where tears fall: Arghh! Sorry for the long wait! Unfornunately, I could not recover my document, so I had to rewrite it, but that's OK...
Special thanks to: lauren hedgehog, Misile, invisiqoth3, Ida Cippo, and Anonymous for your input and advice on how ot help my computer problem... You guys helped a lot!
well, here is the next chapter:
Chapter 14
Every step drained precious energy from his body. Every step sent a horde of pain echoing through his head and ribs.
Legolas felt incredibly weak and yet, he kept on going. The murderous glint in Dater's eyes that shone through at the blond elf and the slight urging of Strider encouraged Legolas to not stop, despite his fatigue.
They had been walking for what seemed to be an eternity. Aragorn held a steading arm around the prince's waist, being careful not to aggravate the elf's ribs or arrow wound more than necessary.
Over time, the exhausted blond had rested nearly all his weight on the human. Event though the elf was relatively light, Aragorn's muscles still burned form exhaustion, as the pain in his ribs grew with every breath.
Strider braced himself as Legolas stumbled over a rut in the ground, his weak body trembling. He pulled the shaking elf closer, gasping as more pressure was put on his bruised ribs. The ground was unusually foggy, hiding the roots and dips in the ground, and making it extremely difficult to walk.
Aragorn glanced at Dater, who gave him am impatient look, revenge shining purely in his eyes. Strider knew the human was anxious to get to Mirkwood as soon as possible and more importantly, get revenge on Sadir for destroying the village and deceiving them all.
Aragorn couldn't blame the human for wanting revenge, but he presence of the man was only causing unease to grow inside.
Lost in thought, Aragorn stumbled slightly on a dip in the ground, and his time it was Legolas who steadied him, grunting with pain as his did. Blue eyes met gray as the man and elf exchanged glances, both thinking the same thing.
They couldn't go on like this.
But Sadir was bound to have noticed the missing Dater and would be hot on their trail.
They couldn't stop, but they couldn't go on.
A grumble from Dater caused Aragorn and Legolas to stumble onward, their decision made for them.
Strider flinched when the young prince he was supporting suddenly stopped and straightened up, ear's perked and blue eyes wide.
"What?" Aragorn asked, after a moment of silence, looking around for any signs of Sadir.
From the past few days of being with the elf, Strider had learned what the wide-eyed concentrated look meant: mainly trouble.
"We are wasting time!" a disgruntled Dater growled out, grinding his teeth in attempt to control his temper.
"Something, familiar...the trees...they..." Legolas replied, ignoring Dater's comment.
He stayed alert for a moment before a confused look crossed his face, fair eye brows scrunched tightly together.
"Nevermind..." the blond replied after a moment, fair eyebrows still knitted together.
Aragorn shrugged it off, still alert for anything out of the ordinary.
Dater impatiently urged them on across the misty clearing.
Aragorn gave him another sharp look and continued on.
A few steps later, Legolas stopped suddenly head suddenly darting up, ears sharp and perceptive.
He knew something wasn't right. All his instincts, despite being weakened from exhaustion and blood loss, were screaming that something was coming; good or bad, he could not be certain.
Dater gave another exacerbated sigh, which Aragorn and Legolas promptly ignored.
Blue eyes scanned the clearing till they stopped, widening at the sight before him. Aragorn looked from the shocked elf to the seemingly impenetrable mist.
At first, the human saw nothing but the foreboding haze that lay ahead. But as he squinted his tiered eyes and looked farther, he could barely make out one figure quickly nearing.
Aragorn felt Legolas become rigid and more alert as the figure neared.
They were in a clearing and had nowhere to hide. Even if there was a place to hide, there would be no way that they could make it there. They were both too injured to make it anywhere in short amount of time.
So they waited.
Legolas scrunched his eyebrows in confusion as the figure suddenly became two. His blue eyes widened further when one of the figures became clearer.
It couldn't be possible. There was no way that it could be...
Shining blond hair, royal green robes.
Legolas reached out a thin hand and grabbed Aragorn's arm tightly as the confused human looked from the approaching figure to the blond elf.
"What is it?" Aragron whispered, looking intently at the elf.
Legolas's eyes softened as his body relaxed and loosened his grip on Aragorn's arm.
"Legolas!" the figure called and began running towards the elf and human.
"Ada." Legolas stated, voice tired, as his body filled with sudden relief.
