark about accosting innocent stones, to which Legolas replied he was feeling the presence of Elves who had dwelled there in the past. Gimli said no self respecting rock would bother to remember a "flitty, weakling Elf," and it had escalated from there.
Legolas, now standing fully upright, shouted, "On the contrary, Master Dwarf, I spotted you, did I not?!" Gimli fumed, his face turning a burning shade of purple.
"If I were in your place, I wouldn't jest about stones with a dwarf" Gimli warned, narrowing his eyes.
"If you were in my place," Legolas shot back, feeling particularly vindictive, "you would be able to see over the next shrubbery."
Gimli gripped his axe tighter and took a step towards Legolas. With speed unexplainable given his current condition, Legolas whipped his white knives from their sheathes on his back.
Gandalf moved between the two. "Enough!" he called out, staring at each of them in turn.
Gimli did not strike, but it was not Gandalf that made him hold back. As he and Legolas glared into each other's eyes, Gimli saw something that he had not seen before. Normally, the Elf was a picture of tranquillity, even when Gimli knew he was furious. The difference, Gimli realized, was that Legolas wasn't even trying to mask his emotions. He saw in Legolas' eyes the fiery anger that the dwarf often evoked in him, mixed with an icy cold malice. His normally flawless Elvish countenance was twisted into an expression of rage, his eyes narrowed, and the welts and bruises on his face excentuating the deep shadows beneath his steely blue eyes. The dwarf's own rage was overwhelmed by the icy chill the elf sent into him. Legolas' appearance wasn't just uncommon for the elf; it was downright unnatural.
Gimli lowered his axe and stepped back. Something flashed across Legolas' eyes. He blinked and sheathed his weapons, turning away from the dwarf. Aragorn let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He looked around at the others, who continued on with their individual tasks, and then he made his way over to Legolas.
Legolas stared off into the distance, searching the horizon for answers. A golden sun sent rays of pink and orange darting into the sky, but he could find no warmth in them. what was happening to him? Truth be told, when he had knelt to the ground, it was not to hear of past elves. The stones did speak of past inhabitants, but for the last hour or so, Legolas had been trying to block them out. He had been to dizzy to stand any longer when Mithrandir had called a halt, and was forced to kneel to keep from openly falling over. He felt sick to his stomach, and thinking about his actions toward Gimli only made the ground spin faster. He closed his eyes to block out the world, but realized he was being spoken to.
"What?" Legolas asked, turning to face Aragorn, "Did you say something?"
At first the Ranger thought that Legolas was being derisive, but realized the elf had genuinely not heard him. "I said that I think it's time to change the bandages on your leg," Aragorn said, motioning toward the leg that he noticed Legolas was not putting any weight on.
Legolas looked down at his wounded leg, which he noticed had begun to bleed through previous bandages. Though his hip had pained him steadily through the day after being popped back into the socket, and his calf had long ago gone numb with the pain of walking on it, it was getting some feeling back, and the pain was starting to cut at him once more. Legolas looked the Ranger in the eye. He wanted to argue, to say that if his bandages needed to be changed, he could do it himself. He opened his mouth to protest, but as he put weight in his leg, the ground lurched violently, and he was forced to grab Aragorn's shoulder to keep from falling down.
Aragorn looked around, relieved, for Legolas' sake, that none of the other seemed to notice the elf's lack of balance. He turned and looked his friend in the eye. Too weary and too dizzy to argue any longer, Legolas merely nodded and turned to sit down on a boulder.
The last shimmering rays of light played among the glossy green leaves of the trees as the sun went down. Aragorn removed a water-skin and a roll of bandages from his pack, and knelt down by Legolas' leg. For a moment, Legolas was entranced by the shimmering leaves, but he was brought back down to reality when Aragorn began to remove his bandages. He grimaced and his stomach lurched as the evening air rushed over his torn skin. His sharp intake of breath alerted Aragorn to his discomfort.
"Sorry," Aragorn said with a glance upward.
"It's alright," Legolas said, barely above a whisper.
Aragorn wanted to say something more, but he couldn't read Legolas' eyes, so he decided to keep conversation to a minimum. He grimaced when he got all of the bandages off of Legolas' calf. It was starting to look like his leg again, but it was swollen around the gashes and was bleeding once more. He dabbed at the wound with a wet cloth, and all the muscles in Legolas' leg tightened as he did so. He stopped and looked up at the elf. Legolas had his eyes shut tight, and was clutching at the rock which he sat upon. His breathing was deep and uneven, and Aragorn placed a hand on his forearm. Legolas jumped.
