Disclaimer: NOOOOO! NEVER! (shrieks madly and hurls Christmas ornaments at police, who are trying to arrest) THEY'RE MINE! MINE I TELL YOU! (tries to run and is caught, dragged kicking and screaming to jail, and sent to rehab) I swear it, on the Silmarillion, that, though they may not be mine as of yet, I shall get my hands on them one day, and turn Middle Earth into my playtoy! (insert evil laugh here)

AN: YYEEESSS! Winter break is here at last! Which means Christmas is coming. Which also means, I have more time to write. I'll really try to get another chappy up by X-mas, but no solid promises! After the duck episode, I try to avoid promises. They just don't work out.

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In the single instant that his arrows were shooting through the air, Legolas knew something had gone wrong. Whether it was a misplacement of his fingers, the wrong force with the wrong angle, or just plain bad luck, he didn't know. All he knew, was something was wrong, and it was all his fault.

He fought the urge to close his eyes, and instead watched in horror as his arrows continued their paths. One burrowed into a spider eye and through to the brain, but the other flashed across Nethidal's side before sinking into spider flesh.

The creature squealed in agony and turned from its intended victim. Legolas, still terrified about what he had done to Nethidal, fumbled in his boot for his dagger and finished off the spider.

Dropping his bow, the elf-prince dashed forward and dropped to his knees before his long time friend. "Nethidal! Mellon-nin, please answer me!" The elder elf did not reply, his eyes clouded in unconsciousness. "No! No no no! Nethidal, you wake up! P-please!" His voice broke before he could catch it.

Quickly, Legolas ripped open his friend's green tunic, examining the wound created by his arrow. It was an ugly one indeed, so deep as to have laid bare a rib and bleeding profusely.

Immediately, his hands went to his own tunic, tearing the cloth and binding it tightly to Nethidal's side. He was no healer, and he cursed his ignorance now. The only other thing he knew how to handle was the broken left arm, and even that knowledge was sketchy. He splinted it, but was stopped in the matter of the poison.

Legolas knew that his friend desperately needed help, but he also knew that he couldn't safely move his friend by himself. Nethidal was larger than him, though not by much, and again Legolas cursed himself, this time for being so small for his age. Nor could the prince leave him and go for help, they were much too close to the spider nest, and although many had been killed, he was sure that there were still more.

So instead, he sat and leaned against a tree, heedless of his sore, bleeding shoulders, and eased Nethidal closer, so he could give his friend his support. He would wait.

It did not take long. The twins had been alarmed at Nethidal's sudden grimness, and had spread the word. Elves immediately spread out, and began their search. Elladan and Elrohir, much to their disgust, had been sent back to the palace, where Elrond had to personally restrain them from running back to the forest.

Six elves came upon the pair twenty minutes later. Legolas had again begun to try and wake his friend, though it was useless, Nethidal remained unconscious. He paid no attention to his still-bleeding hands and shoulders, he was sure that Nethidal's pain, when he woke, would be much greater.

The elves found them there on the ground, both bloody. They lost no time in checking Nethidal over, and found that, with the combined efforts, they could indeed move him.

One went and kneeled beside his prince, hands steadily making sure that he was unhurt. Back in the safe company of his kind, Legolas began to shake uncontrollably, his frame shaking under the comforting hands.

"I-I-I…"

The elf gently hushed him. "It will be all right. He will live." The elf, known as Acin, spoke as soothingly as he could, knowing that his prince's condition was brought on by the after shock of what must have been a terrifying battle.

Legolas stiffened at these words, and tried to speak again, but all Acin could understand was something about arrows. He paid no heed to the puzzle, sure of learning more later. Stretching out his arm, Acin pulled his Legolas to his feet. Legolas paused for the brief second, looking back over his shoulder.

"B-but my bow and knives…"

"We'll bring them back for you, don't worry. But we must get Nethidal back to the caves quickly."

