Title: Mellyn?

Author: Pentangle

Rating: K+

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Little Braveheart

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As the minutes wore on, Estel became restless. He tried fearfully to keep his eyes from the line of water that crept inexorably up the elf's chest. Now the wavelets occasionally lapped at the top latching of Legolas' jerkin. Estel began to pace back and forth, clenching his fists and pounding them on his thighs. Something terrible was going to happen. Something so dreadful he dare not think of it. But still it was coming and he could not stop it. Whether he thought about it or not the water would climb slowly over the elf's chin and mouth, then his nose, and then Legolas would die. Estel was a loving child; he would not want anyone to die unless they were a very, very bad person, and probably not even then—not for real. But Legolas was not anyone, he was an elf that in spite of himself Estel was beginning to like very much. And he was going to die. Right now. Right here.

Legolas opened his eyes to watch the child who was becoming more and more distraught. It was time to send him away. If Estel remained Legolas would try not to struggle, try not to leave the boy with images that would haunt his nightmares forever, but life was strong in him. He doubted he could force himself to drown quietly, even for Estel's sake. Once the water entered his lungs he would fight with everything he had; he would cough, choke, and struggle. He would thrash and gurgle. And then, perhaps worst of all, he would become motionless save for the ghastly sway of arms, hands, and hair in the current. He allowed himself one more minute to watch Estel, surprised at the feelings he had knowing he would miss seeing this child grow into a man. He believed now he had been wrong about him. This child had fire and courage and love. He had something in his eyes that made Legolas think that he had indeed found Mirkwood's Hope after all. It appeared he would not be there to see it, but the Dark would lose its hold, and this man would lead the fight. At that thought Legolas calmed. From the time he had bent his knee before his father, bow in hand, and sworn to place his body and blood between Mirkwood and danger, he had believed he would never live to sail. That death came for him this way instead of in battle could not be helped. But the Five Words in Winter had not misled him—whether he was there to see it or not, Mirkwood would survive and he had at least met and comforted the one who would save her. He drew a deep breath and called Estel to him as the first ripple moved over his chin.

The boy hurried to Legolas, tears running down his cheeks, and slid once more to his knees beside the elf. He put his hands on the elf's chin, trying to hold back the water, but Legolas gently pulled them away. "Estel, I need you to do something for me."

"Anything!"

"I need you to go down the bank to the place where the river birch grow, and wait for Elrohir there."

Dread clutching him, Estel whispered, "Why?"

"You can keep watch for them and lead them here."

"Elrohir knows this place well. He does not need me to lead him."

The water lapped over the elf's lips and he had to speak in between the wavelets. "Please, Estel - I need - you - to go - hurry." He coughed as water entered his mouth for the first time. Estel pulled hard on the elf's hair, trying to raise his head just a little more, but the neck was already strained upward. Legolas hardened his heart and shouted furiously, "GO! I order you to go! NOW!"

Estel sprang backward. He was not used to being shouted at, even when he was in a great deal of trouble. His Ada's anger was terrible to behold but it was cold and caustic, not hot and roaring.

"GO! NOW!"

Estel scrambled up the bank and paused again. He saw the water now covering the elf's lips and he turned and ran. Legolas gave a sigh of relief and then turned his thoughts to his imminent death. He thought the thoughts common to all at such times. He thought of words left unsaid, thanks not given, love not expressed. He thought of those who he knew would find the world darker and colder without him, especially his Adar. The water plashed up and over his nose and this time did not retreat far enough for him to breathe. He strained his head a fraction higher and took two more breaths, but his quivering tendons gave out and he soon fell back to his former position. The water was now up to his lower eyelids and he held his breath, though why, he did not know.

Estel was running but no longer crying. In spite of the situation he had left behind him there was a fierce determination on his face. He had thought of something; something that his brothers had said. His eyes roved frantically over the ditch and quickly found what he was looking for. Unfortunately, the water was so high that he could not wade as he normally would. He ran a little further upstream, drew a deep breath to steady his frightened heart, and plunged into the water, letting the current take him downstream to his goal. He grasped cattails in both hands as he was pulled into a large patch of them. He ran his hands down along the stems and finally had to take a great lungful of air and then pull himself even further down. He broke off one and held it tightly, then broke the other. He now had nothing anchoring him and again the current drew him through the reeds and into the open water in the middle of the ditch. The current was fast here and he was terrified, but not so terrified that he let go of his prizes. He lay on his back as his brothers had taught him and kicked his feet to steer himself to shore. Otherwise the stream would carry him past Legolas and he would not possibly get back in time.

