14

"Leave me be!" Legolas exclaimed slapping phantom hands away from his body.

But Talen laughed silently his mouth opened in delicious glee. He gloated down at the elf, hands on hips as he had done many times in life. Legolas groaned hiding his face in his hands. He was so tired, but the spectre of his own imaginings would not let him free. He looked up to see Talen seated across from him smiling pleasantly. Shaking with revulsion Legolas got to his feet. He checked on Aragorn first but the ranger was sleeping peacefully. He turned and with a word escaped to the emptiness of the forest. He knew he would find no sleep that night.

He walked, as he had done many nights before, along pathways that had become overgrown with little use. He carried no weapon for he did not care overmuch for his own safety. But as had happened on previous nights Talen kept pace with him, gliding over the grass with no sound. Legolas began to run his feet barely avoiding obstacles in his way. He ran with a sort of desperation hoping to leave behind his constant companion, but where he went Talen followed until he stopped, gasping for breath at the root of a grandfather tree.

With his hands he traced the whorls along the rough bark and the old tree stirred from its slumber.

"Please allow me succour within your branches for I can go on no more." Legolas asked simply.

The old tree which had not been graced with the sight of such a being in many a long year creaked ominously as it bent forward eagerly to receive the elf into its bosom. Legolas climbed high, aided by the old branches that had found some new life. He curled within its gnarled limbs and listened to its leafy whisperings. Soon he fell into a light sleep as Talen, unable to follow him, remained below. His rest did not last very long however for he began to toss and murmur as Talen found the way into his dreams. Dawn found him hunched bleary eyed upon the topmost branch of the tree.

……………………………

Aragorn woke in the early hours of predawn. Finding himself alone, he ventured outside into the chill to relieve his uncomfortable fullness. He was a little surprised to have found the arbour opened, for Legolas was wont to seal it whenever he left. Aragorn assumed the elf felt he was safer that way. The forest was still and nearly silent. It was still shrouded in night's inky glow. Aragorn carefully felt his way along the walls, using his fingertips to guide him. He stopped at the very edge where the arbour curved toward the left and then walked into the open, where the trees were packed closely together.

He wondered idly where Legolas had gone. He seemed to always slip away whenever he went to sleep. He supposed that being back in his home the elf preferred to sleep among the trees, out in the open. He glanced around trying to discern if he was perhaps watching him even now, but he could not see that much. He realised then that he had gone far enough. He was standing in a denser patch of darkness. Here the trees seemed hunched forward as though sneering down at him. Quickly he untied his leggings and began to do his business. There was a rustle of sound. To him it sounded as though they laughed or perhaps jeered at his human weakness. The sound gave him goose bumps and made him skin prickle, for he remembered how easily the trees had got them lost before.

'Foolish child,' he chided himself, 'afraid of the dark.'

Nevertheless he lost no time in retying his pants and retracing his steps. He had not gone far however when he realised he must have started off in the wrong direction because he had not yet reached the arbour wall. He knew it had been very close, no more than thirty paces away.

He stopped unwilling to go any further. There were trees all around him now all whispering in their leafy voices. Aragorn closed his eyes and tried to control his breathing.

"It will be light soon," he whispered to himself, "then I can see where I am."

There was a sudden thump just behind him that made him jump. A heavy branch had fallen. Aragorndid not turn around, instead he closed his eyes and prayed that morning would come.

………………………………

Legolas hurried along on tired feet. Aragorn must be up and wanting to know where he had gone. His leg hurt but not as much as before. The nightly application of the leaf had indeed worked to dispel the worst of the toxins and his natural resistance was doing the rest. He stopped within sight of the arbour noticing that it stood open. He chided himself for being so lax. He was not really surprised to find that Aragorn was gone. The ranger was naturally inquisitive and would have jumped at the chance at unsupervised freedom. But Legolas knew that the forest, especially on this side of Mirkwood Mountains was filled with terrible black hearted creatures; even the trees could not be trusted.

He found the ranger's trail with some trouble for tired elf eyes could not penetrate the near darkness easily. He quickly realized that Aragorn had followed the boundaries of the arbour, so he hurried along hoping to spy him somewhere nearby. When he got to the point where the wall turned left however, Aragorn's trail continued onto the deeper wood. Legolas walked quickly eyes bent upon the ranger's trail.

…………………

The branch hit him smartly just below the shoulders and Aragorn gave a startled cry. He had stood his ground when branches had fallen all about him and when the ground had shaken as the trees grumbled. But he was still smarting from the whipping that Talen had dealt him. The humiliating memory was so very fresh in his mindthat when another branch smacked him just below the buttocks he bolted.

Blindly he ran, his breath panting out of him in panic. The trees twisted his path prodding him on until he was hopelessly lost among them. He could not see his path for branches whipped his face. He cried out putting his hands in front of his eyes. But their gnarled limbs reached out and snatched at his hair.

Frantic now, Aragorn ran even faster hoping to dodge between their massive trunks, but the trees tripped him. They heaved their bumpy roots from the soil as he ran past and he fell, tumbling headlong into the underbrush. They caught hold of him, within seconds they entangled their twiggy fingers in his hair. They entwined their thick branchy arms about his body. They began to pull him upward.

Aragorn twisted and struggled but the strength of the trees was formidable. They squeezed him so hard that tears came to his eyes. He took in a painful breath and gave a wailing scream.

…………………….

"Le go las!" The scream echoed all around him.

