A/N: No, I haven't completely forgotten about this fic. COMPLETELY being the keyword there.
Also, if you notice any discrepancies, please tell me since I'm writing REdemption at the same time in the Final Fantasy VII section and I might get a bit confused even though I try to reread my chapters now as editing.
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Legolas brought the limp form of Arashi into the Great Hall across his arms and all her equipment carefully stored with his own on his back. He had rushed as quickly as he could across the snow with her in his arms and he worried about the trail of blood that they had left behind as well as her well-being.
"My lord!" Tiraal had been waiting anxiously near the entrance for his return and ran up to him when he came close. "The whole castle's been… Who is that?"
"I don't know exactly," he muttered, "but she needs our help now. Go and tell the healer that she has a patient."
Tiraal just looked at Arashi, her bare skin and her wound on her collar. "Legolas, what…?"
"Now, Tiraal!" Legolas commanded him. "I do not need to repeat myself."
Startled at the sudden authoritative tone, Tiraal bowed quickly and said, "Yes, sire."
Legolas watched the younger Elf run ahead to the infirmary as he made his way there himself, weighed down by the foreign she-Elf he had in his arms. Others immediately gathered to see him, hearing that he had returned but soon realizing with suspicion that he brought back someone from outside the realm.
Curious whispers flew throughout the whole castle that reached King Thranduil's ears in a very surprisingly short period of time.
Elin kneeled down low at the feet of Thranduil and said, "My lord, your son has returned safely from the forest. However, he is on his way to the infirmary."
"He is hurt?" Thranduil immediately got to his feet and set towards the infirmary, concerned and relieved that Legolas had made it back to the castle.
"No, sire." Elin followed suit. "His opponent is."
Thranduil stopped and turned to look at Elin. He was a step lower than Elin and a torch etched the sharp features of the Elf-King's face, emphasizing the pride he had for his kingdom and his son and the worry and confusion he was feeling. "His opponent? He brought back his opponent? For what reason?"
Unable to resist out of his fraternal bond with Legolas, Elin replied half-jokingly, "Well, she is quite a beautiful, exotic Elf…"
In Elin's mind, it was quite worth the false implication that Legolas would take advantage of a helpless woman to see the absolute shock, amazement and horror on the noble king's face at the thought. He could barely imagine what a confusing mix of emotions Thranduil was feeling and attempting to sort out.
Together, they raced from the throne room to the infirmary where Legolas was helping the healer clean and bandage Arashi's wounds. The healer, named Laurefaire, was wrapping bandages around her torso and chastising Legolas.
"You really must exercise more caution!" Her long blond hair was tied back in a long braid that she wound into a bun at the nape of her neck so it wouldn't get in the way. "Not only did you bring a foreign woman without knowledge about who she is, you brought her here injured!"
"I apologize," Legolas said gently, helping her bandage the wound on the collar, "and I truly appreciate you doing this for her."
Laurefaire threw him a deadly glare. "I only do this because you ask this of me, my lord. There is a strange aura about this woman that I cannot feel comfortable with. I almost hope that you had inflicted these wounds on her."
"Laurefaire!"
Thranduil was standing in the doorway with Elin, listening to her and Legolas talk. "Those are harsh words for those of Elvenkind. Save your rage and bitter words for your enemies, not your kin."
"Yes, sire. I apologize," she said. "But it is quite obvious that this girl is not from our realm or from anywhere else in Middle-Earth! Who knows what sort of ill fates she brings with her?"
Thranduil narrowed his eyes at Legolas. "Nobody does but some really should heed warnings of omens better than they do."
He went over to the prince and examined both him and Arashi lying on the infirmary's table. His eyes traveled from Legolas' torn sleeve and his bare, muscular arm to the ripped silken shirt of Arashi's, which showed her physique quite well and was barely able to cover her chest.
"Would you care to explain yourself?" Thranduil asked with the tiniest hint of shame in his voice.
"I had to bring her back, Ada," pleaded Legolas. "I couldn't leave her out in the forest after what wrongs I had done to her. I did not mean for it to be quite this severe but I had not realized that she is a woman and could not control myself."