The mention of Nethidal's name had a remarkable effect on Legolas; he straightened, took several deep breaths to control his shaking. Several seconds passed, and the blonde elf was back under control, though still a little shaky.

Acin's respect for his young prince heightened; twas not often that a youngling could regain his composure so quickly. He steadied his prince, and off they went, careful to stay within sight of the others.

The trees passed by quickly, and they reached the cave palace in record time. Nethidal was immediately whisked away to the healing quarters, and Legolas was met in the hallway by a surprised and instantly worried Thranduil. He noticed the blood on his son's hands and shoulders directly, and had him in a healing room faster that a hobbit could say 'second breakfast'.

Seeing his ada, Legolas felt his composure fly. He struggled to hold onto it and managed to succeed for the most part, though he knew that if he tried to speak, he would end up babbling like a fool. And so he kept a calm, silent composure as his hands and shoulders were bandaged.

Thranduil did not press, sensing that, for the moment, asking would do no good. Instead he waited, looking at his son, nimble hands now wrapped in heavy bandages, along with the lacerations on his shoulders. Before, Legolas would have been wriggling, demanding to know if this was really necessary. But now he was still, staring ahead, not making a sound.

Thranduil was reminded viciously of the night before; Legolas's dreadful impression of the Delu Laith. But this time, it wasn't a joke, something really had happened. Prudently realizing that Nethidal had probably been a part of this, he escorted his son to the room where the elder elf was being tended. The room was crowded: with Elrond, two other healers, the twins and Acin, there wasn't really much room to move. Not to mention the six puppies huddled in a corner.

All parted in silence as the king and prince approached. Legolas walked up to the bed and sat on the corner, fingertips running absently over the pattern of the cloth. His friend looked awful, arm wrapped in a bright white bandage, bare torso also wrapped, though those bandages already showed signs of blood seeping through the layers.

Legolas winced visibly at the sight. His ada noted this, worry shining through his calm visage. The prince looked up at Elrond. He said nothing, letting his eyes speak for him: will he live?

Elrond nodded hesitantly. "I believe he will. The poison may give us some trouble, but I think he will be all right."

Legolas dropped his gaze. A small sound escaped him. Everyone watched his struggle, knowing that the next words would be important, revealing what had actually happened in the forest.

"My… fault."

An assortment of disbelieving noises rose from the throats of everyone present.

Legolas glanced up at last, blue eyes bright with guilt. "Twas… I walked… Nethidal… arrows… the spiders—"

He was fast losing his self-control, but he clamped down hard on his emotions, and managed to tell of the experience in the woods, with only several misunderstandings and a couple of thoughts spoken out loud that weren't meant to be.

He finished, eyes down, sure that everyone would despise him for acting so rashly. "…I acted too late, and I should have kept my eyes upon the trail… It is my fault that Nethidal is so injured. My arrow that…"

His voice trailed away to nothing, knowing that to speak anymore would mean total and complete loss of composure.

A heavy silence followed these words. Thranduil was the first to speak. "Ion-nin, I do not believe this episode was, in its entirety, your fault."

Legolas did not answer, partly because he did not trust himself, and partly because, since he was the king's son after all, he believed it was just Thranduil saying it to be fatherly.

Next, Elrond took his turn. "You may have wandered off the path, but Acin and Thranduil tell me that spiders had no business being there in the first place."

Again the young elf didn't speak, but his entire being radiated a feel of but if I had been paying attention…

The elves sighed. The two Mirkwood healers had left, confident of Elrond's ability, and needing to spread the word of what had truly transpired in the woods. That still left five in the room, not including Legolas or Nethidal. And somehow, they were going to have to convince the prince it was not his fault.

Mostly.

Acin tried next. "Prince Legolas, that shot was a double, you said?" A tiny nod. "I wish I had been there to see it. I know few elves that have ever been so brave as to try it in a battle at that angle."

Legolas glanced up, a flicker of short-lived pride showed itself briefly before disappearing again, and the prince's gaze shifted to his friend's side pointedly.

