3

At the first abrupt movement of the horse Aragorn felt the elf slump against him. He tightened his hold on the rope and kept on going. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between the camp and themselves. His thoughts were chaotic and his entire being in turmoil. Unconsciously he headed towards the deepest, section of the wood, skirting the well travelled paths and the easier routes. The elf's body was a warm weight upon his back; a constant reminder of his culpability. After several miles he came to a stop. It was evening still, but here the wood was less dense yet sheltered and he knew that not many sought its depths. Dismounting carefully, he caught the elf as he fell forward and placed him on the ground in the crook of a great tree root.

He cut the ropes that bound the elf's hands and they fell limply at his sides. Taking his rolled cloak he supported the elf's neck and shoulders. Then he sat cross legged on the ground. The enormity of what he had done hit him like a physical weight and he suddenly felt very young and alone. He suddenly wished that his brothers were with him. Years older and wiser they would have handled the situation differently. They would have known how to deal with a man like Talen.

'But they are not here Estel,' he thought. 'You have taken this responsibility upon yourself and you must see it through.'

He comforted himself by thinking of the twins for a long time, and then he remembered something.

From his waist he took the object that the old man had given to him and examined it intently. It was a finely wrought leaf, sculpted of emerald, with veins of gold. On the underside there was written one word in elven script.

"Greenleaf," read Aragorn aloud.

He looked at the senseless elf. "Is this your name my friend?" he asked not expecting an answer.

………

In sleep, the elf seemed even younger than ever. But the ranger knew he must be hundreds of years old at least. He wondered what strange fate had brought him here and left him to the mercy of men.

'Found 'im beyond the mountains…' Finlorn had said.

Aragorn knew from his recent travels that beyond the Great Range lay the elven kingdoms of Mirkwood and Lorien. The elves of Lothlorien he knew well having travelled there many times with his brothers. But those of Mirkwood...

They were a great and secretive people. Fierce warriors who defended their kingdom with great skill and fortitude. It was rumoured that they lived underground in halls lined with gold, mithril and precious gems. It was said that their king, a great elven lord, was eight feet tall with hair of shining silver and eyes of burning blue. It was told in the great halls that his stare alone could slay an enemy in his tracks. It was a kingdom ruled by magic.

Only once had he ever seen an elf of Mirkwood. And that was last spring when he had strayed off the Old Forest Road and wandered into the Great Wood. An elf had appeared suddenly out of the mist, dressed in the darkest of greens and browns. He had not spoken but had held his bow at rest and stared at Aragorn for some time. Frightened Aragorn had been unable to speak or move mesmerised by the vision before him. It seemed to him that when he blinked the warrior disappeared. Needless to say the young ranger had slept a troubled sleep right in the middle of the road all that night.

Aragorn looked from the elf to the leaf and back to the sleeping first born.

"I will take you home Greenleaf. I promise you that. And if I cannot I will see to it that you are carried back to your loved ones. You shall suffer no more at the hands of men."

…………

Aragorn had begun to unwrap the bandages from around the elf's foot when he felt the limb go stiff with tension. Taking a quick glance up he noted that Greenleaf's eyes were still closed in feigned sleep, with a smirk he continued with his work. When he came to the last layer he saw that the cloth was encrusted with dried blood and was stuck to the skin in many places. He tried to remove it as gently as possible but still a gasp was torn from Greenleaf's lips.

Aragorn sat back as the elf reacted. Greenleaf struggled to sit upright but could only manage to support himself on his forearms.

"I must change these," Aragorn told him. "Without proper care it will become green in colour and then rot. I have seen it happen before."

The elf did not answer but dropped heavily back. Taking this as compliance Aragorn quickly wiped the foot clean and then dried it. Then from his satchel of various medicines he applied a small amount of dried powder directly to the worse cuts. He knew it would sting a little but the elf did not complain.

…………….

"There is naught but water. I have not had time to hunt." Aragorn explained. He held a water skin out to Greenleaf. The elf struggled to sit up. Aragorn put out a hand to help him, but he flinched away from it. He grabbed the skin from the ranger and drank from it greedily.

"Not so much," Aragorn exclaimed pulling the skin away.

The elf reluctantly let go, subsiding onto the leaf strewn earth. He looked up at Aragorn in a peculiar manner; almost as though he expected a blow. His eyes were full of an emotion that Aragorn could not read. He was tense and seemed to be waiting. Aragorn stood there looking down at him for a long moment and then from his waist took the leaf. He tossed it to him. The elf caught it in mid air.

