Disclaimer: Still don't own anything. Still haven't succeeded in kidnapping anyone. Still don't know quite how to get the human out of the way. But I'm working on it!
Chapter 4:
The two began warming up with some target shooting. Aragorn joked that Legolas would never be able to rid himself of his immense skill at archery. Not if he stopped "practicing" for a thousand years, so why did he bother to practice? Legolas's response was "miss one day of practice and you'll notice it. Miss two days practice, someone else will notice it. Miss three days practice, and everyone will notice it. And I've gone and missed three weeks."
Aragorn laughed. "Very well. It is a good day for archery."
The pair practiced for several hours, enjoying the sunlight and the cool breeze. They both soaked up the calming, bracing effect of Rivendell. Finally, Legolas decided that he had probably had enough practice for the day, so they moved on to horseback riding. There was one mare in the barns that Legolas had taken to, and he rode her whenever he was in Rivendell. Her name was Gwayren. Aragorn saddled up his own favorite, while Legolas groomed Gwayren meticulously, carefully currying and brushing her soft brown coat, picking her hooves, combing her mane and tail. He plaited her mane into many small braids, and, satisfied with his work, he mounted her without saddle or bridle, as is customary with elves. The two chose a long winding path that cut through the center of the woods. Legolas greeted the trees as they trotted into the shade of the thick canopy. He felt a slight twinge of pain in his temple, and brought his left hand up to massage it away. Aragorn noticed, and asked if his headache had come back.
" Just a twinge. It's fine." He placated.
However, the deeper they rode into the woods, the worse his headache got, until it was just short of a migraine. Gwayren seemed to notice her rider's discomfort, and turned back towards the barn. Aragorn laughed.
"Gwayren!" Legolas chided. "Come now."
But Gwayren just snorted, almost laughing at Legolas, and then began plodding back towards the stables deliberately.
"Well, someone wants to go back!" Aragorn laughed "If Gwayren's this determined, I don't think that we have much of a choice, do we?"
"No, I guess not." Legolas answered. "But I won't be the last one to get there."
He nudged Gwayren up into a fast canter, not wanting to tire her out before they got out of the woods. She gleefully accepted his proddings, racing along smoothly and happily. It seemed that Gwayren had needed a good ride as much as Legolas had. When they reached the edge of the woods, Legolas kicked her up into a full-blown gallop. Legolas frowned. His headache had lessened significantly the minute that they were out of the forest. He didn't know what was causing these headaches, but he was beginning to suspect that it was not simply from stress, as he had origionally decided. The more he thought about it, the more disturbing the situation became to him. Even now, the headache lingered. It was very subtle, but now that he was actually focusing, his mind did feel dull. However, Legolas was not one to fret, and decided that he would talk to Elladan or Elrond later on tonight, see if maybe they knew what was going on. But for the moment he was on the back of his favorite horse, racing across a wide field at a full gallop, and he wasn't about to let "feeling a little dull" ruin his day. He gave a yell of triumph as he pounded into the main paddock of the stables at least five paces ahead of Aragorn.
" Well, what do you expect?" Aragorn protested, as Legolas laughed. " Pitting your youthful little foal against this old man." He patted his horse's neck lovingly. The two gave their steeds good rubdowns, and a few carrots and apples for each horse. Legolas planted a kiss on Gwayren's nose affectionately before leaving the stables. By this time, it was well past noon, and the duo decided to head inside for some lunch. They ate a light meal, and then wandered over to the library, where they happily squandered the evening away, the sun painting the horizon blood red in the open window.
Legolas looked up from the book he was reading, and started when he saw how low the sun had sunk in the sky. "Aragorn! It's getting dark out already! Elladan and Elrohir are waiting for us!"
"Well, they don't need us to entertain them. They will be fine if we are a little late. Come. We can take some books back to our rooms before we go. The two quickly split up and walked back to their rooms. Legolas entered his and quickly set his books down on the bedside table. As he walked towards the door, a sharp stab of pain throbbed between his temples. He leaned against the doorframe, massaging his temples.
