Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters or settings from Lord of the Rings or Xena the Warrior Princess

Author's Note:

This is a LegoRomance (slow-burn)

「The Lord of the Rings」

「Into the Past」

「BOOK IV」

~ XCII: The Shadowed Greenwood ~

~ Part I ~

Woodland Realm, 3019 TA, May 15th

Upon Sauron's defeat, Aragorn was crowned King Elessar, a name given to him by Galadriel and adopted by the people of Gondor because of the Elfstone he wore. Aragorn was planning to marry Arwen shortly afterwards, on Midsummer's Day in the year TA 3019. He became the twenty-sixth King of Arnor, the thirty-fifth King of Gondor, and the first High King of the Reunited Kingdom, though it would be several years before his authority was firmly re-established in Arnor.

Legolas and Gimli stayed and assisted the King a few times after his coronation until the appropriate choices were made. However, Legolas finally had to return to Mirkwood in order to pursue Uagz. Gimli would follow his trusty friend, but Aragorn's duties as the new king prevented him from joining. Xena would be one of their travelling companions, and Legolas seemed to agree with that choice.

"Mirkwood! We will flee to Mirkwood and not the mountains when we should stand next to you. Who will defend the King if not his most trusted friends?" Gimli inquired as he approached Aragorn, ready to protest once again.

"He is only doing what he thinks is best for his kin. The Woodland realm withstands attack after attack; he has to return." King of Arnor responded, watching the Elf securing his last belongings against Arod, the grey horse given to Legolas by Éomer; he rode with it into all old and new adventures.

"He is doing what can bring peace to his mind, going after Uagz!" Xena interrupted when she appeared with Argo, donning her armour and carrying her gear for the journey.

"He will need you with him, both of you, I fear for him," The King instructed two of their loyal friends, despite the fact that he already knew they would comply without his request. Xena nodded and Gimli added.

"He has my support, and you know that, Aragorn! I remember the Elf told me once that he would never return." The dwarf responded while resting against his axe as a small smile appeared on his face, "Yet I am only travelling with him to see the face of the Elvenking when the elf tells him that we became close friends."

Aragorn rose an eyebrow, gazing at Gimli with a smirk. "You wouldn't bring trouble to the Halls of the Elvenking."

"Troubles are upon the Elvenking if he likes it or not," A fresh powerful voice was heard when the Elf in question finally descended the stairs and met his close companions. He was sure of his father's reaction to finding out that Legolas became trusted friends with the son of Glóin, and he did not dare to think what he would say about him and his recent encounters with the human.

"But are your kind to cross the sea? As the rest of the elves?" Gimli questioned in an effort to shift the subject since the topic of Uagz had recently given the elf too much grief. He had heard that the majority of elves had already crossed the sea, and those who had yet to do so intended to do so.

"I do not know. Woodland elves are different. However, with the Elvenking remaining behind, my kin will be stubborn to leave." He acknowledged, "I suppose no one has left Mirkwood."

"It's time for you to take this journey. And I will join you later on. I will miss you, Legolas and Gimli," After a minute, Elessar remarked while placing his hands on his companions' shoulders.

"And I, you," the Elf replied, mirroring the gesture, "We will meet again."

"Your friend looks forward to it," Gimli continued while grinning at his two faithful companions. Xena only observed them and made a sign of farewell to Aragorn. A few days previously, the four had engaged in a lengthy discussion to convince Legolas not to pursue Uagz. Legolas countered with a number of reasons why he had chosen to pursue Uagz, and the conversation ended with Legolas prevailing.

During their time in Minas Tirith, Legolas and Gimli worked together to construct and develop the city. They saw that the gardens, houses, and walls need reconstruction. They resolved that their assistance to the King of Gondor would continue beyond their trip to Mirkwood. Elrond attempted to prolong Legolas's departure from Minas Tirith by conversing with him many times during that time. In addition, they left today without alerting anybody.

"We will head north," Legolas said as he down the stairs, approached the stables, and mounted Arod agilely, "Come on!"

Gimli, attired for the journey with a helmet, armour, axe, and cloak, grinned and grasped Legolas' hand before climbing behind him. Xena followed after Legolas and Arod as they marched out from Gondor, remembering the lengthy conversation she had with Gandalf, who had implored her to give Elrond a chance, but she refused. "Because he had to send me away, and I would have done the same, I disagree with him. However, it is unacceptable that he has lied to me from day one and continued to deceive me as a means of protecting me."

