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"There are riders coming."
Gimli looked quizzically up at Legolas. He was standing up straight, head cocked to the side. Gimli listened with all his might, but couldn't hear anything but the wind.
"Are you sure?" Gimli couldn't help asking. Legolas scowled at him.
"Of course I'm sure." The elf muttered. But Gimli noted that he did not sound quite as confident as he would have a few days ago. Yesterday night, Legolas had trouble uncovering the orcs' trail in the dark, and they had been greatly delayed. If Gimli hadn't spotted an abandoned iron shoe that was half-buried in the grass they would have gone the wrong way. The dwarf had had a marvelous time reprimanding Legolas all night, which in his mind, quite made up for the lack of sleep.
"What should we do?" Gimli wondered outloud. Legolas shaded his eyes, scanning the plains for the first signs of them.
"I'm not sure. Most likely they are Men of Rohan, but they could be thieves or raiders. We should wait until we see them to reveal ourselves- but wait! I see them now. Yes, they are Riders. They are a large number, and I see some empty saddles."
"Any sign of the hobbits or Aragorn?" Gimli quickly asked.
"I…I'm not sure. I do not see them, but they could be there. Here, we can wait for them here." Legolas turned and sat down, leaning against a large rock. Gimli quickly followed him.
They did not wait long. After only a minute or two, the foremost riders swept passed them. Legolas quickly stood. Several riders spotted him, and called out. With astonishing speed, the legion turned their horses and quickly surrounded the two of them.
"What business brings an Elf and a Dwarf to the Riddermark?" One man pushed his horse to the front. He wore fine armor, and from his tall helm white horsehair floated in the breeze.
"We are tracking a party of orcs that came this way. They took three of our friends captive." Said Legolas coolly, though Gimli thought he caught a flicker of worry across his face.
The rider studied them carefully and dismounted.
"Who are you?" He asked bluntly.
On a sudden burst of impulse, Gimli said, "Tell us your name, Horsemaster, and we will tell you ours." The rider flashed him a dark glance and replied coldly,
"I would cut off your head, Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground." Gimli growled at him and fingered his axe. But before anything more could happen, another rider called out to them and rode forward.
"Please, wait. You say you are tracking a party of orcs?" Legolas nodded slowly. "They are dead. We slaughtered them in the night."
"Did you find anyone other than orcs?" Legolas quickly asked, daring to hope. The rider thought for a moment, then started to shake his head.
"I don't recall-
"Yes we did!" An older man dismounted and stepped forward. "Do you not remember? Deowin found Thorongil!" Several more soldiers nodded in agreement.
"Who is Thorongil?" Legolas asked, his heart sinking.
"He was one of our greatest captains from a long time ago. We had thought he was long dead, but we found him here!" The old man replied. Legolas looked down and did not reply. Seeing his sudden grief, Gimli asked,
"Has he said anything of other captives? Another man, or two hobbits?"
"What are hobbits?" The first man asked curiously.
"Well, they are…um…small people. I suppose they would look like human children to you."
"I am sorry, but we found no children, and the only man was Thorongil." The man replied. "I am sorry."
Gimli nodded wordlessly, focusing carefully at the ground.
"Has Thorongil said anything of other captives?" Legolas suddenly asked.
"No," the man said. "He is badly wounded and unconscious. Our only healer was killed, and his supplies lost. We are taking him to Edoras."
Legolas sighed. "Perhaps we could take a look at him. Our taken companion left us with a great store of healing supplies." Some of the other men looked at him with wonder.
"That would be very considerate of you." The man said slowly. "Deowin! Bring Thorongil forward. They said they can help him."
There was the sound of someone dismounting, and several long coughs. The men parted to reveal a tall Rider bearing another man's still form. Legolas stepped forward, his eyes dully scanning his injuries. But then his keen eyes settled on the man's face.
Legolas felt his breath hitch in his throat. He felt an overwhelming mixture of worry and relief steadily rising in his heart, rendering him speechless.
Suddenly it passed. Legolas quickly pulled off his cloak and spread it on the ground. Taking Aragorn from Deowin, he gently laid him out. He began to reach for Aragorn's pack, but something stopped him. He instinctively grabbed Aragorn's throat, feeling for a pulse. His own heart hammered loudly and the only thing he could do was pray that his friend was holding on.
Gimli saw something was wrong.
"Legolas, what…" His voice trailed off as he also recognized the man. With a strangled cry, he seized Aragorn's pack and began rifling through it for the healing supplies. The Rohirrim watched wide-eyed.
Deowin, however, knew what was going on. He had known it the second the elf had looked at Thorongil's face. The elf's fair features had suddenly filled with grief mingled with relief.
"I take it this is your lost companion." He said quietly. Legolas nodded wordlessly. "Give them some room!" Surprised, the Riders obeyed and moved back, talking excitedly amongst themselves. Legolas smiled his thanks from his spot next to Aragorn. He had found a weak and faint pulse, but it had assured him his friend was indeed alive, however barely. Now he was carefully wiping the blood from his friend's body. There was so much of it, he could barely understand how Aragorn lived at all…
But there was something wrong. Several of Aragorn's wounds were bleeding, but not much, and only the wound on his arm and the arrow hole were infected. So where was Aragorn's weakness coming from? Frowning, Legolas gently felt his friend's chest, finding several broken ribs, but he was pretty sure they hadn't pierced everything. As he reached for more water, he caught sight of his right hand. It was covered in bright red blood.
