Chapter 3: The Feast

Legolas's point of view*

Legolas rushed down the hallway, making sure to keep up his hood so no one could see what had happened to his ear. He didn't care that the Elves who passed by him gave him odd glances, probably wondering why he was going so fast, or why he was wearing one of Aragorn's cloaks.

All he wanted to do what get the blood out of his hair and off his skin. He wanted to forget what had just happened, but he knew that was not possible. It was to fresh in his mind for him to put it aside. Then he had a thought. What if another elf could smell his blood? Tell that he was injured? Legolas walked even faster until he was almost jogging. He only got more odd looks from the people he passed, but he did not care.

As soon as Legolas reached his room, he shut the door, locked it, threw Aragorn's cloak off him, and rushed into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. He peered into the mirror, carefully taking his hair away from his injured ear. He winced at the sight of the marred flesh where Aragorn had bitten the top half of his ear off.

Legolas quickly stopped the bleeding, then washed it off with water. After tending to his ear, he turned his attention to his bloodied hair. It was quite a disturbing sight. His normally golden-blonde hair was sticky with his blood and he longed to get it out, But he had to work fast, for the feast Aragorn had promised their friends was coming up quickly.

Legolas filled up the tub in his bathroom, setting out the tunic and leggings that he would wear to the feast. When he knew he had everything else prepared, he stripped out of his clothes and gracefully slid into the tub. He immediately set to work on his hair, scrubbing the blood out of it until his hair was shining and golden again.

Legolas stood up and got out of the tub, dried himself off, then quickly dressed in his clothes for the feast. He combed his hair, making sure that it would properly cover his wounded ear. He did not braid his hair, for fear that doing so would cause his injured ear to be seen. He glanced at the tub, which was full of red-ish water. He decided to deal with it later and unlocked the bathroom door, stepping into the main part of his room.

Legolas debated with himself silently for a few minutes, wondering if he should wear a cloak to insure his ear wound was kept secret, for he really did not want to have to come up with a lie or anything of the sort. He decided against it, for if he were to wear a cloak it would be suspicious because he had no reason to and elves were rarely cold, so he couldn't use that as an excuse. Legolas sighed, then opened his door and locked it behind him, walking briskly down the hallway to ensure he was not late for the feast.

As soon as he walked into the outdoor area where they were having a feast, all eyes settled on him, if only for a moment. Well, not all eyes. Merry and Pippin were much too engrossed in eating to so much glance in Legolas's direction, But Sam gave him a polite nod before returning to his food, at least. Frodo smiled brightly at him, but didn't speak, and went back to eating almost immediately. Legolas smiled at the hobbits, amused by their love of food. He sat next to Gimli, who had taken quite a large helping of food, well, large by Legolas's standards. Gandalf was at the head of the table, smoking his pipe and watching the hobbits fondly.

A few minutes passed with no conversation, but suddenly Legolas noticed Sam stop eating and glance at the empty chair at the very end of the table, across from Gandalf.

"Where's Mr. Strider?" Sam asked, looking to Gandalf, and then to Legolas. Legolas looked at him, making sure to mask the fear he felt at thinking of what Aragorn was currently doing. He looked into the distance. Should he tell someone, maybe Lord Elrond, about what Aragorn had done and what he was acting like? He was shaken out of his thoughts by Gimli's gruff voice.

"You were with him last." Gimli stated. Legolas looked at him for a second. What should he tell them? He couldn't lie.

"He told me he had a headache, and he went to his chambers. I do not know anything else, but I am sure he has a reason to not dine with us." Legolas said, deciding to tell them part of the truth, so he wasn't exactly lying.

"Oh," Sam exclaimed, then turned back to his food. The other hobbits did the same. Gimli followed suit. Gandalf raised his eyebrow in Legolas's direction, but Legolas didn't really notice, for he was once again debating whether he should tell Elrond about what happened with Aragorn or not.

Legolas suppressed a shudder at the thought of having to explain what just happened to him. People would either pity him, if they would even believe him, or they would - most likely - think him to be crazy. He also didn't wish to tell anyone about what had just happened for fear that something bad would happen to Aragorn, because despite what Aragorn has done, he was still his friend.

Legolas also knew Aragorn hadn't meant it. He looked absolutely confused at what he had done, which Legolas still couldn't understand. How could one not be aware of their own actions?

Legolas sighed, then turned his attention back to reality, deciding to not allow himself to think about Aragorn or what had happened anymore.

Legolas looked at Gandalf, who was watching him, and raised an eyebrow in question. Gandalf did the same. Legolas just shook his head, signaling that nothing was wrong and that he was just thinking. Gandalf seemed to get the message, because he turned away, but Legolas had a feeling Gandalf didn't fully believe him.

"Would you like me to tell you a tale?" Legolas suddenly asked. Gimli only grunted, but Sam's face lit up with happiness.

"Oh, yes, please do!" Sam looked slightly embarrassed after saying the words in such enthusiasm, but Legolas smiled.

