Hello! Well, it's me! and I have finally written chapter 5! YAY! It's taken me a while I know and I cannot say sorry enough times! But I have tried to make it up to you by writing a chapter that is longer than my whole fic put together nearly! lolzz

I really hope you enjoy this chapter and please tell me what you
think! Again, I must apologise for its lateness! But better late
then never right?

Review Responses are at the end! I also just have to say, that as I am back at school the next update might not be for a few weeks. I've just started year9 and it's quite tough. I got 3 pieces of homework on my second day! I will try and update as soon as I can though!

Title: The Sniffles

Author: Trinilee Greenleaf

Summary: A young Legolas finds out that even elves can get sick, sometimes.

Rating: K

Disclaimer: I don't own any Lotr characters. Except Legolas! Sigh no I unfortunately don't own him either. But I might soon. If I can just prove that I am a descendant of Tolkein. evil laughter

WARNING: There is a big cliffy at the end so don't forget to bring your elven rope! eg

Authors Note: I made up the name of Thranduil's wife so it is NOT her real name.

Second note: Legolas is roughly about the age of nine in human years but for an elf I have no idea how long that would be so … sorry about that.

Rough Translations

Penneth – young one

Ada – Father

Naneth – Mother

Tawiandrís – Woodland Queen

Eail gasta – do not fear

Nae Elbereth beriatha gen – May Elbereth protect you

For previous chapters: http/ 7

He straightened his tunic and pushed a strand of golden-blonde hair that had come loose from his braids out of his face. He steeled himself for the oncoming hell that dinner this night was sure to be.

He walked through the archway into the hall where he, the peredhils, Lord Glorfindel and sometimes Lord Erestor ate. Just his luck; tonight had to be the night when both Glorfindel and Erestor decided to eat dinner with them. Most nights, the two lords were too busy to eat with them and would eat in their own chambers later on. But it appeared that neither of them had some urgent piece of work to finish, much to Legolas' disappointment.

"Ah, Legolas, I am so glad that you have finally joined us," Lord Elrond announced Legolas' arrival, making all those at the table look up from their conversations.

The young Prince blushed to the tips of his ears and took his seat next to Elrohir.

"Now that the last of our number has joined us, we may eat," on his last word, Lord Elrond clapped his hands and three or four servants came in with several trays of food.

Legolas blushed an even deeper red when he realised that the others had been waiting for him to start dinner. This small act made him feel even guiltier and that same horrible feeling came back and rested right at the bottom of his stomach. Luckily he had just ridden himself of all the small pieces of food he had eaten that day. He was sure that if he hadn't, he would have there and then.

When his plate of food was placed in front of him, Legolas had to fight back the feeling to push it away. The smell set off a thousand bells ringing in his stomach telling him that it would refuse any food that Legolas decided to eat.

The poor elfling didn't know what to do. If he ate anything, he was sure that his stomach would just spit it back out again. But if he didn't eat anything, then surely the others would get suspicious.

With a shaky hand, the young prince picked up his spoon. It was only soup. He could manage that…right?

The others had all started and Legolas was the only one sitting with his spoon in midair looking at his bowl as though it contained something poisonous.

"Is there something wrong penneth?"

Lord Elrond had noticed that Legolas had not started to eat yet and that his face had a slight green tinge to it. Startled out of his inner battle of whether to eat or not eat, Legolas dropped his spoon. It clattered onto the table and sounded very loud in the sudden silence that had descended after Lord Elrond had spoken.

"I..um..no..of course not hir nin," Legolas struggled for the right words. It was made especially difficult with four pairs of worried eyes staring at him, looking straight through him.

They know! It took Legolas a few seconds to come to this horrifying conclusion, and when he did he badly wished he hadn't.

Not thinking of the consequences, the elfling tore out of hall, along the corridor and straight out the front doors into the cool and fresh air of the evening. The gentle breeze grabbed at his golden hair and whipped it about his face. It also managed to clear the prince's head just a little, and instead of just running aimlessly he made a bee-line straight for the woods.

The minute he reached the trees, he jumped up into the branches that all seemed to reach toward him, trying to comfort him. He ran and ran not stopping for one minute to even think about what he was running from.

Eventually he stopped but it was not because of choice. Legolas had suddenly started to feel very weak and had had to sit down. He picked a tall, old tree that had told him that it would protect him.

Satisfied that he was safe, he had finally sat down and was now thinking about what he had done and why in Elbereth's name he had done it.

Why had he run from the family that was his in all but blood? Why had he run when he could have just told Lord Elrond that he had been feeling ill? Why? Why!

Question after question ran round his head and it took a while before he was finally able to separate them. But however much he thought about each individual question, the answers still eluded him.

Why had he run?

This most important question was the one which Legolas was focusing all his attention on.

In the end he found the answer. He had been scared. Not of telling Lord Elrond that he was ill, but of telling them all that he had lied to them. It seemed to him that his motto about lying had been right; it did get you into trouble.