He muttered a curse. Aragorn had a hidden injury, but where? Suddenly a horrible thought seized Legolas. He carefully turned his friend on his side, generating no reaction, and looked at the back of Aragorn's coat. It was black, revealing nothing, but when Legolas brushed his fingers against it, they came off red and Aragorn shuddered.
Fearing the worst, Legolas began to remove Aragorn's coat. To his dismay, it stuck to his back. Knowing how much his friend loved the tattered, worn coat, he was afraid to cut if off. But he could not just pull it…
"Gimli, help me with his coat. I fear that there is some wound on his back it is sticking to." Legolas said quickly. As Gimli readied himself on Aragorn's other side, Legolas whispered in his friend's ear. "Mellon nin, this will hurt. I am sorry, but it must be done." With that he took a deep breath and slowly peeled Aragorn's coat away from the skin.
When the coat was half off and the hidden wounds exposed, it took Legolas all of his self control to not scream out in anger. Aragorn's back was crisscrossed with many bloody lacerations, most of them infected from lack of proper care. But as they removed the final part of the coat, they accidentally pulled at a halfway formed scab. Aragorn cried out in agony, and his eyes opened. As he found Gimli holding him down, he strained to get free. His subconscious mind did not register that he was no longer with the orcs
Legolas hastily came in view and took his hand. Aragorn's eyes stopped to look at him.
"Estel, it's me, it's Legolas. You were rescued from the orcs by the Rohirrim. Do you remember?" Legolas prayed inwardly that he did not suffer a memory loss.
"Legolas," Aragorn gasped weakly. "I knew…knew you'd find me." His voice was hoarse and raspy from weakness and the constant abuse of his throat. Legolas smiled softly.
"Yes, of course I found you, you stubborn human. Did you have so little faith in my tracking skills?" Aragorn flashed him a small smile before a wave of pain forced it into a grimace. Suddenly he grasped Legolas's arm.
"The…hobbits? Did you…" But even as he spoke, his eyes rolled back and he fell once more into the dark oblivion. Gimli checked his pulse and was alarmed to find it barely existent.
"Legolas, he is getting weaker by the minute. We must tend to him now." Legolas quickly began to clean the exposed cuts on his back. He was worried to realize that Aragorn was not even responding to the pain he surely felt.
"Gimli, give me the infection reducing herb there."
"Which one?" Gimli asked. It wasn't his fault. The labels were all written in confounding Elvish.
"That one there, the dark brown." Gimli quickly located it and passed it to him. Legolas hesitated for a moment, then spread a generous amount over Aragorn's back. He moaned softly and thrashed weakly, but Gimli held him firmly. Legolas carefully finished and wrapped his friend's chest in long white bandages, which also sufficed as a split for his broken ribs.
"I scarcely know where else to begin." He muttered. Gimli heard him and smiled.
"Don't you worry, Elf. He's too stubborn to let something like this finish him." Legolas grinned back half-heartedly.
"That I know." The elf replied.
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About an hour later Deowin made his way to the elf and dwarf. The remainder of his company had stopped for a short rest, but they didn't seem to notice. Deowin couldn't help but admire the persistence they had in saving their friend.
"How is he?" he asked quietly, stooping beside the dwarf. Thorongil looked a little better, but he still had a fever and was having trouble breathing. The white bandages around his chest, wrists, face, and leg did not contrast quite as much as they should have against his pale skin.
"He is better, but still in danger." The elf replied softly. "I think we have him stabilized for a while. But I fear he is too weak to travel. How far is it to where you were taking him?"
"About a two day ride," Deowin replied. "But Eomer wishes to go at a good pace for we left without the king's leave." The elf frowned.
"Who is Eomer?" he asked. Deowin started, and realized he probably shouldn't have given the information away. Well, it was too late now.
"He is our captain. You were speaking to him earlier." The dwarf scowled.
"I remember him. And who are you?"
"My name is Deowin, son of Illúwin. I am the one who discovered Thorongil." He added hastily, deciding that it wouldn't hurt to give that information. He was right. Both of their expressions clearly changed, and the elf stood up and bowed.
"Well, Deowin son of Illúwin, it seems we owe you a great debt. I am Legolas of Mirkwood, and this is Gimli son of Glóin. And this is our friend Strider."
"Pleased to meet you Legolas, but you owe me no debt. I only hope he will recover." Deowin again looked at Thorongil, or Strider as Legolas had said. "Can I be of any assistance?"
"No, I think we-
The elf was cut off by a sudden flurry of movement. Across the camp riders were saddling their horses and getting ready to leave. Eomer came striding over to meet them.
"How is he?" He asked loudly.
"Strider is stable for now, but he cannot be moved, I'm afraid." Gimli replied, just as loud. Eomer seemed to consider it.
"Very well," he said slowly. He paused, then said softly, "Perhaps when he has recovered you can bring him to us. I'm sure there are many who wish to see him." With that, he nodded to Legolas and Gimli and strode off.
Deowin looked after him and said, "Well, I suppose this is goodbye." He shook hands with Legolas, then added, "Be sure that you bring him back. I think I would like to know him." Legolas nodded, and Deowin left to rejoin the Rohirrim.
The elf and dwarf watched as the great storm of riders slowly disappeared.
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Well, there you have it! Our ranger is finally in his friend's hands! Hooray!
I am SO SORRY for the long wait. My teachers suddenly realized that finals were coming and gave us tons of review work. I've had to write this chapter at five-minute intervals for quite a while, though I cannot believe it has been this long. I am SO SORRY.
Hopefully next chapter will be up before Christmas, but I'm not sure. See you soon, and please review!
QueenofFlarmphgal
