Homecoming
Summary: Legolas returns home after the War of the Ring. How will his father react to Legolas' decision to move to Ithilien?
The usual disclosure still stands - I own nothing, and apologize to Mr. Tolkien for playing in his realm.
Chapter 8
Three days later, Legolas stood in the clearing as the sun dropped behind the trees. He set lanterns around the clearing to help everyone find their way. Soon Elves started arriving, mainly in ones and twos, with the three families comprising the biggest group. The prince looked around as everyone settled to the ground. He was happy to see so many ready to go to Ithilien. Then as he was ready to speak, he saw a shadow move under one of the trees. Unconsciously, his hand started for his bow, but before he had grabbed it, he realized the shadow was a brown-haired Elf. His nephew.
"Excuse me. We will begin in just a moment," Legolas spoke to the group and then walked over to his nephew.
"Narcalimo, what are you doing here?" he hissed, standing close to the younger Elf.
"There is a meeting for all Elves who want to move to Ithilien. I am here for it," he replied.
Legolas stared at his nephew, his mouth gaping open in shock. He wanted to go? The Walker shook his head, trying to comprehend.
"You cannot go."
"Why not? I am of age. And I want to."
Legolas stopped again. Glaring, "You may be of age, but you are young. You are about to have a new sibling and you are just going to leave?"
Narcalimo met the glare, his dark blue eyes defiant. "I am of age. After that it does not matter. I will miss my sibling, but I feel that this is the right thing to do Legolas. I have since you told me why you are going. Do you remember what you said? 'We won this war, but evil men and creatures still exist. The fight is not over. I believe, no I know, that helping restore Ithilien will help restore Gondor and Middle Earth. I have to do it. For all of Arda. For Aragorn and Arwen and their children. For Eryn Lasgalen, for you, for the new elfling, for Hobbits and Dwarves, for all creatures.' I remember. And at that moment, I knew I had to go. So I am." He crossed his arms and glared defiantly at his uncle.
Shocked, Legolas was speechless. He could not believe his nephew had remembered that so exactly and had taken it to heart. He turned away from the younger Elf to stare at the trees. He debated inwardly what to say next. He would love to have part of his family with him, but his brother and Melime. What would they say?
"What have your parents said?"
Narcalimo quailed and dropped his gaze. "I have not told them yet."
Legolas snorted. "Did you not learn anything about delaying from Thranduil's reaction?"
"I have hinted and questioned what they would think, but have not told them definitely."
Legolas sighed. "You are of age. But you must tell your parents, tonight, and if they forbid it, you cannot go." Narcalimo started to argue, but Legolas cut him off. "That is my final decision. If you are to come, you must take orders. That is my first one. Tell your parents. I will abide by their choice. You cannot come without their blessing."
Narcalimo nodded, "I understand."
Legolas reached out and placed his hand on his nephew's shoulder and squeezed slightly. "Now draw up to the circle and let us start this meeting." Narcalimo smiled and brushed past his uncle to sit down by the other Elves.
Legolas stood where he was until Narcalimo was seated. Then, as he walked to the center of the circle, Legolas swore to himself in Dwarvish. Gimli would have been shocked at his terms, and proud. Not only was Thranduil not speaking to him, now his brother and dear friend would be mad at him for Narcalimo's decision. However, Legolas knew it was not his place to tell Narcalimo he could not go.
When he reached the center, he was jolted out of his reverie by the expectant faces looking at him. Most were Elves his age or younger, more single than married but more married than he had dared hope for. Only three families with elflings, but that was three more than he had thought would come. All looked excited, most also had some apprehension apparent in their gaze. For the first time, the overwhelming reality and responsibility that his decision created crashed down on him. How was he going to lead all these Elves? How would he get them to Ithilien safely? How would… he stopped. He would face those questions later. Now he had to face his fellow Ithilien Elves.
