IMPORTANT Hey guys, it's important you know that last time I updated, I accidentally put up two chapter 11's so one was named chapter 12. some of you who reviewed for chapter 12/11 won't be able to review, I don't think, for this chapter unless you go anonymously! Thanks and sorry about the inconvenience.

Overthrown

Chapter 12

Night in Emyn Muil

Aragorn rubbed tiredly at his eyes and stared at the dark rocks around him. They'd been forced to stop for the night, rain pounded and the moon tried desperately to peek through the grey swirling clouds. Aragorn shivered in the rain and wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself, leaning his head back against the hard, sharp rocks behind him.

"You're worried about them?" Kelser asked. Aragorn looked up and smiled, nodding.

"We should have sent more men with them." Aragorn answered. Kelser shook his head, sending cool drops over Aragorn's face.

"No, we couldn't have. We'd have to lead their horses and the elves only had three of their own. They will be faster riding." Kelser sat down next to him and leaned against the wall. "They will be fine. I have faith in your Elf friend. He seems to be made of more stuff then I'm sure even he believes."

Aragorn shook his head. "I can't get over the feeling that there is something very wrong." A cloud passed over the moon again, throwing them all into utter, wet, darkness.

Across the rocky plains, Legolas crouched in the mouth of the cave beside the twins. Gimli's snores echoed in his ears but he blocked them out, listening to the men outside in the dark. Elladan shifted uncomfortably.

"I believe I heard your name." He whispered into Legolas' ear, his breath caressing the elf's ear and sending an annoying tingle on his ear drum. Legolas nodded, his sharp eyes roving into the shadows on the walls and ground. Suddenly, there was movement, the shifting of a dark cloak. Legolas pointed and the twins nodded.

Raising his bow, he aimed at the man but hesitated. It wasn't a man, it was an elf. Legolas' breath caught in his throat and his bow lowered despite himself. The elf moved around a cliff and joined another, their faces turned to the cave.

"By the Valar." Legolas breathed, watching them below. He couldn't believe it, they wore their hoods over their faces but they were definitely elves. "Our own people."

Elladan also lowered his bow staring at the elves. The attack came from the right. Three men came over the lip of the cave and one slammed into Legolas, sending him rolling out into the rainy night. Springing to his feet, he took his arrow and stabbed the man in the stomach but more were still coming. They surrounded him, circling him in an uneven mass were all he could do was shoot.

His first arrow hit one man in the neck, dropping him into another one and sending them both plummeting over the lip of a nearby cliff. Turning he slammed his fist into the next one and pushed him over the cliff with the others.

A man came from behind him, swinging his sword over her head. Slinging his bow over his back, Legolas leapt off the cliff and caught the cliff face across from him. The rocks were slippery from the rain and his grip was almost lost three or four times as he began pulling himself up onto the lip above him.

Gimli's cry from the cave made Legolas turn and stare through the rain at the cave. Gimli had woken and he was grumpy. Legolas saw him take out the legs of three men before he was saved by Elladan's arrow.

An arrow swept past his face, cutting into his cheek. Legolas' hand flew to his face and he rolled to the side and behind a large boulder. An Elven voice called out to him through the rain.

"We do not wish to hurt you, Greenleaf of Mirkwood." One called. Legolas crawled to the side of the boulder and peeked out at the dark cliff. He could just see them, through the rain, crouched in the shadows with their bows raised. Pulling himself back behind the boulder, Legolas notched an arrow and cleared his throat.

"You do not wish to hurt me yet you attack my friends and I in the night?" He called back. "Was it you, also, who attacked my home or sent the rocks down on top of us? Was it you who watched me from the roof top of Minas Tirith?"

"We did not attack your home, personally but yes, we were involved." The second elf called out. Legolas felt his breath catch in his throat and his heartbeat quicken. "As for the rocks, we knew you would be fine and the stranger in Minas Tirith was not us." Legolas seriously doubted it.

"And why would you attack my home?" Legolas asked.

"That you can take up with Aron when we bring you to him." The first elf called. "You have been a thorn in his side for a while now." There was suddenly humor in his voice. "A thorn for your father as well. He still refuses to give us any details." Legolas' eyes widened in the dark and he rushed around the boulder, screaming.

He grabbed both Elves around the middles and yanked them to the ground, knocking one out and managing to get on top of the other. They rolled in the rocky puddles forming on the lip of the twisting Emyn Muil, hitting any part of each other they could. Legolas felt strong pale hands wrap around his throat and suddenly the other elf was on top of him, his hood back and his damp brown hair sticking to his face.