That was the end of their conversation, and Xena never discussed her departure with her father or her siblings. There was a brief moment when she intended to go and just announce that she was leaving, but their departure had to be conducted in secrecy, thus the conversation was never had. Now, the three companions were riding toward Mirkwood and the Elvenking's Halls.

Mirkwood was formerly known as Greenwood, and it was once a part of the enormous ancient forest that encompassed much of Middle-earth during the Age of the Trees, probably connecting across the Anduin to Lothlórien. These Silvan Elves, unwilling to traverse the Misty Mountains, likewise lived in the forested valleys of the River Anduin. They were also referred to as Silvan or Wood-elves. The Longbeard Dwarves established the Old Forest Road very early in Greenwood's history to connect their realm in the Misty Mountains to Erebor and the Iron Hills.

Its bounds extended from the foothills of the Grey Mountains in the north to the North deep in the south, and from the eastern edge of the valley of Anduin to Erebor. From its origins in the western Grey Mountains, the Forest River passed through the northern edge of the forest, where it was joined by the Enchanted River, which flowed north from the Mountains of Mirkwood.

Thranduil succeeded Oropher as ruler of the Woodland Realm at the start of the Third Age. Probably as a consequence of the tremendous casualties sustained in the Battle of Dagorlad, the Silvan population of Greenwood decreased and became mostly centred in the then-known Emyn Duir Hills. Greenwood became known as Mirkwood as a result of Sauron's presence, which darkened the forest.

The forest was overrun by spiders and orcs serving Dol Guldur, causing it to become thicker, darker, and covered in cobwebs. In response, the Silvan Elves of Mirkwood retreated even more, probably relocating to the Elvenking's Halls east of the Forest River. The original Old Forest Road was abandoned by both men and dwarves, while a new, little-used road was constructed farther from Dol Guldur and the Hobbits at the eastern boundary of the forest moved away.

Even if Sauron were to be defeated and the ring destroyed, Mirkwood would still be plagued by giant spiders and orcs. The forest was constantly populated, and the warriors of Thranduil were still stationed at the eastern end of the Forest River, defending the boundaries of Elvenking's Halls. However, many of the Elvenking's men were allied with the dwarves of Erebor and the humans of Dale, and they had established camps on the opposing side of their boundaries. And, of course, there was the most recent assault, in which all three races joined forces and attacked the surviving orcs in Gundabad with the sole objective of killing Uagz.

As the sun sank below the horizon and Legolas, Xena and Gimli neared the forest's entrance on horseback, a calm serenity descended over Mirkwood as the sunset. When they were just a few yards into Mirkwood, they encountered a gang of orcs. They seemed to be fleeing a battle; Legolas drew his bow, Xena her chakram, and Gimli sprang from Arod. Their onslaught was formidable, and a few seconds later, not a single orc was left standing.

Legolas gathered his arrows to clean and use them again when Gimli called him, "Lad, you should come over here and see this!"

The Elf cast a glance over where his friend was standing. It seemed that most of the orcs were killed by a group of elves, and Legolas guessed it should be a group of his father's troops. They decided to rest for a while and they made a small camp under the nearest tree and lit a fire. All three friends were in a deep conversation trying to decide if those orcs were familiar with Uagz, but no orc was left alive to offer them such information.

"There is more to the story, and lassy is as talk active as you are," Gimli spoke after a few long minutes. It seemed all the days they rode to reach Mirkwood, neither of them was in the mood to talk or even argue. Legolas was always thinking about his mother or the moment he would take down Uagz, and Xena was spacing out. Gimli had asked her many times what bothered her, but the human did not answer. She did not feel yet secure enough to simply tell them that she was the daughter of Elrond.

"I noticed." Legolas added bemused at his friend's reaction, "These are strange times, Gimli. Alas, what is waiting for us in these woods."

"You sound frightened?" the dwarf asked, eyeing his friend "What is it, lad?"

"We all should be," Legolas agreed, "I have a strange feeling since we stepped into the Forest of Great Fear?"

"What's your point?" Xena asked "Are you scared? Should we return back?"

Gimli stared at her and then laughed "Here is a dwarf who is not afraid! I am not going back!"

