Disclaimer: Not mine!! :(
Title: To New Mutiny
Rating: I'm bumping this up to R for character torture in later chapters! ;)
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Note:: Sorry this took so long, folks! I had two night shifts in a row and had to recover! But here it is!
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Chapter 11
They decided not to remain until the men that they had only wounded woke up. They quickly gathered up their belongings and mounted, moving out quickly towards a stand of trees on a small hill about a league away.
The twins kept darting curious glances at Legolas as they walked the horses up the steep hill to the trees. Neither knew what to say. They were afraid to be themselves around him for fear of frightening him.
Legolas, oblivious to their curious stares, had his head down and all his other senses thrown outwards, trying to detect any further threats in the surrounding area.
He felt he had failed by not noticing the threat sooner, for being unable to convince Aragorn to move on. Even though no one had been seriously hurt in the attack, he still felt responsible, and he redoubled his efforts to try and keep them out of danger.
As they reached the top of the hill and the shelter of the trees, Aragorn turned to Legolas, suddenly noticing his strange behaviour. "Legolas? What are you doing?"
The prince looked up, startled, "I am ensuring there is no further danger, Aragorn. I would not have us fall because I failed to do my duty."
Aragorn's expression softened as he realised that Legolas blamed himself for the attack. "Legolas…mellon ní n, it was not your fault! It was down to me for refusing to listen to you and I put you in danger by allowing you to go investigate on your own. If it is anyone's fault, it is mine."
Legolas glared at him. "You always do that! Taking blame that does not belong to you and— "
"It is an unfortunate habit I picked up from you, my bull-headed friend." Aragorn calmly cut into the Elf's tirade before it got out of hand.
Legolas stared in astonishment for a moment before bursting into deep laughter, and the sound lightened the companions' hearts. "You have made your point, Aragorn," he said with difficulty between chuckles.
Aragorn laughed with him, placing a hand on his shoulder, "It is good to hear you laugh, my friend."
Legolas smiled and placed a hand on Aragorn's forearm. "It is thanks to you, mellon. That is something I will let you blame yourself for!"
Gimli looked from one to the other before speaking up. "Much as I would like this blame-laying to go on all night, my stomach is telling me that we never did eat our dinner." They all laughed.
"Tactful as ever, friend Gimli!" Elladan chuckled, "Is there enough for us or should we catch more?"
Gimli's indignant look made him laugh even harder, "A Dwarf is never want of food!" He declared, "I caught more than enough for all of us. With more skill than that crazy Elf, I might add."
"Stupid Dwarf," Legolas' voice suddenly spoke from overhead, startling the Dwarf from his boasting. Gimli had not even realised that Legolas had left Aragorn's side.
He dropped down from a tree with an armload of dead branches and walked past the still-gawking Dwarf to set up the fire and Elladan closed Gimli's hanging jaw and went to help him.
Elrohir and Aragorn tended to the horses and set up the meal again. His job done, Legolas went to scout around the campsite as the food finished cooking.
Aragorn arose and followed him, catching him by the arm. "Legolas, I thought you accepted that what happened was not your fault. Why do you keep this up? We will all do our share of the watch and the scouting tonight."
Legolas looked away. "It is for my peace of mind, Aragorn. Please do not hinder me."
Aragorn nodded and released the Elf's arm. "Just be careful, my friend." Legolas nodded and melted into the trees as only a wood Elf could.
The Ranger returned to Gimli and his brothers at the fire.
Elrohir looked up, "Is he alright?"
Aragorn shrugged and nodded, "He still blames himself. He does not listen to me."
Elladan sighed, "He always was a stubborn one." Aragorn agreed.
Gimli was about to say something when the twins' heads shot up, both looking off into the trees and listening intently.
Elladan looked at Elrohir with wide eyes. "Did you hear that?"
"Legolas…"
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Ooh, cliffie!! I am evil…anyway, more soon!! MWA HA HA!!
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Review replies::
Cheysuli: Yeah I couldn't just leave them out, cos they have to apologise for making him feel bad! *pout* @_@ WOW!! You're back with your dizzying amount of mores again… I'm nearly falling off my chair just trying to read them all… ;)
MoroTheWolfGod: Aw, brill. Maps sound cool! Big ones? ;) Anyway sorry this took so long! I am a terrible author! *frown* :)
Ivory-Novelist: Aw I love the twins too! But you know what I like more? Your twin fluff!! It's so sweet! You must update soon!! And don't worry, there's lots more fluff coming up in later chapters! ;) Just for you. Hehehe! Enjoy!! =)
Lefty: Thank you! It's good to be back! Yeah I'm glad he did too, that's mostly why I brought them in, so they could apologise! ;) Aww! *blush* I 'm not so sure I do deserve it, but thank you! You made me smile!! :)
Shandrial: Well…not cute so much as…Gimli!! You know what I'm talking about! I know you do! I love twins! They're great!! And they apologised, which makes them even better…I'll have an update up for SotS as soon as it's written I swear!! And I'm looking forward to more of yours as well!! ;p
DXPrincess: Aw! *blush* You always manage to say things that make me smile! :) See? I've got a bit more written and it's starting to slowly take shape now, so I hope it won't take too long! I couldn't leave the twins out of this one, cos I think they're great! Hehehe! Plus they had to apologise for what they said last time…naughty Elveses! I promise I'll have Strike of the Serpent up as soon as I'm finished the next chapter. ;) Thank you for your lovely compliments!! =)
Shaan Lien: I'm sorry! I try to make my chapters longer but it never seems to work!! Grr… Hope you enjoyed From Ancient Grudge! Got more on the way and will be up soon!
Kelly L.K.: Good!! I'm glad you like the twins! They're funky! Aw! *blush* I'm not a writer, I'm just a nurse with too much time on her hands! ;) But thanks for the compliment!! You're so sweet! Sorry this took so long, things got on top of me…(and not in an interesting way) ;)
Kit Cloudkicker: Aha, that is the whole suspense element of the story!! I have the chapters written that explains what you're asking, and I hope to have them up soon as long as the in-between bits don't take too long! ;)
tamara: I'm sorry! I did it again with the long time between updates! I love the twins! They are so funny! I got this up as soon as I could and more soon I promise!! ;)
wispykitty: ARGH!! No! Forget I said anything about big sticks and the like!! You're scaring me! I love that little smiley you do. Tis very cool!! Sorry this took so long, I know it's been ages! I'll get more up soon, I swear!! =)
Koko Kung: Yay! First review!! I'll keep writing, don't worry! And tell Yum Yum that attracting stares is a very amusing way to pass your time…I do it all the time! ;) And I doubt very much that your stories suck immensely. I think mine do! Have faith in yourself! :) Sorry this took so long but I had some stuff to take care of, you know how it is! Anyway I'll have more up soon! Thanks for the review! =)
angelbird1224: Aw! *blush* Thank you! I'm glad someone thinks it's good, cos I don't! That's just because writers block is extremely frustrating, but it'll get better! I know this took ages and I'm really sorry!! I'll have more up soon! :)