"Aye, it did skim Nethidal, but it did not skewer him, nor did it miss the second spider. Indeed, you saved his life by causing that spider to back away when you did. If you had missed, your friend would be dead."

A sigh, but a small spark had returned to Legolas's eyes. It was a start.

And then the twins came in with their opinions. They bounded over from their chairs and sat, one on each side of the blonde prince.

"Now, the way we see it is this: you did wander off the path and into a spider nest, but so what? We will probably do the same thing one of these days." Elrohir swatted his brother playfully.

"He will, at any rate. I am much too observant to be caught in such a manner." The younger twin continued, valiantly ignoring the barely concealed snickers from his father and Elladan. "You did your best to get out of the situation yourself, although you did freeze at the beginning, who cares about that? You probably still would have been caught."

Elladan broke in there, laughing and remarking that Elrohir would probably still be standing there in terror. After the customary pokes and retorts, he continued with the next part of the story from their view.

Thranduil had to work at concealing a laugh: the twin's antics were certainly amusing, and they seemed to be brightening Legolas's face. They pointed out the things that had gone wrong in their own joking fashion, and quickly followed with a tiny jab at the other, before going on to the next subject.

"… and after all, who can be expected to shoot two arrows at once when you've been trying for less than two weeks?"

"Yes, Elladan didn't even learn to properly brush his teeth until he was six."

"Careful, brother… I can beat you up, you know."

"You have never tried. Hey! Hey, get away from me! Adaaaa!"

In a flash, they were gone, Elrohir skidding away from his brother's clutches, Elladan nearly catching a sleeve as they tore out the door.

Legolas had to smile himself, and he found himself wishing to go and watch the end result, which would probably end up in a tie more or less, both panting on the ground, Elladan, lifting a hand weakly and trying to tap Elrohir, who would squirm out of the way…

But he would wait. He would not leave Nethidal's side until the elder elf woke, and Legolas was able to tell him that he was sorry.

He would wait with a lighter heart. And he would amuse himself by counting the square number of threads per square inch on Nethidal's comforter. He hoped his friend would wake soon. As much for the elder elf's sake, as his own sanity.

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Elladan made a flying tackle that brought Elrohir down hard. They squirmed and struggled, each trying to gain the upper hand. Neither could, and after a fashion, sat panting on opposite sides of the hall.

"I still think I would have won."

"Honestly Elladan, give it up. We're too evenly matched, given a fair fight."

"Right now anyways. Wait until we learn to use weapons. We'll see who beats who then!"

They eyed each other warily, then laughed and clasped hands, pulling themselves to their feet.

"We should probably go back now."

"I am perfectly aware of that, Elrohir, I am simply waiting for you to go first."

"Oh no, dear gwador-nin, I insist, age before cleverness."

They glanced at one another again, this time critically. Then, "You don't know which way to go!"

Their voices mingled in perfect unison, echoing of the smooth empty walls of the hall.

"Where are we? Elladan, did you get us lost again?"

"Hey, I was following you. But we're not lost. I know exactly where we are."

Elrohir rubbed his arms nervously, dark eyes appraising the long hall in front of them. "Then where are we, O great and wise one?"

"I am, and don't you forget it. We're in the catacombs."

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AN: Sighhh, that was a hard chappy to write. My goodness, but it took me a while. I hope I got it right this time, because I really hope I don't have to go and fuss with it some more. But you tell me what you think, whether you liked it or not, and if something bugs enough people, I'll go and see what I can do… It's all about keeping you guys happy!

Thanks to:

A. NuEvil, Elladan of Rivendell, Aurehen, flamesofthemo0n, Haldir's Heart and Soul, Illeanah, firehottie, silverkonekotsukari, Mihikari.

I will make special use of the new reply feature on yes, and I apologize for the cliffie last chappy, because, I have to say, that was probably one of the eviler ones I've done. I think I gave you a break here though.

See you, later and always remember-

Rebel sheep go moo.

Lol Luv, Rebell!