Title: Long Under Tree

Author: Darkhorse

Rating: PG

Summary: Legolas is an elfling giving his ada headaches and heartache. The young life of Legolas 'long under tree'.

Feedback: yes please

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Legolas stretched his arm as far he could trying to reach the tree closest to his window. His fingertips brushed against the bark lightly. 'Too short.' He frowned. If he were in any other position he could have easily leapt into the trees waiting branches. As it was the tree grew nearly around the corner of his chambers a few of its branches had grown toward his window very close to the side of the stone wall.

"Please...please." Legolas grunted as he stretched out to the tree getting on his toes and leaning his whole body toward the thickest branch.

The tree used the wind to force it's branches closer to the little elf. Grasping the branch with both of this hands, Legolas let his feet leave the window sill. He climbed towards the trunk laughing joyfully as the tree caressed his face with it's leaves. Hugging the trunk tightly in his little hands, Legolas inhaled the fragrance he had missed so much, green and sweet, the perfume of the forest absorbing into his skin.

The tree fluttered its branches cradling the little elfling. "Thank you, friend." Legolas whispered patting the trunk before scooting down the tree. Perhaps the tree wouldn't have been so helpful had it known how naughty he was being he thought as he skipped for the woods.

Legolas scrambled from one tree to another, such was his joy at escaping the palace that had served as his prison. He hopped from tree branch to tree branch playing with the squirrels and hanging upside down. Leaves cluttered is golden hair and dirt smudged his rosy cheeks as he hurredly took everything in as though these were his last moments of freedom.

The forest seemed to sing with his elation. 'There is no danger here.' Legolas decided. 'Why would Ada not let me play long ago, he is mean!' he ended the thought kicking his little boot roughly against the nearest tree. The tree responded in kind by thumping him on the head with it's branch. Legolas clutched his head. The tree had not been rough but the mild pain and guilt from his own action caused him to sob and run off before the tree could offer an apple to cheer him.

Legolas didn't look where he was going he just ran ahead, deeper into the forest only looking at the ground eyes clouded with tears. He was being so naughty today! He had never felt so happy and so bad at the same time before. Happy to be in the forest and bad that he was being so disobedient. 'It is not fair!' Legolas sniffled to himself, 'Why must I feel badly, ada never lets me do anything!'

By the time he took his eyes from his feet he realized that it had suddenly grown dark. 'The day cannot be gone so quickly!' Legolas thought desperately and wiped at his gruby face smearing the tear tracks. Looking up he saw that a fog had fallen into the trees, it was very heavy and sun had nearly disappeared in it. It frightened him. The woods looked very different when sun was not shining through leaves.

'I have to get back before someone misses me.' He reasoned, even though he knew it was because he was scared. 'Which way is home!' He suddenly panicked, he had not been looking when he ran and all of the trees here were strangers to him.

'I should climb a tree and then I can see where home is, I shall have to find a very tall tree that escapes this fog.'

Thranduil had once told him that fog was a fallen cloud. Legolas thought that it must be very sad for the cloud, to be so far from the sky and all alonewithout the other clouds. Thranduil had laughed at this. "Clouds don't have feelings little one." He had said. Well, if they did have feelings Legolas would have understood exactly how they felt! Legolas spotted what he thought must be a very tall tree and started to climb.

It was not easy to climb this tree he discovered, the branched were gnarled , far apart and the tree offered him no assistance in getting up. He was getting closer to the fog, it was very thick he saw. It seemed to touch the trees in an odd way. Finally he was close enough to feel it.

It was strange fog indeed! when he touched it, it stuck to his fingers. 'I thought clouds would feel different.' Legolas pondered as he tried to poke a hand through the sticky stuff. His hand stuck. The more he struggled, the more he became trapped in the strange cloud. Using his other hand Legolas tried to free himself. He managed to tear a small hole in the 'cloud' and free his hand just enough to crawl through the hole so he could yank from the other side. Unfortunately the sticky white stuff entangled him around his middle on the way and only made his situation worse.

"Release me cloud!" Legolas comanded in the most princely voice he could muster. The cloud did not release him. 'Ada could make this could mind!' he thought and Legolas knew, he knew because everytime his ada commanded the ground shook, he could feel the rumbling under his feet. Of course he felt that rumbling when he had dropped that book on his ada's toe as well.

All of his struggling had awakened the spider in whose web Legolas was ensnared. Imagine her delight when she discovered that is was not her usual catch of a bird, but a little elf in her nest. Legolas stopped his struggles when he heard a low his beside him.

TBC