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Midnight.
White and ruby blurs filled the night. Legolas stood on a bridge, looking over the whipping hum of a freeway. There were no voices here, only the constant row upon row of white, red…white…red… It never stopped. He stood on a bridge suspended over traffic by cables
It was just as his dream was, those days ago. There was no light, no stars. They were the distant, lonely lights he couldn't keep. They weren't there for him. They were memory, bittersweet, something he couldn't remember and couldn't have.
A distant honk broke into his reverie and he blinked, looking down. These 'cars' were a blasphemy to nature itself. They were loud, smelled of steel and foul fumes. They were the voices of a thousand things he didn't know. But they didn't feel alive. They just…were. Even when he saw face upon face in their dark windows, he couldn't think of them as souls.
Legolas shivered. It was dark and cold out. The wind blustered past him and bit at his ears. And still he didn't regret leaving the shelter. Damn that place. It wasn't where he belonged! Curse Kristine for leaving him there.
If she was going to abandon him, leave him to fend for himself, then…then just leave him on a street corner. Have the decency to do what she wanted instead of comforting her own conscience with those pathetic platitudes of kindness. He didn't belong there. Legolas wasn't homeless. He simply had no home. He wouldn't beg, even if he was a beggar. He needed help, but he wasn't helpless. It wasn't fair.
Legolas pulled the green bills out of his pocket, staring at them. 'Mo-nie' was what she called it. This was what she left him? Legolas looked at it, gripping it in his fists, before throwing it angrily over the bridge. He didn't need it. And he didn't want it.
And what do you want? An annoying voice asked.
Legolas reluctantly thought about it. He wanted home. He knew that. He wanted trees, or to see the stars again. He wanted to feel the warmth of the sun on his face and…and the living room with the 'tel'vision' and bowl of gruel. It was amazing. He thought that place of wonder and horror was terrible. But now…it was all he could think about. It was a bitter thought.
Why didn't he just jump from this very bridge? The small voice asked. Why not? Legolas wondered himself. He stared out over the city, gripping his hands. They were icy in the thin air. It wouldn't help, that's why. It was the easy way out. Maybe some thought it wasn't, that just…ending it all… was the brave thing. Some thought it was courage.
But it wasn't.
Living was harder. Fighting the battle, every day, every hour, was harder. It was a fight Legolas was determined not to lose. He would fight to his last breath, even if that was all he had when it was finished…his last breath.
Kristine.
Why did she do it? Why did she abandon him? Even now, memories sifted through his head, of his past life. He remembered sun and cold, dark and warmth. His very essence was beginning to seep through him again. He felt things he'd felt before. He knew things. Yes, he was Legolas. Yes, he was an elf…or at least, he should be. He was different than these earthlings.
Kristine.
If only she'd waited, waited until he learned this strange tongue. If only she waited until he told her who he was, how he couldn't stay here. Maybe she would have listened.
Well, it was too late now.
Legolas pushed away from the rail. He walked himself into a daze. It was the first night since Kristine left him. It felt like an eternity. He was hungry and thirsty. All through the city, Legolas searched for something, anything to jog his memory, something to help. But he found nothing.
As for the people, only the children showed any interest in him at all. Blocks barred the streets some places. He had to avoid them. Soldiers combed the streets. He didn't let them see him. They were dangerous.
At least he knew one thing now. The only reason Kristine helped him at all was that she crashed her vehicle into him. No one travelling these streets cared, not even a little. Neither did she. If she cared, she wouldn't have dumped him in a beggar's hell. It made him feel terribly alone, and vastly un-special.
And suddenly…Legolas froze. He dragged himself out of his self-deprecating thoughts to look around. The city was different here. The houses were older. Trash littered the streets. It was…darker.
"Hey Jamie!"
Legolas tilted his head.
"Well, look-it here. What've we got?"
It was an apartment complex of old, broken bricks. Legolas hadn't noticed it before, but the street was deserted. No one was here. He had no weapon. Legolas started walking again. Maybe it was best he didn't linger.
"Hey come on. Come here, girl!"