"Friends!" he called. "Thank you for coming tonight. This is an important occasion – we are making our commitment to move to Ithilien and rebuild what evil has destroyed. This will not be an easy task, but it is one I feel is necessary to protect Arda. We are not doing this just for ourselves. We are doing this for our elflings, born and unborn, we are doing this for Men, Dwarves and Hobbits. For all good creatures." He stopped and turned, facing a different portion of the circle.
"I will not lie to you. We will have to fight to protect our land. We will have to have courage. We will have to live with Men and work with Dwarves. Some of us may die in this undertaking." He turned another quarter, ignoring the few scattered gasps at his last words. "But if Gondor does not regain its strength - which requires help from a strong Ithilien - then strife and war will come to Eryn Lasgalen again. I go to protect my home, both this one and my future one."
He turned towards the final group. "If any of you do not fully believe in coming, please do not. You can leave now or withdraw quietly after this meeting. I will not mind. But, once tomorrow is over, you are committed. Be sure. This undertaking will take everything we have."
Legolas stopped. He wanted to give his words a few moments to be registered and allow any Elves to leave who wanted to. Several Elves were speaking animatedly to their friends while others sat silently, considering Legolas' words. Eventually silence reigned. No Elf had left. He was surprised, but upon further reflection that they would pull out after the meeting rather than in front of others.
"Now, we need to discuss details. The road to Ithilien is dangerous. Therefore, we must travel quickly, and hence, lightly. Everyone will ride a horse. You will be expected to carry twice as much lembas as you need for the journey on your horse, along with spare clothing and your weapons."
He continued to turn to different parts of the circle as he spoke and also noticed the elflings leave the circle and begin to play a game by themselves.
"We will have a few wagons with medical supplies and tools along with a few mementos, extra clothing and household items. You can bring a few of each, but this trip is not the time to burden yourselves. Speed is our goal, not comfort."
An Elf stood and Legolas gave him permission to speak. "How will we build shelters in Ithilien if we do not have supplies?"
"We will pick those supplies up in Minas Tirith." The Elf nodded and sat down.
Another Elf stood. "Will we have food besides lembas?"
Legolas smiled at her. He could happily never eat lembas again after the Fellowship, but knew its value. "We will start off with other foods, but the journey is long. We will hunt as we can, but game may be scarce. Lembas will be our main food."
The questions continued. Most were trivial – how can I leave most of my belongings – but some expressed valid points. Finally Veryandil stood, "When are we leaving? And when do those Elves who do not have horses meet theirs?"
Legolas chuckled inwardly. Trust Veryandil to get to the heart of the matter. "In reverse order, those without horses let me know within the next two days. Once I find out how many we need, I will match riders and mounts."
He took a deep breath. This part was not going to go over well.
"We leave five weeks from today at dawn."
Startled gasps and exclamations met this announcement.
A voice called out, "Five weeks! Why so soon?"
Legolas held up a hand and silence fell. "It is a long journey. If we are going to get there early enough to make a difference this year, we must leave soon."
He heard grumbling, but no one objected.
"A couple of final things. Over the next weeks, in addition to packing and saying farewell, be sure to ride every day as well as practice your archery and sword skills. Our, all of our," he stressed, "survival depends on everyone being at the top of their skill."
"Second, I will talk to each of you individually about any extra tasks I will assign. As well as how we will take shifts guarding while traveling and when we reach Ithilien."
"Finally, we will meet again at sunset in three weeks to answer any questions or problems that have arisen. In between, I am always available. Please do not hesitate to ask."
"Good night," Legolas dismissed the meeting with a smile and a slight bow.
Some Elves remained seated talking to their neighbor while others stood and either headed towards the gate or to talk to Legolas.
Suddenly a scream pierced the air. "Yulian!" Lisse yelled before it had faded.
The two other elflings cold be heard yelling as well. Legolas had his bow drawn and an arrow strung as he dashed towards the screams. No other Elf had reacted as quickly. Breaking through the circle, Legolas saw Yulian being carried into the forest by a spider. Her two friends were throwing rocks at it, but the small missiles did not faze the beast.