He should have just told them what was going on, told them that he needed their help. But he had been too stubborn for that hadn't he? His darn pride had got in the way. The curse that he had inherited from his father had yet again put him in a horrible situation.

He remembered the time when he had been too stubborn to ask for help in making the peredhils breakfast when he had been younger. He had thought he was old enough to do it on his own. He had ended up in bed for a week after he had fallen from a shelf.

This was almost exactly the same situation wasn't it?

Legolas sighed, and now he had gone and made it even worse. He had run away from them all without so much as an apology. What would they think of him now? Would they hate him for running like a coward? He didn't think he could take it if they did. How could he live knowing that the closest people in his life, apart from his naneth and ada, didn't love him anymore?

His naneth.

He wished he hadn't thought about her at a time like this. She had been cruelly taken from him a few years ago. Even though she was in Mandos' halls right now, she was still close to him. She would always be close to him, as he could never take her out of his heart.

He placed a hand right where his most vital organ lay and clutched at his tunic. That was another thing to thank the peredhils for. They had helped both him and his father through that terrible time. Elrond had even healed Legolas' wounds. He still remembered that fateful day when they had been riding to Rivendell to visit The Lord and his sons. They had been attacked by orcs. Their escort had been killed and he and his naneth had been tortured.

Elladan and Elrohir had shown up and had rescued them both. They had been out on a hunting trip when they had found the bodies of the guards. But they had been too late to save his naneth. They had gotten them both back to Rivendell but they had lost Queen Tawiandrís on the way.

They would have lost Legolas too if it had not been for Elrond's spectacular healing skills.

Bringing himself out of his memories, Legolas wiped away the crystal tears that had slipped out of his eyes without his notice. He suddenly realised how dark it was. It hadn't been this dark when he had come out of the Last Homely House earlier had it? How long had he been running? Long enough for them to send out a search party?

He didn't think so. Why would they want to find him after what he had done?

A sliver of fear crept into his heart that moment. He was deep in the woods, at night, it was very, very dark and surely those predators that could not stand daylight would surely be out soon.

Wrapping his arms around his knees, the Prince fell into an uneasy sleep, filled with nightmarish thoughts about being cast out and banned from entering Imladris ever again.

Meanwhile…

Elladan and Elrohir had been the first to react. After Legolas had looked at them with eyes filled with guilt which had soon turned to realisation, they had known that the young prince would probably do something very stupid.

But not as stupid as this! Thought Elrohir. How could he just go running out into the fast-approaching night and disappear into the forest? It would be getting dark soon and then the orcs would be out.

Orcs! What if they caught Legolas? What if we don't find him until it's too late? What if time repeated itself yet again!

Calm down muindor, Elladan's gentle voice floated inside his head, we will find him. It will not be like our naneth or Legolas' naneth. We will find him.

Elladan had heard his brother's thoughts, had thought them himself, but had quickly realised that being stuck in memories of the past would not help Legolas.

It was times like these when he truly thanked the Valar for the gift he and his twin had. Being able to hear each other's thoughts, feel each other's emotions, and speak to each other without even opening their mouths was a special gift that both he and Elrohir treasured dearly.

"Right!" came Glorfindel's booming voice, "Prince Legolas is out there in those woods and we must find him before anything else does. Is that clear?"

The contingent of Rivendell warriors that were assembled in the courtyard all nodded and there were a few murmurs of agreement. Every face was creased with worry as they all cared for the little prince. He had a heart of gold, a mischievous nature and he was just damn cute!

"Right, move out!"

All of the armed warriors went running into the trees, some in pairs others in threes or fours. None were alone. Safety in numbers was taken very seriously in Imladris.

As they were running along, the twins conversed using their special bond.

I still don't understand why he ran, 'Dan! What did he think we'd do to him? It was obvious he was unwell and just didn't want to tell us but why did he run? It's not like we'd be angry at him or anything!

But that's just it muindor, Elladan replied, perhaps Legolas thought that we would be angry at him. His ada is constantly telling him how he should always tell the truth; perhaps he was scared that he had lied to us about his health?

That does sound like the most probable reason, Elrohir sighed, I hope we find him soon! I can't stand to think of him out here all on his own!

I know. We will find him 'Ro, eail gasta.

Surveying the peaceful tranquillity of the woods, the Lord of Imladris sighed. He had watched as his sons and Glorfindel had rallied together quite a number of troops, who were all willing to help find the Prince even if they had to search through the night and knowing them, into the next day as well.

Turning away from his balcony and the woods that soothed many souls, Elrond waked back into his room. This night he knew would be full of anxious waiting and worrying over a certain young Prince who he had failed to protect. He had failed to keep Legolas safe. Not only had the elfling become sick in one of the most renowned healers in Middle Earth's care, but he had also ran out into the night on his own where anything could happen to him!