"What story to you wish to hear?" He asked. Sam opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

"Surely you could tell us of adventure!" Merry exclaimed.

"Yeah, an adventure! But from before we knew you." Pippin clarified, getting excited. Sam and Frodo nodded, agreeing with Merry and Pippin's suggestions. Although Sam did it reluctantly, still a bit upset about being interrupted.

"Of course, young hobbits," Legolas's smile grew brighter as the hobbits grew more and more excited. Even Gimli, who would never admit it, looked quite curious himself. Gandalf sat quietly at the head of the table.

"I will tell you a tale of Aragorn and I. It was not long ago. Aragorn and I were heading back to Imladris from hunting orcs. The weather did not seem to be on our side that day, for rain can down relentlessly, drenching us. Aragorn has started to get a cold, and I was just wet, and extremely annoyed. Just as we were approaching Imladris Aragorn started coughing violently, and at the same time thunder boomed in the sky. His horse, who was still going through training at the time, got spooked and reared. Aragorn would normally have stayed on, but alas, he was coughing so violently he fell off." Legolas paused, waiting for Merry and Pippin to stop snickering. "Right into a puddle of mud. You see, I was there watching, on my horse, the whole time. When I saw the look of disgust and embarrassment on his face, I burst out laughing-" Legolas paused once again as he saw Sam's confused face,"-And yes, although it does not seem befitting for an elf, we can burst out laughing-" Sam looked at his plate, a blush creeping across his features. "As I did so, Elladan and Elrohir passed by. At first I did not see them, but when I did, they were looking at me like I was crazy."

Legolas heard Gimli mutter something along the lines of "The lad IS crazy!" But he elected to ignore him.

"When I made eye contact with them, Elladan asked me 'why I are you laughing at a mud puddle.' I looked at him, then at Aragorn, who was still in the mud, and said, in a dead serious voice, 'The mud puddle has eaten Estel'. Elrohir muttered 'he's finally lost it'. " Legolas stopped to take a breath.

"Then Aragorn screamed, 'I AM NOT A MUD PUDDLE NOR HAVE I BEEN EATEN BY ONE!'. Elladan and Elrohir burst into laughter when they saw him, and I joined in. Aragorn started screaming curses and threw mud at us, and let's just say that we all ended up coming back to Imladris soaked and covered in mud." Legolas finished, skipping the part he didn't really enjoy remembering. Having to explain to Elrond why he, Elladan, Elrohir, and Aragorn were muddy and wet was not something he thought of fondly.

"You skipped a part!" Pippin immediately exclaimed.

Merry glared at him, "Pippin!"

"But I know he skipped a part! He did!" Pippin continued, earning him a smack on the back of the head.

"Thank you, Mister Legolas." Sam said, ignoring Merry and Pippin. Legolas smiled, hating that he had to force it, for he was worrying about Aragorn again.

"Yes, thank you," Frodo smiled, "your story was very amusing."

"Yes, it is a very fond memory of mine." Legolas replied absent-mindedly.

"Nice to know that elves can't always be clean and serious," Gimli muttered. Legolas knew that Gimli was trying to say his story was good in his own, well, Gimli-ish way.

Legolas didn't want to tell another story because all the stories he could think of had to do with Aragorn, which led him to think about what happened to his ear, which was something he did not want to think about.

Legolas looked at Gimli, then at the hobbits. None were paying attention to him. He looked towards Gandalf, who was staring into the distance. If he was quiet, he could probably sneak away. Although he wouldn't be able to distract himself from his thoughts, he'd be able to work them out alone, without anyone to bother him.

With his plan decided, he quickly and quietly stood up, slid silently away from the group, and hid in the shadows until he was far away from his friends. He went straight for the stables, for he found comfort in spending time with and taking care of the horses.

He went straight to his horse's stall. He was a beautiful stallion named

Arod, which he had become fast friends with.

Legolas went into the stall with Arod, and pet his neck. He hugged Arod and sighed, closing his eyes.

"What am I going to do..." Legolas muttered to Arod.

"Man eerig?" Legolas jumped back from hugging Arod. He turned around to see Elladan and Elrohir. (What are you doing)

"Nothing. Ego." Legolas said, then turned back to Arod , busying himself with braiding his mane. (Go away)

"Am man theled?" Elrohir asked, sharing a glance with his twin. Legolas barely noticed. He was doing his best to ignore them. (For what purpose)

"Am man theled!" Elladan said, raising his voice. Legolas whipped around. (For what purpose)

"Ego!" Legolas shouted in response, really getting annoyed at the twin's prying behavior. (Go away)

Legolas glared at the twins, but as he did he realized their gaze was no longer fixed on his face. He could only guess they were looking at his injured ear, for the look on their faces was one of anger, pity, but also curiosity.

Legolas quickly covered the ear with his hair and ran out of the stall and past the twins. He felt like screaming. Of course it had to be Elladan and Elrohir who saw his ear! Of course! Now he would surely have to tell Elrond...