"If it pains you this badly, my friend, you should have said something," Aragorn stared into Legolas' eyes.
Legolas did not meet his gaze. "I refuse to slow down the Company. We've lost about two days already, and we can't afford any more."
Aragorn moved to reply, but Sam walked up carrying two plates, each bearing a chunk of bread and some dried meat. "I've brought you something to eat," he said in a quiet voice, setting the plates down by Aragorn.
"Thank you, Sam," the Ranger replied.
Sam took a look at Legolas' leg and drew his brows together. "That doesn't look too good, Mr. Legolas," said Sam, concern on his plump little face.
"No it doesn't Sam," Legolas replied weakly.
"You know, my Gaffer says that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
"Your Gaffer is a wise man," replied Aragorn, an amused sort of look on his face.
"Course, my Gaffer's no healer," Sam had his hands behind his back, and was rocking back and forth while he spoke, "but he's seen his share of farm accidents."
"Indeed," said Aragorn, not bothering to hide his smile.
"Once, Fatty Bolger, he's a friend back in the shire," began Sam, looking pointedly at Legolas to be sure he was listening, "well, he slipped on a patch of ice and landed right smack on the hoe sitting in the front garden. Well, you can bet he was laid up in bed for a while, but once his leg healed up, he was fine and dandy, and I'll be darned if he's not careful about where he steps now."
Aragorn didn't bother to tell Sam that a scratch from a warg was much worse than a gardening accident. Legolas was smiling at Sam, despite himself, and Aragorn began to wrap up his leg once more.
Sam watched Aragorn work for a moment before saying, "Well, if you need anything, Mr. Legolas, I'd be happy to get it for you."
"Thank you, Sam," said Legolas, his smile genuine. For a moment, Aragorn saw Legolas as he had always seen him in the past. He looked content, not scornful, with his patience for the simpleness of Sam never wavering.
"Well, I best go see to Bill," said Sam, walking away.
Aragorn watched Sam walk away to where Bill was chomping happily on some grass, then he turned to finish wrapping up Legolas's leg before he ate his meal. Legolas was once again staring into the trees.
"It's healing well," Aragorn said, to break the silence.
"That is well," Legolas replied in an airy voice. There was another awkward silence in which Aragorn took a bite of his bread and let himself fall comfortably to his backside on the ground.
"You should eat," he said, motioning towards the plate of food.
"I'm not hungry."
"You have not have much food in days."
"So what's one more meal going to hurt?" Legolas said, soundig exhasperated.
There was another silence, broken by a noise that made Aragorn reach for his sword, and Legolas jump up, despite his leg. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was only Merry snoring. Aragorn turned back to Legolas and a wave of concern washed over him as Legolas tried to sit back down and nearly missed the boulder.
"Gandalf," said the Ranger, striding to the old wizard, "perhaps we should make camp here for a few hours, then take up the road under the cover of darkness."
Gandalf cast a knowing eye in Legolas' direction. The elf pointedly stared back.
"Perhaps you are right," said Gandalf, taking out his pipe, "And besides, I doubt even a troll could wake our young Master Meriadoc now," he finished with a chuckle.
Merry snored, almost indignantly, louder and Pippin gave him a hard poke inthe ribs with his toes.
"I shall take first watch," said Aragorn, staring Gandalf intently in the eye as he did so. Gandalf gave a short nod, and Boromir offered to take second watch.
While the others slept, the hobbits in their comfy pile and the others in their respective bed rolls, Legolas sat, still, staring up into the trees. After a while, Aragorn sat down next to him in silence.
Legolas sighed deeply, and Aragorn, too, stared into the leaves. A gentle wind rusled through the grasses.
"Do they speak to you?" Aragorn asked, not taking his eyes off the trees.
"Yes," Legolas answered off-handedly.
Aragorn turned to him, "Do they bring ill news?"
"Not that we have not already heard of."
"Then why are you so forelorn?"
Legolas turned his eyes to the ground. "We did not stop because the little ones were tired."
"You saw Merry. He didn't even ask for seconds before he went to sleep," Aragorn said with a half smile. Legolas did not smile in return.