"I think that belongs to you," said the ranger. As the elf looked down at the object in his hands Aragorn said, "I need to collect fodder to build a fire. I will not be gone long. Be on your guard Legolas."

………………….

Greenleaf, Greenleaf, the very name echoed in the halls of his mind. As though coming from a long way off he heard a voice saying his name amidst infectious laughter.

"Trenaro i narn namen Legolas, man agorech guin rych?"

There was a flash of blue eyes, a smile and then the vision faded. Try as he might he could remember no more.

A single tear rolled down his face and fell onto the leaf that was cupped in his hands.

"My name," he whispered.

………………

Aragorn managed to drag a meal as well as firewood back to the makeshift camp. The elf was curled up in the crook of the tree root, right where he had left him. He watched Aragorn covertly as he went about laying the wood. Tossing the pheasant to one side Aragorn broke the deadwood into smaller pieces and laid them in a crisscross pattern. He stuffed some dried moss and leaves under the wood and set about lighting the whole mess.

The spark from the flint spluttered out for the tenth time and Aragorn uttered a muffled oath. A suspicious snort came from the elf's direction. Startled Aragorn looked up to see Greenleaf hiding a grin behind his hands.

"Think you can do better?" Aragorn challenged.

He tossed the flint to the elf, who caught it in reflex.

"Well?" the ranger prodded when the elf only stared at him.

………………..

With a sigh of utter contentment, Aragorn licked the tasty remnants of the cooked bird off of each finger. His elven companion while a neater eater had still managed to polish off half of the pheasant. While Aragorn relaxed, he tossed the small bones left after their repast into the fire. He watched them as they burst from the heat and then shrivelled into ash. He reflected how very like the bones was his life, crumbling to ashes, burning in a fire of relentless torment uncertainty and emptiness.

Suddenly the sour taste of Talen's unwashed flesh rose unbidden to his mouth. Before he could contain it, his partially digested meal came pouring out of his mouth and nose. His stomach heaved and he rocked forward with the intensity of it.

Hands that meant to help, meant to stop him from falling into the fire grabbed at his shoulders. But the only hands his body remembered were those that prodded and punched and slapped and hurt.

With a wild yell Greenleaf turned upon the unprepared ranger like a demented thing. Blow after blow struck Aragorn in the face and chest before he reacted. Raising his left arm to ward off a wild swing, he neatly kicked the elf hard in the stomach. Greenleaf doubled over with a choking sound.

"I do not want to hurt you Legolas!" Aragorn shouted in the elven tongue.

But the elf was too far gone to calm down so quickly. He rushed the ranger again, eyes flashing in hysterical dread. Aragorn ducked under the first punch, but the second caught him solidly on the ear. In exasperation and pain the ranger, a victor of many a drunken brawl in many a stodgy inn, stomped hard on the elf's injured foot with his heavy boot. Greenleaf screamed and his hands automatically flew to his leg. Aragorn swung double handed at the elf's unprotected head. The blow connected with a loud thwack and the elf went down.

With a hand to his throbbing ear Aragorn staggered over to Greenleaf's prone form. The elf was unconscious.

"Ai Valar! Aragorn exclaimed.

……………………

For his own safety Aragorn restrained the elf while he slept. But the next morning things did not improve. Aragorn approached the apparently sleeping elf to cut him loose, but Greenleaf kicked out at him and caught him an excruciating blow on the knee. With a shout of pain Aragorn grabbed him by the hair…

…………………….

Greenleaf limped painfully behind the ranger's mount. His hands bound hands were attached to the horse's pommel by a long length of elven rope. He had struggled wildly at first but Aragorn had simply urged the mare to a trot. After a few minutes of trying to keep up Greenleaf had given in, the pain had been too much to bear. But the point had been driven home. He could either walk or be dragged along.

In misery he struggled along, trying to keep his weight off his hurting leg. Every now and then the ranger would turn around to monitor his progress. In those moments Greenleaf hated him.

They were moving at a snail's pace, but it seemed not to bother the man.

After three miles Greenleaf was close to tears. Only stubborn pride kept him hobbling on. His entire body ached. His wounded foot throbbed so badly that he was bowed by the sheer intensity of it.