Pacing back and forth in his room the Peredhil stopped suddenly and turned to look at a painting above the fireplace. It pictured himself with his arm around a smiling Celebrían who in turn had her arms wrapped round two mischievous-looking twins who were also beaming. Celebrían was also linking arms with her best friend, Tawiandrís. She was standing next to a laughing Thranduil who had his arm round her much like Elrond was holding Celebrían. And in the woodland Queen's arms, she held a bundle of blankets. Poking out of the bundle was a small, golden-haired, smiling face. Legolas.

The picture hadn't been painted all that long ago and it saddened Elrond so very much to realise that the two females in the picture were no longer with them. But most of the time, Elrond found himself matching the grin he portrayed in the picture as he thought of the fun times they had had.

Turning away from the picture, Elrond wiped his eyes. It was at times like these when Elrond wished as hard as he could that his wife was with him. He knew that Thranduil did the same. But at least they had each other, and their children.

That thought brought him out of his memories and back to the present. Marching back out onto the balcony, his whispered words were carried off into the night.

"Nae Elbereth beriatha gen, Legolas."

"You have disappointed me Legolas," the quiet yet stern tone of Lord Elrond was beginning to frighten him. He would have preferred it if he had shouted at him.

Backing up a step, he stammered his reply, "I-I-I'm s-so sorry L-Lord Elrond. I-I-"

"SORRY!" Lord Elrond boomed, his voice louder than that of a Balrog, "sorry will not change what you did. Sorry is for weaklings just like you. Sorry is for cowards who choose to run from their fears."

Flinching back at Lord Elrond's words, Legolas was truly feeling frightened. Perhaps more frightened than he had ever been in his entire life.

Elrond advanced upon him. Until he towered over the quaking elfling. He raised his hand and slapped Legolas so hard that the Prince's head was viciously snapped to the side.

Waking with a jolt, the blonde elfling who was sitting sweating in a tree, realised that it had all been a dream. Nay, a nightmare. Breathing deeply Legolas ran his shaking fingers through his golden tresses. Looking up, he saw that it was still dark, meaning he couldn't have been asleep for more than a couple of hours. He also realised, that it apparently meant that a search-party hadn't been sent out to look for him. Not that he had thought it would. After his dramatic exit, Legolas knew that he would probably be forgotten about; left to fend for himself in the wild woods of Imladris.

But he couldn't stay there. He would be found by a patrol sooner or later. He would have to leave the peaceful woods that were his second home and travel to somewhere where no-one knew his name or his past. He couldn't go back to Mirkwood. He couldn't go to Lothlorien either. Maybe he should travel to Rohan where he could perhaps get a job as a stable-hand for the magnificent beasts that the land was known for. Or Gondor maybe?

Running through his options in his head, Legolas slowly made his way down the tree. Wherever he was to go, he should leave now.

It was difficult to be able to think straight though, as a dwarf seemed to have taken up residence inside his skull and was reapeatedly banging his axe right behind his eyes. He felt so tired too. It's the sickness, he thought I've got to ignore it. I can't stay here.

So he continued walking through the forest with his bowed, his mind still jumbled with thoughts of his new-life as a stable-hand. But with all that he was thinking about and with the sickness still raging through him, Legolas did not pay attention to his surroundings. The trees tried to stop him from walking any further but they could simply not reach the wandering Prince.

It was not until he heard a cold, menacing voice that he realised that he had just walked straight into an orc camp.

TBC...

Well/runs as fast as she can to a safe place/ there you go!

Please review!

Trini
xxx

Review Responses

Astalder27 – I know, lying is not the answer! Well, does this chapter answer that question? Hehe

Lady Gallatea Ravenclaw – Well, here you go!

Werewolflemming – No, not well at all! Well, they find out in this chapter but it doesn't really go that well. I hope you liked this chapter too!

Arialas – I hope you liked this chapter!

Midknightdragonz – I know, poor thing. Aw, that's okay. I'm glad to have you back though! Lolzz Every one of my reviewers are special. And this chapter is even longer! Very long for me. Well, I sort of contradicted that statement didn't i? I am really sorry about the wait! But I really hope you like this chapter and that you don't hate me for taking so long! Yes! Lolzz all sadists! Hehe I just can't help hurting him! Hehe and thank you for the compliment. I do believe that my writing has got a little better over the long break so I still hope that you believe it is good!

Laurie – Well, I'm back! I've been back for a while now but I just haven't been able to update until now. I hadn't finished the chapter until now! Lolzz I hope you thought dinner was interesting! Hehe

Silverstreak Wolf – Yupss! Legolas is sick! Poor thing! Well, they didn't really do a very good job of that did they? Lolzz I had a great time on holiday and I feel so much better for it!

Haldir's Heart And Soul – I think it's a bit late for that! Hehe

Theo Darkstar What am I doing to Legolas? Nothing! Hehe I'm a terrible liar I know! Hehe It might be…I don't want to spoil it! It might not be from just standing out in the rain though…

Lostariel Nolatari - I don't think that's possible! Hehe I hope you liked this chapter and see you at school on Monday! lolzz