For disclaimer and other notes see prologue.

Hey all, sorry for the long wait. I have been so busy with RL, and we have had a little writers block too. My grandmother fell down the concrete stairs at our house and broke her wrist, her whole face and chest is black and blue. Then a few days later my Granddad fell of scaffolding (he's a construction worker and he's really healthy for his age) and broke his hip and his arm. He had 3 screws put into his hip.(winces) Then last weekend I went up to the mountains and just came back on Monday, and Shelby has been putting shingles on her roof….

Enough rant, enjoy chapter four…

Special thanks to Gwenneth for betaing this chapter.

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Strangers in Shadows

By Amanda & Shelby

Chapter 4

Aragorn pulled his hood over his head and led his horse into a grove of trees as the rain began to pour from the sky. He was happy to be on his way back home to Rivendell. He unpacked his saddlebags and prepared to make camp until the rain stopped, whereupon he would finish his travel back toward and over the Misty Mountains.

The ranger offered his horse some water and then began to gather any dry firewood he could to make a fire. He sat with his back against a tall tree and watched the rain fall to the ground, splattering as it impacted the hard earth, and ate a small wafer of lembas bread. The small amount of light from the moon seeping in from the cover of the clouds reflected off the growing number of puddles covering the ground.

He had been with the rangers of the north a lot longer than he had expected to be and was happy to finally see familiar land -- and soon -- his home. Aragorn let his mind wander to his experiences the past long months; The other rangers had called Aragorn out because a band of men had been attacking and they had needed help keeping the villages safe.

Aragorn hadn't been with them for awhile and there had been a few new people among the group that he hadn't known. But new people were always welcomed, for they could always use help.

All of them had split up into groups and managed to slow down the attacks. Finally, after several months, Aragorn had felt he could safely go home and get some peace.

The Ranger finished his meal and forced his tired body up from the ground as the rain slowed down to a stop. He knew he should rest, but he was so eager to get home. The man knew he still had to travel over the Misty Mountains and that was an arduous path in itself. But even the mountains could not stop him; He wanted to sleep in a warm bed and hear the laughter and jokes of his two twin brothers who were always pulling pranks on anyone they could find.

He stamped out the small fire and scattered the ashes so there would be no sign of a camp here. The last thing he needed was for someone to follow him. The ranger mounted Thunder and rode him from the grove of trees and into the darkness of the night.

He rode silently and slowly in the direction of the High Pass through the mountains until he perceived hushed voices in another grove of trees and the orange flame of a fire. He dismounted and motioned for his gelding to stay where it was. Stepping silently and cautiously toward the small camp, he hoped these weren't some of the same men he had dealt with earlier.

"No! Stop it!" The command of the first voice yelled.

The second voice replied in an angry tone, "If you don't do something now he is going to die!"

"I know! Just keep your hands off him!" the first voice shouted again.

Aragorn moved closer to the trees and could make out two men fussing over someone, but their backs were all turned toward him. Two other men sat by the fire, concern written on their faces, but they said nothing and didn't move unless asked.

"Nolan, bring me some fresh water!" the first man's angry tone demanded. "It's your fault we got attacked anyway! Why you weren't watching the camp is beyond me," he muttered.

"But Frimond, we have no more water left," Nolan replied. "All was spilt during the attack."

Aragorn listened as the conversation continued and concluded that these men had been attacked by someone or something quite recently. He turned his head and looked around. Not far away he could see the dark outline of animal bodies sprawled out on the wet ground. That answered one question in his mind.

"Well then find some and hurry! Abdul, you go with him!" Frimond snarled. "We need to be moving on otherwise it will take us years to track down those other elves!"

Nolan and Abdul took a torch and moved off into the trees searching for any source of water. Aragorn watched them walk off and then glanced back at Frimond and the other man; their backs still facing him. He watched carefully as one man took any bandages he had in his bag and applied them to whoever was in front of him and then tossed another useless, blood-dripping cloth off to the side of them; repeating the process until he ran out of bandages.

'Tracking down elves?' Aragorn thought to himself. He shook his head and let his mind wander on the subject. 'Why would they want elves?' He suddenly thought of his home in Imladris, and he sure hoped that they were doing ok.

The wind picked up and the breeze rattled the trees. Aragorn was caught off guard as he perceived the sounds of small branches cracking and the sound of loud voices. He turned quickly and made for Thunder as he heard Nolan and Abdul come closer.

Turning swiftly around he was abruptly halted by a large branch that caught his jacket. The ranger panicked as the two men came closer to his previous hiding spot. He turned to free himself only to trip on a root and fall forward with a loud thud. He cursed as the two men erupted from the trees.

"Hey! You!" Nolan shouted out at Aragorn. The tall man ran forward as Aragorn got to his knees and started to stand. Nolan tackled him and Aragorn fell back forward again into the grass.

The ranger pushed Nolan off of him and once again scuttled to stand up, but was taken back down by an unexpected kick to the stomach.

Aragorn doubled forward as the boot swiftly kicked him again, paralyzing him as he tried to draw breath. Why did everything always have to go wrong at the last minute? Every time something seemed to be over for him and he was ready to go back to peace, another incident struck him down.

"Good Abdul," one of the men said, nodding at the other man that was with him as he turned to take hold of the ranger and haul him to his feet.

Aragorn struggled to get free from the tight grasp that Nolan had him in. "What are you doing here?" Nolan asked Aragorn.

Aragorn looked back at his attackers and responded in a raspy voice. "I am a mere traveler."

Nolan's eyebrow arched in suspicion, "You ain't one of them rangers are ya?" When Aragorn wouldn't answer Nolan got frustrated. "Ya ain't, are ya?" Nolan repeated in an angrier tone; thinking Aragorn hadn't heard him.

Aragorn pondered his choices. It was obvious this man didn't like rangers, but yet something seemed to trigger his mind, something he couldn't recognize. "No I am not," he finally answered.

Nolan eyed him as if looking though him, searching for any sign that the man before him was indeed telling the truth. After a while Nolan nodded, taking in the information reasonably.

Aragorn let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding, hoping it wasn't a tell-tale sign of his lie. When there was no indication that the men had caught his lie, he sighed in relief.

"What were you doing spying on our camp," one of the men asked Aragorn, startling the man as the question had come so abruptly. With his eyebrows again raised in suspicion, the man waited for Aragorn to reply.

"I heard a bit of panic and stopped to see if I could be of help," the Ranger responded. It wasn't a lie; that was indeed the truth.

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See ya all in the next chapter! Thank you for all those who have been patient and have stayed with us. Wow! Nine reviews in one chapter! Thank you all!

Kitsune Kida- Hey there! Yes poor Legolas is in a lot of pain. Hehe. Thanks for the review!

Mornflower- Hey! We haven't talked to you in a long while, I miss chatting with you on the net! Thanks for your wonderful comments! We love them!

Zammy- Sorry it was so long. Thanks for stikin with us!

Saerwen- Sorry for the long wait Mari. Thanks for bugging Shelby and I about it too. Keep bugging us and maybe the next chapter will be up sooner. lol. Thanks for the review!

Deana- Wow! Lots of OW's! lol! Thanks for the review!

Elf771- Legolas will get better sooner or later. Thaladirith isn't dead? Hmm…. (wink) Thanks for the review and I hope you stay with us!

grecian - Oh Darn! Legolas cant loose a leg. Thanks for the review, things will brighten up a bit.

Karri- Good to hear from you! Hopefully legolas will get better soon. Thanks for reviewing!

Namarie for now!