After another half mile he could take no more.

"Saes, saes daro!" he cried out in anguish.

Aragorn stopped immediately; he turned to see Greenleaf sag to his knees. In moments he dismounted and approached the elf.

He was out of breath and swaying from exhaustion. His beautiful face was streaked with sweat and dirt and his body trembled.

'Good,' Aragorn thought.

Aloud he said, "Will you behave or shall I drag you further?"

"I… I shall behave," panted the weary elf.

Aragorn undid the knots at his wrists, helped him to stand and get onto the horse. He then mounted and clicked his tongue at the mare to move on.

"Put your arms around my waist and hold on. We have a long way to go yet," he said over his shoulder.

Tiredly Greenleaf did as he was bid.

……………….

The miles fell away under the ground eating stride of the mare. The elf clung to the ranger's waist tenaciously as the landscape blurred into a featureless expanse of green. They were climbing, leaving behind the wooded plains for the forested mountain range. The air grew cooler the higher they climbed. Greenleaf could see his breath turn to mist whenever he breathed out.

They reached the crest of a sharp ridge and Aragorn reined in for a moment. Looking back they saw Loudwater River glittering like a sparkling ribbon of diamonds in the green valley of Hollin.

There was a strong gust of wind that blew over the ridge from the north. It made Greenleaf shiver and blew his unbound hair forward in a swirl of gold. It carried his scent to Aragorn who could not help but wrinkle his nose. The elf stank of old sweat, stale sex and the not yet putrid scent of a wound barely healed.

…………………..

It took his breath away. Like a precious stone among a heap of rocks, the waterfall was nestled in a tiny basin high up between two mountain peaks. It fell from a height of a mere twenty feet but it had created a deep pool at its base. A pool that was cool and green and surrounded by Mithlin flowers, flowers that nodded their purple heads over its still surface.

Greenleaf stood still, his blue eyes held in complete captivity by the beauty of the place. Aragorn smiled at his reaction. He had found the place entirely by chance three years before. He remembered how he had stood stock still in the rain mesmerised by the sight.

Greenleaf limped to the edge of the pool which lay some three feet below. He wished he could dive into its inviting depths. He heard the ranger walk up behind him.

"Beautiful isn't it?" the ranger said softly.

"Yes," the elf agreed his voice equally soft.

"Take off your clothes," Aragorn said in the same tone.

Greenleaf stiffened and turned his head to look into Aragorn's eyes in disbelief. The ranger's stare was cold.

"Please," Greenleaf stuttered, "n…not here."

"Yes here," Aragorn responded, his hand going to the hilt of his sword, "right now."

Greenleaf's eyes shimmered and his gaze dropped. With a dull ache in his heart he pulled off his soiled clothing and let it drop in a heap on the ground.

His body though beautiful was marked with the faint scars of repeated beatings and bruises where there should have been none. He stood there with a blank look waiting for whatever his new master would require of him.

Aragorn took his chin in his hands and forced the elf to look at him. Greenleaf's blue eyes were dull and his bottom lip trembled.

"I know that I have done nothing to earn your trust Legolas, but do not judge me by my race. Right now there is only one thing I want from you."

Greenleaf's eyes were puzzled; he frowned slightly at the ranger.

With a smile Aragorn gave him a firm shove.

Greenleaf took a step back, overbalanced and fell with a shriek into the cold water of the pool. He resurfaced a few seconds later spluttering and took a huge breath. He looked up at the ranger.

Aragorn was grinning. "Invigorating isn't it?" he threw a small cake of soap at his friend.

Greenleaf caught it and with a whoop disappeared under the surface of the water.
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"Trenaro i narn namen Legolas, man agorech guin rych?" ...Tell us the story (again) Legolas, what did you do with the horses?

Saes, saes daro...Please please stop

Viggomaniac... Five gold coins, a lifetime of wealth! LOL. Anyway your review made my day!

Ciryaquen... Hmmmmmmm, I'll keep that in mind.

Silvertoekee... Forgive him silver!

Lindahoyland... You keep making me blush…

Ainu Laire... Thanks for your comment. Now I am ashamed.

TwilightUnicorn ...But…but …but….

Shanna Mi amor! ...Espero que te disfrutó de este capitulo!

Llaris... Thanks a lot.

Quickbeam ...Sorry, but glad you enjoyed.