Um…disclaimer and junk as usual. Its on the other chapters. As for the delay…er…blame my professors. But now that its summer I'll actually be able to write things that are not essays and study guides now.

Err…. Italics are for thinking and underlining is for elvish. Frankly, I don't know of a better way to format this…with FFN's crazy editing thingy.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

As was his newly acquired custom, Legolas found himself sitting in a tall tree, his eyes riveted to the white walls of Minas Tirith. Below him, the beast horse grazed quietly.

I shouldn't be so obsessed. He was my friend. What would he think of me now, stalking his kingdom and refusing to leave with my own kind?

The forest smelled old, even to his senses. It had been razed by Sauron's armies, but was now flourishing again. The tree he sat in bore the black scars of the fires set by passing orcs.

He started when the beast whinnied below him. He was shifting uncomfortably back and forth around the bottom of the tree, tossing his black mane in the air as he stamped his hoof. Legolas could tell that the creature was angry, or surprised by something. Slipping from the branch, he landed next to the horse and tried to calm it down. But in its red eyes he could see intelligence, unhindered by fear. There must be something to truly be afraid of then.

Quickly pulling himself up onto the stallion's back he gripped his mane gently and the fell beast needed no more instruction to know that he needed to run. But now Legolas heard more than his own horse's hoof beats through the still of the forest. Smirking, he urged the beast on. Its leg had healed just fine, and he knew that they could easily outrun their pursuers.

In a flash it seemed that the forest closed in on them. The beast fell to the ground, throwing Legolas with him. But he did not fly through the air, but was trapped down to the ground, next to the thrashing horse. A thick brown net, covered in leaves from the trees above them was pressing him to the soft dirt. He tried to stand up, but found he could barely move. The weights on the sides of the net hardly seemed enough to hold him down, but then he noticed that he was less pushed down by the net than he was stuck to it.

"Got them!"

Legolas's head shot up at the shout and the approaching soldiers of Gondor. He struggled but couldn't free his arms from the sticky ropes enough to grab the daggers at his back. By now the beast had tired itself and lay panting, kicking its legs out only when the soldiers approached too close.

Three men circled them on tawny horses, two with swords drawn and one with a crossbow leveled at Legolas. The elf knew that if he could not cut his way free of this infernal trap that both he and the creature at his side would most likely be killed. Or worse, taken prisoner.

"Stop. Put away your weapons."

Legolas felt panic in his chest, bitter and strong, as another man rode up to them on a brown stallion the elf immediately recognized. The horse stopped and snorted, backing away from the two trapped under the net.

"Brego seems to not like something about your scent old friend. Or maybe that of your companion."

Aragorn dismounted and allowed Brego to back up to a distance he felt safe at. The king kept his hand securely around the hilt of his sword as he came closer to the elf and the fell beast.

"Let us out," Legolas said quietly.

The soldiers of Gondor looked between their king and the captive, unsure of what had just been said. He motioned for them to put their weapons away and they obeyed.

"Us? I have no problem releasing you, but in case you didn't notice, there is a Ringwraith's horse in there with you."

Legolas snorted.

"I had noticed, yes. But trust me, he's no danger. Now let us out."

Aragorn was surprised by the cold look in the elf's eyes. He knew that elves hated feeling trapped, but he still worried about the creature that lay next to him. Within a moment he made his decision, and approached Legolas, drawing his sword out as he did.

The beast cried out and began to thrash even harder, pulling on the ropes of the net and therefore pulling on Legolas as well. The horse looked with fear on Aragorn's blade and tried to stand up, falling repetitively.

"Stop, it's all right. He's letting us out. Stop!" Legolas tried to calm the horse, before finally yelling at it. This seemed to make it finally stop, just long enough for Aragorn to cut them free.

The horse bolted as soon as it was free of the clinging ropes and took off into the woods. The soldiers moved to follow, but Aragorn told them to let it go and to return to the city. They eyed him warily, their gazes flitting over to the prince who stood plucking sticky leaves off of himself, before getting on their horses and heading off.

"And now, thanks to you, I must go chasing after my horse. If you'll excuse me," Legolas finished with a bow, then turned and promptly attempted to walk away from Aragorn.

"You horse? Since when does an elf prince use a Ringwraith's mount?"

Legolas was tempted to snap something back but caught himself. This was Aragorn. His friend. He was just concerned. Taking a deep breath and letting himself feel the wide open space that the forest provided he calmed his still pounding heart. Sometimes he wished his kind were less claustrophobic.

"I found the best wounded in the woods. I couldn't just let it die."

Aragorn eyed Legolas before approaching him, reaching his arm out. After a split second of hesitation, Legolas reached out and clasped his fellow warrior's arm.

"Now, let us head back to Minas Tirith. We have not spoken in far too long," Aragorn smiled mischievously before pulling his hood up to cover most of his face. As he mounted Brego he turned to find that Legolas was no where in sight.

"Legolas!"

In the silence of the forest Brego was becoming nervous and tried to casually walk back to the city. Aragorn harshly pulled on his reigns to try and still him. Whatever was upsetting his horse was doing no less to Aragorn. And the disappearance of the elf prince was not helping his confidence any.

"Wargs are coming. Go quickly!"

Legolas called from somewhere within the woods, as if the cold breeze that whipped through the trunks of the trees carried it along.

"I will come back and find you. I won't rest until we speak again my friend," with one last look into the shadows, Aragorn freed Brego and the two galloped back to the city.

When the sounds of the king faded, Legolas emerged from behind a boulder that sat next to a small stream where he had hid. Being near the water made him feel better, but the nearby growls of the wargs were getting closer with every second. Debating whether or not to go after his horse proved to be a useless effort as the black beast charged seemingly out of nowhere to stand beside Legolas.

"We really need to socialize you more…" In seconds he was atop the fell beast who wasted no time in making their escape. The sun set quickly beneath the horizon and the two found themselves close to the rocky mountainsides where the forest ended. From here they could clearly see this side of Minas Tirith, the fires in the windows being lighted as the city folk returned to their homes. Legolas felt a sharp pang of homesickness, thinking back to the beauty of Mirkwood, and the relaxing life he had lived for thousands of years between wars.

The beast climbed its way up the rocky hillside, adamant about going this way. Distracted by his thoughts, Legolas didn't notice until they were at least fifty meters out of the forest, and far from any cover.

"We should go back, we're sitting ducks out here," clicking his tongue Legolas tried to steer the fell beast back down the mountain using only its mane, but it was far more stubborn than he. Keeping his quick eyes on all the guards of the city, in case they were spotted, Legolas suddenly felt the ground even out and almost didn't compensate for it in time and adjust his position on the horse. There was a small enclave in a rock wall, with a flat platform outside of it. Moss covered the inside of the natural inlet, and a few bushes had sprung up on the flat ground nearby.

Looking at the ground Legolas recognized both horse tracks and what seemed to be dragon prints circling this area. Obviously this was where his fell beast preferred to stay when not in his company. He dismounted and took in the view with a sense of pride. You could see the entire forest and the plain beyond from here, as well as keep an eye on the city wall from behind where it was far less fortified. He reached up and patted the beast on the neck. As it nuzzled him Legolas couldn't hold back a contented smirk. This inlet in the rock hardly even looked like a cave, with all the soft moss covering it.

As he settled down and pulled his cumbersome knives and quiver off his back, Legolas inhaled the scent of the earth and the moss and felt that the creature before him had truly repaid its debt. Satisfied with his new master's comfort, the red-eyed stallion laid down on an area of loose sand outside the small cave's entrance and Legolas mimicked him, though sleep was harder to attain for the elf while his mind was still preoccupied with a certain king.