where tears fall: Thanks to all the reviewers! It means so much to me tear sniffle- anyways chapter 6:


Silence hung in the air for an agonizing long second.

Then chaos erupted.

Huge spiders from all corners of the trees flung themselves at the man and elf.

Legolas struck down every spider that headed his way with his bow in a continuing rhythm. His expression was plain and seemingly unconcerned like it was usual for him to be attacked by many deadly spiders ready to poison their victims and suck their blood out. The only expression he held was in his eyes. It was composed of hatred and disgust.

Aragorn on the other hand was having a little more trouble.

He was frantically slashing down the onslaught of creatures with his blade, cringing every time he pulled his sword out of the abdomen of a dead spider. Fear was clear in every part of his face and eyes.

Spiders leapt from every direction and both Legolas and Aragorn knew full well that they could not go on like this forever.

Legoals was already feeling slightly dizzy, most likely form over-exertion after his injuries. His arms were growing tired and a familiar pain in his leg and ribs, which he was almost accustomed to was beginning to reappear.

The elf stole a quick glance at the human and observing the trouble he was having, quickly decided that they needed to leave this place.

"Human!" the elf called, while efficiently shooting another spider down.

"My name…" Aragorn paused to slash his blade at an oncoming spider.

"…is STRIDER!" the human called back bitterly, panting loudly. The man did not dare turn his back to face the elf, even for a moment. He clung to his sword loosely, surprised at his exhaustion from the slaying of the spiders.

I do not think my ribs can hold on much longer. Aragorn thought as he felt the pain herbs wearing off.

"Strider!" the elf called, irritation filling his voice. The blond gripped his bow tightly mentally figuring that he only had five arrows left use.

"Yes?" the human called back as he ripped through another arachnid, receiving a splatter of spider blood to add to his lovely collection on his cloak.

"We need to leave now!" Legolas called.

Three more arrows left…

"But I was just… starting …to have fun!" Aragorn said smiling at the groan from the elf. Even though he could not see the elf, Aragorn mentally pictured his face.

Legolas's usually thick patience was growing desperately thin with the human. He gritted his teeth in annoyance. The blonde felt so weak. His usually steady hands were trembling terribly, no matter how hard he wished them to stop.

One more arrow…

"There are more coming, we can't hold them off." He called back between his teeth. The very act of yelling to the human was tiring him greatly.

"Any bright ideas?" Aragorn called back, his voice still unusually light.

He turned towards the elf, just in time to see a spider in mid-air only a few feet away from his body. It seemed as though he was painfully stuck in time, his weak limbs unable to move as the spider neared.

This is it… he thought as he franticly tried to make his unresponsive arm move the abnormally heavy sword to defend himself.

He had no choice but to wait for the impact.

But it never came.

An arrow sailed thought the spider, propelling it to the side. Aragorn's face was engulfed in shock as he turned to see the elf give him a wry smile and slide painfully down the tree in exhaustion.

New strength burned in the human as he ran towards the panting elf.

"Are you alright?" he asked the blonde when he reached the tree.

"Just give me a second." Legolas said while pressing his eyes closed. His blonde hair hung in a very undignified way around his face as he sat panting. He hated the human to see him like this…

So weak and helpless.

Aragiorn backed up towards the tree in a protective manner in front of the elf, his sword held out before him. His breathing was painfully hitched as he sought out the surrounding spiders.

A shrill whistle sounded thought the air, causing both man and elf to become rigid.

The spiders froze.

Another whistle sounded and the spiders scattered in a tangle of legs from their places back into the forest.

It was silent except for the labored breathing of the man and elf.

It seemed like an eternity before Aragorn dared to speak.

"What in Valor was that?" he whispered still rigidly placed in front of the blond being.

"I…I'm not sure." Legolas whispered back as he listened intently for any sound.

He could here the sound of the spiders retreating though the woods and soft sound of hooves on the forest floor.

"Someone approaches." Legolas whispered, as he attempted to stand once again. The sound of the hooves grew steadily as the horse and its rider approached.

A human on a horse appeared from the path and continued towards the strange sight of the blood- soaked man and elf. He wore a brown cloak and had wavy black hair that was slightly darker than his beard. The dark hair made his thin face seem unusually pale. He wore a small, elegantly crafted whistle around his neck on a string, that did not go unnoticed by Legolas.

The man stopped on the path and dismounted.

"Peace, my friends. I mean you no harm." He called to the duo.

Aragorn physically relaxed, letting his guard down at the sight of a fellow man. Legolas, on the other hand stiffened at the sight of two men in one day. He suppressed a shiver as he stared at this new man. His eyes darted from man to man, while trying to brush his thin hair over his delicately pointed ears.

The man, seeing that the two would not respond, the man continued.

"I heard the spiders and…" he held up the small whistle around his neck, "scared them off."

"If I had any idea that they were attacking anyone, I assure you, I would have arrived sooner." He continued giving a smile that chilled Legolas to the bone. He did not trust this human.

Aragorn sheathed his sword, hardly suppressing a smile of relief and luck of coming across this man.

"Thank you, we owe you our lives." Aragorn said bowing slightly as to not aggravate his tender ribs.

"I am Strider and this is…" he gestured to the blond elf with one hand. The lf didn't move or even blink, he just continued his scrutinizing gaze on the other human.

"This is…" Strider tried again to urge the elf to speak, though he highly doubted he would. After a few awkward moments Aragorn sighed and turned back to the man.

"This is my friend Findel." Strider continued.

The man raised an eyebrow at the strange name. Strider could feel the glare of the elf on his back. He could only imagine what was going through the fair-haired being's head.

"Well, Strider and …Findel, I urge you to come and accept some assistance from my camp. It is only a mile north from here." The man said, smiling.

Aragorn seemed to consider this for a moment, taking into consideration their wearied state and blood-stained clothes. Since, evidently, the elf wasn't talking, Aragron decided to make an executive decision for both of them.

"That would be much appreciated, thank you." Aragorn replied, feeling the elf tense behind him.

Legolas would have never before, accepted help from stranger, not to mention a camp full of men. But as the pain in his head and ribs grew, he started to consider that, just maybe, some hot food and warm fire wouldn't be so bad after all…

The strange man smiled at the acceptance of the offer.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I believe I have forgotten my manners. My name is Sadir." the man said with an eerie smile.

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King Thranduil sat in the dim-lit room of his study, his head in his hands. He pulled out the crumpled piece of paper out to read it for the hundredth time. His sad eyes went back and forth across the paper taking in the information that stroked the greatest amount of fear he had ever experienced.

My dear friend King Thranduil,

It is with great regret that I write to you. It seems as though you did not appreciate my agreement that I offered you earlier. But, I have a feeling you will see it my way soon enough. You are an intelligent being, Thranduil. So full of wisdom and insight, much like your son. Legolas isn't it? Although, Legolas can be reckless sometimes. Like going on a hunting trip by himself. Mirkwood is a dangerous place these times. It would a shame if something… "unfortunate" were to happen to the crown prince of Mirkwood on his trip.

Think about my offer.

Sincerely,

Sadir


where tears fall: dun dun dun... What will happen next?- any suggestions, critisizims-do you like it? love it? want to hang me by my thumbs?- If so I'll see what I can do for you, but it would be fairly hard to hang my self by my thumbs. Let's see, I would need rope and then someone to tie my thumbs together...

anyways, thanks for all the reviews, I sort of had a hard time writing this chapter- tell me if I'm slacking!

more to come!