"They have been tired before and yet we did not halt,"said Legolas.
"Perhaps they were not so tired before as they are now," Aragorn countered.
Legolas turned to the man now, righteously harried by the verbal antics. "Don't feign ignorance, Estel."
"If you can act as though nothing is wrong, so can I," Aragorn answered in a haughty voice.
Legolas sighed once more and cast his eyes down once more. "You know me to well for your own good, Dunedain."
"Obviously not well enough, else I would know what plagues you mind so." Legolas was silent. "If you would but tell me what troubles you--"
"I do not know myself any longer, Estel..."
Aragorn was silent as he waited for Legolas to continue.
"My actions preceed my thoughts. My thoughts...often are betrayed by my actions...thoughts I don't even know to be mine own."
"True, you have not been yourself lately, but the journey didn't exactly start out idealy," Aragorn said thoughtfully.
"I have had rough journeys before. This is different..." Legolas felt overwehlming relief almost instantly as he spoke to Aragorn. His thoughts and actions had been weighing heavily on his bruised and wearied shoulders. "My people are fast healers. Even while injured we have control over our minds, but...I feel as though I'm loosing mine."
"What do you mean?" Aragorn asked a little too loudly. Pippin rolled over in his sleep, and Merry groaned as he was forced to move over. When all was quiet once more, Legolas continued.
"The world spins whenever I open my eyes. Even walking takes effort to stay upright. I cannot stomach much more than water, else it would end up on the ground," Legolas continued in disgust, "every sound is overwelming, yet not detailed enough to hear clearly. And the bells..." Legolas trailed off.
Aragorn had been slowely gaining a comprehension for his friends troubles as he spoke, but at the last sentance, he started, turning to Legolas in confusion. "Bells?" He asked.
"They sound near, but...far off. I mean the sound comes from all around when I hear it, but...thin, somehow. Like a song in the wind...It calls to me," Legolas finished, gazing off into the distance.
"This does not bode well Legolas," Aragorn said, concern etched on his face, "You should have spoken sooner."
"I supposed you'd think me crazed, or weak, or--," he paused, and Aragorn placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I have never thought you weak, my friend," Aragorn said solemly.
Legolas smiled, letting himself fall into the safety Aragorn's confidence in him brought. Aragorn smiled as well. He looked around, and turning to Legolas, he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"But secretly," Aragorn's grin widened significantly as he spoke, and Legolas leaned closer, eager to hear whatever secret Estel would divulge, "I've thought you half-crazed since the day I met you."
Legolas scoffed and pushed Aragorn off the boulder on which they both sat.
"Well, I see your arms are at full strength," said Aragorn from his landing place on the ground.
"You humans are impossible," said Legolas with the princley air he used to annuy Estel.
"Oh, and you elves to easily offended," said Aragorn, standing up from the ground. The two shared a smile, feeling for the first time, as normaly as they had in the past. Aragorn became serious once more. "I think you should rest now, my friend."
"So now you're in charge, are you?" said Legolas, still jesting.
"I've always been in charge of you, especially when you are hearing things." The friendly jibe hit Legolas dead on, and though he knew the Ranger was jesting with him, he realized his concern. He was tired, yes, but he wouldn't give in without a fight.
"I dare say not. You could not force me to do anything I had set my mind not to do," Legolas quipped back.
"Perhaps not I, but there are others who can," Aragorn said craftily.
"What will you do, tell my father?" Legolas said.
"No, I'll tell mine. And you recall, he can be very persuassive."
"I would not break under the pressure," Legolas said in mock daring.
"But if all three of us rallied against you?"
"You, Lord Elrond, and my own father? Truly a force to be reckoned with. I shall take my rest," Legolas said, weakly, but good-naturedly just the same, and he unsteadily rose, walked to the nearset tree, and lay down beneath it with his hands folder across his chest. As soon as Aragorn saw Legolas' eyes glaze over and his breathing become deep and even, he went silently and woke Gandalf.
"What's wrong?" asked the wizard, instantly awake.
"Legolas."
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Welps, that the end of that one. Hope you liked it. Please R/R!