There was a savage look in his eyes but it wasn't of hatred just a will to survive. Legolas managed to get his hand hook around his bow and pulling it off his shoulder while kicking his legs furiously trying to free himself of the other's death grip.

Hooking his bow string around the other's neck, Legolas bulled the handle towards himself and let go. It snapped the Elf in the neck, crushing into his windpipe with enough force to knock him over backwards.

Legolas somersaulted to his feet as the other Elf crawled, using boulders to help him stand as he choked for breath. Pulling the bow over his head, he began swinging it at Legolas, trying to hit him. Legolas dodged but knew he had to get his bow back.

When the attacker swung too high, Legolas ducked under his guard and grabbed the bow, trying to wrench it away from the Elf's strong grasp. It was to no avail, the other wouldn't let go.

"This was a gift from the Lady herself." Legolas hissed. The Elf's grip slackened but he didn't yield. "I hope she curses you!"

Legolas dropped to his knees and rolled forward, still gripping the bow. The other Elf had to front flip to avoid being bowled over but the action cost him. The moment Legolas was on his feet he back flipped, hooking the bow over his shoulder and falling onto the other Elf, knocking him in the face with his fist with a satisfying crunch.

The Elf cried out and swung up, connecting with Legolas' cheek below his right eye and sending him flying backwards to be met with the second attacker who had just woken. Blood ran down his face and into his eyes where he had struck his head but he didn't seem to notice. He lunged at Legolas' knees while the other went for the Prince's back. They both collided with Legolas at the same time, sending him falling hard onto the wet rocks and splitting his forehead open on a protruding rock.

Legolas moaned into the puddle under his head, spraying droplets of water into the air with his breath. A curtain of blond hair had fallen over his eyes and through it he could see the other two rising.

"Do you yield yet, Greenleaf?" One asked. Legolas didn't move. He wanted them to think he was more injured then he was…or thought he was. Mentally, he quickly probed his body, finding the sore places and stopping briefly on his side. The stitches hadn't pulled loose but they were on fire.

"Is he unconscious?" The other whispered. Legolas felt a manic gleam spreading through his body. He didn't tense but stayed loose, keeping his body still and hoping they wouldn't hear the change of his heart beat over the rain. The first stepped forward and Legolas snatched his ankle, yanking as hard as he could.

The Elf flew over his head and over the cliff face. There was a strange crumbling sound and Legolas knew he was holding onto the side, just out of his sight. He didn't care because now the other one was alone with him.

Getting to his feet, he grabbed the second Elf's fist as he aimed a blow at Legolas' face, and swung his arm wide to the left, crushing the fingers. Legolas sprung forward and bowled the other Elf over, rolling on top of him. He grabbed the Elf's head and slammed it into the ground, hard. There was a loud, sickening crack, just barely heard over the loud, guttural, heart wrenching scream that ripped from his throat. He was powerless to stop himself, no matter how hard he tried. All the rage he'd felt again came out of him through his fists as he began punching the pale face below him.

An arrow suddenly pointed into his back. Legolas stopped what he was doing and sat up straight, raising his arms in surrender. The elf poked him hard in the back. "Up." He said in a deadly whisper. Legolas got slowly to his feet, eyes still on the unconscious elf below him. Its face was a bloody mess, red and rain mixing in his dark hair. "Lower your weapons, slowly Your Highness."

Legolas pulled his bow off his back and laid it down on the ground at his feet, on top of the toes on his left foot. Unclipping the arrows, he pulled them off his shoulder and laid them a little further away, feathers facing him. "Now, turn and face me."

Legolas complied, turning swiftly he raised his left foot with the bow hooked to the toes of his boots. The bow soared up into the air and he caught it but having no arrows with which to shoot, he dove for his quiver lying just out of his reach. The Elf shot but his aim was thrown by Legolas' sudden lunge and his shot was not originally meant to kill the Mirkwood prince. The arrow hit Legolas' upper arm, ripping through the fabric and into the flesh beneath. Ignoring the shooting pain, he landed on his stomach and pulled an arrow from his quiver, rolled onto his back and aimed up, meeting an arrow to his head.

Both Legolas and the Elf were aiming at each other, their arms shaking from anticipation in the dark rain. Legolas stared up at the face above him, the glow of rain and moonlighting turning the pale shadowed face a bright white. The Elf was an older male, elegant but gaunt, sad but angry and scared. Legolas could see in his eyes pain and guilt so evident it shone like a beacon in the darkness.

"I do not wish to harm you." The Elf whispered over the rain. Legolas didn't remove his aim but he was loosing focus now. His shoulder stung badly and he could feel the blood seeping down his arm and pooling in Elrohir's clothing. "Please, by the Valor come quietly."

