Chapter 8: This Is Not Good

Sam's point of view*

Sam fiddled with his broken pot, thinking about his stew. It made him quite sad, and a bit angry, that no one recognized his stew. He had worked hard to make it taste good, yet no one understood that.

That had also been the last thing he had cooked with his beloved cooking gear before he had to toss it down a chasm. And it was a shame, for he'd cooked many great meals with that gear and the gear had never let him down. And he'd carried it all the way into Mordor from the Shire! A long, painful and emotionally draining journey he'd taken with Frodo, the whole time carrying his cooking gear. It had weighed a lot. He'd told himself he might need it. But no. He had to throw it down a chasm in Mordor!

Sam felt really angry at this, and he all but slammed the pot handle and the pot it had fallen off of on the ground. He glared at the pot.

Then Sam froze, smiling. He had a great idea! He'd make stew. A special stew. A very tasty stew. The best anyone has ever tasted! He'd add extra taters and mushrooms because everyone loved those! He'd ask what everyone wanted and combine it, too.

'And then,' Sam added darkly to his thoughts, 'I'll make them eat it for eternity and beg for more! They'll praise the stew! Or...' Sam let out a dark, crazed chuckle. A mad look marred his usually kind features.

"They shall perish." Sam whispered, grabbing one of his largest pots, his pouch of herbs, a piece of parchment, a quill, and a large spoon. He turned his gaze to Frodo, who was smiling as he laid on his bed. And no, it was not a happy smile. It was a creepy smile. One that instills fear in the heart of all those that look upon it, except for those who are allied with the one who bears it.

"Mr. Frodo, what would you like in your stew?" Sam asked sweetly, but if you looked into his eyes you could tell his voice was deceiving and his intent was all but kind.

Merry's point of view*

Merry smiled, "What a great idea, Pip!" Sometimes, Pippin was stupid, but Merry has to admit, this was more than a great idea. It was stupendous!

"Well, of course it is great! Interrogation is the best way to find out who has stolen your things. Works every time." Pippin smiled greedily. "ALL THE MUSHROOMS SHALL BE OURS!"

"INDEED!" Merry yelled in response, although he was only a few feet away from Pippin and screaming was extremely unnecessary.

Merry looked around for their first victim. It was then that he realized the whole hallway was empty. So empty that if a pin dropped it could be heard clearly, for even the birds had stopped singing.

"Where in the world-" Merry said, glancing up and down the hallway.

"Oh I see!" Pippin chuckled from besides him. "Playing hide and seek, are we?"

"Oh I LOVE this game!" Merry squealed in excitement. "READY OR NOT HERE WE COME!" He screamed at the top of his lungs, then shared a glance with Pippin and took off down the hallway.

Gimli's point of view*

Gimli was walking down the hallways of Rivendell to Legolas's room to check on him. His friend hadn't been out and about lately and he had a feeling that something strange was going on. Legolas was always outside.

He stopped right where he stood when he heard a scream come from down the hall.

"READY OR NOT HERE WE COME!" Gimli shook his head and scoffed. Probably just some Elflings fooling around. He walked up to Legolas's room and knocked on the door.

Gimli heard some shuffling noises inside the room and a few minutes later the door opened.

Gimli was shocked. His normally bright and cheery friend looked horrible. He was pale and seemed to be shivering slightly. He had a cloak on, but that didn't seem to be helping him. His hair was unkempt and looked a bit knotty. And finally, his blue eyes were dull and slightly glazed over.

"Um... Legolas... are you alright?" Gimli asked, quite concerned for his friend. Elves didn't get sick. Nor did they get cold.

"M' fine." Legolas muttered, then his eyes widened as he looked down the hall.

"What?" Gimli raised an eyebrow at the Elf's strange behavior. Legolas sighed, but it sounded more like a groan. Gimli heard the sound of someone running down the hallway.

"Not the hobbits too..." Legolas muttered before grabbing Gimli and pulling him into his room and shutting the door.

Gimli gasped as he noticed that the Elf's skin burned against his where it touched him, "You're burning up!" Gimli hated to sound like an overprotective mother, but he couldn't help it. Elves weren't supposed to get sick. It was not normal.

"M' fine." Legolas said, sounding exhausted which only concerned Gimli more.

"Why do you have a fever?" Girlie pressed, dragging the elf over to his bed and making him sit down. The elf didn't protest and flopped down on his bed, closing his eyes.

"Prob'ly an infection." Legolas muttered. Gimli made a move to get up and go get help from Elrond or something, but Legolas grabbed his wrist.

"Don't go out. Not safe." Legolas whispered urgently, opening his blue eyes slightly. Gimli sighed. Legolas was probably hallucinating or something.

"I have too. Don't worry." Gimli reassured Legolas, but it didn't really matter since the elf had fallen asleep, his grasp on Gimli's wrist loosening. Gimli sent one last concerned glance towards his friend before heading towards Elrond's study.

Elladan's point of view*

Elladan walked down the hallway with Elrohir, going to ask Legolas what that screaming was all about. Since it came from the hallway Legolas's room was in, they assumed Legolas would know what was wrong.

"Do you hear that?" Elladan suddenly stopped, listening to what seemed to be the sound of heavy boots coming towards them, and behind that, soft footfalls.