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Problems Along the Way
Chapter 17
Walking Wounded
=======
"And you are just a poncy Elf who wouldn't know a rock in his path from the flat ground!" Gimli yelled at the Elf in frustration. The yelling match had been going on for ten minutes at least. It began when Gandalf called for a rest around sundown. Legolas had lowered himself to the ground, placing his hand flat on a large stone and staring intently into it's face. Gimli had made a remark about accosting innocent stones, to which Legolas replied he was feeling the presence of Elves who had dwelled there in the past. Gimli said no self respecting rock would bother to remember a "flitty, weakling Elf," and it had escalated from there.
Legolas, now standing fully upright, shouted, "On the contrary, Master Dwarf, I spotted you, did I not?!" Gimli fumed, his face turning a burning shade of purple.
"If I were in your place, I wouldn't jest about stones with a dwarf" Gimli warned, narrowing his eyes.
"If you were in my place," Legolas shot back, feeling particularly vindictive, "you would be able to see over the next shrubbery."
Gimli gripped his axe tighter and took a step towards Legolas. With speed unexplainable given his current condition, Legolas whipped his white knives from their sheathes on his back.
Gandalf moved between the two. "Enough!" he called out, staring at each of them in turn.
Gimli did not strike, but it was not Gandalf that made him hold back. As he and Legolas glared into each other's eyes, Gimli saw something that he had not seen before. Normally, the Elf was a picture of tranquillity, even when Gimli knew he was furious. The difference, Gimli realized, was that Legolas wasn't even trying to mask his emotions. He saw in Legolas' eyes the fiery anger that the dwarf often evoked in him, mixed with an icy cold malice. His normally flawless Elvish countenance was twisted into an expression of rage, his eyes narrowed, and the welts and bruises on his face excentuating the deep shadows beneath his steely blue eyes. The dwarf's own rage was overwhelmed by the icy chill the elf sent into him. Legolas' appearance wasn't just uncommon for the elf; it was downright unnatural.
Gimli lowered his axe and stepped back. Something flashed across Legolas' eyes. He blinked and sheathed his weapons, turning away from the dwarf. Aragorn let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding. He looked around at the others, who continued on with their individual tasks, and then he made his way over to Legolas.
Legolas stared off into the distance, searching the horizon for answers. A golden sun sent rays of pink and orange darting into the sky, but he could find no warmth in them. what was happening to him? Truth be told, when he had knelt to the ground, it was not to hear of past elves. The stones did speak of past inhabitants, but for the last hour or so, Legolas had been trying to block them out. He had been to dizzy to stand any longer when Mithrandir had called a halt, and was forced to kneel to keep from openly falling over. He felt sick to his stomach, and thinking about his actions toward Gimli only made the ground spin faster. He closed his eyes to block out the world, but realized he was being spoken to.
"What?" Legolas asked, turning to face Aragorn, "Did you say something?"
At first the Ranger thought that Legolas was being derisive, but realized the elf had genuinely not heard him. "I said that I think it's time to change the bandages on your leg," Aragorn said, motioning toward the leg that he noticed Legolas was not putting any weight on.
Legolas looked down at his wounded leg, which he noticed had begun to bleed through previous bandages. Though his hip had pained him steadily through the day after being popped back into the socket, and his calf had long ago gone numb with the pain of walking on it, it was getting some feeling back, and the pain was starting to cut at him once more. Legolas looked the Ranger in the eye. He wanted to argue, to say that if his bandages needed to be changed, he could do it himself. He opened his mouth to protest, but as he put weight in his leg, the ground lurched violently, and he was forced to grab Aragorn's shoulder to keep from falling down.
Aragorn looked around, relieved, for Legolas' sake, that none of the other seemed to notice the elf's lack of balance. He turned and looked his friend in the eye. Too weary and too dizzy to argue any longer, Legolas merely nodded and turned to sit down on a boulder.
The last shimmering rays of light played among the glossy green leaves of the trees as the sun went down. Aragorn removed a water-skin and a roll of bandages from his pack, and knelt down by Legolas' leg. For a moment, Legolas was entranced by the shimmering leaves, but he was brought back down to reality when Aragorn began to remove his bandages. He grimaced and his stomach lurched as the evening air rushed over his torn skin. His sharp intake of breath alerted Aragorn to his discomfort.
"Sorry," Aragorn said with a glance upward.
"It's alright," Legolas said, barely above a whisper.