Thranduil looked at Legolas, appalled at what he was hearing. Elin realized the less than scrupulous thoughts of Legolas' character that he had implanted into Thranduil's mind and tried to interfere before his conversation got any worse.
"Ah, my lord…?"
"Are you saying that if she were not a woman, you would have done worse deeds to her?" demanded Thranduil.
"Yes!" Legolas said, slightly confused. "Such an occurrence as this is what I have been trained for my whole life, is it not? Findlas did give me many years of special training to bring someone to the ground like this."
"Oh, the Valar help us," moaned Elin, unable to get in a word.
Laurefaire had picked up on the sexual crimes that Thranduil was vaguely, yet clearly, accusing Legolas was and she was highly amused by Legolas' innocent reactions, knowing that he was merely feeling guilty for inflicting the wounds on Arashi. Luckily, she was also quite sure that Legolas had been a gentleman and had not touched her wrongly.
"Are you telling me," Thranduil said slowly, keeping his anger contained, "that you have violated this woman with special training from Findlas and that it would have been worse if she was male?"
Legolas gaped at his father, eyes wide and open mouthed, aghast beyond belief. At the same time, Laurefaire burst out in laughter at Legolas' expression while Elin simply stood at the door, unable to move and stared at the two royal Elves.
"N-NO!" Legolas said loudly and his cheeks turned red with embarrassment in revelation.
Slightly ashamed that his father would think that way, he pointed to Arashi's wounds and his voice shook slightly in shock. "Ada, I caused those wounds on her when we fought within the forest. I had not realized that she is a woman until her cloak fell from her. Even then, I could not stop myself due to my training from causing the wound on her stomach."
Relief exuded from Thranduil like water rushing from an opening dam. He had to stand in front of Legolas, gripping the table, for a small time to recover.
"Ada, how could you even begin to think that I would do such a thing?" Legolas cried out, still blushing.
Laurefaire was still giggling at the rare show of humiliation from the mighty king and the prince but was attempting to recover her composure when Elin finally spoke up.
"My lord, I apologize but what I had accidentally implied was really just in good fun. I did not mean it in a serious light!"
"Elin!" Legolas turned and looked at him with wide, shocked eyes.
"I'm sorry! I did not imagine that King Thranduil would actually take my words accusing your character of such a crime seriously!" He paused for a moment. "I hardly believed that anybody would."
"Well, apparently, my father did!"
Thranduil put his hand on Legolas' shoulder apologetically. "I did not mean to offend you so, Legolas. I simply overreacted at the possibility that you might have gotten yourself into something that you are not prepared for."
"Thank you, Ada… I think."
"But you do realize that she cannot remain in our kingdom," he said solemnly. "The stargazer's predictions are not to be taken lightly, especially this one."
"I know. Please, father, you must understand that I could not have just left her in the forest for the spiders and demons to devour her. I had spilled her blood over the snow. It would not have taken long for creatures to prey on her."
Thranduil looked at his pleading son. "You would risk your life and your kingdom to save this girl's life?"
"To save any life," Legolas replied. "To save any goodness, which I believe she has."
Thranduil looked at Laurefaire, Elin and finally at Arashi, who was still unconscious on the table. Comparing her to the Elves of his kingdom, he thought Arashi looked somewhat of an exotic child with her long, black hair and rounder face. Her build was also smaller but more compact than the Mirkwood Elves, or any of the other Elves or Men in Middle-Earth.
She looked harmless but the muscle that was shown through her bare skin told him she was potentially quite strong, if not very swift on her feet and with her weapons.
"She could be dangerous to you and our realm, Legolas," he said to him solemnly. "She cannot remain here. We don't know what sort of abilities she has or why she has wandered so deep within Middle-Earth when it is quite clear that she does not come from any region that we have heard of."
"I… suppose she cannot," admitted Legolas, "but I beg you to let her stay here until her wounds have healed. I would not feel right if we did not let her recover before we turn her away."
Laurefaire was looking at Arashi's still body, contemplating the potential threat she was. Arashi had managed to damage Legolas' shirt, which meant that she was skilled enough to get that close to the Elvish prince warrior in battle, making her quite skilled as a warrior herself. However, her smaller frame might make it easier to keep her restrained and she stood out amongst the rest of the Elves in Mirkwood.