"Legolas!" the figure called again, this time becoming clear thought the fog.
Aragorn's eyes widened at the sight of the Mirkwood king. He was just as Aragron had imagined he looked like. He had golden blond hair and the same stunning eyes as his son, that were greatly enhanced by the rich green color of the royal robes he wore. Aragorn could only guess what a lecture with those eyes burning through you might be like.
The only difference between the king and his son was the kind's large, proud build and Legolas's slim, more fragile one.
As Thranduil approached, Aragorn could clearly make out the worried look that seemed to be etched into the king's porcelain skin.
The king's features flooded with relief, joy, and concern at the sight of his son. Nearly running up to the injured elf, Thranduil cleared the distance between them in record time and took Legolas in a large embrace, being careful not to aggravate the young elf's wounds.
Aragron stepped back, not hiding the smile that quickly spread across his face at the sight.
Thranduil seemed to sling to Legolas for the longest time, taking in the presence fo his son.
"Oh, ion-nin, I thought I might have lost you." he whispered to Legolas, just barely holding back the feelings he truly felt; not wanting to think about how close he had truly come to losing his only son.
After another moment, the king stepped back to assess his son's obvious injuries. Thranduil grimaced inwardly at unusually pale skin of Legolas and the blood that seemed to stain every inch of his tunic.
Anger raged inside of him at Sadir as he clenched his fists tightly.
"What is going on here? Who are you?" the voice of a very confused Dater echoed through the clearing.
Thranduil immediately shot him a glare, fully aware of the two humans standing nearby. He did not especially like the human race. In fact, one could say that he despised them. Humans were greedy and selfish.
They only did what benefitted them and in Sadir's case, would even kidnap the prince of Mirkwood.
The king's eyes burned with rage.
"I think the better question human would be who are you and what are you doing with my son?"
Dater seemed to take a step back at this, clearly alarmed at the elf's anger.
"You better pray to Valar that you did not harm my son." the king said, while taking a large step forward towards Dater.
Legolas, seeing what was about to transpire, reached out to his father in attempt to stop him form taking out his anger on a now, nearly terrified Dater.
Legolas should have guessed that this was bound to happen. He actually did not think through how he would explain the two humans to his father. He was more preoccupied with actually reaching his adar fist.
"Saes, ada, do not harm them." Legolas asked in a pleading tone. Thranduil stopped in his tracks and turned toward the young elf, eyes still aflame.
Legolas gulped inwardly, bracing himself for the impact what he was about to say would have on his father.
"They are...friends..." he said quietly, lowering his head.
Thranduil looked more than shocked. He walked quietly up to his son and put a soft arm on his shoulder.
"My son, you have obviously been through much these past few days..."
Legolas sighed inwardly. His ada would never accept that a human could be not evil.
"Who is that?" Dater whispered to Aragorn, begin careful not to be in hearing range of the angry elf.
Unfortunately for Dater, he did now know the extent of an elf's hearing.
Thranuil turned sharply, facing the two men again.
"I am Thranduil, king of Mirkwood, insolent human." he said, blue eyes filled with the pride of his title.
Dater seemed to consider this for a moment, before paling considerably. He was standing the presence of royalty. And what's worse, he had assisted in the kidnaping of a prince; the prince of Mirkwood to be exact.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice echoed through the clearing, splitting the thick silence.
Legolas and Aragorn froze, instantly recognizing the voice.
"Sadir." Aragorn and Legolas whispered as the form of Sadir appeared through the mist, a mug look planted on his face.
Thranduil turned sharply to face Sadir who was walking calmly through clearing.
"Sadir..." he ground out in a unkingly like way whole body shaking in anger.
"Thranduil, it has been a long time." Sadir said calmly, taking a step up to the red-faced king.
Thranduil stepped protectively in front of his son as Aragorn went to support a weak Legolas.
"It seems the last time we met, you did not see things my way. But it seems the tables have turned." Sadir said while gesturing to the dark figures of men who began to surround the small group.
"You see this time, I have the advantage..." Sadir cooed, adding a slick smile.
Aragorn gulped as the men closed in on them, blocking all escape routes.
This time, there was no escape...
where tears fall: GASP! Well, that wasn't as good as I thought it could be... but tell me what you think! The next chapter should have lots of action.
thanks for reading!
