Disclaimer: Not mine!! :(
Title: To New Mutiny
Rating: R
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Note:: Once again, if my Elvish is a horrible mix of Grey Tongue and High Tongue I sincerely apologise!! Enjoy!!
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Chapter 12
Both twins leaped to their feet and followed the younger Elf's path, plunging into the trees, closely followed by Aragorn and Gimli, who were more than a little alarmed by the twins' brief exchange.
"What did you hear?" Aragorn demanded, drawing level with his brothers.
"It was only small— "
"Just a whimper really— "
"It might be nothing…"
The Human frowned. It might be 'nothing', but the Elves were clearly agitated. He wanted to run ahead, but he knew that in this darkness, his brothers' sharp eyes and tracking skills were his only hope of finding his friend in this labyrinth of dark trees.
As they ran through the trees, Aragorn was sharply reminded of a similar scene from two years ago when Legolas had been kidnapped and they had all pursued his captor to get him back, much as they were now. He tried to convince himself that Legolas would be in better shape when they found him this time.
Elladan and Elrohir stopped so abruptly that Aragorn ran into the back of them. He looked up to see Legolas curled up at the foot of a tree, his eyes staring sightlessly ahead as he clutched his head and writhed in pain.
The Ranger moved carefully towards the Elf, but Legolas was too far gone in his memories to even notice their presence.
Elladan grabbed his arm, halting his advance. "Do not go any closer! It could be a trap!"
Aragorn shrugged his hand off, "Do not be silly, Elladan. It is memories that make him react this way. They hurt him physically— see how he holds his head?"
Legolas suddenly jerked, crying out. "Vá! Ada, teli ad! Saes, teli ad!" [No! Father, come back! Please, come back!]
Aragorn frowned at this sudden outburst and moved to shake Legolas. As he knelt by his friend's side, Legolas' eyes snapped into focus and he looked up at the Human, a lost and horrified look on his face. "Aragorn, the orc attack…my father, is he…dead?" he stuttered, "I remember the attack, he— he was dying. I was with him, but I cannot remember any more!"
"Legolas, calm down. Your father did not die. You saved him,"
Legolas relaxed slightly, "Ada nín chuina?" [My father is alive?]
Aragorn nodded, "Ays. Thranduil chuina." [Yes. Thranduil is alive.]
Legolas put a shaking hand to his head and sat up slowly.
"Are you alright, Legolas?" Elladan asked as he and Elrohir followed Gimli to the prince's side.
Legolas smiled, "I am fine, Elladan. I could do with some food, though!" they all laughed.
"I think we all could, Legolas," Aragorn replied, "Let us go."
* * * * * * * * * *
It was just before dawn when Elladan awoke them the next morning. Aragorn immediately began packing their belongings and readying the horses.
"What is the hurry, Estel?" Elrohir asked blearily.
"We must continue our journey, Elrohir. Do you intend to join us?"
Elladan sat down next to his brother, "And where do you travel?"
"To Mirkwood," Gimli's gruff voice replied.
"We are heading for the place where Legolas was found," Aragorn clarified, "but we will need the help of Legolas' adopted family in Lake Town. We will go there first."
The twins nodded. "We will accompany you."
The twins joined Aragorn in packing their bags and soon they were all ready to go. Mounting up, the small group headed for the road to Mirkwood. They rode in silence for quite a while. Legolas was in no state to keep watch, having got very little sleep the night before due to memories of what was and might have been haunting his rest.
The others took up the duty, also keeping a close eye on the prince and ready to catch him if he fell asleep on his horse. Aragorn smiled fondly as Legolas' head began to nod again, but he knew that if any of them drew near to help him, the Elf would awake and chide them for being too cautious or insist that he was not asleep.
At least Gimli was there. If Legolas didn't drag the Dwarf down to the ground with him, Gimli might manage to keep Legolas on the horse…
Aragorn smiled again as Elrohir drew his horse closer to Legolas' and reached out to steady him, only to get a face full of bleary eyed abuse for startling the hell out of Legolas and another loud argument about whether or not the blond Elf was asleep started up again.
Elladan approached him, "What do you say we let his royal highness sit down and rest for a while?" he said with a mischievous grin.
Legolas turned around, his grey eyes annoyed. "I heard that, 'Dan! And I do not appreciate the thought!" Elladan stuck out his tongue.
Aragorn raised his hand, quieting both the bickering Elves. "I think it is about time we stopped for a break anyway. Let's find a spot to stop, shall we?"
Legolas threw a fierce glare at him and spurred his horse on ahead. The Ranger sighed.
