The night passed by very slowly. Aragorn had a difficult time staying awake, as his own injuries exhausted him. He heard many noises through the darkness, from various animals that walked around in the night. He kept Legolas' bow handy, but none of the creatures neared them, to his relief.

When dawn rose, Aragorn sat beside his friend, having paced around their campsite in an effort to stay awake. His head hurt and his ribs throbbed, and he had no idea how he was going to remain awake for however many days he would need to.

Legolas had remained motionless through the entire night, sleeping deeply thanks to Aragorn's herbs.

Checking the elf's pulse, Aragorn found it weak but thankfully steady. He looked at the wound next, frowning nervously at the bruise that now surrounded it. He gently felt the skin, relieved to feel no evidence of internal bleeding; the piece of wood that entered the elf's body was obviously not the only thing that had struck him.

Aragorn was glad to see that the severely damaged rib was still hanging on, and he prayed that it would continue to do so.

Yawning, he covered his friend again, leaning a hand on the elf's arm as he closed his eyes wearily. Legolas still felt cold, so Aragorn lay down beside him, hoping to lend some body heat. He kept his head propped in his hand in an effort to keep awake…but it didn't work.

Aragorn opened his eyes, suddenly realizing that they'd been closed. He sat up quickly, causing his ribs to flare with pain. He gasped and had to re-close his eyes when his vision swirled, and when he opened them again, he found that the sun was in a late-morning position.

He'd slept for five or six hours.

With another gasp—this one from dismay—he checked Legolas' pulse, and found no change in the elf. The Mirkwood Prince was still in the same position, still breathing softly, his face incredibly pale now that there was good light to see by.

Aragorn sighed with relief that his friend hadn't had any emergencies through the morning, but he couldn't believe that he'd accidentally left the elf 'alone'—at the mercy of the elements, wild beasts, and worst of all; his ailing health.

Aragorn closed his eyes and shook his head, unable to forgive himself.

Legolas suddenly moved his head towards Aragorn, his face screwing up in a grimace and a whimper leaving his throat as pain greeted his consciousness.

With horror, Aragorn realized that he should've given his friend more painkilling herbs…three or four hours ago. "Legolas! Forgive me! Here…" He grabbed the pot of water that sat near the fire, keeping warm. He dropped the herbs in and slid a shaking arm under his friend to prop him up.

Legolas' eyes were squeezed shut tightly and his breathing was harsh as he fought the pain. His face had paled even further.

Aragorn fed him the herbs, his eyes welling with tears to see his friend suffer because of his negligence. "Forgive me," he said again. "I fell asleep, Legolas, I fell asleep!"

The heartbroken tone to the human's voice got through to Legolas despite his grogginess and agonizing pain. For Aragorn to have fallen asleep at a time like this, he had to be wounded himself. "All…right?" he asked, as Aragorn put down the pot.

Aragorn wrapped both arms around his friend. "I am fine, mellon-nin, worry not."

Legolas tried desperately to hide his pain, but he couldn't stop the hitch in his breathing. "Not true," he whispered, eyes closing against his will.

Aragorn smiled slightly. "Two broken ribs, Legolas, that is all; nothing for you to fret over. Rest."

Legolas inwardly winced for his friend, sorry that the human had to care for him while he nursed his own painful injury. He apologized to his friend, but when Aragorn didn't reply, he realized that he hadn't said it aloud.

Aragorn watched the elf as Legolas drifted off, but the Mirkwood Prince suddenly opened his eyes halfway. "Where…?" he asked.

"We passed Lake Town," the human said. "I am not sure how far from there we are."

Legolas' eyes opened wider at his words, and he tried to take a look around.

"Do not move," Aragorn told him. "I could not wrap your ribs because of the wound. One of them is broken at two ends and is barely hanging on, my friend. We need to remain here until it has healed enough for you to safely move."

Legolas was shocked at the human's words. His eyes began to close again as the excruciating pain attempted to steal his senses, but he fought it, hoping that the painkilling herbs would work well enough to let him stay awake without too much agony. "Danger," he said, speaking of remaining where they were.

Aragorn's eyes widened and he looked around the landscape, thinking that Legolas has sensed an imminent threat. He gently laid his friend down and grabbed the bow, painfully drawing an arrow.

"No," said Legolas, when he realized his friend's thoughts. He pulled an arm out from inside his cloak and reached for the human's arm. "Aragorn."

Aragorn looked at his friend, puzzled.

Legolas' hand shook as he touched his friend's arm. "Forgive me," he whispered, licking his lips. "Dangerous area."

Aragorn put the bow down, understanding now. "Yes," he said, taking his friend's cold hand and rubbing it between his own, hoping to warm it. "Do you sense anything nearby?"

Legolas thought for a minute, trying to ignore his clouded mind. "No," he answered, though he sounded slightly unsure.

