CHAPTER TWO

Silent Storms and Clandestine Dreams

He was stupid. That was the conclusion the blonde Elf came to as he lay in the bottom of the reviving stream. Staring up at the steep embankment, the fair-haired being known there was not a chance a man or Elf could get up that. He watched the rain come and he watched the lightning flash, unable to hear the thunder roll. He had been stupid for believing that a single arrow could have saved his friend when there had still been over fifty foes on their feet with more coming. He had been stupid for trying to convince the men to trust him. In summation, he had just been really stupid. No… extremely stupid and under the influence of a gripping madness.

Now Aragorn was captured and most likely soon to be dead. And he was trapped down here, unable to do anything. You can't predict the lightning you fool, he told himself with an inward shake of the head. However, he still felt like an idiot for getting trapped on the edge of a cliff in the first place. Were his fighting capabilities no better than that?

Looking to his right, he saw the pasty white face of a dead man, a Gondorian man. With eyes glazed over and blood running from his nose and mouth to mix into he water, which alone was enough to make Legolas sick. And the fact that the deceased mortal was up stream and the bloodied water flowed over Legolas as the Elf was still stricken immobile from being so close to the lightning's impact was not helping his stomach's strange feeling either. If anything it was enhancing its abilities to create vomit. The water was a repulsive and deep crimson and still turning darker with enemy and allied blood alike. He noticed one thing that gave him a twisted regret: all of the blood was red, none of it was black. There had been no orcs, simply men fighting men…and himself, the only Elf.

Legolas felt his feeling coming back and he felt his nerves regaining their control over his body, but his hearing was not returning and that was a bit frightening. He had never realized how much he had relied on hearing alone. It gave a whole new meaning to the saying; "you never know what you've got until it's gone".

The blonde being could see the water rising slowly but surely and he knew it was get out of the fast flowing water or die. He began to work his numb and freezing fingers first, clenching and unclenching them. He knew the blood was still in them of course, but the fact that they were cold from the water was not helping. It felt like they were detached from his body except for the fact that occasionally they gave him slight twinges of pain as he supposed they were getting cut upon the rocks.

It was rushing to his face now and his golden hair streamed out about him and washed over his eyes as the water began to rise quicker. He gulped the frigid air and struggled, pressing his boots against the rocks and boulders for support. He had to keep his head above the surface. He could feel the icy water closing in and biting his flesh, freezing him and he began to shake. Suddenly the urge to sleep became very strong and his blonde head stopped jerking and leaping out of the water.

What was he fighting for? This was it, everything was over. This was the end of all his hopes and dreams. This was the end of everything. Dying didn't sound too painful and the frigidness of the water seemed to lulling him gently to sleep as he felt the current taking him along. Besides, if he were dead, he would get to rest…and that sounded so…peaceful, so wonderful that he let his muscles relax.

He ceased struggling and just watched the clouds roll across the sky in flickering forms as lightning ripped holes in them with purple streaks. He wasn't frightened anymore, at least for himself, he realized with a stab of guilt that was not easily suppressible.

Aragorn was captured, or lying dying somewhere, with a wound that from what the Elf had seen, was mortal. He had failed his friend and would only help the enemy if he stopped fighting now. Aragorn would fight for him, and Legolas knew it. It was the least he could do to drag himself form the watery grave he was meant to have and track Aragorn on foot.

The current swept him under suddenly and water filled his nose and as he gaped it rushed to fill his mouth and enter into his lungs to suffocate him. He looked around under the current and saw the corpses of more men, floating by his side, showing him what he would be if he stopped now. Legolas felt fear grow inside and blowing bubbles through is mouth, he narrowed his eyes, glaring down at a huge boulder below that he was sinking to rest with. It was dark and he could only see it because of the way the water parted around it.

He was slammed into it feet first and pressing against it with all he had left, Legolas forced a way to the surface of the sinuous river. Once his head broke the frothing crest of the water, Legolas reached a hand up to brush his loose, blonde hair from his face, where it had been plastered and he drew a deep breath. You never could realize just how sweet even horribly foul air was until you have been deprived of it, mused Legolas to himself. Not that this air was foul, but if it had been he was certain it would have still tasted like honey, or maple sugar, if air had a flavor that was recognizable.