But it was too late for that. A shrill scream shattered the night air and Legolas shot his head up.
"Get off of me. Help! I-"
Legolas broke into a run. It happened too fast to think. He didn't let himself think. He acted. There were five…no four men. Two short, two tall, and a woman between them. He bolted down the alley as deft and silent as a cat.
"Come on, honey."
"I'm not your honey, you son of a-"
And Legolas appeared. The woman was rammed into the wall. It was a wet, brick alley and too dark to see. Her attackers were jeering and throwing a bottle between them. Legolas didn't hesitate.
He took the first down by leaping and skidding on the brick street, spitting up water and kicking the legs out from under him. It was confusion. Legolas leapt and twisted his arm around a man's neck. A sharp gasp of surprise came out of him, and Legolas grabbed his jaw. The woman was screaming. Jamie's friends were shouting. One pull! It would take just one pull to snap the man's neck.
But Legolas stopped.
Was he a killer? He should murder the filth for what they were doing here. He deserved to die. But he hesitated.
Was he a killer? Had he killed before? Legolas knew it was yes. But in that instant, he wanted to know if he would kill again, if it would be this man that would die. And that instant was all it took.
"Get him!"
Jamie staggered back and someone hit him in the face. Legolas' head made impact on the brick with a sharp crack. They were on him before he could jump to his feet, but he managed to dive between the scrambling bodies.
"Run!" Legolas shouted at the woman. She didn't understand, but she spun around and bolted, disappearing in the night. Legolas was alone.
A sudden premonition sent him diving to the ground. He threw his weight to the right and rolled, just in time for the slash of a knife to sing over his head. It was a blur, but so was he. He grabbed one's arms and used it as leverage to leap through them. The world was spinning and he couldn't breathe. His reflexes were slow, slower than they should be. The wet air was making him cough. Why? He didn't have time to wonder.
Legolas kicked the legs out from the nearest and scrambled to his feet. Suddenly, he was surrounded. He looked around, back against the wall.
"Well look where she went, boys!" A husky voice came, and a fist came down on his chest. Legolas slammed into the wall, gasping in pain and shock. The wind knocked out of his lungs. A face pulled him close and Legolas grimaced, fighting the grip and foul breath.
"Pretty boy… almost as nice. What've you got for me?"
And he thrust himself from the wall. Legolas leapt, hair flying. Moonlight glinted off the knives and he felt blood in his hands. He didn't know if it was his or not. Twice he avoided a jab to the belly. He didn't have time to think. He fought. They tried to catch him again, slashed at his face, but he ripped away just in time. When the three kept him against the wall, the other took a reprieve. He felt a sharp sting graze his side and he knew he was hit. And he ignored it.
Legolas wrenched a knife out of one's hand and managed to send him flying into the wall. One down. He rammed his forehead into the other's nose, shattering it. Blood spilled over the man's mouth.
Two down.
But just when he saw the break he needed, and he was going to run for it…something shook. It was powerful and sudden.
The ground!
"What the-" a voice choked and they staggered.
Legolas grabbed the ground. Vibrations rocked through the street. It started with just that, just a shout of terror from one of the men. But it swelled and rippled out so fast he didn't have time to run. The roar of a thousand winds ripped through the clouds and Legolas shook his head, panting. Sleet pounded his face.
What in Eru's name was happening?
The earthquake shook violently through the city. Freezing rain shattered on steel, exploded in a sudden rush of droplets. Legolas fought for his balance, before staggering upright. Flames...Lightning! It was rippling through the clouds like wildfire. What happened? Where was it coming from?
And then, he looked up.
Elbereth…
What he saw made nothing else matter. It was a burst of light, as if a spinning orb of white shone from the clouds and they spiraled out of control. Black and white ran from sky to earth like a tornado, but it didn't move. It spun and roared, shook the very earth…two…three…four of them!
Legolas gasped. His eyes spun and reeled, but he knew what he saw. Even as the storm raged on, as quickly as it roared to life, the lights snapped closed and there was nothing.
Sweet Manwe.