Aragorn wanted to say something more, but he couldn't read Legolas' eyes, so he decided to keep conversation to a minimum. He grimaced when he got all of the bandages off of Legolas' calf. It was starting to look like his leg again, but it was swollen around the gashes and was bleeding once more. He dabbed at the wound with a wet cloth, and all the muscles in Legolas' leg tightened as he did so. He stopped and looked up at the elf. Legolas had his eyes shut tight, and was clutching at the rock which he sat upon. His breathing was deep and uneven, and Aragorn placed a hand on his forearm. Legolas jumped.
"If it pains you this badly, my friend, you should have said something," Aragorn stared into Legolas' eyes.
Legolas did not meet his gaze. "I refuse to slow down the Company. We've lost about two days already, and we can't afford any more."
Aragorn moved to reply, but Sam walked up carrying two plates, each bearing a chunk of bread and some dried meat. "I've brought you something to eat," he said in a quiet voice, setting the plates down by Aragorn.
"Thank you, Sam," the Ranger replied.
Sam took a look at Legolas' leg and drew his brows together. "That doesn't look too good, Mr. Legolas," said Sam, concern on his plump little face.
"No it doesn't Sam," Legolas replied weakly.
"You know, my Gaffer says that whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger."
"Your Gaffer is a wise man," replied Aragorn, an amused sort of look on his face.
"Course, my Gaffer's no healer," Sam had his hands behind his back, and was rocking back and forth while he spoke, "but he's seen his share of farm accidents."
"Indeed," said Aragorn, not bothering to hide his smile.
"Once, Fatty Bolger, he's a friend back in the shire," began Sam, looking pointedly at Legolas to be sure he was listening, "well, he slipped on a patch of ice and landed right smack on the hoe sitting in the front garden. Well, you can bet he was laid up in bed for a while, but once his leg healed up, he was fine and dandy, and I'll be darned if he's not careful about where he steps now."
Aragorn didn't bother to tell Sam that a scratch from a warg was much worse than a gardening accident. Legolas was smiling at Sam, despite himself, and Aragorn began to wrap up his leg once more.
Sam watched Aragorn work for a moment before saying, "Well, if you need anything, Mr. Legolas, I'd be happy to get it for you."
"Thank you, Sam," said Legolas, his smile genuine. For a moment, Aragorn saw Legolas as he had always seen him in the past. He looked content, not scornful, with his patience for the simpleness of Sam never wavering.
"Well, I best go see to Bill," said Sam, walking away.
Aragorn watched Sam walk away to where Bill was chomping happily on some grass, then he turned to finish wrapping up Legolas's leg before he ate his meal. Legolas was once again staring into the trees.
"It's healing well," Aragorn said, to break the silence.
"That is well," Legolas replied in an airy voice. There was another awkward silence in which Aragorn took a bite of his bread and let himself fall comfortably to his backside on the ground.
"You should eat," he said, motioning towards the plate of food.
"I'm not hungry."
"You have not have much food in days."
"So what's one more meal going to hurt?" Legolas said, soundig exhasperated.
There was another silence, broken by a noise that made Aragorn reach for his sword, and Legolas jump up, despite his leg. He breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it was only Merry snoring. Aragorn turned back to Legolas and a wave of concern washed over him as Legolas tried to sit back down and nearly missed the boulder.
"Gandalf," said the Ranger, striding to the old wizard, "perhaps we should make camp here for a few hours, then take up the road under the cover of darkness."
Gandalf cast a knowing eye in Legolas' direction. The elf pointedly stared back.
"Perhaps you are right," said Gandalf, taking out his pipe, "And besides, I doubt even a troll could wake our young Master Meriadoc now," he finished with a chuckle.
Merry snored, almost indignantly, louder and Pippin gave him a hard poke inthe ribs with his toes.
"I shall take first watch," said Aragorn, staring Gandalf intently in the eye as he did so. Gandalf gave a short nod, and Boromir offered to take second watch.
While the others slept, the hobbits in their comfy pile and the others in their respective bed rolls, Legolas sat, still, staring up into the trees. After a while, Aragorn sat down next to him in silence.
Legolas sighed deeply, and Aragorn, too, stared into the leaves. A gentle wind rusled through the grasses.
"Do they speak to you?" Aragorn asked, not taking his eyes off the trees.
"Yes," Legolas answered off-handedly.
Aragorn turned to him, "Do they bring ill news?"
"Not that we have not already heard of."
"Then why are you so forelorn?"