Another boulder ahead that jutted out of the water offered hope and the Elf let the current take him to it and plaster him against it. Then, all but giving it a huge hug, he managed to climb so only his waist and below was in the water.

Clutching its jagged surface and feeling it cut his skin, Legolas knew he was still alive and this wasn't some nightmare. Then, he coughed and a slight bit of water came up from his lungs, answering the question as to why his breathing had been hampered when he seemingly had no water in the organs. At least he knew he was still breathing. Just keep thinking those positive thoughts, he told himself silently with an inward and sardonic grin.

Resting his face on the rock, he took in all the air he could and then he finally felt hot tears begin to run down his pale and nearly transparent cheeks, creating their own littler rivers to join the oscillating water that would splash up and froth about his features. At first he felt incredibly stupid. He didn't know why he was crying, but he was. He hadn't cried like this in a while and an acute feeling of helplessness and hopelessness set in. But then the reason for the tears came to him in a reminder of painful clarity.

Shivering, he let the tears fall. He had lost Aragorn, he was all alone and half-dead. He was freezing and he had no knowledge of the world about him. Legolas had never really traveled this far South. His knowledge was only the things Aragorn had taught him.

The rivers all flowed South. Though he had known that himself, it didn't hurt that Aragorn had reminded him, forgetting he was dealing with a couple thousand and some years old Elf. But Aragorn had told him that since this was a desert climate, the people of Harad often built their towns and strong hold along the rivers.

Still crying and biting back sobs of failure, the Elf thought glumly that ending up in a Haradrim village was about the last thing he needed to have happen. He had no desire to get sacrificed or turned into a slave of only Valar knew what sort with these people. His shoulders shook and he couldn't hold back sobs of bitter despair, fear, and anger.

He felt like he as dying inside even if he was alive on the outside. Legolas narrowed his eyes and yelled at the water"my friend is in trouble and you are holding me back" He snarled"curse you" He didn't care if it was stupid to scream at water, it made him feel better to vent his frustrations and wrath upon something reasonably tangible.

This water was not the water of the river Nimrodel, and it was not friendly with Elves to begin with, so naturally Legolas felt his anger returned. He didn't care and he crinkled his blonde brows in fierce bitterness. Not able to blame this situation on anyone else, he blamed it on the water, rushing, frothing, pulling at him, calling him to die and forget the greatest friend in the world.

He choked and cried"I failed" He sobbed irrepressible and then he closed his eyes to try and block out the situation he as in. He couldn't hear, he was trapped and freezing, Aragorn was captured or worse.

He then remembered something that Aragorn had told him long ago, you are my best friend Legolas. Whenever you feel like you are in trouble and can't go on, just remember that and remember that I will do anything to help you. Even travel leagues upon leagues in a few days if need be.

This was some encouragement and Legolas felt his tears stop abruptly as though on command and a temporary calmness filled his mind. If Aragorn would do that for him, then he would do the same back. What was he doing feeling sorry for himself and letting undeserved guilt weigh him down? It would mean going further South into Manwë alone knew what dangers, but that was where he was going.

Recalling how his father had often called him insane, Legolas managed to crack a smile as he saw the truth in the allegation. He gave a wry and emotionless laugh before he looked at the water and watched it flame up in its fury against the rock he was clinging against for dear life. It was not going to get the best of him and he smirked at it darkly, as though it was a foe he had longed to defeat for a long time and finally sent to the Halls of Waiting.

Now, there was one problem that remained as far as this dilemma in the water went; getting free of the large and meager salvation of the reef without drowning. That was going to be a challenge he had never even dimly thought of in his craziest and most dark dreams.

