The injured elf tried to stay awake while his friend was gone, but it was very difficult. The painkilling herbs had helped, but his wound still pained him greatly. A sudden dragging sound met his ears, and he turned his head towards it.

Aragorn came out of the trees, pulling the vines behind himself. He was glad to see the elf still awake and thankfully alone, and he dropped three of the vines, dragging the fourth over to the raft.

Legolas watched as Aragorn pulled planks off it to make it smaller, before seeking the right places to tie the ends of the vine. He then pulled the loop over his shoulders and began to pull it.

Legolas could see in the human's face the pain it caused, and it saddened him.

Aragorn dragged it to his friend and set it down.

"How will you…accomplish…this?" Legolas asked.

Aragorn knew that the elf spoke of his ribs. "With a lot of painkilling herbs," he said, smiling slightly.

"Sleep for a while," Legolas said.

"Sleep?" said Aragorn. "I cannot leave you defenseless!"

Legolas inwardly winced at his words. "You will not. I am awake." He paused when his pain flared, not allowing it to show on his face. "If I sense something…I will wake you."

"I cannot expect you to stay awake, Legolas," said Aragorn.

"But stay awake I will," replied the elf. He forced his voice to sound stronger as he tried to speak longer sentences, in an effort to make the human think him well. "One of your herbs is a stimulant. I took one."

"What?" said Aragorn. He grabbed the elf's wrist and checked his pulse, finding it thankfully not racing too fast. "Why?"

"To force you to sleep," said Legolas, smiling slightly. "You have quite a task ahead of you. You need to be rested."

"That could have been dangerous!" Aragorn said.

Legolas gave no answer, and Aragorn just looked at him. He knew that the elf was right; it would be a difficult walk to Lake Town while dragging his friend, and he wouldn't have any real opportunities for sleep—especially now that he had to hide the herb-pack from Legolas.

"Do it, Estel," said Legolas. "Thanks to the herb, I will lie awake anyway."

Aragorn shook his head in defeat. He didn't want to collapse from exhaustion before they reached Lake Town and leave his friend in danger. "If anything happens—anything!—wake me. If you sense anything, wake me. If you need more painkilling herbs, wake me. If anything is wrong, wake me. Understand?"

Legolas nodded. "Aye. Wake you."

Aragorn returned the nod and lay down beside his friend, closing his eyes. He was too nervous to sleep at first though, not wanting to be oblivious to the world at a time like this. He kept opening his eyes and looking at Legolas, to see that the elf was staying awake without difficulty, thanks to the herb. When sleep arrived to claim the human, he didn't even realize it.

Legolas knew the instant that his friend fell asleep. He earnestly prayed that he'd succeed in staying awake; some of what he'd told the human wasn't quite true—he'd only taken half of the stimulating leaf, knowing that Aragorn would never have agreed to sleep if the elf's heart was racing. Legolas hoped that the herb's effect would last until the human woke. I suppose that I could take the other half when I begin feeling sleepy, he realized. Taking a slow breath, he let it out as equally slow, looking up at the blue, cloudless sky. It lightened his spirits, which the shadow-infected woods were trying their best to dash. He tried to ignore it, but he knew that his wound wasn't the only thing causing the chill that he felt deep within his body.

The hours passed slowly. The herb began to wear off, which Legolas realized when he suddenly started to doze off. Slowly, so as not to wake Aragorn, he pulled his arm out from within his cloak and picked up the leaf which he'd hidden from the human in his tunic. He ate it, feeling the effects within minutes. His ribs were starting to pain him more, but he wouldn't wake Aragorn, no matter what the man said.

Aragorn slept for nearly seven hours, longer than he expected. When he opened his eyes and found it to be evening, he was shocked. "Legolas?" he said, sitting up.

Legolas smiled, masking the pain that had continued to grow within his body. "Good morning."

"Morning? You mean evening," he said, reaching over to check his friend's pulse. "How do you feel? Why did you not wake me for more herbs?"

Legolas smiled at the absurd question. "You needed sleep. I am fine."

Aragorn scowled at the elf, reaching for his healing pack and giving his friend some painkilling herbs, taking some himself. He watched his friend, seeing the increased paleness in his skin. Legolas looked dazed, and the human didn't even know the half of it—the elf's pain had grown so much that he'd laid there half-conscious for the past two hours despite the stimulant, fighting against groaning and waking the human.

"You look terrible," Aragorn said, feeling his friend's forehead. Legolas' skin was still too cold.

The Mirkwood Prince had closed his eyes, exhaustion creeping up on him as the stimulant began to wear off.

"Legolas? Can you stay awake a while longer while I hunt?" Aragorn asked.

The elf sluggishly opened his eyes again.

"I will try to hurry," Aragorn told him.

Legolas nodded, and Aragorn went off into the woods, searching out more rabbits. He was lucky enough to find four, and he quickly brought them back and cooked them, watching Legolas, who dropped off to sleep the instant that Aragorn had returned. The elf didn't hear it when Aragorn put out their fire, and he didn't hear it when the human dragged the raft closer…

But he felt it when Aragorn tried to move him.

Aragorn jumped at the elf's abrupt waking, as Legolas gave a cry of pain.

The golden-haired elf's eyes snapped open and he tried to control his breathing, knowing that he would only cause himself more pain if he didn't.

"Forgive me!" said Aragorn, contrite.

The elf closed his eyes again. "I…am…all right," he lied.

Aragorn made a face.

Legolas opened his eyes, seeing the wood. "We leave?"

"If I can get you on it," said Aragorn, fearing the pain that he would cause the elf. "If you roll to the left as much as you can, I can slide it under you."

Legolas nodded, and the human carefully helped him. It hurt terribly, for the pressure put on his left ribs could still be felt on his wounded right side.

Aragorn quickly slid the wood under his friend, ignoring his own pain, knowing that his friend's was worse. He helped Legolas lie flat again, leaving his hand on his arm as the pale elf tried to compose himself.

Spots of light danced behind Legolas' eyelids, his brain attempting to steal away his consciousness.

"Legolas?" said Aragorn, worriedly.

The elf re-opened his eyes.

Aragorn crawled behind his friend's head and took hold of his shoulders. "Remain limp," he said. "Do not try to help."

Legolas obeyed, keeping his body as un-tense as he could.

Aragorn shifted the elf to the middle of the three-foot-wide piece of wood. "All right?" he asked.

"Aye," Legolas replied, weakly.

Aragorn took the vines next and securely tied his friend to the wood, being sure that the vines didn't touch his ribs. When he was finished, he sat back for a minute, trying to command his own body to stop hurting. "Is anything too tight?"

Legolas shook his head.

Aragorn began to stand, but Legolas stopped him.

"Rest a while," said the elf, seeing how the exercise had affected the human. "I am not going anywhere."

Aragorn smiled slightly and reached for his pack, taking out some of the meat and handing it to his friend.

After they ate, Aragorn stood and took hold of the vine that was attached to the wood. "If you need more herbs, Legolas, please tell me," he said. "I could not bear to know that I was hurting you further. Do not hesitate to tell me if anything is wrong; please give me your word."

"All right," said Legolas. "You have my word."

With that, Aragorn wrapped the vine-loop around his shoulders—lifting the top half of the wood off the ground—and started to walk.