Legolas turned his eyes to the ground. "We did not stop because the little ones were tired."
"You saw Merry. He didn't even ask for seconds before he went to sleep," Aragorn said with a half smile. Legolas did not smile in return.
"They have been tired before and yet we did not halt,"said Legolas.
"Perhaps they were not so tired before as they are now," Aragorn countered.
Legolas turned to the man now, righteously harried by the verbal antics. "Don't feign ignorance, Estel."
"If you can act as though nothing is wrong, so can I," Aragorn answered in a haughty voice.
Legolas sighed once more and cast his eyes down once more. "You know me to well for your own good, Dunedain."
"Obviously not well enough, else I would know what plagues you mind so." Legolas was silent. "If you would but tell me what troubles you--"
"I do not know myself any longer, Estel..."
Aragorn was silent as he waited for Legolas to continue.
"My actions preceed my thoughts. My thoughts...often are betrayed by my actions...thoughts I don't even know to be mine own."
"True, you have not been yourself lately, but the journey didn't exactly start out idealy," Aragorn said thoughtfully.
"I have had rough journeys before. This is different..." Legolas felt overwehlming relief almost instantly as he spoke to Aragorn. His thoughts and actions had been weighing heavily on his bruised and wearied shoulders. "My people are fast healers. Even while injured we have control over our minds, but...I feel as though I'm loosing mine."
"What do you mean?" Aragorn asked a little too loudly. Pippin rolled over in his sleep, and Merry groaned as he was forced to move over. When all was quiet once more, Legolas continued.
"The world spins whenever I open my eyes. Even walking takes effort to stay upright. I cannot stomach much more than water, else it would end up on the ground," Legolas continued in disgust, "every sound is overwelming, yet not detailed enough to hear clearly. And the bells..." Legolas trailed off.
Aragorn had been slowely gaining a comprehension for his friends troubles as he spoke, but at the last sentance, he started, turning to Legolas in confusion. "Bells?" He asked.
"They sound near, but...far off. I mean the sound comes from all around when I hear it, but...thin, somehow. Like a song in the wind...It calls to me," Legolas finished, gazing off into the distance.
"This does not bode well Legolas," Aragorn said, concern etched on his face, "You should have spoken sooner."
"I supposed you'd think me crazed, or weak, or--," he paused, and Aragorn placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I have never thought you weak, my friend," Aragorn said solemly.
Legolas smiled, letting himself fall into the safety Aragorn's confidence in him brought. Aragorn smiled as well. He looked around, and turning to Legolas, he lowered his voice to a whisper.
"But secretly," Aragorn's grin widened significantly as he spoke, and Legolas leaned closer, eager to hear whatever secret Estel would divulge, "I've thought you half-crazed since the day I met you."
Legolas scoffed and pushed Aragorn off the boulder on which they both sat.
"Well, I see your arms are at full strength," said Aragorn from his landing place on the ground.
"You humans are impossible," said Legolas with the princley air he used to annuy Estel.
"Oh, and you elves to easily offended," said Aragorn, standing up from the ground. The two shared a smile, feeling for the first time, as normaly as they had in the past. Aragorn became serious once more. "I think you should rest now, my friend."
"So now you're in charge, are you?" said Legolas, still jesting.
"I've always been in charge of you, especially when you are hearing things." The friendly jibe hit Legolas dead on, and though he knew the Ranger was jesting with him, he realized his concern. He was tired, yes, but he wouldn't give in without a fight.
"I dare say not. You could not force me to do anything I had set my mind not to do," Legolas quipped back.
"Perhaps not I, but there are others who can," Aragorn said craftily.
"What will you do, tell my father?" Legolas said.
"No, I'll tell mine. And you recall, he can be very persuassive."
"I would not break under the pressure," Legolas said in mock daring.
"But if all three of us rallied against you?"
"You, Lord Elrond, and my own father? Truly a force to be reckoned with. I shall take my rest," Legolas said, weakly, but good-naturedly just the same, and he unsteadily rose, walked to the nearset tree, and lay down beneath it with his hands folder across his chest. As soon as Aragorn saw Legolas' eyes glaze over and his breathing become deep and even, he went silently and woke Gandalf.
"What's wrong?" asked the wizard, instantly awake.
"Legolas."
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Welps, that the end of that one. Hope you liked it. Please R/R!