As he was pressed to the rock by the force of the water current, he watched things slip by, bodies, lost and forlorn, fallen trees, arrows and leaves, fading and gliding past as though they had wings and the water were the air. Staring at the water himself once more, he began to see it as a devious being of its own. He snickered inwardly and wondered if Ulmo, Lord of the Waters was as devious as the water seemed to be at the moment.

He wouldn't find trouble believing it and then he wondered if Ulmo might be merciful enough to calm these wrathful waters and spare him. However, he doubted that as one of the top ten things on the god's list.

He saw a dead horse float by and that in itself was not surprising, many of them had to have been wounded and unable to gallop to the safety of the hills and higher placed woods. As Haradrim warriors popped up from beneath the current, Legolas felt strangely satisfied, for he saw a green and yellow feathered shaft sticking from the enemy's throat. It was satisfying to know he had slain at least one of these humans-if indeed that was the right word for them-who had injured his friend and slain many men with families.

Others might have felt a slight guilt, but not Legolas. It wasn't like he had wanted to kill these men to start with. He never wanted to go to war with Aragorn and hoped he never would again. But all was fair in love and war, or so he had heard. It was kill or be killed. He didn't enjoy it like some warriors of other races did. Of course the fact that he was rationalizing made him wonder if he did have some guilt somewhere inside. Reminding himself that war had killed those men, not himself, the Elf decided he would have to let go of the rock before he was going anywhere.

This was kind of laughable, because when he was younger, before his mother's death, he had been walking with her and had gotten stuck up in a tree. A simple walk had been too much to ask for and she had the hardest time just getting him to let go of one branch and grip another to gradually begin to climb down.

Now he was on his own and had to force himself to let go with no guidance. But he as older now, so he could do this, right? Not exactly. Looking at his fingers, holding on so tightly they were white at the knuckles he frowned and narrowed his eyes.

Willing his hand to shift one finger from its deadlock position in a crevice, he felt a thrill of victory that swiftly ebbed and was lost when a wave of water made him return his tight grip. Cursing himself, the blonde prince finally just placed his faith in Ulmo's mercy and let his grip slide free.

Instantly the rapids engulfed him and he felt strangely calm. He felt a strangeness of calmness and detachment followed by hope, a combination of emotions that one was not most likely to feel as he sank beneath the surface of the rapids and was in dire danger of drowning.

He looked at the surface longingly for a moment and then let the water take him. It was odd that for being an Elf and living for a long time compared to a human, nothing could have ever prepared him for this. He felt like he was in another world. He wasn't frightened anymore, but in awe.

A mass of rising and bursting bubbles beneath the surface of the churning and foaming water caught Legolas' eye and he stared at it intensely. Still contemplating the thought of how the bubbles were swirling into neat shapes and sparkled like purple and nebulous stars, he came to the realization that they pointed out a dip in the rapids and a place to get pulled under and swirled around enough to suck the breath out and force the water into the lungs.

He remembered when Elrohir had been pulled out of the water after slipping from the top of a dam (while trying to pull a potentially lethal stunt of course) and how he had been so shaken, Elladan couldn't travel within site of the dam while in the company of Elrohir. Elrohir had been nearly drowned and frightened out of his mind for weeks. Of course they had all found it funny after a while, but in the beginning it was hardly amusing.

Legolas did not have much time to ponder this before he was pulled suddenly much farther under the superficies of the water than he had ever thought and for a brief moment a look of trepidation and confusion crossed his fair face.

Then everything blurred and he was twisted in the water. He felt the liquid sneaking its way into his mouth as he parted his lips to scream. His hair became wrapped around his face and he slammed into something and had the sensation of vomit rising in the back of his throat as the thought that it could be a corpse. He worked on keeping his mouth closed but the want to scream and vomit was very nearly overpowering.

Something hard hit his head and sent a shocking and immediate amount of pain throughout his body and a blinding light through his vision before blackness loomed before him. He felt himself glide as graceful as a fish through warm water into nothingness.

O0O0O0O0O0O

Eru, Legolas! Thought Aragorn with a worried frown. He heard the river rushing as he was led away and would have preferred at that point in his life to know nothing of the word drowning, nor the facts about flash floods that he knew, and thus salvage some hope for his lost friend.

