Well, here it is! The promised Wednesday chapter, posted on Tuesday instead! I bet you didn't expect that! (watches readers faint) Enjoy! The next one comes on Saturday, as usual! ;)

And now, the limerick!

Legolas: Oh what joy!
If I only had that elf-boy
I'd give him hugs and kisses
And become his Missus
And make all the other girls yell 'Oy!'

Ha! ;)

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The night was a very long one for the three friends. They lost count how many times they'd woken Legolas, who didn't react to it well. Most of the times he simply made a sound of frustration before falling back to sleep, but other times he showed confusion. They were quite frightened the very first time they woke him; he didn't appear to know his own name.

"Legolas," said Aragorn, squeezing his arm. "Wake, mellon-nin."

Legolas had remained motionless.

"Listen to the human, laddie," said Gimli, trying not to sound alarmed. "Wake up, elf!"

When the Mirkwood Prince remained asleep, Aragorn shook his arm. "Legolas, wake!" he said, more loudly.

The elf finally reacted, to their relief. His eyes scrunched up from the pain that consciousness greeted him with.

"Legolas?" said Aragorn.

"Who?" Legolas replied, groggily.

Gimli gasped and looked at Aragorn.

"Legolas," said the human. "Open your eyes."

After further prodding, Legolas obeyed, but he looked at his friends as if they were strangers.

Gimli was shocked. "Laddie, do you not know your own name? Or who we are?"

The elf made no reply, and Aragorn motioned for Gimli to be quiet for a moment. They watched as Legolas slowly gained his bearings, and the elf eventually blinked and squinted at them, frowning. "Aragorn? What has happened?"

Gimli sighed so loudly that he startled Legolas.

"Gimli?" said the elf.

"Nothing is wrong, Legolas," said Aragorn, gently laying a hand on their injured friend's forehead. "Sleep."

Legolas looked like he wasn't sure whether or not to believe them, but the need to sleep was overpowering and his eyes closed.

"Aragorn," whispered the dwarf. "Was that not proof that he should be kept awake!"

The human shook his head. "No; it merely shows that he was disoriented from being woken so soon. He was not fully awake at first."

Gimli sighed, throwing a worried look at the elf.

By the time morning came, both dwarf and human were tired; neither having gotten any sleep. Legolas, however, slept like the dead between wakings; his injured body deep within slumber. They were therefore surprised when Legolas' eyes suddenly opened a few minutes before they planned to wake him.

"Legolas?" said Aragorn, concerned at the look of confusion and alarm on the elf's face.

The Prince's bright blue eyes scanned the cave for a minute before resting on the human's face. "Orcs," he said.

Gimli jumped to his feet and spun around in a circle, axe raised as he searched for the foul creatures.

Aragorn immediately began grabbing their things, throwing the healing supplies back into his bag. "How close are they?"

Legolas tried to sit up, wincing at the pounding inside his head. "I am…not sure," he gasped.

Gimli, satisfied that an attack wasn't immediately imminent, laid down his axe and helped the injured elf. Despite the urgent situation, he suddenly chuckled.

Aragorn shot a questioning look at the dwarf as he took the blankets off Legolas and quickly stuffed them into Gimli's pack.

Legolas was concentrating so hard on remaining conscious, that he gave no reaction to the dwarf's unexpected show of humor.

Gimli saw that the elf wasn't going to ask what was amusing, so he said, "I finally know what makes dwarves superior to elves."

The statement got through to Legolas despite his pain. "And that is?"

Gimli reached for his friend's cloak and fastened it around the elf's neck. "Common sense. I think you need to wear one of these, laddie!" he said, tapping the helm on his own head. "It would have prevented your injury, and some of your past wounds that Aragorn told me about while you were unconscious!"

If his head hadn't been throbbing so badly, Legolas would've rolled his eyes.

"Take the pack," Aragorn said to the dwarf, reaching down to help Legolas stand.

The elf closed his eyes as his friend pulled him to his feet. His pain increased and his head immediately began to nauseatingly spin. He was unable to stop the sound of distress that passed his lips, and he barely even noticed when his knees buckled.

Aragorn hefted his friend up and held onto him tightly as they quickly made their way to the cave opening.

Legolas was barely able to see where he was going. He leaned heavily against the human, his steps very unsteady.

Gimli ran ahead of his friends, prepared to defend them if he had to. His heart was beating against his ribs at the thought of being attacked with Legolas as such an easy target.

Leaving the mountain, the three friends were relieved to see no orcs, but they could hear them coming.

The sky was very dark, and to their dismay, it began to rain again.

Aragorn quickly helped Legolas further up the path, until they were on top of the cave, where they would hopefully be hidden from the orc's eyes.

Evidence of the previous day's lightening strike could be seen from their location: large pieces of rock—some nearly as big as the dwarf—laid askew.

Picking a location far from the mountain's edge, Aragorn gently sat Legolas down, motioning for Gimli to keep watch.

After throwing an assessing look at Legolas, Gimli obeyed, heading back to the edge.

Aragorn knelt beside the elf, whose eyes were tightly closed as he bonelessly leaned against the boulder behind him. His breath came fast, from the exertion on his weakened body combined with his increased pain. "Are you all right?" the human asked, putting a hand on his arm.

Legolas' eyes remained closed. "Fine," he lied. His voice shook.

Aragorn squeezed his friend's shoulder.

Gimli suddenly rushed over. "They come!" he exclaimed.

Aragorn drew his sword, and the two mortals stood in front of their injured friend, prepared to defend him to the death if any orcs dared come their way…

TBC