Legolas was seeing spots before his eyes and chiding himself for staving off the inevitable when he heard Estel crying his name over and over. At first he thought it was delirium that made the voice come from the ditch side of him rather than the bank. But he rolled his eyes over and was astounded to see Estel floating past him, very close but not touching. He reached out a long arm and snagged the child, who without any sound or even seeming to notice the elf, clambered over the submerged body until he was kneeling in his usual spot.

Estel still clutched one broken piece of cattail; he had lost the other somewhere on his turbulent journey. Putting one end to his mouth he blew gently. At the other end his palm felt a little air coming through the triangular channel of the thick stem. All he had left was a length of about ten inches and he quickly held it over Legolas' lone eye that remained above water. Legolas nodded his head and Estel felt for the elf's mouth and shoved the cattail between his lips. The prince allowed it into his mouth, along with a fair amount of water. He swallowed and began to draw on the cattail. A hard, cold voice in his mind commanded him to suck very gently lest he collapse the tube. It was the hardest thing he had ever done in a life filled with hard things, but he managed to draw slowly on the life-giving reed. Fortunately, he could exhale quickly through his nose, though he startled Estel badly when the first exhalation bubbled forth.

With iron control the elf forced himself to take in very little air when he wanted so very much more. Gradually, his distress lessened and he was able to relax his body, decreasing the need for oxygen and speeding his recovery. Eventually, he was able to grope about for Estel and catch his hand to give it a reassuring squeeze. The two, one sitting in and one nearly covered in water, trembled from reaction and spent a little while merely enjoying the relief they felt.

After a few minutes, Estel, not knowing how much the elf could hear, leaned close and shouted, "I am going back for more cattails. I will try to get longer ones this time." He started to his feet but the hand that released his darted higher and grasped his forearm very tightly. Estel struggled but could not pull free from the bruising grip. "Let me go! I must get more so that you can breathe until help comes!"

Legolas could not answer him but his grip tightened further until Estel was crying out. Legolas could not let the boy take such a chance again. It was a blessing of the Valar that he had caught Estel from the current. If the child had been a few inches farther away, the swirling water would have swept Estel far downstream, perhaps to the river or into dangerously surging debris.

In a frenzy Estel knelt again by the elf and began to pinch and bite the hand that held him so tightly. Under the water, Legolas swore in his mind like a drunken Easterling as he maintained his hold in spite of Estel's abuse. A shout from behind them jerked Estel's head around and again he leaned close to the water above one pointed ear. "Let me go! They are here; you will be safe! They are here!" Legolas' hand dropped limply and Estel scrambled up the bank yet again where he saw Elrohir and Elladan running toward him. He hurtled into Elladan's arms and sobbed with relief and reaction. "You came! Oh, Elladan, I have been so frightened! But where is everyone else? The three of us cannot move the tree!"

Elladan, some of his own anxiety relieved by the sniffling body in his hold, spoke soothingly, "There are many more coming behind us, with horses and ropes and tools. We will get him free very soon. But we ran ahead because we brought pipes for him to breathe through and because I was worried about a certain little brother of mine."

Elrohir, who had gone straight to Legolas now returned and said with glowing eyes, "Estel has saved him! He has already given him a way to breathe. We now have plenty of time to remove the tree. However did you think to use cattails, Estel?"

Proudly Estel raised his head. "I remembered the time when Glorfindel shouted at you for getting too close to those Orcs. He was angry because you hid in the water using cattails."

Elladan danced, twirling in a circle with intricate footwork. He swung a laughing Estel high up in the air as he sang, "My brother: little braveheart! Thy mettle true as strongest blade, thy thought as swift as arrow's flight!"

Elrohir laughed as well, but put a hand on Elladan's shoulder. "Later, 'Dan. We have much to do, and Legolas is completely under the water now. It can hardly be enjoyable for him!"

Estel sobered and said, "I think he is hurt, too. When he tried to get from under the tree he cried out very loudly."

Elladan set Estel down as the rest of the rescue force came up and over the bank. The boy felt a little bereft as he waited off to the side while elves roped, sawed, shouted, and at last moved the huge branch enough that Elrohir could drag Legolas from his prison. The prince promptly lost consciousness as he was placed on a litter between two horses, but his pulse was steady. Estel was grasped and tossed on the back of the first horse and so rode safely along the bank, through the flooded water meadows, and at last toward home. He wore the tunic of the elf that led his horse, with the sleeves rolled up and a length of rope to gather it at his waist. He struggled to stay awake as exhaustion rolled over him in waves. After Elladan saw his head nodding for the third time, he lifted his brother down and laid him alongside Legolas for the rest of the journey.