The harsh fact was that he didn't believe that Legolas was coming back. He wasn't going to white wash it, though it would feel better if he did, it would do nothing to help the situation. Being optimistic was all well and good to a point, but totally ignoring reality was quite another. Ignoring reality could result in untimely deaths and tragic accidents, not to mention depression when one realized the truth of a matter was far from his calmest and most imaginable dreams.

But now was hardly the time to get all philosophical about life, he told himself as he felt the hard grip of a Haradrim warrior sent a numb feeling through his arm as it pinched a nerve. The wound in his chest was hardly ebbing in its pain and that was a bit disturbing but it was to be expected. It was getting much worse, actually and so was the weather.

Water was frothing about his ankles, with small sticks and other minute debris dancing on the surface. All the enemy warriors around him looked tense as they escorted the prisoners to a group of Oliphaunts reserved for taking them to Manwë or Namo knew where. They obviously knew the situation was graver than originally expected.

It was not a comforting thought at all to consider the fact that these warriors had lived here their whole lives. They knew everything about the land, from weather to landscape, had planned this attack most likely according to weather and climate and now were giving the expression that their plans were dashed.

Of course for the war, this was a good thing, but for the fortune of himself and the other misfortunate captives, this was hardly a nice position to be in at all. He had the ominous feeling that things were going to go from bad to worse and that he and his companions were out of the frying pan and into the fire.

His wound was throbbing and he could still feel the hot blood running down his tunic front and turning it crimson. With a stab of pain, he stumbled and nearly fell over. He cursed his growing weakness from the excessive loss of blood and stubbornly rose up again where he had tripped onto his knees.

As he raised his eyes to see what was taking place around him, he saw a guard with a hand on his sword hilt as he watched the ranger. Aragorn gave the man a hard and defiant glare and then began to walk forward. These men were obviously not afraid to cut down the dying and had no qualms about spilling further blood without death.

Why did he keep thinking in this frightening logic? Legolas was the one who always saw the dark side before he saw the brighter side. But Legolas wasn't here, he reminded himself sharply and he felt his heart slow in his own chest as he thought of his friend broken upon the rocks and…dead. He had to be drowned by now, the water was roaring and he could hear it as he was led away.

As they neared the Oliphaunts, there was a board, revealed in a flash of lightning, that carried prisoners and supplies up to be packed onto the creature's broad back. As Aragorn watched some men being shoved onto it to that the structure was overly packed, he felt slightly more sick than he had before, if indeed that was possible.

The guards must have experienced quite a show as the ranger's face changed from white to ashen gray to a sickly green and then to a white tone again all in about ten seconds. Aragorn was watching the water rise deviously about his ankles and observing the strong undertow when he heard a scream that sounded for the entire world like a wild cat in its death throes. '

Looking up once more he saw a shadow fall from the board and crash to the ground below and as he gazed further he saw the neck of the man was bent at a strange and unnatural angle. The Haradrim were none too gently or caring about the body and gripping it cast it aside without the slightest compunction.

When it was his turn along with other numerous prisoners, he was shoved forward and pressed in tight with his captured men. As they were hauled up one of them said"Captain, where is the Elf"

His tone sounded genuinely remorseful and anxious for the blonde prince. Aragorn sighed and said"he is lost."

The young man who had inquired looked at his companions and then at his feet in shame. Drawing a deep and broken breath, the man said"I am sorry to have lost him." The soldier watched as flashes of pain, memory, sorrow and wonder danced across Aragorn's face all at once. It was truly a sad scene that would have touched the hardest soul.

"So am I" said Aragorn softly and he looked away further South, to where the lightning was flickering across the sky. The lightning had claimed his friend's life, and yet it was so beautiful and fascinating.

A soft voice to his right asked"Captain Thorongil, Prince Legolas was killed quickly, right" Aragorn turned to look at the young man who was about eighteen and a smile faintly formed on his face as he realized what the young man was trying to say him.

