Author's Note: This is the last actual chapter but I will be writing an epilogue to go with it at the end. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me through this story and I hope to see you all at my other stories. Cheers to all!
On to the story!
(I)(I)(I)
"Marvelous," Elrohir muttered as Aragorn mounted his horse.
"What is our plan, Elrohir? We can not battle a group of orcs by ourselves. We can only take about eight or ten," Aragorn said as they rode on after the trail.
"I do not know, Estel. We need to get to them quickly thought. Any ideas?"
"We could find the group and ride ahead to set a trap. Perhaps some snares or something of the sort," Aragorn replied and pushed the horse into a canter.
"We are only two, Estel. How much damage can we do alone?"
"Enough to get Elladan and Legolas away from the orcs. Killing is not a priority, saving Elladan and Legolas is."
Elrohir nodded and they rode faster to find the group. They would have to work quickly to set up a trap.
(I)(I)(I)
Legolas was close to passing out again. His newly broken ankle throbbed painfully as he was jostled as the orc ran. The broken ankle was from kicking an orc in the knee after the orc started beating the unconscious Elladan. Intending to take the attention off Elladan, Legolas had started struggling and it had worked. The orcs had taken their frustration out on Legolas and left Elladan alone. Bruises decorated his chest and blood slowly streamed from a crude knife wound to his abdomen. He just wanted the group to stop. Elladan was still unconscious and Legolas could barely tell if his friend was still breathing. He was losing hope that Elladan could survive until Elrohir and Aragorn arrived.
He saw Aragorn a moment before the howls started. The orc dropped him to the ground and he cried out in agony from the explosion of pain. Elladan was dumped next to him and that was when Legolas saw the fire. A string of fire stretched across the path and a few of the orcs were on fire. Fire-tipped arrows were being fired at the remaining orcs. Elrohir stepped out into the open and let the orcs see him. The majority of the orcs charged him and he disappeared into the trees. The remaining orcs were quickly killed until there were just burning corpses. Legolas watched as Aragorn sprinted out from his cover and towards the two elves. He knelt by them and searched for a pulse on Elladan while staring at his brother's face.
"Is he…" Legolas asked softly as Aragorn slowly closed his eyes.
Aragorn was silent before opening his eyes again. "He is alive. His pulse is very weak but he is alive."
Folding his cloak tightly, Aragorn pressed the material against the wound hard. He needed to stop the bleeding quickly; Elladan had lost too much blood already. Aragorn glanced to Legolas and saw an expression of fear a moment before a shriek almost shattered Aragorn's ears. Pain pierced Aragorn's back and he was torn away from Legolas and Elladan. He was thrown aside and he hit the ground rolling. A winged beast stalked towards him with another shrieking cry. Aragorn scrambled back in fear as the teeth snapped close to his leg. The beast lunged at Aragorn and two arrows flew over his head to pierce the beast's head and neck. The beast jerked back with another shriek and took to flight. Aragorn stared blankly at the spot where the beast had stood before turning to see Elrohir standing at the edge of the tree line. Elrohir lowered his now empty bow and stared off where the winged beast flew. His dark eyes moved to Aragorn and the brothers stared at each other.
A moment of loving understanding passed between the two before Aragorn climbed to his feet. He slowly moved to where Legolas and Elladan laid while slipping a dagger from a sheath. Kneeling, he cut the bonds and leaned over Elladan to press on the folded cloak.
"We need to move from this location before the other orcs return," Elrohir said softly and Aragorn nodded.
"I know but if I do not stop the bleeding then we will be carrying one dead elf," Aragorn answered and glanced quickly under the cloak.
"How badly are you injured, Legolas?" Elrohir asked and cut away Legolas' bonds.
"Bad enough…ankle is broken…dagger wound to abdomen," he said and pressed his hands to the wound.
Elrohir collected their healing packs and gently picked Legolas up. Aragorn cradled Elladan in his arms and they walked to where the horses were tied. They found a small secluded area far enough away from the dead orcs to set up camp. Elrohir made a small hot fire before looking over Legolas and working on the abdomen wound. Legolas laid flat on the ground and turned to watch the human work on his brother. The human's movements were quick and exact as he cleaned the wound and started to stitch it closed. Legolas flinched when Elrohir started sewing his wound closed.
"How is Elladan, Estel?" Elrohir asked softly and set aside the needle.
"Bad, he has lost too much blood and his body cannot function without it," Aragorn muttered and tightly bound the wound with cloth.
"His body will replenish it."
"No, Elrohir, it will not. He needs blood now."
Aragorn sighed and pressed the back of his hand to his brow.
"Have you stitched Legolas' wound?" he asked softly with his eyes closed.
"Yes. I still need to look over his ankle."
"He is out of immediate danger?"
"Yes. What are you thinking, Estel?"
"Come and sit next to Elladan. We need to take drastic measures to save him. Make a fist, Elrohir," Aragorn directed and dug through his sack.
He pulled out several different things and knelt in front of Elrohir. "I am going to try something I saw in a town a few months back. We will take blood from you and put it into Elladan. You two are identical twins so the blood is the same."
"I trust you to do whatever you think is best, Estel."
Aragorn nodded and wrapped a piece of sinew around Elrohir's bicep and started feeling along the antecubital fossa; or simply the inside of his elbow along the soft flesh. Holding his finger there, Aragorn reached for a sharpened piece of steel and leaned over Elrohir's arm. Legolas saw Elrohir flinch when the steel pierced his skin. A small clamp was pinching the thin tube of cleaned intestine and stopped the bright red streak running from Elrohir's arm and down the tube. Aragorn turned to Elladan and did the same to his arm but left off the sinew. He then released the clamp and watched the red line snake down towards Elladan.
