-;-.!\.-;-
Chapter Five: Mysteries
-;-.!\.-;-
Aragorn watched, surprised as the elf took aim with his eyes shut; still handling the weapon as if he had been born holding it.
The son of Arathorn had grown up with elves. He knew how they walked, talked, lived, grieved, and fought. He would have readily considered himself to hold a fair knowledge of their ways and habits.
And yet he had never in his life seen any elf move like Legolas did, especially with a weapon in his hand.
In Elladan, Elrohir, and even his father occasionally, or Erestor or Glorfindel, he saw amazing talent with weapons of all kinds. Every movement was smooth and precise, speaking of raw power and years of perfected practice and training.
Legolas was different—much different. Although exuding the same illustration of talent, Aragorn received the image when watching him that his power came not from past or practice, but from somewhere deep inside of himself. The weapon in his hand was no longer merely a weapon, but instead an extension of his shoulder, arm, and hand. He drew it as if the movement were not only second nature, but an act as natural as breathing. As if he had always known how.
The archer's eyes remained shut as he adjusted his aim, his face a mask of concentration. And then the elvish weapon sang as the tension on its string was released and the deadly projectile flew away from it.
"That was…amazing…" Aragorn breathed after a few long moments, eyes still locked on the quivering arrow protruding from the exact center of the tree a hundred yards across the clearing.
"What was?" Legolas asked curiously, glancing up at the human as he lowered his bow.
"That shot—" Aragorn explained lamely, gesturing towards the tree.
"That wasn't a shot. That was firing an arrow at a tree." Legolas frowned, confused. "Anyone could have done it."
"Yes, but, the way you did it…" Aragorn shrugged. "I've never seen anything like it."
"I thought you lived in Imladris, among the elves. Do they not practice archery at all?" Legolas was still oblivious to the source of the man's amazement as the elf flopped down into the grass.
"Yes, they do… But nothing like that." Aragorn threw himself down beside the elf, his elbows holding him up as he sighed and shook his hair out of his face.
Legolas lay back in the grass, folding his long hands behind his head and closing his eyes. "I didn't know there could be a difference…" He murmured wearily.
Aragorn glanced at him, then back out at the plain of grass, rippling in time to the light breeze.
"This reminds me of the last day I was home." He said out loud to himself. Not surprisingly he received no response, but still continued. "My brothers wanted to take me hunting, so I went with them. I should really know by now not to trust them, but since I was leaving the next morning I honestly didn't think they'd try anything. We were riding along the river, and 'Ro yelled something ridiculous about a snake and jumped me. He still says it was intentional, but to this day I hold that he over-calculated, since we both ended up in the river. 'Dan's horse was spooked by the noise, and after dumping my brother, he took off for home. Of course, the other two animals followed. We spent half the night walking back, two of us soaking wet, only to hear from a servant that my father and the rest of the household had been out searching for us since evening, fearing the worst when our horses came back without us."
Aragorn trailed off, laughing softly to himself. Wolf trotted over to curl up by Legolas' leg, panting heavily after his adventures chasing wasps across the field.
"What happened?" Legolas murmured quietly without opening his eyes, and the man glanced at him in surprise, having been sure the elf was not listening.
"Well," He continued, smiling, "I'm still not sure what happened to the twins since I stuck to my plans and left the next morning, but as for myself— my father couldn't quite take me over his knee. Although by the look on his face I'm sure he would have tried if I'd been five years younger."
Legolas opened his eyes, and blinked slowly at the sky as if he hadn't even heard what Aragorn had said. "If you're Elrond's foster-son…" He spoke aloud, "The twin brothers you've talked about so much… Must be Elladan and Elrohir."
Aragorn nodded. "Did you ever know them? I, for one, have never heard them mention a 'Legolas'."
Legolas nodded. "Yes, I knew them. I suppose if I ever did have friends, they would be the closest thing to it. And they probably wouldn't talk about me. We didn't see each other often."
"You lived in Mirkwood, correct?" Aragorn took a stab at what had been his guess all along.
"Yes." Legolas nodded thoughtfully, before grimacing as the Wolf stood up and accidentally jarred the elf's leg.
"You alright?" Aragorn asked quickly as he began to sit up.
