Chapter 39

Child of Hope

About a week later, Legolas went out hunting and I stayed home. I was making lunch when Snowball came in covered in blood. She meowed and then ran outside. I ran after her and found a man by the lake.

"Mother of god!"

I ran over but I didn't know what to do. I looked around and hoped Legolas was nearby. I saw something shining on the grass and picked it up. It was a ring. I returned my attention to the man.

"LEGOLAS! LEGOLAS!"

No one was coming. The man was unconscious so he wouldn't feel the pain. I put his arm over my shoulder and hauled him back to the house. I only made it to the kitchen when he woke up. I gently put him down and leaned him against the wall. He opened his eyes and looked at me.

"Who are you?"

"Mrs. Greenleaf. What happened to you?"

He tensed up on pain and I tried to calm him.

"Okay take deep breaths. I'll be right back."

I ran into the bathroom and got what I needed. When I got back I located all his wounds and started to clean and bandage them. A few of them were bad.

"I don't suppose you know how to stitch yourself?"

He nodded and my eyes went wide.

"I was joking but alright."

"The bag."

I saw his bag and gave it to him. When he tried to move his arm he tensed up again.

"Okay don't move. I'll uh…." I didn't know what to do. "I don't suppose you can ride a horse to Imladris?"

"How do you know where to find it?"

"My uncle and cousins live there. Though Elrohir doesn't really like me but I'm getting off topic-"

"Elrohir is your cousin?"

"Yeah, and Arwen and Elladan. My brothers and sister are there too."

"Arwen."

"Yeah I said Arwen."

"Arwen…"

His eyes closed and he passed out.

"Shit! I wish there were phones here."

I heard the door open.

"Jupiter?"

"Legolas come quick!"

He ran into the room and his eyes went wide.

"A-Aragorn!"

"You know him?"

"He's a friend. Can you sew?"

"Yeah, why?"

He looked at the man. My eyes widened when I realized what he meant.

"Oh no! No I can't!"

"It's the same thing. You have to try."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I stitched him up as best I could and cleaned the wound again. He woke up as I finished. I smiled kindly.

"I'm Jupiter."

"Interesting name."

"It's nice to finally meet you Estel." I said.

His eyes widened.

"How do you-?"

"Arwen is my cousin. It's a long story."

He nodded and then got up.

"I'll make dinner."

I picked up Snowball and took him with me. I heard Legolas greet Aragorn as an old friend.

"She is an elf?"

"We will take you to Imladris."

"She was not born here was she?"

"No. I found her lying in the forest. She hit me right in the face when she woke up."

I heard Aragorn chuckle and I smiled at the memory.

"Things are getting worse, Legolas."

"What do you mean worse?"

I listened carefully.

"In Mordor, dark clouds are forever hanging over that land. And the fact that orcs have come this far makes it worse than I thought."

"Yes, orcs are becoming a common thing here. I had hoped that when the war was over we would have peace." said Legolas.

I closed my eyes and looked down. If something had happened to him…it would kill Arwen. I stopped what I was doing and looked at Snowball.

"I need answers." I whispered.

I stopped what I was doing and ran into the library.

"Mordor. Mordor."

No matter how many books I searched, none of them could tell me what I wanted to know. There was only one place I knew I could go. I took a deep breath and went out to Legolas.

"Legolas I need to go to Erebor."

He looked at me.

"I do not understand."

"I have questions, and I can only find the answers in Erebor. So tomorrow I'm going to leave."

He sighed but nodded.

"I understand."

Aragorn looked surprised.

"You are going to let her go alone?"

"She can handle herself." Legolas said.

I nodded and then went back to the kitchen.