"Aragorn," the whisper came from his lips involuntarily.

He ran, heading straight toward the sound of the ranger's voice.

The trees tried to stop him but the elf's anger was a palpable force. A force that not even their dark hearts could withstand. They fell back before him like wheat before scythe. He came to the place where Aragorn hung suspended like an old cloth in a hag's window.

"Release him," Legolas hissed between clenched teeth. The trees shuddered, reeling at the vehemence behind his words. They released him. Gently from branch to branch they passed him down, till he was laid upon the leaf strewn earth.

………………………

It took several days for Aragorn to get over his fright. His ribs were sore as they had been badly bruised by the trees, but he had suffered no other serious injury. This however had led to Legolas telling him all about the giant spiders and other magical creatures that roamed the length and breadth of Mirkwood.

"Near my Lord's halls they do not go, for his magic and our warriors keep them at bay. But out here…" Legolas shrugged and that eloquent gesture more than anything else burned into Aragorn's mind the terrible beauty of the place.

"Should we not then travel to your Lord's halls with all speed?" Aragorn asked with a little smile.

Legolas leaned back and rested from cleaning the bruises around Aragorn's ribs.

"It would take us five full weeks to get there in the most direct way. And that would be in the deeps of summer when it is the easiest to travel. In this weather with naught but the clothes on our back and no food; no Aragorn it would be folly to attempt such a trip."

Aragorn looked disappointed but not even he was so headstrong to fight against the coming snows. It had been alright so far. The snows were light, a mere dusting upon the earth but in just a week things would be different. Legolas had been killing and skinning as much game as he could catch. He smoked then hung the carcasses along the back of the arbour to keep them fresh, even so they both knew it would not last them all winter. For Aragorn sake he had even begun to eat again, even though he saw each thing he ate filled with squirming maggots and blood. He knew it could not be so for the ranger ate with no complaint at all.

He had also confined Aragorn to their winter home and by doing so confined himself, for he could not now go comfortably wandering anymore. It meant that he kept a lonely vigil each night only dozing off for minutes at a time for Talen was still his constant companion. He knew that should he sleep his dreams would be filled with painful memories. Yet awake he would see the giant place himself in the most visible spot and sneer at him all night. It was the ranger's gentle snores that prevented Legolas from giving into his unshakable melancholy.

…………………..

Aragorn knew that all was not right with his elven companion. It was evident in his constant tiredness. It was evident in the way he was startled by any little noise. It was there in his eyes, a naked vulnerability that glimmered just below the surface. But Aragorn did not know what to do with his knowledge. How did one go about broaching such a subject?

Instead he made himself as helpful as possible, aiding Legolas with the setting and emptying of the traps. He could not help with the skinning for there was only one knife between them. He squatted on his haunches, watching as Legolas worked rapidly in the dying light.

"How do you go so fast? It takes me hours to skin one small rabbit," Aragorn commented.

"Years of practice," Legolas replied. Without looking up from his task he tossed a finished carcass in Aragorn's direction.

"Did your father teach you?" Aragorn asked wrapping the naked thing in leaves as Legolas had shown him.

Legolas' hands stilled for a moment then he said, "No, Talen taught me. It was my job to skin the catch. Then I scraped the skins and hung them to dry."

He did not say that during trapping season he had had to do this every single day all day long.

He continued to cut along the back of the hare but the knife slipped and gave him a thin slash along the length of his thumb. He hissed in pain and Aragorn immediately reached for it but Legolas got to his feet a scowl upon his face.

"Leave me be adan, you have helped enough, how am I to finish this with all your prattling."

Aragorn said nothing at first, the elf's outburst was unexpected and he was deeply surprised.

"I am sorry; I will try not to interrupt again." he apologised.

Legolas nodded and kneeling again took up the hare. They worked in silence for the next hour, Legolas clearly hampered by the slash on his hand.

By the time they reached the arbour Legolas was in a better mood he even let Aragorn bind his hand. It was almost night and Legolas began to gather tinder for the fire.

"Let me, I feel much better today and your hand is hurt," Aragorn volunteered.

Legolas looked unsure but Aragorn insisted. "Go get some of that terrible tasting tree bark of yours and I will make your foul drink."

Legolas laughed, the bright sound bringing a smile to Aragorn's face as well. The tree bark was a stock of spice they had found in the arbour and the foul drink was a type of hot tea made from boiling it. Legolas disappeared inside and Aragorn set about laying the fire. He had it lit in no time. Then he gathered some of the snow that had fallen that day in their little pot and hung it over the fire to boil. It was only then he realized that Legolas had not returned. Taking a burning brand from the flames he went to see what was keeping the elf.

'Probably found another stash of the foul tasting brew,' he thought.

But Legolas had done no such thing. He was fast asleep upon the grass bed one hand across his chest, the other at his side. One of his feet was off the bed the other curled under him. He had most likely sat there just to rest and had fallen asleep. Aragorn shifted both of his feet to a more comfortable position and covered him with the blanket.

"Sleep well mellon nin," Aragorn whispered.

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tmelange------- thank you TL.

Ciryaquen-------- hope this one made sense.

Deep Sorrow-------- thank you for your kind review.

lindahoyland-------- keep those comments coming!

sielge-----------no death just yet.

Shanna-----------me gustaria vivir en Greenwood.

viggomaniac----- I was kind of surprised you noticed. I just put that in there for my

own sake.