"I'm fine." The elf returned a little testily, obviously getting to the end of his patience as far as the man's mothering habits were concerned.
"Sorry," Aragorn chuckled, leaning back on his elbows and returning to the dandelion he had been picking apart. "It's what I do. Speaking of which…" He glanced sideways at the elf. "I meant to ask you… When I first came here, you had a goodly supply of painkilling herbs among your food stores. What did you use them for?"
Legolas glanced at the human edgily. "I… I get headaches…" He returned haltingly.
"Headaches?" The man echoed, stopping plucking at the weed in his hand to frown at the elf. "How bad are they? You never complained."
"I—I haven't had one in a while." The woodland creature lied, shifting slightly.
"Mmm-hmm." The human frowned, unconvinced. If he had learned one thing about the mysterious elf over the winter, it was that he was strangely self-conscious, especially as far as injuries were concerned, and he often refused to admit it even when he was in obvious pain.
"Aragorn?"
Must be an elf thing… The man mused smilingly to himself. His brothers both suffered from the same malady, although granted, not as seriously as Legolas.
"Aragorn, are you alright?"
The human snapped back into the present and fought the urge to laugh at the elf' concerned gaze.
"Aragorn!"
"Yes, yes, I'm fine Legolas!" The man finally laughed aloud. "Just thinking."
Legolas shot the man a strange look, sitting up and pulling his uninjured leg up to his chest, clasping both arms loosely over his knee. "Aragorn…" He deadpanned, studying the ground as of it had suddenly become one of the most interesting things he had ever seen. "I… I should… I need to tell you something that… That I haven't…"
Aragorn's heart lurched as the meaning of the elf's words sunk in. Was it possible that the elf finally trusted him enough to speak about himself? Now that it came down to the fact of it, Aragorn suddenly wasn't sure he was even ready for it. What if the elf was a fugitive, or a murderer, or…? Aragorn angrily scolded himself. No matter what the elf was hiding, he knew it couldn't be as horrible as any of those things. Whatever the woodland being's faults, bloodlust and dark inclinations were not among them. The elf's soul was pure light, and if even he, a human, could so easily see that when Legolas himself apparently could not, whatever the elf was hiding was very likely shameful in his own eyes alone.
"I—I know that I've—" The elf began uncomfortably, before his head snapped up and his startling gaze locked on the far tree-line. "Do you hear that?" He asked abruptly, struggling to stand.
'Hear what, Legolas?" Aragorn scrambled to his feet and helped the elf up, frowning in concern as he strained to catch a sound.
"Hoof-beats." The elf returned quietly, eyes locked on the woods just opposite their position.
Aragorn followed his gaze, and within moments, he too became aware of the vibrations of hoof-beats, obviously traveling at a swift pace— canter or gallop by his guess, although the fact that there was more than one set confused his perception somewhat. If he'd asked, Legolas could have told him the riders traveled at a canter, and that there were but two of them.
As fate would have it, the elf had no need for imparting this information to the human, for it was mere moments before the horses emerged from the trees and the man could see for himself.
He gasped aloud, stepping forward and away from Legolas. "Elladan! Elrohir!" He called out, dropping the sword he had picked up at Legolas' warning.
Elrohir, who was in the lead, pulled his horse up short in surprise, but Elladan spurred his own onward with a whoop. They met in-between, the older twin almost throwing himself from his horse to envelop his brother in a crushing bear-hug.
"Where have you been, you filthy human?" Elladan laughed aloud as he pulled away, joined a moment later by his twin.
Aragorn, still laughing himself, replied in kind. "Right where I'm standing, you intolerable dwarf!"
He laughed again as he danced away from his foster-brother's playful cuff, before happily embracing both twins once more. "How did you find me?"
"It wasn't easy." Elrohir informed wryly.
"True—" Elladan jabbed, "For some reason we began to miss you, cranky old woman that you are—" It was now Elladan's turn to dodge a blow.
"And so we rode out to find you." Elrohir picked up. We met up with the other rangers, but Halbarad told us you'd set out for Rivendell over three months ago.
And trust me little brother, "Elladan threatened with a dangerous gleam in his eyes, "You may expect to pay dearly for making us track you all the way out here!"
