Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own any characters or places in Lord of the Rings.

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With a grunt, Gimli, son of Glóin, buried his ax into a dying warg. Looking up, he saw men riding around on horses stabbing their swords into orcs and wargs.

"Aragorn!" called Legolas as he proceeded to walk around, his eyes searching for his missing companion.

When no answer followed, Gimli started to get worried.

"Aragorn?" yelled the dwarf as dread crept into his face.

Théoden, twirled around, his face puzzled as he to, tried to see where the human was. Legolas reached a rocky incline looking at the ground to try to find any clues to where Aragorn had gone.

Suddenly, a fatally injured orc nearby started laughing. Gimli and Legolas both reached him at the same time.

Brandishing his ax, Gimli positioned it at the orc's throat.

"Tell us where he is and I will ease your passing."

"He's…dead." choked out the dying goblin as he continued to laugh. "Took a little tumble off the cliff."

Instantly, the Silvian elf bent down and grabbed the orc. "You lie."

But before anything else could be said or done, the orc choked and with wide eyes, died. Glancing down, Legolas noticed that Aragorn's necklace was grasped in a filthy hand. Realizing what that must mean, the two remaining Fellowship members rushed to the nearby cliff where Theoden was already at.

All they saw was the rushing waters and sharp rocks below. No sign of Aragorn whatsoever.

With a grunt of effort, the missing human lifted himself up from the rocky face he was climbing. While the fall down, sprained his arm and perhaps fractured his leg, luckily, he missed the worse of the sharp rocks.

Turning around, Theoden and Gimli saw the dirty and tired ranger rise slowly to his feet, in one piece.

"ARAGORN!" shouted the dwarf joyfully as he ran over and hugged him tightly. "I ought to kill you myself for scaring us like that! You are the luckiest, the most canniest, and the most reckless man I ever knew! Bless you, laddie."

Theoden sighed in relief. "Welcome back, Lord Aragorn." stated the King of Rohan as he smiled.

"It's good to be back." answered Aragorn as he glanced up and found the only person who didn't even acknowledge his presence.

"Legolas?" Aragorn softly spoke as he walked up to where the elf was still standing, sorrowfully staring at the ground below. "Mellonin, I am alright."

Legolas slowly turned around.

"I am having delusions. I seem to be hearing and seeing my friend standing before me. I know this is not true. Begone, apparition!" ordered the Prince of Mirkwood.

"Legolas, it's me, Aragorn. I am not an apparition or a trick of your eyes."

"This mimic of my friend seems to think it can trick me so easily with such childish tricks. No! I shall not believe. Begone, dark shadow! I will not be so kind a second time if you do not leave me be with these imitations." insisted Legolas as he gave Aragorn a warning look.

"Legolas, lad, it is him! He is Aragorn. You know this to be true." said Gimli as he walked up to stand beside his human friend.

"Mellonin, please, look at me! I am the person you are mourning so much right now. I am not an imitation nor dark shadow." pleaded Strider as he grabbed Legolas' shoulders.

"NO! You shall not deceive me as you have deceived my fellow companion. Begone!" shouted Legolas as he quickly and without warning pushed the unaware ranger over the cliff.

"YOU BLIND ELF! THAT WAS ARAGORN!" screamed Gimli as he shook the satisfied elf hard.

With quick and graceful movements, Legolas moved out of Gimli's reach and walked away. Turning around, he firmly said, "I did you a favor, Gimli. That was nothing but dark forces trying to trick us. We must not allow our perceptions to lead us to our doom." Then softening his voice, the tall elf said, "Let us go, mellonin. We must follow what Mithrandir said to do. We must defend Helm's Deep from the Shadow. Aragorn would have wanted us to." With that, he turned around and slowly walked away.

"ARAGORN!" shouted the distraught dwarf.

Who would have thought that the Heir of Isildur would meet his end at the hands of his greatest friend?

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AN: Ah. The clueless elf strikes again. Tsk tsk tsk… Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter. I was so pleased that you all thought that was "one of the funniest chaps I've done yet." Thanks Riverfox237 for my very own virtual cloud that rains popcorn shrimp and large pizzas! I enjoyed the spectacular feast. Glad I made you laugh so hard that your brother was giving you weird looks, JediKnightMaraJade. I enjoyed making your idea into a full chapter, randomrohanfreak, and glad that you loved it so much. Thanks for the many reviews, frodoschick. I appreciate it.

PSAT's are coming up. crosses fingers Interims are also coming out. hides under pillow xx

Ahem… Well, see ya all next week!