"You are asking me this when my friends are fighting beyond the ridge and you have an arrow aimed?" Legolas asked. The Elf nodded grimly. "Then I can not trust you."

"I will tell you all I know if you lower your arrow." The Elf replied. Legolas didn't trust him as far as he could throw him and wouldn't put his bow and arrow down for all the Mithril in Moria. "I was ordered to bring you before Aron, where your father is."

Legolas swallowed hard as his shoulder cried in protest against the strain he was placing on it. "My father." Legolas whispered. "Where is he? What do you know?" The Elf lowered his bow and let it hang limply at his side. Following the Elf's lead, Legolas too lowered his weapon.

"They have my family. This was the only way I could think of to get them back. You are my prince, and your father my king. I would not have betrayed you had they not taken my wife and child." Slowly, the Elf extended a hand, which Legolas took. As he was pulled to his feet the Elf handed him a cloth for his shoulder. "I ask for forgiveness, though I do not deserve it."

"You are an Elf of my home?" Legolas asked. The other nodded his eyes downcast in shame. "Who did this? Where is my father and this…Aron?"

The Elf looked up guiltily and opened his mouth to speak when an arrow sailed out of the dark above them and embedded itself in his chest. Crying out, the Elf staggered back into the wall, clutching the black shaft as Legolas raised his bow, spinning around to look up at the cliffs above him in the darkness. There was that Elf, the one who had watched him from the roofs of Minas Tirith. It stood for a second and disappeared through the rocks. Legolas would have pursued, if not for the dying Elf lying nearby, gasping for breath.

"No! Do not leave…" He cried. Legolas dropped his weapons and knelt beside it. "The place you seek is a dark…dark…" The Elf closed his eyes in pain and blew out a long breath. "Dark series of towers in…" His eyes rolled up into the back of his head and Legolas grabbed the collar of his tunic, pulling him into a sitting position and shaking him.

"Where?" He screamed but the Elf had stopped breathing and all life was swept from him. "Where?" Legolas cried again but there was nothing. Yelling elvish curses, Legolas leaned against the wall and closed his eyes against the sudden hush that had fallen over him, as though he had lost all hearing. The wind had died, the rain had stopped and the battle on the other side of the valley was stilled. Opening his eyes, Legolas saw Gimli rushing around on the far side of the jump, frantically calling out. It wasn't for a few minutes before Legolas realized it was his name the Dwarf was yelling.

"I'm hear, Gimli." Legolas called out. The Dwarf stopped and squinted through the dark at the Elf across the crack. "I'm alright."

"How did you get all the way over there?" Gimli called back. Legolas could have laughed if he hadn't felt so drained. Crawling to his feet, he approached the other Elf, which he had beaten to a pulp. The Elf was still, his breathing coming in sharp gasps. Legolas knew he wouldn't make it through the night.

"I need help moving them." He called. Elladan was standing at the gap separating Legolas from them, his face screwed up in concentration as he scanned the area to his left and right.

"We'll find a way around." He called back. "We'll help you move them. Stay where you are."

It was an hour before they had got all the bodies and the one living Elf into the safety of the cave. Legolas leaned against the back wall as Elrohir gently extracted the arrow, which had turned out to be no more then a flesh wound. Tying the cloth the Elf had given him tightly over the wound; Elrohir patted his arm and moved off to look after Gimli's head. Beside Legolas they had lay the injured Elf. Elladan now examined his face and body, his mouth set in a grim line.

"Legolas, any time I wish to fight you, remind me of this poor thing." He said, removing the Elf's tunic. Below, the white skin was purple and black. "He won't last long, he is fading fast." Legolas blew out a long breath and closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall. "Not much of a face to tell who he was."

"Does it matter?" Gimli growled from across the cave. "He tried to kill us and he's not a very good assassin. Who care who he was?"

"He had a family and ones who cared for him." Elrohir said, wrapping cloth around the Dwarf's head where a sizable cut had been made in the battle. "Someone will want him home…only he'll never return. Besides all that, he is an Elf and we must show proper respect to that."

"So? Elf, Human, Dwarf…they are all the same when they try to kill you. Don't know why you…Ow!" Elrohir had made a yanking movement with his wrist, sending the cloth around Gimli's head into a hard snap, cutting into the Dwarf's injury. Reaching up, he rubbed at the cloth, wincing.

"I still do not understand death, even after all these years and the battles they have contained." Elladan muttered. Legolas had to agree, though he would not admit it as openly as his friend. Gimli snorted and they all heard the words 'sheltered' under his breath. All three Elves glared at him in the dark.