Legolas did not know what these mysterious headaches were, but it seemed to him that they were very spasmodic, coming and going as they pleased. Well, whatever caused them; he didn't like it, and wanted to be rid of this ever-persisting throb in his head. He decided that he would talk to Elladan about it later on tonight. He may have no choice, as he and Aragorn were going to be heading back into the woods, to the pool and the elm tree. If , perhaps, being in the woods, like last night, made his headache worse, than he was going to be in some pain tonight.
Legolas's prediction was correct. His pain increased when they walked outside, and then it doubled when they walked into the woods. Aragorn glanced at Legolas worriedly. "What is wrong?" He finally asked when Legolas winced for what must have been the tenth time and put a hand to his temple.
"Well, my headache's back. I'm not sure what is causing it. Maybe it's some kind of odd allergy. I will ask Elladan about it as soon as we get there." Legolas assured Aragorn.
" That is probably wisest. Elladan will know what it is, and what to do about it." Aragorn told Legolas confidently.
The two entered the clearing to loud splashing in the pool. Apparently the twins were trying to drown each other again. Legolas laughed and was about to go and join them, when Aragorn grabbed him by the collar of his tunic. "Elladan! Get up here!" He yelled, forcing Legolas down into a sitting position.
"Estel!" Legolas protested, but Aragorn would have none of it.
Elladan waded out of the pool and walked over to the bickering pair. "What's going on?" He asked curiously, not accustomed to seeing the two fight.
"Legolas's headache has come back." Aragorn responded. " And seeing how he was actually in enough pain to inform me of it, I think that you had better take a look at him."
" Oh, is that all Estel?" Elladan scoffed. " I do not believe that you need to baby him so over a headache."
"Perhaps it would be wise to examine Legolas before chiding our baby brother Elladan. It may be serious." Elrohir said, wading out of the pool as well.
"You know, I really am fine. It's just a headache, nothing that a few herbs won't fix…" Legolas stated.
"Well, with all due respect, I think that we should let Elladan be the judge of that." Elrohir said.
"Very well." Legolas replied, turning to Elladan.
"Well first of all, where does it hurt? Elladan inquired.
"Mostly my temples." Legolas told him, raising a hand to massage them as he answered.
" Alright. What kind of pain is it?"
"Well, it's kind of hard to describe. I guess that you could say that it's a kind of throbbing ache. Sometimes it's dull and resonating, and sometimes it's sharp and piercing." Legolas answered.
"And how does it feel now?" Elladan asked, looking slightly puzzled.
"Well, it seems to get worse when I'm outside, so right now it doesn't feel too good," Legolas said, apologetically glancing at the group.
"Describe it" Elladan commanded."
Well, it's a little bit of both kinds of pain, I guess. It's like a constant dull throbbing, punctuated by a sharp stab of pain in my temples and behind my eyes every now and again." Legolas told him.
"Hmm…" Elladan said. "Well, it sounds like a migraine, but elves aren't prone to them. Are you extra sensitive to light or sound?"
"Not really, no."
Elladan felt Legolas's forehead with the back of his hand. "Well, you aren't running a fever. Though you are a little clammy. Well, I don't really think that this is too serious, it's just odd. Some humans get headaches like this almost every day, and they can cope. Well, either way, it's something that we should get my father to diagnose. We can head back now. He should still be in his study."
" No!" Legolas exclaimed. "No." We just got here. Aragorn isn't even wet yet. I still need to talk to the tree. An extra hour or so isn't going to kill me. And this headache really isn't that big of a deal. Believe me, I've had worse. Elrond can diagnose me just as well and hour from now as he can now."
"Very well." Elladan agreed. " But only an hour. You may not be concerned, but it is a worrisome problem, and should be looked at by Elrond. Migraines in elves aren't a good thing."
Legolas gave him a look and dove into the water. He had known that they were going to baby him and fret overmuch. It was a given with the sons of Elrond. Yes, Legolas's head hurt, but it was something that he felt sure could be cured with a few herbs. It was painful, but compared to some of the other wounds and ailments that he had had to endure, this was but a trifle, and would be but a memory in almost no time at all. Legolas had actually been satisfied with the reaction he had gotten from Estel and the twins. They had been worried, perhaps overmuch, but they hadn't pushed for him to return to Rivendell right away, so he had really gotten the best result possible out of the confrontation.
