Whew! Wrote this chapter in one sitting. Kinda tiring but fun nonetheless. This chapter is full of Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli.

I think I invented a word, 'curvation'. At least spell check tells me 'curvation' is not a word. Oh well. I liked how it sounded so I left it. :)

Chapter 6: Trapped Together

"What shall we do now?"

Boromir's question echoed through the library walls with no reply. He grunted in frustration. First, they had to endure Erestor's 'exercises'. Then the advisor blew his top and locked them in the library. He had thought about climbing out of the windows that were situated in the second level, but the Elves had boarded them shut. He had been locked in the library for the better part of the hour with his aggravating companions and there was no escape! The only light they had was from the fireplace and a few candles. In the candlelight, he could see Legolas leaning back in his chair with his head down and boots propped on the table. Gimli waved his hand over one candle's flame. The dwarf had been playing with the fire incessantly.

Boromir wished that Gimli would either stop or catch fire to his hand. At least a roasting dwarf would make for some entertainment. "As long as he did not set fire to anything else," he thought, glancing at the endless rows of books. He wondered how long it would take for the entire library to burn down. Maybe hours? Then again, the paper in the ancient volumes would burn rather quickly. Maybe Erestor would let them out if he threatened to burn the books. He pictured Erestor trying to look in from the door's keyhole finding Boromir hanging the book over the flame, cackling manically.

The man paused his daydreaming. Since when did he cackle? The Captain of Gondor cackling? Absurd. He let out a slight chuckle at the mere thought of it.

Legolas and Gimli stared at him as if he had lost his mind. "I think I really might be losing it if I do not find anything to do." He stared at the books again. He could read. He never liked reading much. It never appealed to him. Faramir was the one who delved into book-lore and other scholarly things, whatever they were. Boromir reached out to the book closest to him.

The book was bounded by a leather cover with gold scripture running across. He could not read the title. Thinking nothing of it, he flipped to the first few pages. Strange scripture poured over each page. The book was written entirely in Elvish. He had never took the time to learn the Elvish letters, unlike Faramir. He placed the book back on the shelf and pulled out another one. Upon opening it, he saw Elvish script again. He put that book back. He took a candle from the round table where Erestor's exercises were performed and marched along the bookshelves while scanning the titles of each book. Elvish. Elvish. Elvish. This whole shelf had books only written in Elvish.

Determined to find a book written in the common tongue, he proceed to the next aisle. When he found all Elvish books, he proceeded to the next aisle again. And again. And again.

By the sixth aisle, he was fully flustered. The library was huge. There had to be a book he could read somewhere! He heard the elf let out a light laugh, "Do not struggle so, Boromir of Gondor. Your search is fruitless! I am quite sure every book is written in Elvish."

Boromir stepped out from behind the bookshelf to face Legolas, who was still leaning back in his chair. "What makes you so sure of that?" he asked.

Legolas smiled. It was the same smile that mocked Boromir when he was enjoying the view by the Bruinen. "Because I know that every book is written in Elvish."

Boromir sighed. He was facing dense Legolas again, "Why do you know that?"

"Because I asked."

"Whom did you ask?"

"An elf."

Boromir so dearly wanted to pierce the candle he was holding into Legolas's eye, "Which elf did you ask?"

"Elrond."

"And what makes him so sure of this? Besides that fact that he is lord of Rivendell and over sees everything and must know everything," hastily added Boromir.

Legolas's lip twitched. Boromir felt proud of himself. He had beat the elf in his little game this time. "Elrond told me that Erestor copied nearly every book in this place."

Amazement crossed the man's face, "Why would Erestor do such a tedious task?"

"To preserve the words of Elves and Men long ago, many being from the First Age. The written word fades over time. Erestor wanted to keep alive the ideas and words of those that have passed," said Legolas. Catching the Boromir's bewildered impression, the elf added, "Erestor has lived since the First Age, Boromir. His task only took a small portion of his time."

"Do you think any of the text he copied was in common tongue?"

Legolas looked thoughtful, "I believe so but it would be in an older dialect. Why do you . . ."

"Do you think he kept the original text?" interrupted Boromir.

"He would never throw away something that precious. I think he would keep them in one of the storage rooms. But . . . ," Legolas stopped when Boromir's footsteps echoed. The man was heading to the storage rooms.