"Now do not move, Elrohir. I will set Legolas' ankle and then check on you again. Call for me if you begin feeling ill or light headed," Aragorn directed and loosened the sinew around his bicep.
"I will, Estel. Help Legolas with his ankle," Elrohir said as Aragorn stood.
Aragorn knelt by Legolas and gently felt the ankle through the soft boot. He gently moved the foot into his lap and started to take off the boot without jostling the foot.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Legolas grunted as Aragorn slowly slid the boot off.
"In a human village where a young boy had been mauled badly by a dog and lost a lot of blood. He had a twin sister and the village healer did it," he said, distracted, and set aside the boot.
Legolas bit his bottom lip as Aragorn probed the ankle. Taking a roll of cloth, he tightly wrapped the ankle and gently lowered it onto Elrohir's pack.
"It is a closed fracture which is good but it is bad because the break is in the same location as the earlier break. I will need to immobilize it or else the damage will be too much to fix."
"For how long?" Legolas asked faintly.
"At least a month off the ankle to ensure it re-heals properly."
Legolas nodded and watched as Aragorn moved back to the twins. He saw blood upon Aragorn's neck for the first time and remembered the beast's claws digging into Aragorn's upper back. The wounds did not seem to faze him as he checked Elladan's pulse and faintly smiled.
"His pulse is stronger and he is breathing easier," he said and sat back with a sigh.
"Estel."
Aragorn looked at Elrohir and saw him looking at Elladan. Elladan's eyes were open and he was looking around slowly.
"Hey there, brother. Welcome back," he said softly.
"Did I go somewhere?" Elladan mumbled and slowly blinked.
"Almost. You need to rest, Elladan. You have lost a lot of blood."
"You okay, 'Ro?"
"I am fine, 'Dan. Rest," Elrohir replied with a smile.
"You are going to be here when I wake up?"
"Always."
"Good." Elladan's eyes closed as he relaxed. "That is good."
"He will be okay now," Aragorn said and put the clamp on the tubing.
Holding a small square of cloth ready, Aragorn pulled the small piece of steel from Elrohir's arm and pressed the cloth over the small wound. He gently pushed the remaining blood in the tube into Elladan's arm before removing everything. He bound the elbow tightly and laid the elf's arm over his abdomen.
"You need to stay seated, Elrohir, and rest. I am not sure how much blood you gave to Elladan so I want to be careful. I will get you some dried meat to eat, that will help," Aragorn said to the slightly pale elf.
Elrohir nodded and Aragorn slowly stood to walk to the horses. He pulled out some dried meats and fruits to pass to Elrohir and Legolas. Sitting by Legolas, Aragorn slowly pushed off his coat and let it slide from his shoulders. Holding his breath, he carefully pulled his tunic off and let it drop by his side.
"Valar," Legolas muttered upon seeing the wounds decorating the human's entire back.
"That bad?" Aragorn questioned softly and slowly hunched over.
"It will probably scar badly," he muttered as Aragorn watched the elf over his shoulder.
"Oh well, a few more scars will not change anything," he replied and unrolled a strip of clean cloth.
Legolas slowly nodded and started seeing more scars marring the human's flesh. He saw the bandaged forearm and calf along with the obvious weariness.
"Strider, you need to get Elrohir to look those wounds over. They look deep and still bleed."
"I will be fine and besides, Elrohir is asleep. My wounds are not serious," he replied and carefully looped the cloth behind him.
He arranged the cloth and tightened it around his chest. The effort tore a grunt from him and his fingers convulsed against his chest and the cloth. His eyes were squeezed shut as he bit his bottom lip and leaned forward. Legolas watched silently as Aragorn panted softly and looked up at the elf.
"Everything you had hoped for when you befriended me?" he asked weakly and coughed before grimacing.
"Everything and a little bit more, Strider. Will you be okay?"
Aragorn looked at Legolas silently and then weakly grinned.
"I will always be okay. Surviving is the most basic instinct."
"Meaning what?"
"Meaning that even if the sky falls on you, there is a hole that you can escape from. Survival is the key."
"Do they help you survive?" Legolas asked and motioned towards Elladan and Elrohir.
"Yes; they and the few friends and family I have help me to survive. I do not know what I would do without them," he muttered and pulled a tunic from his bag.
With stiff movements, he slowly pulled on the tunic and glanced at the bloody one by his side. He picked it up and tossed it onto the fire to watch it burn. Legolas cautiously and slowly sat up to shift closer to Aragorn. The effort left him panting with pain but he was vertical and sitting next to the human. Aragorn raised an eyebrow and Legolas shrugged his shoulder slightly and grimaced. It was silent between them as Aragorn stared into the fire.
"Your brothers love you," Legolas said softly and glanced over at the man.
"I know. I only wish they knew how much I love them in return. They took me in and loved me when my father was killed and my mother mourned."
"I must thank you for bringing them out of the darkness. I worried that the grief would consume them after their mother sailed."
"I have heard stories about their battles and lust for blood. Halbarad told me most of it but some I can still read in their eyes. That rage is still there in both of them," Aragorn muttered and took a sip of water.
He handed the water to Legolas as if it was second nature and then stretched out his long legs. The fire crackled softly as Legolas sipped the water.
"Do you ever take a bath and get clean?"
Aragorn looked at Legolas and raised an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"I figure if you and I are going to be good friends and getting into adventures together then you need to smell better."
"Like you, prissy elf?"
Legolas' eyebrows shot up in surprise and he struggled to smother the smile about to split his face. "Filthy human."
Aragorn did smile and slowly nodded. "You are alright, Legolas."
"You also, Strider. You also."
"Even if the sky falls on you, there is a hole that you can escape from."—Korean Proverb