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Several hours later, Legolas lay in a bed in the healing wing. He was clean, dry, his broken leg had been set and the gash in his head sutured. He was badly bruised from navel to mid-thigh but his pelvis was not broken. He was also exhausted and had a bad cough caused by irritation to his lungs from the dirty water. He slept fitfully, dreaming over and over again of water pouring into his mouth and nose. Each time he screamed and woke, sweating and terrified, to find a warm hand on his brow and another pressing gently on his chest, urging him to lie back down. He sought to clear his muzzy vision to see who sat beside him but the drugs given him for pain pulled him back under and he slept again. Elladan readjusted the covers and trimmed the wick in the lamp next to the bed before making a note in his records and then continuing his watch over the royal patient. After several hours, Elrohir took his place.

The next day saw great improvement in the prince and when Legolas woke at mid-morning he knew where he was and what had happened to him. His legs felt very heavy and at first he thought that was due to the splints that he could feel ran from mid-thigh to ankle on his left leg. Then he realized both legs were pinned tightly by the covers and he looked down to see Estel sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed, munching on an apple.

The boy swallowed a large bite and grinned at him. "Good! You are awake. Everyone said I must not make a sound until you awoke, but it was very hard to be so quiet. How do you feel?"

Legolas ran his mind through an inventory. His head throbbed and his thoughts were sluggish. Something on his head stung from temple to crown, his leg ached with the fierceness of newly broken bones, it hurt his chest to take a deep breath and when he did, a chorus of various other pains sang stridently. "I feel wonderful, Estel. And you?"

"Ada says I may catch a cold but my throat does not feel funny, so I hope he is wrong."

Just then Elrond himself entered the room and frowned at Estel. "Did you wake him?"

"No, I promise I did not! I just sat here eating my apple." He grinned wickedly. "My loud apple."

The elf lord sighed and shook his head but Legolas noticed that a smile was ever trembling at the corner of his mouth, and that the looks he bent on Estel were so full of pride he was nearly bursting with it. Legolas said to him in a voice Estel had not heard from Legolas before, "Lord Elrond, the kingdom of Mirkwood is in your debt and in the debt of your son, Estel Elrondion. He has preserved, single-handedly, the life of the Crown Prince. Whatever he may ask will be given if it be in our power to give. Mirkwood thanks you for your attentions to my wounded body and thanks the young son of the House for my life."

The apple fell from Estel's hand and his mouth and eyes opened wide. "You – you really are a prince!"

Elrond and Legolas laughed but Elrond answered seriously, "It is Imladris' pleasure to serve you as we may, Your Highness, and with all the comfort we can provide. We accept your thanks but deny your debt. It is Imladris and the House of Elrond that are forever in your debt for saving the foster son of the House."

Estel interrupted the boring back and forth of statecraft. "Did you say you would give me whatever I wanted?"

"Yes, Estel, I did!"

Elrond chided gently, "We do not accept presents for helping people, Estel, especially not our friends."

Estel turned and gazed at Legolas enigmatically, but said nothing more.

Elladan and Elrohir entered the room and soon everyone was sitting around Legolas' bed, catching up on all the parts of the story each one had missed through absence or loss of consciousness. When Estel told his family again how the tree had started to fall and how Legolas had thrown him clear, faces paled and fervent thanks were given. When Legolas told of Estel's raising his head, tying his wound closed, and bringing a cattail that saved him from drowning, the boy's family beamed and exclaimed. Elrond had heard much of this already from his patient but could hardly be faulted for wanting to hear it again.

After a time Legolas began to look a little white and pinched around his mouth and Elrond said his visitors must leave. Estel begged to be allowed to stay to watch the Prince and even the foremost healer of Middle-earth had to admit he had surely earned the right. He was told to fetch his father if anything about Legolas worried him and otherwise to let him rest. Estel promised solemnly to follow the instructions and a little to Legolas' surprise, did so. He would not converse with the elf but sat in a chair by the bed and read a text he was studying for his lessons with Erestor. Legolas wondered if he had offended the boy but he was very tired and soon dropped into a healing sleep.

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End chapter 5/6