"Very persistent if not a little queer."

Legolas glanced at Gimli at the other side of the table, still playing with the flame. He had kept silent through this whole ordeal. Legolas was unsure of how to reply. He still did not feel any likeness for the dwarf but Legolas wanted to talk to someone. And his fun had disappeared into the back rooms, "Yes, men are strange like that."

Gimli shifted his body in the chair. He seemed uncomfortable and the chair was not to blame, "You do know why he acts like that? All rash and such?"

Legolas swung his legs off the table, "I had never thought about it. Men act so strange but I never put thought into why they acted so."

Gimli pushed the candle to the center of the table, "I believe that act because they have no time. You are immortal. You have all the time in Middle-earth. While I am mortal, I still have a much longer life expectancy. A man's life is short. They act without thinking because they have no time for thought. They hate because they do not understand because they have no time to understand."

A wave of respect washed over Legolas. First, he was surprised that the dwarf initiated a conversation with an enemy. Second, he was surprised to hear such words to come from Gimli. "Aye, that is a wise theory, Master Dwarf. It makes much sense."

Silence. "Now what?" Legolas tapped his foot against the table leg. He wanted to ask Gimli something but not sure how he would react to it. Maybe it was better if he said nothing at all but he just had to ask, "Gimli, what made you provoke me so in the archery field yesterday?"

Incoherent words mumbled from the dwarf reached Legolas's ears. "I am sorry. What did you say," asked the elf, expecting a fight to break out any second.

"Boromir asked me to distract you for the day."

Elven eyes grew wide. "Why would he ask that of you?" he asked, although he already knew the answer.

"You kept bothering him, following him everywhere. He needed a chance to breathe," said Gimli falling into a foul mood.

Something just did not make sense to Legolas. "I do not think you would just attack me because Boromir asked you to. Something else happened," prodded Legolas.

"Look, Elf. You provoked him, he provoked me. End of story."

"How exactly did he provoke you?"

Balling his hands into fists, Gimli tried to control his tongue. Boromir's words rang through his mind, "But this elf is the son of Thranduil, which, as your father revealed at the council, imprisoned him." Such simple words caused such anger. He was amazed how calm he remained when Boromir told him these words, but now with Legolas right in front of him, he could not control his emotions. His father was very dear to him and Legolas's family had imprisoned him!

"Gimli?"

"He told me you were the son of Thranduil, whom had taken my father captive!" spluttered the dwarf.

Legolas did not move. He did not make any facial expressions to reveal any emotion. He did not say anything. He just stared back at Gimli.

"What to have to say about that, Elf?"

"What I have to say is not going to help matters." Legolas remained in his stoic state until his rage kindled down. "I had nothing to do with my father's orders. He should be well aware of that. And for all I know, his father might have deserved it" How the elf wanted to release his sharp tongue but he also wanted to remain in control. He wanted to keep a truce with dwarf for now.

Archery was not Legolas's only profession "I am sorry for my father's actions and I am sorry for what your father went through," he said. Bluffing was another one of the elf's abilities. He did not feel any remorse.

Gimli was taken aback. An apology was the last thing he had expected. "He cannot be serious?" All he saw was sincerity in the elf's eyes. "If he is bluffing, I cannot see any sign of it. Still, something tells me I cannot trust him so easily." Wishing for matters to calm down, Gimli accepted the apology, "I thank you for those words, Legolas."

Both breathed easier as their anger dissipated. Each stared off in one direction, really looking at nothing. They sat silent as statues for many minutes, the silence broken every now and again by noise Boromir made in the storage room.

Suddenly Gimli sprang to his feet. An idea hit him. "Legolas, we need to put the fire out."

Eyes shifted to the fireplace to Gimli to the fireplace again, "Why?"

"You can probably climb out of the chimney."

Legolas was not sure if he heard the dwarf correctly, "Excuse me, I am sorry but I thought you said I could climb out of the chimney."

"I did."

The wood elf was an excellent climber. Growing up in Mirkwood had been beneficial in that aspect, but he was not sure he could scale a wall of brick.

"Do not doubt yourself, Elf," laughed Gimli heartily. "I am quite sure that the brick inside is not smooth. There are probably parts of brick that have chipped off over time; you could use those for foot holdings."