The next morning dawned cold and clear. Aragorn woke with the dawn and prepared the men to move only an hour later. He was so preoccupied with meeting up with the others; he didn't even notice he wasn't wearing his boots until one of his soldiers pointed it out.

The twisting maze of Emyn Muil fanned out around mid-afternoon and he sent a scout ahead who came racing back twenty minutes later to say he'd seen riders ahead, through the twisting maze, heading for a large circular break in the walls.

They found Legolas, Gimli and the twins seated in a sunny, gravely circular 'field' as large the smallest hall of Moria three hours later. Aragorn had to work hard to stop himself from running over, grabbing the Elves and the Dwarf and hugging them. Dismounting, he jogged over to where they sat and crouched down beside Elladan who was tending to a strange Elf whose face was so unrecognizable, the only way he could tell it was one of the immortal folk was by its ears. The nose was broken and was swollen and purple. One eye was swollen shut and the other was red and puffy. His lip was split and his breathing was so shallow, Aragorn could tell at a glance the poor creature had a broken rib. Looking up at the Elves, he asked what had happened.

"We were attacked." Elrohir answered quietly, with a sharp glance at Legolas who stood off to the side, watching them. "He wouldn't go down, we had to do everything we could." Elrohir glanced at Legolas again. Following his eyes, the King saw the blood on Legolas' arm and the soft bruise beneath his eye and on his chin.

"Legolas, come." Aragorn said, motioning the Elf towards him. Legolas didn't comply but stood where he was, his eyes staring at the dying Elf lying feet away. Again, Aragorn called him and again the Elf neither moved nor spoke. Finally, tired of being utterly ignored, the King climbed to his feet and approached his friend who only looked up when the ex-Ranger touched his uninjured arm. "Are you with me? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Elladan fixed me right up." Legolas said, swiping at a stray piece of blond hair was his hand. It was as his hand moved across his face that Aragorn saw the savage bruises on his knuckles. Looking back at the Elf on the ground, Aragorn was shocked at the realization that those marks had been left by his friend and his friend alone.

To My Reviewers:

Emmiline: (Chapters 3, 4 and 11) I will revel who the other Elf is shortly, have no fear. You'll find out soon…no wait, you won't. LOL, come to think of it…you'll just have to guess. Anyway, it seems they aren't out to really help or hinder Legolas at all, are they? Oh, and I love leaving you in suspense so I'll say sorry now because I end up doing it a lot. LOL. Thanks for the review.

Gilraen Aclamense: LOL, well, here I am and I didn't update soon. Sorry about that, I've been having a very busy June already and it's only the beginning! Thanks for the review!

Kelsey Estel: Yes, the Elf in the shadows is important and strange. Now, I won't say much but the footsteps and the Elf in the shadows are connected, but not necessarily the same person…I may have said too much, hopefully not. I have many things I have to tie together still and It's driving me crazy! Oh well, its fun. Congrats about not being a freshman anymore! I have a while before school ends here.

Elessar-Lover: LOL, sorry. Hey, it's fun to watch you squirm!

Faerlas: I loved your theory. As with all theories, I will keep my lips tight shut but they were very good! I liked them. I'm close to a total nerd! LOL. Thanks for the review.

Legolas-gurl88: Yeah, I heard somewhere he had dyslexia and that makes me proud…in a twisted sort of way. LOL. I wanna be a writer though, not an actor! Thranduil…dead? LOL, I loved that. Anyway, I am getting you ready to face possible sadness in the future, that's all. I know there's no time to do anything anymore, eh?

Jedi Padfoot: I hope this was some kick butt?

invisigoth3: I love to keep my reviewers guessing. Thanks for the review.

IwishChan: (chapter 12) Yes things are looking really bad for them. I loved the comment about Gimli. I left his fight to mostly speculation, but you can fill in the rest with the weight crushing thing.

Moonyasha: Yay! I have fresh underwear. Okay, burn away.

Slayer3: LOL thanks for the review!

morph: Thank you. I realized the chapter thing AFTER you said it so…lol, oh well. Oh, it's just a joke, the burn Canada thing. I really do love Canada, it's my home and all. LOL. I hope I didn't worry you to much. Thanks for the review.

Flamesofthemo0n: Holy, that is a reason to be tired! Finals! Shudders I have those in like…a week or so. I should get studying. Yes, the Elves wouldn't get into a trap, probably, but for the purpose of plot building they had to. Let's just say this, it's not their fault. They were tired and worried and wet and hungry and Gimli was loud. LOL at night at least. In the day…wait, it was all the same! Yes, Gimli is really heavy and sure, inertia is to blame! LOL thanks for the review.

And to anyone I may have missed or doesn't review, thank you.