Legolas stopped and fired. The spider was holding the elfling with its pincers, protecting the vulnerable eyes and mouth. His first arrow grazed the spider's side. It started backing quicker and Legolas fired again. This one hit the other side, embedding into a leg joint.
The spider dropped Yulian and screamed in pain. Legolas smiled grimly as he saw that his plan worked. Now with its eyes and mouth clear, Legolas fired two more arrows in quick succession. The first struck an eye and the second buried itself in the spider's throat. It gave another strangled scream and toppled.
Legolas sprinted to Yulian, and picked her up, maintaining a hold on his bow. She was shaking but otherwise seemed to have escaped major injury. The spider was dead. Legolas began walking back to the other Elves who were just finally moving towards him. The parents hurried to their children. The other two elflings were not hurt, just scared.
Veryandil pulled Yulian from Legolas' arms and hugged her tightly. Lisse hugged Legolas and kept saying, "Thank you. Thank you." Eventually she released him and went to her daughter. Veryandil came to the prince and hugged him also. "Thank you, my friend." He stepped back. "I have never seen anyone move so fast. I could not. I was stunned and could not move. Thank you. You saved my daughter."
Legolas shook his head, aware of many eyes on him. "I did what any Elf would have done. I am simply more used to surprise attacks than the rest of you." He smiled wryly at that thought and then looked at the elflings. "Are any of you hurt?"
The two older ones shook their heads and answered, "No, Prince Legolas."
Yulian smiled from between her parents. "Only a few scratches, my Lord. Thank you."
"That is good news indeed." He addressed the two boys. "You did an excellent job fighting the spider with the rocks. I am very proud of you." Both stood tall and beamed. Legolas looked at the rest of the group around him. "Now, let us return to the safety of the gates. As we have just seen, dark things still exist in the forest. Please remember to speak with me if you do not want to go or need a horse. Good night again."
The other Elves bided Legolas good night and went in. The families were secure in the middle of the group. Legolas stood where he was and watched everyone else. He wanted to make sure there were no more attacks. Narcalimo came and stood beside him. He watched silently as Legolas went to the spider and pulled out his arrows. He cleaned them off and replaced them in his quiver. He put his bow on his back and then motioned to Narcalimo to help pick up the lanterns.
Legolas gathered some wood that had fallen from the trees and placed it around the spider. With care, he dribbled oil from one lantern onto the creature and wood. He then used a small twig to catch a spark from the lantern and lit the pile. After they burned the spider and extinguished the fire, Legolas put an arm around his nephew's shoulders and steered him towards the gates.
"Are you sure you still want to go?" he asked as they walked.
"Even more so."
Legolas interrupted him before he could continue. "First, you must realize that you will have to follow orders, stand guard and do many other chores. As the youngest adult Elf going, you will be assigned the worst duties."
Narcalimo stopped and watched the gates close behind them before turning to his uncle. "I understand and agree." He paused and then continued, "I am more committed to going now. Legolas, you were shooting before any of us had moved. And most of the Elves present have fought in wars, so it is not like we all were green and inexperienced. You are the best to lead us. If there was any doubt in anyone's mind, it is gone. We respect you and admire your abilities. All there will go now."
Legolas looked at his nephew, his puzzlement showing clearly in his blue eyes. "Why? Why did slaying the spider make a difference?"
Narcalimo began to walk again towards the cave they both lived in and Legolas fell in step. The younger Elf pondered hs words before speaking.
"It was not just slaying the spider. It was the way you did it. So quickly, competently and calmly. You obviously experienced a lot during the quest to be able to react so quickly. Things must be bad in Middle Earth indeed. Plus, as you said, dark things still exist, here and elsewhere. We all want to help fix that now."
The prince shook his blonde head. "I am not sure I understand that reasoning, but so be it. Now go talk to your parents."
"I will. Will you please come to their rooms after I have had time to tell them?"
"Yes, but I will give you an hour at least."
Narcalimo nodded and preceded his uncle into the house.
A/N: Hmm, how will the brother and friend react? You'll have to wait until next time to find out.