"But"

"But what, Elf?"

"The chimney is full of soot."

Gimli halved his size when he bent over, laughing hysterically. Legolas was not amused. After one last snicker, Gimli turned to Legolas, "I am sorry. Where are my manners? I should have considered Prince Legolas's feelings. The Princeling is afraid of a little dirt. I should have volunteered to climb but I am afraid I am far too heavy and would probably get stuck. The same with Boromir. I thought Elves were nimble climbers but I guess I was wrong."

Legolas snorted. He hated when others used his royal title. "Fine, I will climb. And do not call me 'Prince,'" Legolas marched to the storage room to get Boromir.

"As you wish, your highness," said Gimli. He could hear a low hiss emit from Legolas as he disappeared into the storage room.

………………………………………………

Boromir, Legolas, and Gimli watched the steam rise up from the fire's ashes. A barrel of water was conveniently tucked in the corner of the storage room. Gimli could not believe their luck. Boromir could not believe this plan. Legolas could not believe he was going to climb the chimney.

Boromir kneeled on one leg on interlocked his hands in front of him, "Okay, Legolas. I'll give you a boost and then the rest is up to you."

Legolas nodded. He looked up the chimney shaft first and peered into the darkness. The chimney shaft curved outward a little and then was built straight up. The curvation of the chimney shaft was steep, but Legolas knew he could keep his balance on it. He found a chipped brick that could be used a foot holding. After Boromir's boost, he could lodge his right foot into the holding and pull himself up on the incline.

"We do not have all day," Gimli said impatiently.

"You are not about to climb this thing. I think it would be in your best interest to hold your tongue," replied Legolas.

A growl could be heard from Gimli's direction but Legolas did not heed it. Instead, he backed away from the fire place. Briskly, he stepped into Boromir's interlocked hands, flew a couple feet in the air and caught his foot in the expected footing while grabbing the edge of the incline.

Getting up, Boromir peered up the chimney. "He makes it looks so easy," he said.

Gimli said nothing but walked towards the library doors. A second later, he heard pebbles falling down the chimney shaft and a cry from Boromir. The dwarf twisted his head to see Boromir's head emerge from the fireplace.

The man did not appear to be pleased. In fact, he looked downright pathetic. Soot and dust enveloped his head. Coughing, Boromir shook his head only sending soot everywhere.

Bright eyes from the dark face glared at the dwarf, "Not a word."

Boromir tried to walk towards the doors with dignity but Gimli's laughter pierced his ears.

……………………………………………….

Two of the unwritten rules applied to Elves was that they never were to gripe and mumble. It just did not fit the appearance the Elves made for themselves during the past three Ages. Legolas, however, decided these rules did not apply to him. He had to admit Gimli's plan was working. The inside of the chimney shaft certainly was climbable, but soot covered his body. He felt it up his nose when he breathed. He felt it falling in his eyes every time he moved. He inhaled it when he was griping and mumbling. He decided to stop that after swallowing a considerable amount of soot.

He did smile when he heard Boromir cry out. The man should have seen it coming. Why Boromir stuck his head in the chimney, he did not know, but the man would hear about it from him later.

Legolas felt the wind of the outside world wash down upon him. He had reached the summit. "How good it is to breathe fresh air!"

Legolas sat upon the top of the chimney, reveling in the wind. His grey eyes shone as he saw the sun rest on the horizon. They had spent the better part of the day in the library and now he was finally free!

Lightly, Legolas jumped from the chimney to a nearby branch and easily climbed down the tree. Examining himself, he found that there not a speck of color on him, save black and gray. He felt an urge to jump into the river but he had important matters to take of first. He ran towards the library doors to free his companions but a thought struck him, "The door is still locked. I need to find the key to free them."

Maybe he tell Gimli and Boromir that he was going to find the key. On the other hand, making them both squirm for the time being sounded fun. They would think Legolas abandoned them. Gimli would surely be upset and being alone with an irate dwarf would be distressing. "Boromir will get a taste of his own medicine."

Legolas was off to find a change of clothes, Erestor, and the key to the library, with every intention of returning. The last of the sun's golden rays hit the library doors as a man and a dwarf waited impatiently inside.

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I hoped everyone liked this one. Tell me if you liked it, hated it, or whatever! Until next time . . .