Feeling quite proud of himself, Legolas waded up out of the water and over to the Elm tree. He laid his hand on it, preparing to jump for the lowest branch. He started and pulled back when another sharp pain assailed him. Maybe it is some kind of allergy. He thought.
Well, I do hope that you aren't allergic to me! The tree thought to him.
Don't be ridiculous. Legolas thought back. If I were allergic to elm trees I would have found out a long time ago. With that, Legolas swung himself up onto the branch. The sudden movement made him dizzy, but he managed to catch his balance before anyone below him noticed him falter. Legolas swiftly ascended into the uppermost branches of the tree, his view to the ground, as well as the view from the ground to him, obscured by many tiers of gracefully curving leaves. He could see the windows of Imladris glowing cheerfully in the distance. Now that Legolas was completely isolated, he took a moment to consider himself. He turned his thoughts inwards, trying to pinpoint the origon of the pain. He could not, and thinking about it only made the throb worse. More than anything Legolas wished that he could just talk to Elrond about it, take the proper herb, and then be done with this odd malady. Legolas hated being injured. They always seemed so trivial to his active mind, and yet they took ages to heal, and kept him bed-ridden for much longer than he was willing to be.
Suddenly, a wave of exaustion washed over Legolas, and the world tilted crazily, accompanied by an unpleasant jerking sensation in his stomach. Legolas tried to move inwards, closer to the trunk of the tree where he could balance and orient himself, but it was already too late, and as Legolas felt his mind slipping, he also seemed to feel his body slipping, right out of the tree. It creaked and swayed, and Legolas felt and heard the tree scream, setting off a bright burst of pain behind his eyes, and driving the last of his counsciousness away.
Author's Note: Heh heh heh. Yes. I cliffied you! Laughs maniacally heh. Runs away and hides……….oh, and I'm going under the knife, so the next update probably won't be for a while as well……..cackles maniacally again
Reviewer responses:
Evenstar606:Hey! Thanks for reviewing! I was worried that I wasn't gonna get ant more reviewers than the original 4 or 5 that reviewed the first two chapters! Beta is kind of like the test stage of a product before it is actually released. In fics, it means someone (usually a fellow author) that reads your fic before you post it, and corrects any errors that you might have missed. Well, to the best of my knowledge anyway!
Shadow Topaz: Well, I'd have to say that you missed the mark! (ha ha ha ha ha! I'm sooooo funny.) Well, that's okay. I wouldn't expect anyone to be able to guess what my twisted mind is going to come up with.
XdragonsX: I really don't know why you bothered to review my fic. You could have told me in person. Well, that's okay. I evened out the score with the review that I gave you! For everyone else out there, she's my sis, and this is the review that she left:
HI SISSYPOO! i read ur story...magnificent...and u didnt want me too... it twas good...twas good...yea, so ur asleep rite now((we are in the same room for everyone else reading the reviews-she's my sister hence sissypoo lol)) so now im gonna motivate you to write more and more and more bc maura is interested, good job
love maura a.k.a XdragonsX
………………………………..little booger. Well anyway.
Arialas: "flush your head down a public toilet", "all the angry fan people would line up and shoot you with gold plated sniper rifles" Hahahaha! I think that you have quite a sense of humor as well, to make that one up on the spot! Oh, and I'm glad that you think that I have good word choice. It's nice to know that I have that ability in writing, because most of the time I can't figure out what the word I should use is when I'm talking!
Ilaaris: Glad that you liked it!
Dark Star of Mirkwood: I wonder if this chapter helped you out at all? No. No, probably not. I made it too confuzzling for that.
SmilingDragonGirl: Yay! Another long review! Huggles to death I know! I love that image as well. He would look good in a fluffy white bathrobe….I want a fluffy white bathrobe….Tasty indeed!
Invisigoth3: Well, I hope that this chapter helps you out. But with the cliffie, I doubt that you'll still be happy that I posted!