"I like to think so, Sirith"answered the young Dúnadan thoughtfully as he listened to the thunder rumbling in the distance as the storm moved away to trouble other places. But he knew that wasn't true…Legolas had drowned…suffocated…the most lengthy death and most frightening that he could think of.

Sirith had been one of the men that had taken the time to talk with Legolas like he as one of them and not some stranger who had no feelings. Legolas and Sirith had gotten along rather well and Aragorn had the feeling that Legolas felt child-like again when he was around the boy. He knew Legolas would be grieved to know of Sirith's capture.

Aragorn saw Legolas again, his body lying on the jagged rocks, twisted and looking broken. He could not imagine looking up through the rushing water pressing you down and seeing the sky in all its majesty above as you died…

The boy asked"Captain, where did he go…when he died" He hoped it was someplace good. He could not see Legolas going to a horrible place when he had so much faith and always seemed so kind and serene.

"He went to the Halls of Waiting to be with his grandfather and his mother" Aragorn answered as he watched the boy's face convey both pain and relief. Aragorn felt like he was going to cry buckets in about a minute. He had not thought of this sort of emotional stuff before and now that young Sirith was bringing them up, they hurt.

Sirith looked at Aragorn's shoulder and he grimaced"you are wounded, sir."

Aragorn nearly snickered at the boy's naiveté but the pain was a bit too real for that and said gently"I am. But I will be all right. Rest assured." It was a lie, but it obviously a whole lot better than the truth right now. He knew how Legolas had felt when he had been younger and the Elf had received a cut. The ranger had told him and Legolas looked at him with one raised brow in a sort of laughing pose and gave him a sarcastic no-do-you-really-think-so look.

Sirith asked one final question before they were at the top of the beast and ready to be secured, to be transported away. "Are you sure, sir"

"You have been following Prince Legolas far too much for your own good" teased the ranger. Sirith looked crestfallen and Aragorn bit his lip to not smile despite the dark situation. Then he remembered Legolas was no longer around to mother him and he no longer had to bit his lip to keep back a smile, he had to bite his lip to keep from crying. The sudden change in emotion was so fast, it would put an Elf's work with a bow to shame.

"I am sorry, Captain, but he told me to look after you if anything should happen to him, a while back" confessed the young mortal with a tear springing into his eye.

Aragorn turned a pair of dead serious grey eyes upon the younger human and asked in a flat tone"when did he tell you that"

"After he woke up from a dream, sir"replied the soldier swiftly, trying to please his captain and friend. "He saw you sleeping, said something in Elvish and then turned bright eyes on me. It was during my watch" he added quickly as t the explanation on why he was even awake. "He said he didn't think he was going to be going home and made me promise to make you treat your wounds."

Aragorn felt a tear melt from his eye and slip down his face. He had wondered why Legolas had been so quiet lately and so quick to anger and frustration. He had known he was going to die. Anger burned in Aragorn's heart. Why had Legolas not told him? That stubborn secretive Elf! He fumed inwardly, tears streaming from his eyes.

He found it slightly amusing though that Legolas had known he, Estel, was going to get wounds. Aragorn guessed that he had received them often enough and it was pretty much predictable. But the ranger also found it highly annoying that Legolas would think someone younger was more capable of looking after him than he himself.

He placed a hand on his wound and it came off wet with blood. Aragorn really had no idea why he felt so surprised. Sirith asked in a soft whisper"does it hurt, sir"

"It does indeed, Sirith" Aragorn said in an absorbed voice that sounded very close to being completely lost. "But I don't mind." His eyes took on a lost look and he watched the world far below washing away, and the bodies floating by in the fast rising water. This pain was better than the pain of loss and so he would rather be distracted by it than by his grieving heart.

Sirith seemed to understand and said nothing, but looked at his boots with sorrow and despair.

TBC…. Yes, next chapter technically starts the whole angst/torture stuff. Will you please review? Thanks. They were awesome. We have never seen so many reviews in our life. Please do it again. LOL they made posting real pleasurable for us. And if you haven't yet…you still can!