"Yeah. I bet that's a human, or a dwarf." Elrohir responded. Elladan shared a glance with him, and they both started forward again. As they turned the corner into the hallway, Elladan crashed into something and, with a surprised yelp, fell to the ground on top of it.

Elladan quickly got up and realized it was Gimli. Elrohir stood nearby, laughing slightly. Elladan quickly silenced him with a glare.

"Gimli, what are you doing here?" Elladan asked.

"Well, it seems that Legolas has got an infection, or so he says, and I was on my way to get Lord Elrond to help him." Gimli explained.

"Wait- why does Legolas have an infection?" Elrohir asked, looking confused.

"I dunno, must be a wound of some sort. I didn't ask." Gimli brushed off his clothes. "Well, I best be off."

"You don't need to get Ada, we can help Legolas." Elladan said, stopping Gimli from walking away. (Dad)

"Yeah, we know how to treat infection- WHAT IS THAT?!" Elrohir let out a cry of surprise as two hobbits races down the hallway heading straight for him. Elladan stared in shock. What were those hobbits doing.

The hobbits skidded to a stop, smiling widely at them, but something about their expressions seemed slightly... unhinged.

"Hello! Do you have mushrooms?" One of them asked. Elladan recognized him as Merry. He assumed the other one was Pippin.

"And why aren't you hiding? I thought all the elves were playing hide-and-go-seek." Pippin added.

"We... we don't play games like that." Elrohir managed.

"Oh." Pippin frowned. "Well, do you have mushrooms?"

"No." Elladan answered. Merry and Pippin both frowned, then sighed and took off running down the hallway again.

Elladan and Elrohir shared a glance. They had a suspicion they knew what was going on.

Legolas's point of view*

Legolas laid on his bed limply. He cursed his weakness. Because he couldn't stay awake, Gimli might have gotten infected. He closed his eyes and sighed. Maybe he should've told Lord Elrond what was happening to Aragorn, and now, the hobbits.

He heard the door open. He didn't bother to open his eyes.

"Legolas?" A voice asked. He opened his eyes slightly. He made out the figures of Gimli, Elladan, and Elrohir. He didn't even question why Lord Elrond wasn't there instead.

"Hmmm?" He answered, opening his eyes the rest of the way to look at his friends' concerned faces.

Either Elladan or Elrohir - he couldn't tell which in his weakened state, which annoyed him- said, "Gimli told us you have an infection. Can you tell us where the wound is?"

Legolas sighed then answered, "You know where it is." He glanced at them for a second before closing his eyes again.

Legolas woke up to muttering. He must have fallen asleep again.

"That explains the hobbits behavior." Gimli's gruff voice muttered.

"We need to take Legolas to Ada and eat supplies to treat him. We can probably carry him there." Elladan- or was it Elrohir?- said.

Legolas opened his eyes and sat up slightly, causing the conversation to stop.

"I will not be carried." Legolas mumbled, closing his eyes slightly, then opening them again.

"Would you rather be dragged?" Elrohir- maybe Elladan- asked dryly. Legolas sighed and laid back down.

"Fine, do wha'eva you want." Legolas mumbled before closing his eyes, missing the concerned looks his friends were giving him.

Elrond's point of view*

Elrond sat at his desk, peacefully writing, when he heard a frantic knocking at his door. He got up, frowning, and headed towards the door.

When he opened it, it was definitely not what he expected to see. His twin sons were supporting a pale Legolas, who seemed to be unconscious, and Gimli was standing by them.

"What-" Elrond said, but his twin sons pushed past him and set Legolas down on one of the cushioned chairs in his study.

"No time to explain. Just get some herbs and lock the door." Elrohir said. Elrond, as confused as he was, locked the door after Gimli had came in and gotten some herbs out of his secret herb stash in his desk. He had learned to keep herbs close by for he never knew when one of his sons would walk in dragging the other alongside them half-dead from blood loss or an infection.

He went over to where Legolas was and looked at his sons inquiringly.

"Well? Where is the injury?" He asked. Elladan and Elrohir shared a glance, then nodded at each other. Elladan pointed to one of Legolas's ears. An ear injury? Really? Elrond sighed and brushed back Legolas's hair to find a very irritated, oozy half-ear. Elrond stood there for a second, astonished by the weird injury, but quickly snapped out of it and tended to Legolas's injury.

Elrond was going to have a talk with Legolas about hiding his injuries as soon as he was better.

After tending to Legolas's would, he turned to Elladan, Elrohir, and Gimli.

"What is going on here, and how did Legolas get this injury?" He watched as Elladan and Elrohir exchanged glances.

Elrohir sighed, looking him straight in the eyes, "It's a long story." Elrohir and Elladan soon finished explaining. Elrond just stood there for a while looking shocked.

"This is not good." He finally managed, then started to pace back and forth.

"No, it's all good here, definitely not something to worry about. OF COURSE THIS IS NOT GOOD!" Elladan exclaimed. Elrond glared at him, then went back to thinking.

So far, from what his sons and Gimli had told him, it seemed that humans and hobbits were affected by the illness, although the rate they went crazy was different. It also seems that Legolas hasn't been affected, so maybe elves are immune, but maybe not.

Well, one thing was for sure. They had to get out of Rivendell before they ended up like that "Earth" that he'd seen in his vision all those months ago.

And they needed to get out fast.