Aragorn gently placed his friend's warmed hand within the cloak and repeated the procedure to the elf's other. He pulled the cloak tighter around Legolas and tucked it under his chin, being sure that nothing was exposed except for the elf's head. "Are you comfortable?"

Legolas nodded, eyes closed. He continued to shiver though, even though it wasn't cold, by any means.

Aragorn heard the sudden chatter of a squirrel and he looked up at the trees—dark and bleak as they were in this part of Mirkwood. There were no beautiful colors, no happily-singing birds…Aragorn wondered if the trees' 'voices' themselves had been lost. Looking back at Legolas, he had a feeling that the obvious evidence of the creeping Shadow was affecting him in an adverse way. After all, he was an elf: a being very close in-tune to nature.

"Estel?" he suddenly heard.

"Yes, Legolas?" he said, lowering himself to his uninjured side, holding himself up on his elbow.

"How long?" the elf asked, his mind beginning to cloud as the painkilling herbs worked on dulling some of his pain.

"It has been only one day," the human answered. He looked around again, scanning the landscape. "What kinds of dangers lurk in these woods?" he asked. He'd never stayed in this part of southern Mirkwood for any length of time because of the ever-increasing Shadow.

"Orcs…wargs…wolves…the usual," said Legolas. "Nazgul."

"What!" said Aragorn, sitting up painfully. "Nazgul?"

Legolas nodded, grimly.

Aragorn stood, nervously walking around the fire and running a hand through his hair. "We cannot remain here!" he said. "We are easy prey for the enemy…but you cannot be moved."

"Leave me?" Legolas suggested, smiling as he knew that the human would never do such a thing. "Save yourself?"

Aragorn didn't even bother answering such ridiculous words. He looked towards the river, wishing that it was flowing in the other direction. He sighed heavily, forgetting what that would do to his ribs.

Legolas opened his eyes when he heard his friend gasp, to see the human with his arms wrapped around his midsection, his body hunched over.

Aragorn tried to straighten up, not wanting Legolas to see the amount of pain that he'd been hiding from the elf. He threw his friend a wry grin, not knowing that his face had paled. "We are a sorry mess," he joked.

Legolas smiled slightly. "Aye…we are…as usual."

"What? We, as usual? You mean you, as usual," Aragorn replied, trying to raise his friend's spirits. "I was merely in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"As usual," said Legolas, smiling.

Aragorn couldn't hold back a painful chuckle, but he quickly stopped when Legolas gave his own pained gasp. He quickly knelt beside his friend and laid a hand on the elf's arm.

Legolas squeezed his eyes shut tightly, thoroughly sick of being in pain. It seemed like he and Aragorn couldn't go anywhere without disaster striking.

Aragorn looked towards their makeshift raft, an idea forming within his mind.

Legolas eventually opened his eyes and saw where the human's gaze rested. He instantly knew what Aragorn was thinking. "Estel—"

"No," said Aragorn. "You cannot walk, and your ribs would be too unstable if I carried you."

"You could not…carry me…whether my ribs were bound…or not," Legolas weakly said.

Aragorn looked at him, frowning.

"Your own ribs," Legolas explained.

Aragorn sighed—carefully. "Aye."

Legolas was surprised at his friend's admission, and he realized that Aragorn was probably afraid that he'd drop him. "So you want to…tie me up…and drag me."

Aragorn glanced at him with a half-grin, unable to hide it. The elf's tone had not been a happy one. "I do not want to, mellon-nin, but it seems that we have no choice."

Legolas took a breath to sigh, but he had to abruptly stop and let it out slowly instead when it increased his pain. "No rope," he said, shortening his sentences.

Aragorn shook his head. "That is the problem."

Legolas glanced up at the dark trees. "Vines?"

Aragorn's eyebrows shot up. "Aye, somewhere."

"Go look," said Legolas, eyes closed. "I sense no danger."

Aragorn nodded and stood. "Do you need anything before I go?"

Legolas shook his head.

Aragorn placed the elf's knives on the ground beside him, just in case. "I'll try to hurry."

"But do not…hurt yourself…further," said Legolas.

"I won't," Aragorn told him, walking off into the woods.

It didn't take him long to find some long vines, but he realized that there was no way to reach them without climbing a tree. Steeling himself against the pain that it would cause, he reached up to grab a branch, not bothering to hide a wince since no one was there to see it. In the corner of his eye, though, he suddenly saw a tree about fifteen feet away that had vines encircling its trunk. Relieved, he walked over to it and used his sword to cut the vines at the bottom, near the ground. He was glad to see that they were an inch thick and seemed strong enough for the task.

Grabbing one from the bottom, he slowly walked around the tree, unraveling it. He did that with four vines, before cutting them as far over his head as he could reach. Lifting his sword so high caused horrible pain to his ribs, but Legolas was worth it. He was relieved beyond measure when he succeeded in getting the vines off the tree, and he started to painfully drag them back towards his friend.

TBC