"I didn't make you, oh wise and mighty hunter," Aragorn piped up tauntingly, "And it's certainly not fair to blame me for your inadequacies!"
"Speaking of here…" Elrohir intervened before his brothers launched off into another verbal sparring match, "Why isn't 'here' on any of the maps in Rivendell? Where are we, Estel?"
"There's only one person who really knows." Aragorn sobered, guiding his brothers back towards where Legolas still stood, quiet and still, and as of yet, unnoticed.
Elladan frowned in confusion, about to question the meaning of his brother's words when, without warning, his rich brown eyes locked with a pair of sterling silver ones tinged with blue.
There was only one being in Middle Earth, man or elf, that had eyes like that.
Elrohir noticed his brother's shock and paused to follow his gaze. "Legolas?" Elrohir breathed, eyes widening as he spotted the golden figure standing behind his human brother. The woodland creature took an uneasy step back in cadence with the twins' forward.
Aragorn watched their reactions carefully, noticing the crushing shock and overwhelming joy that alternated across their faces.
"Legolas!" Elrohir gasped breathlessly, stepping forward to pull the other elf into a tight embrace.
Legolas tensed at the sudden touch, but slowly relaxed in the elf's arms.
"Valar, Legolas…" Elladan was still in shock as Elrohir pulled away to give the older elf his turn.
"Legolas… They thought you were dead." Elladan murmured, studying the elf's face as if he still couldn't believe he was really there.
"Why did you leave?" Elrohir asked gently.
"I couldn't stay." Legolas finally spoke, eyes on the ground. "I had no reason to."
Elladan swore. "What about your father, Legolas? How can you be so selfish? It was hard enough losing your mother, and he's had to live all this time thinking you were dead, as well?"
Legolas paled, but stood his ground. "You have no idea what happened, Elladan."
"You'd be surprised." Elladan returned icily. "My father led a battalion of elves to Mirkwood's aid. We arrived late, but by the time we reached the palace you were already gone. We know what happened."
"No, you don't." Legolas ground out in a similar tone.
For several long moments, the air crackled between them with tension as they glared at each other. Elladan looked away in frustration first, but when he lifted his eyes again, the elf was gone, Aragorn stepping forward for an explanation.
"Legolas, wait!" Elladan called, pushing past the human to dart after the fleeing elf.
"Elladan!" Aragorn called after his brother, but the older twin either didn't hear him, or wasn't prepared to listen.
"What was that all about?" He demanded of Elrohir, who stood with his arms crossed, staring sadly at the ground and shaking his head.
Elladan soon returned, shaking his head. "He just…disappeared!"
"It's no wonder!" The human snapped. "He's lived in this place for years; he knows every inch of it, and I'm not sure you had any business confronting him like that."
"It's what he needed." Elladan sighed. "But you're probably right, it's just… Valar, if he has any idea how much he's been missed… How much grief he's caused…"
"What's going on here, Estel?" Elrohir questioned quietly as he looked from one to the other.
"You tell me! He won't." Aragorn gestured in the direction Legolas had gone. "I've been staying the winter here while the pass was blocked, but he hasn't told me anything about himself."
"All this time…" Elladan was staring numbly at the ground. "And he was…here…"
"Who is he?" Aragorn was getting impatient. "It's about time I got some real answers."
"He hasn't told you…anything?" Elladan sighed, looking back up at his brother.
"Anything?" Elrohir prompted, looking in hesitation to his twin.
"Estel…" Elladan started haltingly. "You never… noticed anything about him?"
"What?" Aragorn was becoming quickly angry. "What are you talking about?"
"'Dan—" Elladan began to speak, but was cut off by a warning from his twin brother. "It's not our place. Legolas needs friendship right now, not accusations."
"Estel," Elrohir sat down beside his twin brother on a nearby boulder, "Tell us everything."
-;-.!\.-;-
Well, let me say that this is to be a very quick, informal update so all my fans don't kill me! I don't have time to respond to reviews right now and even if I did I'm too tired to try: So if you have a question or comment that absolutely, positively HAS to be answered RIGHT now, feel free to message me! Sorry it took this long, but until next update, thanks: You know I love you all!
-GoA