Legolas took a step back, slowly lowered himself, and took a seat while crossing his legs. He seemed to push some wood into the fire, but his senses were entirely over to the woman. "I'm not afraid! We need to be more cautious!" Legolas replied as his gaze fixed on her, wondering what was upsetting the human and why she had not addressed the topic with him.

"We are in the eastern portion of Rhovanion or the Wilderland," Legolas continued as his eyes were now fixed against hers. "It will take a few days to reach the halls of the Elvenking."

"Never heard of those places," she responded, her tone dropped, and she sounded thoughtful.

"Had you read the book I gave you a bit more carefully, you would have known," he scoffed and turned his back to the fire.

"Easy now, Lad," Gimli teased him as his hand rested on his shoulder. "We do not want you to get hurt again."

"You are not in any position to tell me what to do." Xena defended "After all that was a children's book and it was missing most of the information."

Legolas lifted an eyebrow at her reaction. "I already did! You better rest now. We are leaving at dawn!"

As promised, they awoke at daybreak and started their trek through Mirkwood, avoiding spiders to the extent possible. Legolas assumed that his father was attempting to secure the major path. After many generations, it seemed that the Elvenking no longer concealed himself inside his Halls. And if Legolas had known him better, he would have predicted that he was already out pursuing Uagz in an effort to protect his son as well.

A small troop of elves finally met paths with Legolas, Gimli, and Xena. Those were not Mirkwood elves, but rather Moonlight elven troops. Their commander, Melchion, was avaricious. Legolas revealed who he was, and Melchion told him how his people came to reside under the Elvenking's halls. Legolas was the only one of the three to realise that something was occurring in his father's Halls since Thranduil did not mention the Moonlight elves to him. If it had been a trivial discussion about the King, he would have informed Legolas, but now he was concerned that his father had withheld further information.

A small company of Moonlight elves escorted Legolas, Gimli, and Xena into the Woodland Realm over a bridge. After passing past the gate, Melchion addressed the guards. Legolas seemed to argue with them, as they wanted to take him to the throne and announce him before allowing him to remain in Mirkwood. As the prince, he didn't need permission to enter his father's realm.

The whole structure was constructed from tree roots in a cavern under the ground. Legolas agreed, and the quarrel quickly ended. Stone and wooden flats and bridges were constructed to divide the caverns into many levels. It was simple to become lost, even for Xena, who never had trouble finding her way about. Gimli and she anticipated that the caverns would be gloomy, or at least darker than the outdoors, but an underground system brought light into the caves. Was it the elves' intelligence or some kind of magic? They were unaware.

As though the floors in front of them had neither beginning nor end, the Elvenking's halls were immense. Most bridges on all levels were traversed by random elves going about their daily activities as if nothing were upsetting them. Then she realised that Thranduil had never let the gloom that surrounded Mirkwood penetrate his halls.

Even though they were brought into a cave system, the inside was as beautiful as any other elf city Xena had seen. Gimli felt as if he were back in the mountains and was at peace. He wished to reassure Legolas that his home was not as terrible as he had thought, but Legolas appeared more intent on achieving their objective as if something was upsetting him.

They travelled a great distance, their horses were cared for by elves who worked in the stables, and Legolas saw familiar faces for the first time in a long time. Before they followed Melchion to take them to his father, or so Legolas believed, they conversed for a considerable amount of time.

He muttered, thinking that only Gimli and Xena would hear him, "Something is amiss." Although it seemed to be home, it felt unfamiliar.

Xena nodded and gestured for them to keep their hands near their swords. And all three were suddenly more aware of themselves and their surroundings. It seemed as if Thranduil had transported Greenwood into his halls, as songs could be heard down the hallways and woody roots and gardens concealed in almost every corner. At the end of the corridor was a great wooden-and-silver-carved stone gate, inside which sat Thranduil's throne.

Melchion stated, "All of you stay here until you are summoned," and then vanished into the throne room, leaving the three companions behind. It did not take long until the door was opened and the three were led before the throne, but instead of Thranduil, there stood a strange elf maiden whom Legolas had never seen before.

Gimli whispered in a low voice as he drew closer to Legolas, "I've never met your father, lad, but I'm certain she's not him." And Legolas nodded while maintaining a difficult-to-read icy demeanour. However, the prince was as perplexed when he saw a stranger seated on his father's throne.

((Upcoming Chapter Ninety-Three))

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