But it was her intentions for being in Mirkwood that made Laurefaire suspicious of her. That and something unseen but could be sensed by the healer that she couldn't quite understand what it was. It was something she feared.
"My lord," Elin said, sensing a strange, dormant power in Arashi as well, "it may not be wise to let her remain here, true. But until we understand clearly what she is doing here, we are obligated to give her our hospitality."
Laurefaire whirled around and looked at him. "And let her bring destruction upon us?"
"You're overreacting. We do not know that she will or even if she has the ability to do that."
"She possesses a strange power, Elin! Do not lie to me and say that you do not sense it as well because I can see it in your eyes that you do. My lords Thranduil and Legolas, we cannot risk letting her stay here any longer than she already has!"
Thranduil looked at the three in front of him, one by one, listening and thinking about each of their arguments. Carefully deciding on what to do, he stood straight.
"Legolas," he said, "I will allow her to remain here until she has recovered or until she becomes a threat. From now until the time when one occurs, she will be your responsibility and she will be in your charge. If she turns out to be a threat, we will set out to kill her. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my lord," Legolas said with a small bow.
"Laurefaire, I know you do not like her presence within these walls but I trust that you will do an admirable job to help her recover as quickly as possible, as usual."
"She can be moved out of the infirmary, sire," she said tersely, slightly unnerved by Arashi's hidden power. "They were merely flesh wounds so she just needs some time to recover her energy and heal."
Thranduil nodded. "Elin, would you help Legolas carry her to one of the guest rooms on the second level?"
"Yes, sire," Elin said and bowed. "It would be my honor."
Thranduil nodded once again and began to leave, prompting Legolas to gather her equipment along with his while Elin and Laurefaire, although reluctantly on her part, prepared a stretcher to transport Arashi to a new room. However, Thranduil stopped in the doorway and looked back.
"Oh, and Legolas?"
"Yes, my lord?" He turned to look at him.
"There is a special realm in the dark pits of Hell reserved for those who take advantage of incapacitated maidens," Thranduil told him with a light-hearted smile. "Keep that in mind."
"Ada!" Legolas said, offended and amidst laughs from both Laurefaire and Elin.
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Back in his own room, Legolas took off what remained of his shirt and examined the tear while comparing it to the fallen sleeve to see if there was anything salvageable for the shirt.
He quickly saw that his shirt could never be a proper shirt again but he could wear it without sleeves underneath as an extra layer. He decided he could use the sleeve fabric to help reinforce damaged lining in some of the hunters' quivers.
Knowing his tailors would do a much better job at dismembering his shirt, he set it aside for the next day and lay down on his bed to rest, topless.
The cold winter wind flowed through his window and brushed against his chest. Relaxing, he let his mind wander as his body replenished its strength.
Unknown to him, the small green pendant that he had in his pocket began to glow and pulse, on and off, on and off…
Elsewhere in the castle, a certain Elf's hand twitched in her slumber as if it were reaching, grasping for something…
A growl rumbled through the forest, unheard by the Elves and terrifying the beasts that crept through the silvered trees. A ripple of silver scales paced across the snow, clawing at the ground, waiting anxiously. Growls escaped it, sensing something nearby and it swiftly flew back into the shadows, leaving behind a faint glittering cloud of snow floating and drifting back onto the ground.
A large hare had wandered out of its den in search for some scant provisions.
A pair of hungry eyes watched it from the cover of the trees.
The hare's long ears perked and it ran away, its big feet kicking up clumps of snow, causing a flash of silver to shoot out of the trees.
All that was left was a few drops of red blood that stained the white snow.
Above it, a raven called out and flew off its perch, towards the Great Hall of Mirkwood, its soul-shaking cry echoing across the forest to all those who would hear its warning under the steely clouds of the night.
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A/N: So it's been… a really, really long time since I last updated this but… Okay, in all honesty, I just didn't feel like writing this fic for a really, really long time.
I recently noticed that I abused Legolas a lot in Search for Darkness and I'm wondering if I should do the same in Jade Dragon (in his own kingdom, no less).
And yes, I have noticed that my writing has been absolute crap in this one but I'm slowly in the process of editing my fics. (Search for Darkness is edited!)
