Title: Carry On No More?
Author: Eternal Elves
Rating: T
Summary: Legolas and the Peredhil twins never left. They felt a calling as a last tribute to Aragorn to protect his people. As the centuries passed, the twins wandered and they lost contact. Legolas was losing his will to stay. Until he meets someone.
Author Notes: Review please!
Carry On No More?
Chapter One
Legolas was tired. More tired than he cared to admit. Even though all the years had passed since Estel's passing, he still expected the silver-eyed man to come walking through the door to the living room of his bachelor pad and demand the elf sleep. But Legolas had never been fond of sleep. He had once had a vigor for life, despite his age and experience, but without all his friends, without even Gimli, he was tired.
But he could not die. He was an elf, doomed with immortality. He could sail, yes, but he felt a calling in him stronger than the call of the sea. The calling was to protect Man, as a lasting tribute to his friend, who would live forever in his heart. He bowed his head as he flipped on the seven o'clock news channel. He listened half-heartedly to their mindless babble about crime and how horrible it was. Legolas knew it wasn't half as bad as they made it seem. By Valar, he was in the middle of most of it.
Yes, the once well-reknown Prince of Mirkwood was now a famous police officer, known for getting into the worst scrabbles, but always coming out without a major injury. No one knew how he did it, and no one had to gall to even ask him. They just took his skill for granted. And it wasn't that bad for him.
He hated getting media attention. But there was a part of him that wanted more of it, so that if there were any elves that he had not met over his time, that they would recognize him and he could have at least one friend. But alas, he was alone, and he was trying hard to become accustomed to it. But even thousands of years could not erase the pang he felt. All his friends who had not sailed and not died (like the Peredhil twins) had just disappeared off the face of the Earth, and it disheartened him. Why did they fade away and he did not? He was surely not more important than they. The twins could probably still give him a proper beating, even in their "old age".
Legolas let out a low chuckle at this. The twins would probably be as spry as they were when they were elflings. They were sources of continual life and youth. And all the ladies had loved them. He shook his head with a laugh, cherishing the fond memories he locked up in his heart and mind, only to open them on rainy days such as these.
He looked out the window at the dreary rain that pittered and pattered comfortingly. At least no matter how many years he witnessed on Earth, there would always be the seasons and the weather and the rain and the sun. He was still an elf, despite his human appearance, and he still loved the things he had always loved. For instance, he still kept up with his archery and the American Olympic Team had asked him to try out for the team, but he had refused. He had been brought up to think of weapons as just that. They were weapons, and he forbade himself to take part in any sort of game or contest. Not even back in the Golden Days of Middle Earth had he played an archery game. But it was undisputed that he was the best, beyond all contestation.
He stood up and threw away the uneaten portion of his leftover spaghetti. That was the only thing he could and would ever be able to make, and it was enough for him. He had tried to make lembas a few years past with human ingredients, but his whole-hearted attempt had tasted bland and disgusting, not like the buttery crispness of the lembas he knew from his younger days.
He stopped in front of his mirror. His once long and golden hair was cut short, just past his ears and dyed slightly, to give it a human feel. He missed his past hair, but he had grown fond of the new color. He was dressed in casual wear, a black t-shirt that hugged his muscles and a pair of jeans that hung from the correct place - his waist - and not from halfway down his butt. He thought men of this age were despicable rodents, and wished to teach each of them a lesson they would never forget. They impregnated women, left them, and went around, their hands on every girl they laid eyes on. The ones that had quality did not have heart. Those that had heart were too afraid to show it. And those that weren't afraid to show it showed it in the wrong way.
Where was the honor and valor of old? Legolas sighed in exasperation. He wished he would just sail and see his father and brother and sister and friends again. He wanted to be around elves and be an elf, not some human. He fooled all but young children, too innocent to see the evil of the world, but even they treated him no differently than any other adult. With frightened respect, it seemed.
"Estel... where are you, my friend?" Legolas whispered as he pulled a coat from his closet. "You are needed here. You are their king. Eldarion is long dead and your line is dead. You are needed. I need you."
He closed his apartment door behind him and went down three flights of stairs. He looked out at the rain and pulled his coat over his body and went out into the rain. He could hear the rain's laughter and the joy as it fed the earth. The industrialized world sickened Legolas, but he was used to it. He looked up at the sky and his own tears joined to mix with the rain.