"Someone is a little cranky today." Elrohir's soft voice said, "Is it always like this when he remembers something?"
Aragorn shook his head, "No, I think that memory of Thranduil's near death shook him up. Right now, he feels like he doesn't know his father, and to lose him without knowing him must be an awful thought for him." Elrohir nodded.
Gimli, still behind Legolas on his horse up ahead, gave a startled cry as Legolas swayed in his seat and almost fell.
Aragorn rode up beside them and directed a glare at Legolas, "You will rest, Legolas. You cannot stay upright and you are exhausted. Rest!" he spoke in a tone that brooked no argument and Legolas slipped off the horse and sat down against a tree, falling asleep almost immediately, much to everyone's amusement.
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There we go! See, that wasn't so bad, was it?? ;) I have the next chapter written, but from there I'm just wingin' it cos I only have the last chapters written, so bear with me ok? You've all been really good so far, both reviewers and silent readers and thanks for your support! Be patient and I'll get it sorted as soon as possible. :) Hugs to all, .:Tithen Min:.
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Review replies::
Cheysuli: Hehehehe!! Yeah I thought that was kinda amusing! Sorry about the cliffie but it had to be done!! You know how I am if I go too long without a cliffhanger… Hope this was soon enough for ya! ;)
MoroTheWolfGod: Nice…Maps are cool. Aw thank you! I'm glad you think so! And this update didn't take so long, see?? :) Glad you liked the last one and he wasn't in too much trouble!! ;)
Shandrial: Yay the twins!!! :) There is definitely not enuf of them in the book… Hope you weren't worrying over the cliffie too much cos it wasn't as interesting as it sounded… oh well, I have to keep something back right? ;) Good luck with the updates!! =)
DXPrincess: Yeah I figured I'd gone too long without a good cliffhanger so I thought I'd put two in three chapters! I'm evil…Hope work went ok for ya and hope you enjoyed! ;)
Lefty: Hmmm…That wasn't exactly what you were expecting huh? I decided to give Legolas a break for a change!! :) Well at least he's happy…I know there wasn't half as much drama in this chappie as it looked, but I promise you there's more coming up!! ;)
Lady Lenna: Are you confused too? Good so it's not just me then!! :) It was hot here too, so I forgive your hyper-ness!! Happens to me all the time! ;) Hope this chapter didn't confuse you any more! *blush* fabulous? Thank you!! *blush* =)
Sweet-n-sour-slytherin: I'm sorry!! Don't kill me! I'm not really evil, I just act that way sometimes!! ;) He is always getting into trouble isn't he? Maybe it has something to do with fanfic writers and readers… Hehehe!! =)
miseryelf: I'm sorry!! I'm very evil at times! I love reading detailed stories but I just haven't the patience to write them myself, I need to get to a point quickly!! *blush* Thank you! I'm really glad you're enjoying it so far. :) Makes me happy! Nothing too terrible happened…this time! ;)
Vana Everyoung: Wow…you're absolutely right, that was confuzzling!! But once I figured it out I nearly fell on the floor laughing so that makes up for it!! And you cheered me up cas before I read it I was in a bad mood. Thank you!!! Hope the muses didn't break anything too valuable! I don't have muses, I have rabid plot bunnies! They're evil I tell you!! So which Elf do you think is better?? Wait…aren't they the same Elf? I'm confuzzled, but I'll keep it up!! =)
Kit Cloudkicker: I'll try not to I swear! I've already got a layout of what's gonna happen, it's the putting it into words that's the problem!! That's a good idea, I may just do that…I'm already working on a prequel at the request of a reviewer, so maybe I can work it in there! ;) Thanks for the idea!! =)
Kelly L. K.: Yeah I'm just a nursing student with way too much time on her hands!! Thank you again for the lovely compliments! My head is expanding…! Did I update soon enuf? More's on the way soon!! ;)
wispykitty: Sorry!! I'm not really! Forgive me and don't send Gimli after me or anything! *cringe* Did I atone enough?? Was it ok?? Ooh that smiley is evil! Do it again!! :)
randomramblings: I'm sorry! I'm usually really frequent, I don't know what happened! It won't happen again though!! *cringe* Sorry!! Thanks for the compliment though! Hope you liked!! :)
tamara: You're right, I guess it wouldn't…maybe it's not as dramatic as it sounded but I'm leaving all the real drama for later chapters… ;) Shh… Hope this didn't take too long! :)
Shaan Lien: ARGH!!!! PLOT BUNNY!!! Sorry but your idea for a prequel had me in a writing frenzy at eight in the morning! But that's not a bad thing! :) Thanks for the idea!